Meridian, Affinity given Heritage Awards
Affinity Credit Union and Meridian Development Corp. were the joint recipients of two Heritage Awards from the municipal heritage advisory committee and the City of Saskatoon.
They received awards in the Adaptive Reuse and Sensitive Addition categories for re-purposing the former Wilson School and First Nations University of Canada building in City Park into office space for use by Affinity as its corporate campus.
“As a local credit union, we are committed to heritage conservation and have a strong commitment to being good stewards of the city’s heritage resources,” said Affinity CEO Mark Lane in a news release.
“Throughout the construction process, it was important for us to work alongside Meridian and other contractors to maintain the look of the original building and to ensure it would be pleasing to the local community.”
“Our partner Affinity shared the same philosophy of retaining our built heritage and ensuring that this building is something the neighbourhood could be proud of,” added Karl Miller, president of Meridian. “The adaptive reuse of the building is one of the most unique repurposing we have seen in the country.”
The 69,000- square- foot building offers an openconcept working space and, in keeping with the credit union’s environmental strategy, incorporates many green building features.
Student entrepreneur
champion
University of Saskatchewan student Anastasia Szalasznyj, owner of Winter Girl Boots & Accessories, has been named Saskatchewan’s 2014 Student Entrepreneur provincial champion.
The award was given as part of the Student Entrepreneur National Competition.
Winter Girl Boots & Accessories offers customers stylish boots designed with winter in mind; boots of vegan-leather that are lined with deeply embedded grips.
Szalasznyj will showcase her business and personal accomplishments as an entrepreneur at the Enactus Canada Regional Exposition — Western Canada in Calgary on Feb. 28, where she will compete for the title of regional champion.
Szalasznyj will compete against three other Student Entrepreneur provincial champions from Western Canada for the regional title and the chance to move on to the 2014 Enactus Canada National Exposition in Calgary taking place April 28-30. The national champion will receive a $10,000 cash prize and take home the John Dobson Cup.
Best Diversity
Employer
For the fifth successive year, Cameco Corp. has been selected by the Globe and Mail as one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers for 2014.
The annual competition recognizes Canadian employers that have exceptional workplace diversity and inclusiveness programs. Selection to the list was based on information submitted for the 2014 Canada’s Top 100 Employers competition.
The recognition follows Cameco’s recent listings as one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers and Saskatchewan’s Top Employers.
“This award recognizes our long-standing track record in aboriginal and Metis employment,” said Tim Gitzel, Cameco president and CEO, in a news release. “We are proud to be Canada’s leading industrial employer of aboriginal people and of the proactive approach we take to support career growth in this sector of our workforce.”