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Unknown
Welcome to the Move Rural Canada podcast, where every week we showcase incredible businesses and real in Northern Canada businesses that are not only growing but are looking to hire. We're here to show you companies and communities outside of the big cities that are building stronger and more inclusive workplaces, workplaces that want and are encouraging newcomers, immigrants and refugees to work with them.

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Unknown
Let us be your guides to help you find the best places in Canada to not only immigrate, but build a career and settle. I'm your host, Leah Mitchell, and I am your co-host, Lindsay Rubeniuk. Join us as you learn about all of the amazing career opportunities in places that you may not have ever thought of moving. Let's get started.

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Unknown
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Move Rural Canada podcast. Lindsay and I are super excited to have a business on Vidir Vertical Storage Solutions. They are located in the Interlake. However, I'm also I won't say too much more about them. I'm going to introduce both of them and they can tell us more about their company and why. They are an amazing place to work.

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Unknown
So we have on today Cristina Viera. She is the HR director and Jody Lee Kaemingk. She is the talent acquisition specialist. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you. It's so happy to be here. Yes. So I'm going to just do a quick little summary. Your company is very dear to my heart. I want to just let everyone know.

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Unknown
I've been working with Vidir Vertical Storage Solutions for the last couple of years.

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Unknown
What I also do is I offer language supports, and Vidir has been amazing. I've been in there for the last couple years teaching English. And so when we started this podcast, your company was number one in my mind to have on because you're such a welcoming company and I just want to showcase you to everyone. So

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Unknown
we'll start right off the bat.

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Unknown
If you want to tell us about your company, give everyone a little bit of a summary about what you do and, and things like that.

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Unknown
Okay, I can start. So I have been with, Vidir solutions. And we don't always, they say the storage portion of it. So I'll make it a little bit easier on you.

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Unknown
Vidir Solutions, Inc..

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Unknown
We do operate in the Interlake, actually, the heart of the Interlake as people with, with with know us from, originally started in our. So in Vidir actually the little community outside of Arbor, really, our founder, really do like,

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Unknown
we continue to honor his legacy. One of the things that, of course, he was very passionate about was about serving, the people in the communities that he operated in.

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Unknown
And education was such a dear, thing for him. Very close to his heart. I'm going to echo and give kudos to, Leah as well. The partnership has been amazing. You know, the English piece of it is, is just a scratch on the surface of the like, I think, the partnership has made to our employees, be there.

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Unknown
But I'll talk a little bit about the company. It it's been an operation for, obviously, you know, 35 years plus. You know, our purpose, our mission is to make the world's products safely accessible. Our solutions are found around the world in 40 countries. It's a little, nugget of a secret that I never knew existed.

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Unknown
I was recruited, actually, through a headhunter, seven years ago now at, my position was the first one, as the director of H.R. On the leadership team. So they they brought me on board. I never knew it existed. So to come and join and I'll call it a family. I call it a team of a heroes.

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Unknown
And you'll see a little bit and hear a little bit of both. Probably our our values. And if you're ever checking out our website, we talked a lot about, how the connection to our communities and our, and our values are so important. So we design so our products, we design and manufacture industry leading vertical automated storage and retrieval systems.

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Unknown
So I have to, to look at that. But also, really we operate to make, other companies,

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Unknown
you know, their storage solutions. We operate to make their lives easier. Really? So our products range, we've got a variety of products, and most people that will be listening to our podcasts would have encountered our products, because we are in Walmart's Home Depot.

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Unknown
One that's near for Jodie Lee is Walt Disney, we have products and Walt Disney in the white House as well. So it's it's actually amazing when you look at the line of, products that we manufacture. Just talk about that. The company is absolutely built on the foundation of our, our founder. Like like I talked about really do like I built on the values of quality, innovation, community and safety.

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Unknown
We foster a family environment that prioritizes, diversity, inclusivity, high employee satisfaction. And we encourage creativity and innovation in our employees. I'll let you really talk a little bit about that as well, because, she has, lots of insights, for sure. Thank you.

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Unknown
Yeah. So I've been with the company for just over five years.

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Unknown
I started out as the welcome coordinator at the front desk and then have worked and, moved into a role in talent acquisition through the HR team. So one of our, values as a company is to elevate. We call it elevating careers and communities. So what Vidir does really well is it will take people that are maybe in an entry level role and work with them to promote them while they're internally and really elevate careers, but also they also want to elevate the communities that they're in.

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Unknown
So we're in two communities in the Interlake. We're in the community of Toulon and Marburg, which are two, Interlake communities just up number seven highway here. Each of them are roughly the same size, 12 to 1400, individuals that live in this community. So we are a a great employer for people in this area. If you're looking for work in all different kinds of fields, whether it's production, you know, manufacturing, whether it's finance, HR or customer care, engineering, purchasing and supply chain management, and then also sales and marketing as well.

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Unknown
So we offer a wide gamut of roles because we do full manufacturing here, and we have our offices in each of these locations as well. So it's wonderful to not only work for this company, but live in the community where your company operates. So that's a really great feature that that Vidir offers as well.

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Unknown
We we do have I'm just going to have to that.

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Unknown
We do have a distribution warehouse in Pennsylvania in the US. So and we have approximately, I believe, 7 or 8 employees.

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Unknown
That would work, in and out of there, through sales and marketing and, warehousing as well. Overall, we have approximate 250 employees.

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Unknown
And we have grown, quite a bit, actually, since I first started.

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Unknown
We are at approximately 130 employees and are up to 250 now in a very short,

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Unknown
span of time. Wow. That's that's awesome. And what I really like too about where you're located is, you know, you're actually, you know Teulon and Arborg, you're really only an hour and a bit from the city. Right. You do have employees that commute from the city to Teulon.

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Unknown
So people can still have that city life if they want. But work rule the. And there's lots of great communities in the Interlake that are within a half hour of both communities. So, you know, there's lots of options for affordable living for people, you know, and their spouses, right, depending on where they're working. And, and so that's and that's what's really great about the Interlake as well.

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Unknown
Yeah. I always tell candidates that want to come work in Arborg. I say, look, you're 90 minutes from a Costco, you know. So if they don't want to live in the city, but they still want to be close to the city amenities, it's not far for them to use utilize those utility. Those those are those, amenities that, that the city has.

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Unknown
So it's it's not, too terrible of a distance. We, we talk about, balancing, I think the ability to balance the, the family life being, close and not having a large commute if you live in our, communities and then, you know, in Teulon, obviously, we truck probably a little bit wider scope in terms of people, traveling in from Winnipeg.

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Unknown
But we have a lot of long term employees that work on our production floor that, carpool together. They're, you know, they've created their own little, almost like little team and family. Coming through here, we have, I think, the popularity or our word of mouth, on the things that we do in terms of promoting our employee engagement, I think it's far reached when I, when I talk to some of my colleagues, I work in, the city, they can't.

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Unknown
They're actually quite a maze of the, the level of events and,

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Unknown
you know, things that we do to really bring the, the closeness of our, of our, of our, employees together and celebrate together. I've never worked in a place. I mean, I've been in the business for a long time, and, will retire with Vider.

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Unknown
I so but I have, and I can honestly say it's not because I work here, and I'm, you know, heading up the department that it is the best level of community minded, environment that I have ever worked in, so. Oh, for sure. Now. So I'm going to ask one more question then. Lindsay's going to ask some questions.

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Unknown
So and I mean, I, I probably know the answer because I'm the language person here, but, do you what are your expectations? Because I know a lot of times when newcomers are applying to positions, you know, they don't want to have to, they're worried about asking that or they're worried about what will employers think. So do you have specific language expectations when doing interviews?

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Unknown
Cristina, do you want me to answer this one or. Yes. Okay. You have a lot to I. So I guess the language expectations, it varies by position. For roles that

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Unknown
are a little bit on less customer focused. For example, if you we hire for customer service specialists. So there is a lot of interacting over the phone over email with customers.

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Unknown
So obviously the language level would have to be at an acceptable level where the the employee can engage the customer, and the customer feels that they are, understanding what their needs are. So obviously there's a higher, higher level there, for roles that we do have, entry level roles that do that, that don't require, that higher level of English.

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Unknown
But we want to make sure that when we hire somebody that we're ensuring, that there's, there's safe and effective communication so that when they pick up a specific procedure or we're training them on safety processes, that there's still an understanding. And so we'll use tools to help them understand, you know, we have used Google Translate. We use it in interviews as well.

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Unknown
One of the things that our hiring committees are getting really skill, that is interviewing people whose language first language is not English. And they will we will do whatever we can to make sure that the candidate feels comfortable, that it's okay for them to pause and translate in their head their answer, and that it's okay for the candidate to ask us to repeat a question.

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Unknown
And we use things like Google Translate to help them understand the question. And so we're mindful of that when we're in an interview.

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Unknown
But for more advanced roles, you know, you talk about engineering, you talk about some of our, finance roles and even human resources roles. We would require maybe a higher level of English, but we have hired people who speak very little English, and we're just more diligent with them to ensure comprehension when we do have to go through very important processes like safety and and all those kinds of things

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Unknown
and in addition to that, so in saying that once we, we,

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Unknown
you know, bring them in

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Unknown
through our door, of course, that's when we open up the partnership and the opportunities, to provide, the English classes through,

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Unknown
through Leah right. So that's, that's, that's the key for us. And we have seen people come in and develop and the progression in their English skills has allowed them to get to the level that they're actually applying for, more complex roles in our organization.

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Unknown
So we're seeing people advance. They may come in at a lower level, understanding and speaking, but quickly moving into the ability, to actually bid and be successful in, higher level roles that would require more fluent, ability to speak the language. I mean, that's something that they can absolutely talk about as she sees the, the, you know, the progression of our students.

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Unknown
But, you know, she provides weekly report cards and I read them and I may not always comment on them, but I read every single one of them. And the feelings that I get and I and I, this is part of the job that makes me happy to do what I do. And so proud of, to see the level of, engagement and progression in our employees, that that's probably one of my biggest things that I will continue to talk about, even after I'm not, you know, not here or whatever it is that impact that the English language process has made on our employees.

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Unknown
And I think that's, you know, a big, you know, you Vidir gets it. I think a lot of companies don't realize it yet. Right. And it's bringing that awareness that when you invest in your employees, when you offer those supports in-house, you know, it just yeah, it raises your employees up. It gives them they're going to stay, they're going to apply for those higher positions.

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Unknown
And and especially in rural communities, it's a great way to retain employees. No, I exactly it's it's very cool, even just myself, to see the growth that I've seen over the last couple of years, you know, people going into different positions and even, you know, some of the you just asked yesterday because I was there yesterday teaching us, we were talking about this one book and one of the employees is said, you know, I never would have read an English book if I hadn't been able to come to English class and do it right.

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Unknown
It motivates me. And so it's I love hearing those stories, too. Yeah. Lindsay, I'm I'm taking it all up here. I'm going to let you move. And Lindsay's our integration specialist, so she's going to ask some questions here first. Okay. Well thanks, ladies. Thanks for sharing your time with us. And, you've actually, in terms of speaking about English and advancement, you remind me of the last company that we had a chat with for Vermillion Growers in Dauphin, that you're very similar in your approach.

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Unknown
And so I think that's probably why you retain a lot of people as you really embrace them, and you welcome them and you provide them with resources that they need. So I'm speaking of newcomers, and you have mentioned that they're able to, you know, be promoted to various positions and so I'm just wondering, in terms of immigration, how have you supported them?

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Unknown
And then in as well as for their immigration pathways?

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Unknown
going to literally talk a little bit about that, but I'm just going to add

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Unknown
the horizon or the, the challenges of all the changes and in, in immigration laws and regulations and rules. And it's been a quite a journey and a dynamic. So, you know, fortunate that, you know, Jody Lee has, has definitely, done her, you know, started doing the research.

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Unknown
We have work on some of our more complex cases with an immigration, lawyer, who like Reese Pakistan from, I'm not, I'm not. I don't have to tell him because he is well known around Manitoba as, very solid, and knowledgeable. And so some of our key positions that we've had to recruit and more challenging, we've actually utilized him.

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Unknown
But, you know, we've done different, different things. So I'll let Jodi Lee talk some of the things that we've done to support our, our folks.

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Unknown
Yeah. So we would identify a role that is difficult to hire. So I'll speak for one example. About three years ago, we realized that hiring welders was going to be a challenge.

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Unknown
We were coming up with a strategy to not only retain the welders we had, but also to hire, more welders because it was such a key piece of our production department, and we were not having great success in sourcing from the Interlake area for our Arborg facility. So we thought about, different options. And one of them was to hiring foreign workers.

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Unknown
So we found an agency in Alberta that helps Canadian companies do this sort of thing. So they do a lot of the the legwork. They actually go to the, the go to the country and find people and vet them. And then we interview them and, and take, take over the process there. So we worked with the company that went to the Philippines as the country that they work with.

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Unknown
And they've had great success and they found us at the time, we were only going to apply for 2 or 3, and we ended up hiring five from the Philippines. And so that was a year long process to actually get. We started interviewing in February of 2021, and they got here on a chilly January day in 2020, 2023, I think.

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Unknown
So 2022 we started and then they got here in 23. And I tell you, it was an eye opening experience for them to come in January of all time. So we know they're committed. Yeah. To the, to the work. But it was a, it was a process where there was a lot of hoops to jump through. But luckily we had an agency that was helping us.

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Unknown
So we have done we have gone through that process as well, to get people here from other countries and resettle them. So that was a big learning experience for us. And the challenges that come with that finding housing, getting them supports that they need to get their driver's license, their medical card, all of that stuff. So we did a lot of that as a company, helping and supporting them.

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Unknown
We've also on a case by case basis, it's a role that's difficult to fill. And the employees work permit is, you know, expiring. And we we have entered into an agreement with them so that we can get their work permit extended. However, it's not something we do a lot of. We're very supportive of people applying for permanent residency, and so we give them the documentation that they need in order to get their applications filled out.

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Unknown
So we we obviously want to keep them with our business. And so we'll support them in that way so that they can maintain their status in Canada.

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Unknown
Okay. So that's awesome. So you don't your company doesn't expect very much Canadian experience when you hire. So you're very open to having people apply from abroad if they qualify for a certain trade and so on and so forth.

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Unknown
As long as they have experience, maybe within that field that doesn't necessarily have to be a Canadian experience. You know, it doesn't. And you know, we're well, I think we're a friendly business to newcomers that are already here. You know, we we talk about all the Ukrainians that came, a couple of years ago. And so we were we we saw a huge increase in the amount of newcomers in the Arbor area, particularly that we're from Ukraine.

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Unknown
And so we were a very,

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Unknown
great option for them is what I'm trying to say, because we saw transferable skills. Maybe they they aren't a welder or a painter or a machine operator, but they could do it if we train them because they have transferable skills that we see in other areas from their work experience.

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Unknown
We've got two individuals that come from a marketing background. One is a production team lead, was just recently promoted to a team lead, and one is now working in customer care as an admin. So, you know, there are many reasons to look for these transferable skills based on their experience from their their home country. Yeah. I think it's important for sure to note, we do we value all types of experience.

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Unknown
For us to truthfully, we look mainly most, mostly for the cultural fit, like the soft skills. How does that person fit into our values?

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Unknown
are they kind? Are they are authentic? The emotional intelligence. Are they kind to each other? The those are the fundamentals that we really want to make sure that we're adding to our culture.

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Unknown
Now, obviously, there are some positions that require, you know, we're going to make sure they have the, the technical training or the skills as if it was a welder or an engineer, but ultimately it's the, the, the soft skills, the personal skills that we, we highly value, for, for us, that's what engages, I think them with other people in the organization.

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Unknown
And,

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Unknown
just want that right fit. It's so important that we maintain that culture that was started years and years and years ago, and it continues to really be in our DNA.

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Unknown
You know, right from the CEO to any like, any position, you will hear that constantly. We we've looked at our hiring practices, we want to make sure that there are no barriers.

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Unknown
And, whether it's language or, you know, we obviously, we do not ask for a minimum of grade 12 that, that is no longer a thing that used to be there years ago. Another organization. It is really about the, the fundamentals, the basics that they need. And then we will develop, we will develop, we will we have a lot of programs that we invest in there, development programs, leadership and in-house programs.

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Unknown
So.

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Unknown
And that's I think that's just so important. Exactly. Like, you know,

00;22;38;28 - 00;22;54;21
Unknown
you can train someone, right? It's just they have to have the right attitude. And I think that's that's the key for a lot of a lot of positions and stuff. Yeah. You know, and I think too often all those training programs, you really get to see who's motivated, and who's not, you know, really you mentioned those two.

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Unknown
I know the two you're talking about and they're in English class and they work hard and they're motivated. And as an employer, you see that and then, you know, okay, that person, you know they're going to go far. So yeah, I believe we have another gentleman that, you know, they come from the Ukraine as well.

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Unknown
a he was a professional in a professional type role in back in the Ukraine.

00;23;16;19 - 00;23;39;24
Unknown
So he's come to Vidir he's, engaging in the, probably the higher level English classes. Our vision for him will be, eventually we want to groom him for a manager role. Like, he has the ability and, and the knowhow and is so engaged and his his, you know, obviously, his English is is, is remarkable.

00;23;39;24 - 00;24;00;12
Unknown
He's done really well in that area. So that's the type, person that we want, long term and to retain. So we want to make sure we invest because if we don't invest somebody else. Yeah. Right. But that we, you know, got to make sure that they, see a future with our company. Yeah. No. And I totally agree about that.

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Unknown
I had the opportunity to work with, a group of Ukrainians, and we, we assistance have, selling 75 families and 60 would be in the city of Dauphin. And they have all stayed because they were offered really good jobs, and we provided them with additional English language and so on and so forth. So and they've also progressed, they've been promoted.

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Unknown
And I know one started as labor and now he is supervisor for safety. Like it's unbelievable what newcomers can do if they're provided the opportunity resources and have great employers like yourselves like it's amazing what can be done. Yeah. No, I agree. I think we're seeing success stories all over and and you know, when they immigrated originally, we're probably, I think in our third year now we're ready when they originally came.

00;24;51;16 - 00;25;15;23
Unknown
So. Yeah. Yeah. So it's amazing to see the success stories. You know, I'd be so interested to see, somebody do a highlight or something to acknowledge, just to motivate other people that have the future and, and the patch. And I think that Manitobans and Manitoba companies have, to retain, all these folks that have come over, you know, and, and.

00;25;15;23 - 00;25;21;05
Unknown
Yeah, I mean, it's it's a big passion for me for sure to see that some.

00;25;21;05 - 00;25;31;14
Unknown
let's talk about then how does someone come to work at theater. You know, what is your hiring process. Can you talk a little bit about that. So people listening to the podcast,

00;25;31;14 - 00;25;36;08
Unknown
they go on your site, what's the best way and what does that yeah, whole process look like.

00;25;36;07 - 00;25;55;00
Unknown
You can find our postings on our website Vidir solutions.com. They're linked to indeed as well. So I know that that's a tool that a lot of people use is indeed. We also post on LinkedIn as well. So I encourage newcomers to create a LinkedIn profile. It's such a great way for, for me as a recruiter to connect with you.

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Unknown
So I want to put that plug out there as well. But we we gather the applications and we look at the resume for the for the job that we're hiring for. So if I can give some advice to newcomers is work with someone that can help you with your resume and tailor it to the job that you're applying for.

00;26;14;05 - 00;26;36;03
Unknown
Don't send the same resume to every job posting, right? So I'm looking for that transferable skill, even though the experience might not line up or not might not match. So if I see that we're doing a role for finance, this person may not have finance experience, but maybe they have a background in marketing, or maybe they have a background in some other kind of office admin where attention to detail is important.

00;26;36;05 - 00;26;56;24
Unknown
So I'm I'm going to look for that. Right. So make it so that's transferable. So we review the resumes kind of pull out the high fliers the ones that we really want to engage with. And I call the candidate to do a prescreen. Sometimes I do it over the phone. I'm starting to do them now over a video call, just so that it can be a little bit more personal.

00;26;56;27 - 00;27;16;25
Unknown
I can get to know the candidates, and sometimes I'll even do a prescreen in person. If the candidate dropped off their resume in person, I'll be like, come on in and let me just chat with you for ten, 15 minutes. So it's a free screen to just talk a little bit about experience, answer their questions, because so many applicants have questions that they want to know.

00;27;16;25 - 00;27;34;06
Unknown
And this is a it's a two. It's just two people in a room talking or two people talking over video call. So it feels more comfortable and a little more informal than in a face to face interview. If they get through the prescreen process and it goes well, we do bring them to our facility to interview them.

00;27;34;06 - 00;27;54;19
Unknown
You know, we set it up in a boardroom and sometimes it can be intimidating. But our hiring committees, like I said, are so welcoming. And we always tell the candidate that our job as a committee is to get the best interview that we can from the applicants. So we work, we we coach the applicant through the interview. We there's no tricks involved.

00;27;54;22 - 00;28;18;10
Unknown
And we conduct what's called a behavioral interview, where we want you to draw your answers from your experiences. Our questions are designed to tell us about a time when this happened. What did you do? What did you learn from that experience? And so we talk about a, you know, you know, the situation you were in, the action you took and the direct results of your action.

00;28;18;12 - 00;28;41;01
Unknown
So with the star interview process, I know that's when a lot of, recruiters call is the star interview process. And then so after the interview, we'll let them know, a few days later if they were successful or not. And then we extend them an offer. So that's kind of the very condensed version of how the process goes in that process from start to finish, can take anywhere from 2 to 3 weeks.

00;28;41;04 - 00;28;42;07
Unknown
In general.

00;28;42;08 - 00;29;01;06
Unknown
No, that's that's great. I have a quick question. Just you know, we talked about a LinkedIn there and I and I'm curious because I hear this a lot. What are your thoughts when someone connects with you on LinkedIn. Should they be. My personal opinion is they people should be writing a note, right? You know, why do they want to connect with you?

00;29;01;09 - 00;29;20;06
Unknown
You know, a lot of times people just click that connect button and there's no, you know, what are your thoughts on that? Because to me, that's even the first step of that interview. How are they handling that position? What are your thoughts on that? Yeah, I like the little personalized note with with, a connection, you know, why are you connecting with me?

00;29;20;08 - 00;29;38;17
Unknown
I because I look at their, their profile page and I go, hey, where's the connection? Like, why why the connection? Right. So if you, if you see my profile and you want to connect with me because you're interested in a job that you've seen, just put that in your note and then I it it'll flag it in my brain.

00;29;38;17 - 00;30;03;15
Unknown
And then I'll remember because I get a lot of resumes every week, every month, you know. And sometimes I remember names, but I don't remember every name. But if there's something unique about you and about the connection that we make, I will remember that whether it's something about your picture or something about you, we have common interest or even just the fact that I remember that unique way that we connected.

00;30;03;17 - 00;30;27;25
Unknown
It's always a great way to keep in my my memory. Yeah, I agree. And like how do you how do you stand out? Because sometimes it's true. We get bombarded. I'm terrible with LinkedIn. I, I let everyone in. I'm just that person. That's what I do too or yeah, me too up the top. And then I'm like, and then people will say stuff and start conversations, but that's okay.

00;30;27;25 - 00;30;47;15
Unknown
That's that's who I am. But, I think generally I think it was you and I that we went to a career fair one. They and this lady remember this lady, the student, this young student came up to us, and she had this beautiful coach purse with, like, really nice flowers on it. One that knows me and actually me and jewelry both like coach purses, but she.

00;30;47;15 - 00;31;12;09
Unknown
This lady did not know that. But she stood out for she had this unique, purse that was very dear. And she we engaged in conversations, and I can actually still picture her to this day. So this is kind of it's a simple story, but it actually shows that if you have an opportunity to wear something that's a little bit, you know, a little bit, that stands out, that shows your personality.

00;31;12;12 - 00;31;32;16
Unknown
Recruiters and people will remember that, especially at, events like network, network and do not be don't be shy. Like, just put yourself out there and be confident that because that really, for me, stands out. I love to see that that and somebody that shows up and authentic south of themselves as well. Right. That's very important.

00;31;32;18 - 00;31;58;26
Unknown
Yeah. So ladies, I just want to switch gears just for a moment. One of the biggest things that my clients say to me when, when they start looking at different communities to live within is they often ask, well, what am I supposed to do there? And so with your current workers, what experiences have you had in terms of, you know, the families and where the spouses are working?

00;31;58;28 - 00;32;20;25
Unknown
I wonder if Vidir holds the record for the most spousal units that work at a company. You know, how many conflict of interest things we have to sign and declare? That's a great question. Yeah. It is. And we get that question a lot from newcomers. They've just come into Canada and they're applying for a job. My wife is a share.

00;32;20;28 - 00;32;40;07
Unknown
This is her background or my husband background. Is this. And we say, yes, get them to apply, please. And so we we have a really good referral program where employees are encouraged to refer family and friends as long as it's it's not in a super where the spouse isn't going to supervise the spouse. So we invite those referrals.

00;32;40;07 - 00;33;05;08
Unknown
And so there's a 250, $250 referral bonus if we hire them, and then if they complete their probationary period, either 3 or 6 months, then we give them another $750. So there's a strong incentive for employees to refer friends and family. And we love receiving those applications from family and friends that is to say, hey, beta is a great place to work.

00;33;05;08 - 00;33;31;10
Unknown
Please join us. And so you're there to that. So add in further to that. What often also happens is that we have that principal applicant as you two would be aware of. Right. So you have the principal applicant that's going to go through the immigration process. But quite often actually, it turns out it's the spouse that takes over the process and is able to immigrate quicker for some for just some peculiar reason.

00;33;31;10 - 00;33;55;00
Unknown
Right. So, spouses do actually play, a critical role in immigration. And then, you know, especially where the, the principal applicant's going to land their job. So, so thank you guys for that. And I love your referral program. Oh, really? And I, I, I think we understand that, relocating to our area is, is a family affair, right?

00;33;55;00 - 00;34;21;09
Unknown
It does include engagement and buying and, like, settling in from both, you know, the families, the partners. So we have, I mean, when I talked a little bit about, we had you used to hire, we went through a program and we hired, two Brazilian, folks that were automation specialists, which is really hard to find in Canada.

00;34;21;11 - 00;34;41;21
Unknown
Voters, spouses, you work came and worked for us as well. So, you know, a lot of I mean, Jody Lee has a husband that works in, here with us as well. So we have a lot of people that we will look at their spouse. And if we have, the right fit. Absolutely. Look at bringing them into the organization.

00;34;41;25 - 00;34;47;15
Unknown
It helps absolutely 100% with retention for sure. Yeah.

00;34;47;14 - 00;34;53;25
Unknown
Oh last question Jody. Do any of your positions require French?

00;34;53;25 - 00;35;06;07
Unknown
No, I don't believe so. I haven't come across that yet. We do I don't know, Christina. Do we have sales in France where a customer care rep may need to talk with a French customer?

00;35;06;07 - 00;35;17;03
Unknown
I don't know, but I don't think so. We have a, It's funny you say French because. Because, a few years ago, we actually sold. We had a huge customer in Portugal.

00;35;17;03 - 00;35;28;09
Unknown
And so we worked and but we found that the team there very highly, you know, they spoke French, I mean, sorry, that French, they spoke English.

00;35;28;16 - 00;35;57;22
Unknown
So we didn't have, our director of engineering is Portuguese. I'm Portuguese, so we actually had a few conversations that we actually, had, but that was more for the client base. But we we do not have at that point. Now, that's not saying in the future, if we branched into some of these markets, that we wouldn't look at having, that piece of it, whether it's French or maybe another language, because we are, branching into lots of South America, of markets.

00;35;57;24 - 00;36;20;22
Unknown
We have it and actually we have a salesperson and now an installer, a field service technician that speaks, Spanish, that has a Mexican visa that can actually go in and out of, Mexico without any issues. So, we are seeing a huge expansion in that in that area. Yeah. Just. Yeah, the I would say Spanish would be the more desired language.

00;36;20;22 - 00;36;44;29
Unknown
Other not French just because of where we are going in the market. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. Oh, great. Yeah. I think Lindsay, do we have any other questions? No, I think I think we're at the amazing job. Like just answering everything and. Yeah. Yeah, if I was looking for a position, I certainly would apply to you just say, you know, you're very welcoming and very.

00;36;44;29 - 00;37;04;25
Unknown
You have a lot of great ideas and. Yeah. So great job. And I'm really proud to say that you guys, live and work in rural Manitoba. So. Excellent. Yeah. Thank you for the love it I wish I mean, scratching the surface. Just scratching the surface. We have a great company, and, welcome anyone to come in and look at our opportunities, for sure.

00;37;04;25 - 00;37;25;18
Unknown
And I appreciate so much the opportunity to to speak on this platform. Because we don't get many opportunities to actually tutor often, but, I love it. Thank you. Yes, yes. Well, we want to touch your horn. Yes, that's our goal. We want everyone moving rural. That's, you know, we're both very passionate about growing rule. And there's just so many opportunities.

00;37;25;18 - 00;37;36;06
Unknown
It's more affordable. You know the list goes up. We all know it. We all know the benefits. And so we're really hoping to showcase that. So yes thank you once again for coming everyone. Thank you for listening.

00;37;36;05 - 00;37;38;19
Unknown
And Lindsay, I'll let you sign off.

00;37;38;19 - 00;37;42;23
Unknown
Thanks, ladies. And we'd like all of our listeners to always remember live rural, live well.

00;37;42;23 - 00;37;44;11
Unknown
Well. Thank you.

00;37;47;02 - 00;38;02;19
Unknown
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