As we say good bye to 2011 and look forward to the future with anticipation, I think it is important to say thank you to all those individuals and organizations who have contributed to BOWEN’s success this year. Simply put, 2011 was an incredible year. We are so thankful for the opportunity to work with many of Canada’s top companies, providing workforce solutions that contribute to their productivity and profitability. Whether it was providing recruitment services, flexible workforce management or outsourced human resources, our clients continue to look to us to provide innovative, effective staffing solutions, and we thrive on the challenge.
As the job market rebounded in full force, our recruitment team was privileged to work with talented candidates, placing hundreds of people into temporary and permanent roles across many different industries. We look forward to continuing to connect bright people with bright futures next year.
This year also saw BOWEN move into new offices in the Beltline district and refresh our corporate identity. However, perhaps we were most excited about the launch of our formal community investment program and SHINE Fund. While we have always been deeply committed to giving of our time and resources to make our community a better place, this year we kicked it up a notch by giving approximately $55,000 to help vulnerable families.
We gave the gift of food by supporting the Community Kitchen of Calgary. This means that kids who are going to school hungry received nutritious, delicious lunches, and had the chance to learn about proper nutrition so they can teach their families how to eat well and make wise food choices. Partnering with Boardwalk Equities and Parks Calgary Foundation, we built a fully accessible playground in the community of Alberta Park where kids of all ages and abilities have a fun, safe place to play and families have a beautiful playground to enjoy together with their neighbours. We also gave the gift of hope as a presenting sponsor of the Scott Smed Invitational Golf Tournament. In addition to supporting Community Kitchen and Parks Calgary, money raised at this tournament went to infancy and pregnancy loss programs that offer comfort and care to families who have gone through the traumatic experience of losing a newborn child.
On behalf of the BOWEN team, I would like to extend our deepest thanks to our clients, candidates and partners who made 2011 an incredible year. Happy New Year to all of you and we look forward to achieving even greater things together in 2012!
