LOOKING AHEAD The energy sector in Canada and the U. S. is not at its darkest hour yet. Companies that have been hurting will continue to do so for some time and may not be able to hold on. This will continue to affect the economy. Despite this, there is hope. Canada is more diverse than the energy sector. Agriculture is strong, the resource sector is stable and innovation is rapidly occurring. We are also through our disruptive election cycles( something the U. S. has yet to look forward to). People and businesses are regrouping. The boom in the west that fueled the overall Canadian economy is over. A new normal( of hopefully moderate growth) is upon us and Canadians will rise to the challenge once again. Flaman Group of Companies has spent the last 18 months downsizing its inventories. Now, we are adding again and rightsizing them. Things are turning around and there is a lot of opportunity in Canada. We just have to work a bit harder to create it.
Statistics and research for this article was gathered from: Royal Bank of Canada Economic updates, Statistics Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Economic Development Canada, SSI, The Globe and Mail, Canadian Broadcast Corporation. Steve Whittington is Vice President of Marketing and Customer Experience for Flaman Group of Companies a short line agriculture equipment and trailer dealer with 10 locations in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Steve is also Managing Director of Graphic Intuitions a Digital Marketing Agency. For more of Steve’ s thoughts, blogs and podcasts go to: www. stevewhittington. com and subscribe.
76 NATDA Magazine www. natda. org