The Top 100 Shows Much
  

Welcome to MANITOBA BUSINESS Magazines 23rd edition of the Top 100 Companies Survey. This is the edition that puts a face and statistics to some of the many private and Crown corporations which contribute jobs and taxes to our province.

By providing more than 120,000 jobs The Top 100 Companies participants are of significance to the well being of our commercial sector which is the lifeblood of the economy. By having the people who own or manage companies in our community, we are all the better off as their talents are not just spent at work.

In presenting the companies they run, our job is to collect data, the most sensitive of which is gross sales, only one measure of performance. The jobs column is key and the most important statistic of all. I should not that the listing is missing some larger private companies, which should have been included such as poultry processor Dunn Rite Food Products; wood products conglomerate, Prendiville Industries; pump maker, Monarch Industries; farm implement maker, MacDon Industries.

For their own reasons they chose not to participate for reasons of privacy.

To those companies who did participate, I thank them warmly, as they have given us a better understanding of our economy and where the jobs are.

Manitoba Finance statistics show Manitobas economy grew by 3.2 per cent in 2005, slightly higher than the national average of 3.1 per cent. The gross domestic product grew by 2.9 per cent 2005, equal to the Canadian average, despite the hike in the C$.

There are some remarkable income increases on the listing. EPIC Solutions, at (81), a small Winnipeg software company, grew iits gross revenues by 100 per cent. According to Dave Reid, the companys president, the revenue came from work gained from a large client.

Another big winner is, base metal miner, HudBay Minerals Inc., (HDM) at Flin Flon, which had tremendous increases in gross sales based on the higher prices of their commodities. HudBays gross sales grew from $13 million in 2004 to $652 million in 2005 as the world price of zinc and other base metals shot up. Oil prices at $70 plus a barrel sent the income of Manitoba oil driller, Tundra Oil and Gas, to $176 million in 2005 from $103 million in 2004. Tundra jumped from (56) on the listing in 2004 to (32) in 2005. The company is a subsidiary of grain merchant James Richardson & Sons Ltd. of Winnipeg.

A positive year was had by St. Anne Co-operative Oil Ltd. Assistant manager Henry Nickel says the coop enjoyed an 18 per cent real growth in volume of sales over 2004. The co-op has been operating since the 1931 and currently has 11 outlets in southern Manitoba with a 12th under construction. Among the co-ops strengths are several commercial trucking accounts.

As for accomplishments we offer Mark Wires Battle written by Michael Forest. It is a interesting story of gritty determination to lose weight.

And finally, a cheer for the people who brought you this months special edition. Melissa Crittin, Magazine Operations, for her persistence in bringing in 100 companies and Corporate Advertising Manager Annica Fiege who predicted she would hit her numbers and did. To all those companies and advertisers who participated to the benefit of our readers, we appreciate your wise decision.