ince or hosting networking events where
members can see firsthand how another
business within their industry operates
and benchmark themselves.
OPPORTUNITIES TO FIND
NEW CUSTOMERS
It’s a proven way to help STIQ members
gain access to potential customers out-
side of their regular client base, Blanchet
said. Even if a member doesn’t qualify to
work with a particular customer or OEM
— they might be missing a specific per-
mit or certification — it helps to learn the
changes needed within the company that
would allow them to do business with that
customer in the future. The opportunity for
learning and improving business practices
is a key benefit for STIQ members.
That’s important in an industry that can
experience its share of challenges. Some
of STIQ’s members have been growing
steadily over the past three or four years,
while others are still feeling the effects of
the 2008 recession. For example, each year
STIQ performs an industrial study with 400
manufacturing SMEs and they’ve found
“We have to go out, spread the word and tell other sectoral organizations that we’re there
to work with them. We have close relationships with OEMs and smaller companies, we
can help manufacturers find customers and we have our supplier improvement program.
This can be applied to many industries.”
NOVEMBER 2015
H
business elite canada
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