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staff newsletter

DECEMBER 2023

DECEMBER 2023

A Heartfelt Thank You and Exciting News for the New Year!

As we approach the end of another remarkable year, I wanted to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude to each and every one of you. Your hard work, dedication, and unwavering commitment have been the driving force behind our collective success.

As I've mentioned before, I am incredibly excited about the future of ABI, and it is with great pleasure that I announce a Townhall on January 18th at 7:30 AM. This gathering will be an opportunity to highlight the new developments we've made with Karmadharma, showcasing the strides we've taken together and the exciting path that lies ahead.

I encourage all of you to join us for this important event as we come together to celebrate our achievements, discuss our vision for the future, and foster an even stronger sense of community within ABI.

In the spirit of the upcoming festivities, I want to wish each of you a well-deserved and rejuvenating week off. Take this time to rest, recharge, and spend quality moments with your loved ones.

Happy Holidays to you and your families! I look forward to the great things we will achieve together in the coming year.

Bill Toutant

Real Estate Update
 

As we’ve mentioned in the past, our lease on St. Laurent expires at the end of October, 2025.  Both ABI and the industry have changed significantly over the almost two decades that we’ve been in this building.  Changes in the market and our restructuring of the remanufacturing division have reduced our warehouse space requirements, and we feel that a smaller, more intimate showroom would be a better environment to show our current range of products.   Consequently, we’ve begun working with our real estate advisers to find a suitable location for a small (~ 6,000 square foot) downtown showroom.  If we can find the right location, we hope to have it open by the end of summer 2024.  While it might seem strange to be thinking about opening up downtown when we still hear stories about the reduced activity in the core, our two major competitors, Teknion Direct and Burovision, have facilities downtown, and leaders in the design community have told us that customers would find it much more convenient to visit our showroom if it was located closer to our competition.

As for the office and warehouse, it’s a bit early to start the search for a new building, but we will begin in earnest by April of next year.  We’ll be looking to reduce our current square footage, with a smaller, more efficiently laid out warehouse and enough office space to comfortably house our current and future staff.  One of our prerequisites is that we remain in the same general area, so our commute to work should not change significantly.

We’ll continue to update you on our progress as we have more information to communicate.

Joel DiBartolo

Holiday Party

Operations Update

Busy Times Ahead! A Glimpse Into Our recent Activities and Exciting Developments

As we move into Government Year End, we find ourselves amid our exceptionally busy period. As it stands, we are now booking jobs into February. To ensure we stay on top of our commitments, we've enlisted the support of four different Sub-Contractors. This allows us to maintain the quality and efficiency our clients expect, helping us meet the demands of our growing workload.

Product Training: Elevating Our Expertise in Systems Furniture

We recognize that the strength of our team directly impacts the quality of service we provide. As the demands and dynamics of our industry evolve, investing in our people becomes not just a priority, but a necessity. Training is the cornerstone of professional development, and item powers our team to stay ahead of the curve, ensuring that we deliver excellence in every project.

We've observed an increase in Canadian Content focused Furniture Bids (PSIB), reflecting a growing demand for locally sourced and manufactured solutions. In November, a small group of Installers, Project Coordinators, and members of the CAD Department, participated in Systems Product Training hosted by Artopex. This training was geared towards enhancing our knowledge and skills, ensuring that we deliver top-notch results as we prepare to install two floors of Systems furniture soon.

Also, this month we were delighted to host Kris Napior, the new Haworth Tech representative, for an insightful visit. Kris's expertise proved invaluable as he addressed wire management challenges on our Compose Echo Desks in the CAD area. This collaborative effort ensures that our workspaces are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional.

Kris also took the time to visit some of our job sites, witnessing our team in action. One notable installation involved six (6) Hush Phone Booths and one (1) Hush Meet. Kris's firsthand experience allows us to align our practices with the latest industry standards and innovations.

We are excited about the positive impact this training will have on our operations and, ultimately, on the satisfaction of our clients in the future.

Employee Highlights

Anniversaries

A big congratulations to the following employees for your hard work, passion, and dedication to ABI! Each one of you have truly made a difference. Here's to many more years!

5

years

10

years

15

years

25

years

30

years

Amanda Martindale

Alice Smith

Samantha Glover

Don Churchill

Richard Parise

Sofia Polimenakos

Kevin Organ

Steven Roy

Jeffery Lessard

Heather Royer

Fernando I. Barcelos

Genevieve Brochu

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Anniversaries

A big congratulations to the following employees for your hard work, passion, and dedication to ABI! Each one of you have truly made a difference. Here's to many more years!

Amanda Martindale

Sofia Polimenakos

Jeffery Lessard

Fernando I. Barcelos

Genevieve Brochu

Alice Smith

Samantha Glover

Kevin Organ

Richard Parise

Don Churchill

Steven Roy

Heather Royer

Bill Toutant

Holiday Party

Joel DiBartolo

DECEMBER 2023

staff newsletter

DECEMBER 2023

Operations Update

Employee Highlights

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5

10

15

30

25

Real Estate Update
 

A Heartfelt Thank You and Exciting News for the New Year!

Busy Times Ahead! A Glimpse Into Our recent Activities and Exciting Developments