As 2012 begins, I thought it might be nice to share some of 2011’s personal and business highlights with my friends, colleagues, and customers.

For Leslie and me, the year started on a high note as our son Aaron and daughter in-law Rachel returned from Israel to settle in Toronto. They are living in a cozy condominium only a 10 minute drive from our house. As far as we’re concerned this could not have worked out better, as we excitedly await the arrival of our first grandchild in the spring.

Many of you know that Leslie and I usually plan a trip each summer with our good friends Ron and Denise. Well, this summer was no exception. In late July we boarded the Holland America Prinsendam for a three week Arctic Explorer cruise that brought us within 500 miles of the North Pole. The trip was very unique and we were able to travel in comfort to some once-in-a-lifetime locations.
When we stopped in Ny-Ålesund, the world’s northernmost settlement, I was determined to get a picture of myself in my shorts at the local post office. 

I’ve been writing these newsletters for some time in order to provide a regular point of contact with our customers and to share valuable information. The response to the newsletters has always been positive, so I decided to look for ways to improve and broaden our outreach. After a fair bit of searching and consultation, we decided to hire Pixel Dreams  to revamp our website and to help me with our online presence.

The website launched a couple of months ago and it has proved to be a very useful communication tool. We now also have a presence on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. All of this communication works best when the conversation moves two ways, so feel free to join in.
Some of us will remember 2011 as the year that the electric vehicle finally went on sale in Canada. We have already had an opportunity to install chargers for some of these vehicles, including one inside a north Toronto condominium.

Each year we respond to hundreds of calls for service from our customers. Many of these are fairly routine, however each year a few stand out. Midyear we got an urgent call from one of our property managers about an issue with the main 3000 amp. switch in the building. The story had a happy ending, which you can read here. Another call came midday, closer to the end of the year. A 600 amp suite riser had failed the night before, causing numerous floors to lose their power. The culprit was a burned bus bar in a 1200 amp switchboard that damaged the rear of the switch. The problem can be seen here:

We were able to provide temporary power for the suites that day. Unfortunately, the hardware was no longer manufactured, but within a week we were able to fully rebuild the complete board for this customer, returning the gear to as-new condition.

As last year came to a close, we received a call from the plant manager at Cascade in Scarborough. The company used to be called Atlantic Packaging. The call was unique, because we had not done work for them since 2002. I was quite flattered to hear Jeff tell us that he was always pleased with our work and some internal changes had taken place that allowed him to once again invite us to work for Cascade. We have already completed two jobs for them in December and we look forward to continuing the renewed relationship into the new year and beyond.

Wishing you all continued health and prosperity,
Mark Marmer