If his alma mater hadn’t accommodated his learning disability and convinced him to not drop out of college, Mark Carl wouldn’t be a nominee for a 2023 Premier’s Award. Instead, he’d be one of the clients he helps.

“My professors knew I understood the coursework and had what it takes to complete the assignments,” Carl said. “But I didn’t, and it was a real struggle for me. It wasn’t until they encouraged me to talk to a Learning Resources counselor to arrange academic accommodations that I decided to stay and obtain my diploma.”

Carl, who’s been nominated for a Premier’s Award in the Community Services category, not only went on to graduate from NC’s Business Administration – Marketing program in 1997, he also received a post-graduate certificate in International Trade the same year.

Today, Carl is the CEO of Habitat for Humanity Niagara and leads a team of 300 staff and volunteers who annually fundraise $940,000 to ensure low-income families have safe, secure and affordable homes.

He also oversees three retail ReStores, where new and gently used home improvement items are sold to help contribute to operating costs.

He credits his college-obtained business and strategic planning skills for preparing him for his leadership roles, and for rescuing not one, but two of his employers from financial deficits and putting them into surpluses.

During his six years as Executive Director of the Hope Centre in Welland, Carl restored the emergency homeless shelter’s financial situation through partnerships and donations of $1 million, then heeded the community’s call to transition it into a full-fledged social service hub.

He grew the facility from 4,000 to 16,000 square feet to accommodate seven additional agencies, including a Soup Kitchen (that now serves 8,000 meals annually), Food Bank (that feeds 15,800 annually), Psychotherapy and Additions Counseling (for up to 70 clients, up from 20), Housing Stability programs, and many other support services.

He furthermore secured $3 million through corporate partnerships for an additional 20-unit social housing building, and his team is on track to build more affordable homes than ever: five by the end of 2023, and a total of 30 by 2028. Because of this, 150 individuals in 30 families will escape housing insecurity by qualifying for mortgages that charge only 30 per cent of their income.

This significant increase in construction is made possible through Carl’s prudent business and strategic planning that elevated Habitat Niagara out of a deficit and into a surplus. His team’s four-year fundraising goal is $10 million; $4 million has already been secured.

His time at Niagara College also inspired Carl’s political career. It was a way to tangibly give back to his community by finding collaborative and collective solutions to complex social problems.

Having witnessed firsthand how lived traumatic experiences–often from childhood–trap individuals into cycles of socioeconomic strain, Carl spent much of his 2010-2018 tenure as a Welland city councillor using his collective problem-solving approach to compel community partners, local charities, multi-tiered governments, regional colleges and universities, investors, donors and developers to help solve the multifaceted aspects of homelessness, such as mental illness and opioid addiction.

He served as a board member of the North Welland Business Improvement Area and co-chairperson of Safe Communities Welland, where he worked with residents to make the city the safest place to live, work and play. Carl also helped create the Town & Gown Committee to develop and enhance relationships, communications, and policies among the local college, its students, the City, police, and the community.

In 2018, Carl helped secure $8 million in federal funding for two Niagara Peninsula Aboriginal Area Management Board projects, which provide skills and job training to 150 Indigenous youth.

The empathy of his professors at Niagara College inspired him to persevere through the disadvantages of his disability and dedicate his career to philanthropic organizations, and it was NC’s wholistic approach to accommodating his unique learning needs that motivated Carl to get involved locally to help communally revamp social and affordable housing.

And Carl is giving back to Niagara College, too.

Over the last five years, he has been a strong supporter of the College’s Community Integration through Cooperative Education (CICE) program, which enhances employability for students with disabilities.

To date, 20 college-aged students with significant learning challenges have completed their field placements at Habitat ReStore locations throughout Niagara.

This story is part of a series featuring seven distinguished members of Niagara College’s alumni community, who have been nominated for Colleges Ontario’s prestigious 2023 Premier’s Awards.

Double your impact on Nov. 28 

The NC community has a chance to support students in need on Giving Tuesday.

Held on November 28, Giving Tuesday is the world’s largest generosity movement that encourages people to do good and celebrate giving.

At Niagara College, Giving Tuesday focuses on supporting students. Over the past three years, the NC community has collectively contributed more than $30,000 on Giving Tuesday to the Nourishing Minds fund.

This year, the first $10,000 donated to the Nourishing Minds fund on Giving Tuesday  will be matched by an anonymous community partner giving donors a chance to double their impact!

“Every student deserves to have a warm meal and basic essentials at the end of the day, and with support from our generous NC community, we can address food insecurity across our Niagara College campuses with confidence and resilience,” said Emily O’Connor, Development Officer.

On November 28, NC aims to raise more than $12,000 which will purchase 240 gift cards and help 240 students through Nourishing Minds. Since its inception, Nourishing Minds has issued over 8,200 grocery gift cards allowing students to purchase food, toiletries and other life essentials.  In addition to gift cards, NCSAC also hosts the Rise & Shine program on both campuses on Tuesday’s, Wednesday’s and Thursday’s, to provide breakfast items like yogurt, granola bars and juice to students on their way to class.

Donate

For info or to donate visit:

donate.niagaracollege.ca/givingtuesday/.

Jason Ofield–one of Canada’s next-gen retail leaders–is quick to tell you that studying Business at Niagara College was a big factor in fueling his future career success.

But before he set foot on any campus, Ofield had other aspirations: The talented junior hockey player dreamed of becoming a pro–until the time, at a hockey camp for young prospects, NHL superstar Erik Lindros walked into the room. He remembers the moment well.

“When he sat down, the whole bench moved,” Ofield says. “These guys were so big, so incredibly good. I weighed 150 pounds soaking wet. By the end of the week, I knew the dream was over.”

Ofield set his sights on a career with Bulk Barn Foods Ltd, the grocery chain his grandfather started from a single store more than 40 years ago.

To develop his business skills, Ofield enrolled in Niagara College’s Business, Sales & Marketing program. Nights and weekends he worked at a local Bulk Barn store, learning front-line operations in real time. But in class he soaked up everything from strategic planning to consumer behaviour and new venture development.

“Niagara fosters a very specific culture with students, a culture in which you feel comfortable, that allows you to thrive, feel you’re part of something,” says Ofield, whose diploma now hangs proudly in his office. “I knew instantly this was going to be the start of something big for me.”

After graduating in 2006, Ofield spent the next decade working in every department of the company, analyzing processes, meeting employees, absorbing the business plan, and scrutinizing the logistics in stores where customers scoop their own bulk foods from aisles lined with bins and containers.

By 2015 he led a rebranding project to raise Bulk Barn’s appeal and relevance for a broader scope of demographics in a fast-changing, competitive market.

Whatever file he was working on at any time, Ofield knew he had to go the extra mile.

“I needed to show that I deserved to have my job,” he says. “As someone who was third-generation in the family business, I didn’t want people thinking I was there just because I had the name.”

Ofield’s business and leadership skills grew. In 2018, he was appointed President and CEO. Then within 18 months, the entire retail sector got hammered by a stunning crisis that nobody saw coming.

When COVID-19 swept the world in 2020, lockdowns meant that streets were abruptly empty, stores went dark, and commerce was devastated. Canadian retail sales suffered their biggest collapse ever.

Bulk Barns are self-serve operations where shoppers touch the same scoops to serve themselves. With people terrified about contracting the new virus, that business model couldn’t continue. Suddenly the livelihoods of thousands of employees and 275 stores were in jeopardy.

“That was the toughest part, for myself as a leader and for the Bulk Barn brand,” Ofield says. “We didn’t have a pandemic guidebook to turn to, but closing our doors was not an option. Our stores always operated on the self-serve model. Within two weeks of COVID-19 arriving, we realized that we needed to quickly pivot away from that model and figure out another solution.”

Ofield and his team worked 24/7. Within a week, Bulk Barn had online ordering and curbside service up and running, as well as safe in-store shopping. Staff members would be assigned to accompany shoppers and scoop product into their bags. Everyone stayed masked and distanced to protect customers and staff alike.

There were hiccups: It was costly to operate and employees had to learn on the run. But it worked. It saved Bulk Barn and the jobs that supported thousands of Canadian households.

Ofield also credits Niagara College for inspiring the idea behind what he calls “his proudest moment”: launching a reusable container program that empowers shoppers to help protect the environment just by getting their groceries.

As a millennial concerned about the environment, Ofield established “Bring your own container @Bulkbarn”–an initiative where customers can use their own clean reusable containers.

Initially the concept encountered pushback from store managers and others within the company, who worried about hygiene and logistical challenges. But there was also support for the nature of the effort, and Ofield got to work finding solutions for every potential obstacle that was raised.

In 2017, Bulk Barn rolled out the Canadian grocery industry’s first reusable container program. It slowly gained momentum, especially resonating with younger customers who are more passionate about sustainability.

Today more than a million waste-free transactions take place in Bulk Barn stores across Canada every year.

“We empowered consumers to make a difference,” Ofield says with pride, “and they got onside.

“It takes many people to make it work, but its impact continues to grow, and it’s an important impact.”

This story is part of a series featuring seven distinguished members of Niagara College’s alumni community, who have been nominated for Colleges Ontario’s prestigious 2023 Premier’s Awards.

For more than 15 years, Christine White has not only exceled as a leader in the automotive sector, she’s revolutionized how Chrysler technicians across the United States stay on top of the cutting-edge knowledge that’s vital in one of the world’s most competitive markets.

White, who’s been nominated for a 2023 Premier’s Award in the Apprenticeship category, graduated from Niagara College in 2006 with her Automotive Qualifications Certificate, and has gone on to become the lead technical training instructor for Stellantis, the Dutch-based parent company of Chrysler.

It was a career path that fit perfectly with White’s fascination with cars. While in high school, she attended a Niagara College open house and was drawn to the automotive apprenticeship program. Three years and 9,000 hours of apprenticeship work later, she achieved her certificate and also passed her Red Seal certification–an internationally recognized credential that set her apart from others when she moved to the U.S. several years later.

White left NC and began a career that grew steadily as she applied her knowledge at ever-larger Canadian and U.S. car dealerships.

In 2019, she was recruited by Stellantis to oversee operations at its New York City-area training centre and coordinate training seminars for 1,200 technicians across the New York City area and parts of New Jersey and Connecticut.

Then COVID-19 brought in-person teaching at the training center to a halt, despite dealerships still urgently needing training support for servicing new models.
“It’s amazing how much the technology and makeup of cars has changed in 20 years,” White said. “There are more electrical modules in today’s vehicles than in the average house, but we couldn’t teach basic classes in person, and we needed to make training available.”

To offer basic support during lockdown, White recorded a couple of training videos that were accessible online. She had excellent public speaking and photography skills–all self-taught years earlier–and she put them to work to learn how to shoot her own videos.

“I had a leg up because I’d already adapted to videos,” she said. “I knew how to light a camera, ask questions effectively, explain things verbally and visually.”

That training format was supposed to be a temporary solution, but it ultimately transformed how Chrysler keeps its army of staff up with ever-evolving technology.

Today, a library of more than 150 short instructional videos written, illustrated, produced and narrated by White are accessible to 22,000 Chrysler technicians across the U.S.

White says her Niagara College instructors instilled not just knowledge but a passion for excellence. She implores her technicians or students to constantly demand high standards with their skills, too.

“I’m a huge proponent of Colleges Ontario holding people to a national standard,” she says. “I try to share my passion and encourage technicians to take pride in their work. If they take pride in their work, it shows they care, the work gets done right the first time. It makes them feel good, makes the dealership look good, everyone is happy.”

This story is part of a series featuring seven distinguished members of Niagara College’s alumni community, who have been nominated for Colleges Ontario’s prestigious 2023 Premier’s Awards.

A significant commitment to student success at Niagara College was celebrated on November 24 when students, employees and special guests gathered for an event at the Welland Campus to officially mark the renaming of the College’s Athletic Centre.

The new name – the Simplii Financial Athletic Centre – recognizes a generous $1 million sponsorship from Simplii Financial, previously announced in October, to expand recreation and engagement opportunities for students, across sports, extra-curricular programming, and college events.

Gord Arbeau, NC’s Vice President, Advancement who emceed the event, set the stage for the celebration.

“Over the last decade demand for a Niagara College education has grown not only here in Canada, but around the world,” said Arbeau. “Students from more than 80 countries are now drawn to Niagara each year for their studies, and for many of these students, Simplii Financial has eased their transition into Canada through the financial services that they provide.”

“We’re very pleased that Simplii’s connection to our students has now extended beyond banking and into direct support for activities and events that significantly enhance our students’ experience and their overall success,” he added.

NC President Sean Kennedy applauded Simplii’s partnership, noting how CIBC and Simplii exemplify the College’s commitments to being student-focused, innovative, and trailblazing.

“We are grateful for Simplii’s support that will elevate what we can do for students and look forward to working together to round out the student experience to make it the best that it can be,” said Kennedy.

Christian Exshaw, Managing Director and Head, Global Markets & Direct Financial Services, CIBC and Simplii Financial, spoke about the evolution of the Simplii Financial brand and its strong customer focus, highlighting synergies between Simplii and the College’s commitment to students.

“Thank you for the kindness and partnership,” Exshaw said, addressing members of the NC community. “It’s just the beginning,” he added, referring to a continued partnership with the College in support of the student experience.

“When an investment is made in the betterment of students, it leads to them accomplishing their dreams, achieving their biggest goals, and further growing their pride in their education, and the institution where they studied,” said NC Student Administrative Council President Dipal Patel who also spoke at the event.

NC’s Director, Athletics and Student Engagement Michele O’Keefe sparked applause from the crowd when she shared the excitement around having a new name for the Athletic Centre. “Our team is excited to refer to the gym as the Simplii Financial Athletic Centre, especially when calling Knights games,” she said.

Knights student-athletes Jamira Rousseau and Noah Vogel were also welcome guests who spoke about their college experiences.

“Being a varsity athlete can be difficult but with this support from Simplii Financial, it will improve the student athlete experience for our Niagara College varsity athletes to further their skills and become better athletes on the court or field,” said Rousseau, a fourth year student-athlete from the Social Service Worker program who plays on the women’s basketball team.

Vogel, a second-year Broadcasting – Radio, Television and Film student who plays on the men’s soccer team, shared how his love for sport and his program intersect as a varsity athlete and student who has called Knights games and hosted a radio show.

“Simplii’s support will makes these real-life learning experiences even better by funding the latest technology that my fellow students and I will use in the industry after we graduate. It will also enhance our broadcasts of varsity sports and community events,” said Vogel. “On behalf of student athletes at Niagara College, thank you to Simplii Financial for this commitment to help enhance the future of these programs.”

City of Welland Mayor Frank Campion commended Simplii and the College on their partnership, which not only benefits the College, but strengthens the broader community. “The College has great people and great partners who have made the College what it is today,” he said.

Following remarks, guests were treated to an on-campus reception in The Core, featuring a selection of light fare, including a charcuterie display from Chz Plz, owned and operated by NC alumna Marissa Hartley (Culinary Skills, 2015). A custom cake and cookies featuring a banking theme and made by NC bakery and pastry students under the guidance of Professor Catherine O’Donnell, provided a sweet ending to the celebratory event.

“Simplii” supporting students

Simplii Financial’s generous sponsorship will bring NC’s strategic commitment to a wholistic student experience to life by funding exciting new initiatives and activities that significantly enhance the recreational, academic and cultural experiences for students, including:

• Growing in-demand cricket and flag football offerings;
• Supporting varsity athletics, and allowing for important equipment investments in NC’s Broadcasting program, supporting its ability to continue and enhance varsity sports broadcasts that are among the best in Canada;
• And supporting the orientation events that are essential to our students’ success, and celebrations and events that celebrate our college’s rich cultural diversity.