Messages from the CEO
Check out the latest COVID-19 updates and messages from Black & McDonald CEOs.
Everyone, Well, that didn’t take long. In the two weeks since my last message, Omicron has laid siege to the world and new cases are exploding at growth rates unseen at any moment of [...]
Hello Everyone, You will not be surprised to know that I am all-in on the promotion of words. In case you missed it, the dictionary people Merriam-Webster announced their Word of the Year recently. [...]
Everyone, Summer’s end is always bittersweet. Labour Day isn’t really end of summer. Astronomically speaking, that would be the fall equinox that occurs this year on September 22 here in the northern hemisphere. But it [...]
I sometimes hold it half a sin To put in words the grief I feel; For words, like Nature, half reveal And half conceal the Soul within. But, for the unquiet heart and brain, A [...]
Everyone, Over this past weekend, we suffered our darkest hour of the pandemic as a company and a community. A gentleman who worked for us in our Western Industrial group died Saturday in a northern [...]
Everyone, And that’s where the hornet stung me, and I had a feverish dream. I imagine most Canadians my age recognize that lyric from The Tragically Hip’s “Ahead by a Century”. A memorable song written [...]
Everyone, It has been a while since my last update. It is not that I consciously decided to skip February. It just turned out that way. I prefer to strike a hopeful tone in my [...]
Everyone, I am not big on New Year’s resolutions during the best of times. Not that I don’t have plenty to improve upon. It’s just that smaller, simpler and more frequent plans have always worked [...]
Everyone, I recently came across a newspaper recap of the pandemic crisis entitled “COVID-19 Year One”. I didn’t read the article. I never made it past the title. The “COVID-19” part was hardly surprising. I [...]
Everyone, It is safe to say that COVID-19 is currently laying a beating on us. A bad one. Case counts are exploding in many of our communities in Canada and the United States. It is [...]
Everyone, So much of our conversation during this pandemic has focused on sacrifice. The ongoing actions, large and small, that we are collectively and personally required to do to stop the spread of this coronavirus [...]
Everyone, Halloween was effectively cancelled here in Toronto this past weekend. The trick-or-treating was deemed imprudent given the recent resurgence of COVID-19 cases. There were still pumpkins and decorations and some kids prowling round in [...]
Everyone, We celebrate Thanksgiving this weekend here in the Great White North. Technically speaking, the holiday is on Monday but no one gets too fussy about when the celebratory meal occurs. Though transformed by modern [...]
Everyone, It has been nearly three weeks since my last update and the hard realities of this pandemic are coming to the forefront once again. In B&M, we experienced four new infections during this time, [...]
Everyone, It happens every year. I still feel that same tinge of dread and nervous excitement that I experienced as a kid on the first of September. That old program, etched there in my memory, [...]
Everyone, Apologies for skipping a week but I took some time off and tried to keep the laptop closed. I did reasonably well. We are now at Day 157 since Canada experienced its 100th case of [...]
Everyone, We continue to experience new cases of COVID-19 infection within our B&M ranks. My last message did not account for two other emerging incidents. To get everyone caught up, I can tell you that [...]
Everyone, We have two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 within the B&M ranks since my last update. Both have occurred in our Kansas City operation and fortunately the individuals are recovering without serious issue thus [...]
Everyone, “Are we there yet?” There aren’t many of us who haven’t uttered these words from the back seat of the car on a long journey or fielded this question while at the wheel. This [...]
Everyone, I had a good week. I visited two of our locations – our Southern Ontario hub at Pullman Court in Toronto and our Southwest Ontario office in Stoney Creek. Both are relatively short drives [...]
Everyone, We experienced a new confirmed case of COVID-19 amongst our employee group in the past week. It is a cautionary tale that highlights the dangerous and unpredictable nature of the virus. An FM site [...]
Everyone, As I promised in a prior message, here is a more “business-y” update further to the recent completion of our year-end forecasts and a lookback on our first 100 days since Canada and the [...]
Everyone, Complacency is a silent and relentless adversary. It impedes our ability to perform effectively, to adapt and improve ourselves, and to do things right. With respect to safety, we strive to be free from [...]
Everyone, “What if these are the good old days?” This wry observation was made by comedian Conan O’Brien recently. It isn’t most uplifting of thoughts but I think the underlying message is important: we will [...]
Everyone, It has now been over two months since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic and health authorities across North America began instituting social distancing rules and public restrictions everywhere we live [...]
Everyone, We have witnessed many encouraging signs in the past week. The pandemic math is improving in the majority of our communities. We remain safely at work. We have no new confirmed cases of COVID-19 [...]
Everyone, In the past week, we confirmed a new case of COVID-19 within our ranks. An employee in Quebec tested positive and remains ill at home with at present. This individual is on temporary layoff [...]
Everyone, When people ask me how the company is doing, I have been using the following analogy of late: “we made a controlled descent to a lower altitude but our aircraft and our flight plan [...]
Everyone, I am pleased to report that we have no new COVID-19 infections within our staff over the past week. Three of the five previously reported cases are fully recovered and the other two are [...]
Everyone, Let’s start with the good news. We have no new COVID-19 infections within our staff over the past week. All five of the previous cases are recovered or well on their way to recovery. [...]
Everyone, Earlier this week, someone thoughtfully asked me how I am doing and how I am coping. Quite honestly, I am not sure I am doing or coping better than anyone else but I am [...]
Everyone, Here is my update as of midday Saturday. We have 3 known cases of COVID-19 infection within the company and 1 case in a joint-venture company to date. Fortunately none of these people have [...]
Everyone, Today I want to share some thoughts about the safety of our field workforce as it relates to COVID-19 exposure. During a normal workday, B&M’ers in both the field and office manage a wide [...]
Everyone, Clearly the flaw in this weekend is that the week has not yet ended for many. I understand and truly appreciate how hard everyone is working, day and night, to put the pieces of [...]
To All, The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has materially changed the way that we live and work. Black & McDonald has responded admirably thus far and we are so proud and grateful for the tireless effort [...]
On behalf of Black & McDonald’s COVID-19 Crisis Management Team (CCMT), I am providing this update for all employees of Black & McDonald, its subsidiaries and joint ventures as of Monday, March 23, 2020. We [...]
Everyone, Much has happened since my message on Monday but the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to the health and wellbeing of our people and our company remains consistently serious. I assure you that [...]
To the Black & McDonald community, The COVID-19 pandemic is a complex, extraordinary and dangerous crisis that is changing rapidly hour by hour. While much remains unknown about the virus and uncertain about the outbreak, [...]
