Manitoba's Top Employers

Much like the passion of Manitoba's hockey fans, True North Sports + Entertainment cannot be held back. Whether through visible expansion, like venue renovations and the rising of True North Square's towers, or internal growth of teams and programs, True North strives to continuously improve and develop. Opportunities to enhance the patron experience and bring pride to the organization and to the city are all in stride with True North's path forward. "Looking back, I don't think we could have envisioned just how diverse and far-reaching True North's portfolio would become. Perhaps our growth is not surprising given the vision and mission that guides our organization and what we desire to bring to our community," says John Olfert, Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer. "We are not growing at the expense of our values, we are growing because of them." Established in 1999 to operate the Manitoba Moose and to formally pursue a multi-purpose downtown sports and entertainment venue, True North has led the way in revitalizing Winnipeg's downtown, one city block at a time. Today's portfolio includes two professional hockey teams, five Jets Gear retail stores, a world-class 15,200- seat arena in Bell MTS Place, the Burton Cummings Theatre, Bell MTS Iceplex, the True North Youth Foundation (Winnipeg Jets Hockey Academy, Project 11 and Camp Manitou), True North Real Estate Development, and on the marketing side, 17 websites and more than 45 social accounts with a reach of more than 1.33 million fans. A new division for 2017 is True North Touring, an extension of concert and entertainment promotion beyond the Winnipeg market. "Change is constant and the bar continues to be set higher, but through culture and engagement, our organization and our people are willing and able to push forward, grow, and meet these new challenges and expectations," says Dawn Haus, Vice-President of Human Resources, who works with the team that leads the many training and culture initiatives for the growing workforce of more than 250 full-time and 1,200 part-time employees. Last year alone, True North created more than 1.4 million patron experiences at 285 sports and entertainment events. Nearly 350 teams, and countless others, enjoyed 12,000 hours of ice time at Bell MTS Iceplex as part of regular season and tournament play. More than 18,000 underserved youth and their families benefited from the True North Youth Foundation's programs. And none of this would be possible without inspired and committed employee teams. Being named one of Manitoba's Top Employers for an 11th consecutive year means that True North is doing something right. So much so, that doing the right thing is one of the organization's four core values. "We have to remember what got us to this point, what drives our every day and, invariably, that is our people," says Haus. "The events that we put on, the programs we run, none of that could happen without our people, and True North's culture values the importance of our people." True North expresses appreciation through perks like the annual holiday skate at Bell MTS Place, team building events like Camp Day and employee hockey, the opportunity to ride on the Jets float as part of the Santa Claus parade, event tickets, and discounts at Jets Gear stores. Accomplishments and milestones are recognized at organization-wide luncheons. Employees are served healthy hot meals on game and event days. Opportunities for learning and development are offered and encouraged, including through initiatives like the principle-based Franklin Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. An employee health and wellness program, onsite gym access, and fully paid health and dental benefits and a matched retirement savings plan are also provided. New this year, True North has piloted Synergy Sessions to help keep employees informed of and engaged in the different areas of business across the organization. These sessions are among the communication tools that help everyone to keep pace in True North's very dynamic environment. Opportunities to volunteer for the foundation and other charitable initiatives also give employees more chances to engage in the organization outside of their own departments, and it is this internal support that fuels many of True North's key events and campaigns. Amid the rapid change and growth, True North stays true by living their values every day, at all levels of the organization, by keeping their mission and vision in close sight, and by operating as one. "At the end of the day, no matter what direction our growth takes us, we are True North and we will get there together," says Olfert. TRUE NORTH GROWING TOGETHER 24 EVERY DAY WE STRIVE TO HOLD OUR VALUES AS AN INARGUABLE TRUTH. WE ARE TRUE NORTH. PROUD TO BE ONE OF MANITOBA'S TOP 30 EMPLOYERS 1617TNSE-HR-014_Top-Employers_Ad-Banner1.indd 2 2016-11-22 9:17 AM TRUE NORTH SPORTS + ENTERTAINMENT HAS A GROWING WORKFORCE OF MORE THAN 250 FULL-TIME AND 1,200 PART-TIME EMPLOYEES. SUBMITTED PHOTO

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