Perfecting the art of relaxation. relax your body, free your mind...

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1 exchange janfeb /28/05 10:59 am Page 10 Perfecting the art of reaxation reax your body, free your mind... STORE HOURS: Tues. - Wed. 9:00AM-6:00PM Thurs. - Friday. 9:00AM-9:00PM Sat. 9:00AM-5:00PM 95 Pee Street New Hamburg (519) exchangemagazine.com JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2006 PHOTOGRAPHY: JON ROHR Bunde up this winter in stye Atria s Steve McCartney, eft and Stu Wison

2 COVER STORY Atria Atria has a vision for growth The first room you enter before you go out to the rest of the panet. BY JON ROHR & PAUL KNOWLES JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2006 exchangemagazine.com 11

3 PROFESSIONAL JANITORIAL SERVICES FOR BUSINESS Speciaizing in Commercia, Industria and Institutiona faciities Ca us for a your ceaning needs: Genera Janitoria & Office Ceaning Carpet Ceaning Foor Stripping & Waxing Interior/Exterior Window Ceaning Utrasonic Bind Ceaning Construction Ceanup Factory Ceaning Computer Ceaning We wi hep protect your Rea Estate investment Te: (519) Wateroo, Ontario Fax: (519) To Free: BONDED & INSURED Member of the Canadian Franchise Association and Better Business Bureau Drivers wanted. Vokswagen Wateroo 550 Weber Street North, Wateroo info@vwwateroo.com COVER STORY More than the name has changed. Atria is a company with vision, and a pan to expand. On September 1, 2005, Atria Networks Inc. came into being with the merger of Fibretech of Wateroo Region and Gueph FibreWired. The new company is now the argest, community-owned teecommunications company providing fibre optic services. Some things have not changed. The personne are the same Steve McCartney, who has headed Fibretech for amost three years, is President and CEO, whie Stu Wison, who was Acting Genera Manager and Vice President of Gueph Fibrewired, is Vice-President of Atria. As we, there were no staff reductions Wison says they have retained a staff members, and McCartney suggests there may even be some additions. I suspect we hire one or two peope quite quicky. The two offices have aso been retained, in Wateroo and in Gueph. Wison aso suggests that the customers shoud see very itte change. But he quicky modifies that statement, pointing out that they wi see the change in new products and services. And therein ies the key. McCartney tod Exchange, Atria Networks Inc is a merger of Gueph Fibrewired and Fibretech. The two companies are amagamating; the area we serve now stretches from Orangevie and Mount Forest to Pusinch and of course we re a of Wateroo Region from end to end. That s a ot of territory. Wison says, It s a natura extension. Our territories are shouder to shouder, our customer base is homogeneous, and the systems in pace are very compatibe infrastructures. It s a very good fit for both of us. McCartney adds that we re very open about the new company s Our territories are shouder to shouder, our customer base is homogeneous, and the systems in pace are very compatibe infrastructures. STU WILSON objectives: We don t want to become huge, but we think we need to become a itte big bigger so the company is arge enough to afford the introduction of new products and new services. It needs a market of a certain size. So has Atria reached its certain size? Not according to McCartney. He insists that Atria is a communitybased company, aware of its commitment to good corporate citizenship in the communities it now serves. We reay are committed to these communities. We don t want to grow any bigger than we can be and sti be committed and known in these communities... But yes, we d ike to grow a itte bit more. McCartney suggests that an idea market woud have a popuation of about 1.3 miion; Atria now serves 600,000. So Atria is aready ooking at its contiguous neighbours, incuding Hamiton, Haton His, Miton, and even Stratford, which offers a very sma one beside us. Working Agreement In addition to officia mergers, such as the one that has produced Atria Networks, Atria is aso invoved in cooperative efforts with other utiityowned teecommunications companies. We do some things for Hamiton, they do some things for us, says McCartney. A of the utiity-owned teecommunications companies ike Hamiton, Wateroo/Gueph, Kingston, Toronto, Ottawa, Hydro One, Mississauga, Windsor, Sudbury, we a work together, we have an agreement between eeven of us. It heps them achieve economies of scae If I can se to a miion popuation for exacty the same investment as haf a miion... says McCartney. However, working with separate entities with their own boards can be tediousy sow, and the Atria CEO 12 exchangemagazine.com JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2006

4 AUDIO VIDEO Atria Management team from eft: Steve Johnston, Network Operations, Brenda Tithecott, Accounting, Kris Eby, Engineering & Construction and Ron Kurtz, Saes. PHOTOGRAPHY: JON ROHR LIGHTING firmy favours the kind of amagamation that took pace between the Wateroo and Gueph companies. Pubicy owned Like its forefathers in Gueph and Wateroo, Atria is entirey owned by the oca hydro-eectrica utiities Wateroo North Hydro, Kitchener- Wimot Hydro, Cambridge-North Dumfries Hydro and Gueph Hydro-Eectric Systems. McCartney has nothing but praise for the vision of these municipa bodies, and for the independence they granted their offspring when it was formed. He says the municipa hydro corporations once known as Pubic Utiities Commissions understand that We need it [Atria] to grow. It has to grow. We have to eave it aone to do its thing. But whie it runs as an independent company, it is the peope of Wateroo Region, Gueph and Weington who own Atria. I hope, says McCartney, that peope wi understand that they own it. It s not our money, it s everybody s money. In the beginning which in this case is ony about six years ago the three Wateroo Region municipa hydro commissions discovered they were a, in a sma way, invoved in the new technoogy of fibre optics, which they had strung aong their existing right of ways. They banded together to bid on a region-wide contract in 1999, to suppy fibre-optic cabe infrastructure for Wateroo Region Education and Pubic Network (WREPNET). In 2001, WREPNET was in operation, providing high speed internet access and other services to over 200 sites in eementary, secondary and post-secondary schoos, municipa offices, ibraries and other pubic organizations across the region. After successfuy competing the contract and in fact overbuiding the infrastructure with an eye to the future the utiity companies reaized that Ontario Energy Board restrictions might imit their abiity to compete in the private sector, so they formed a new, whoy-owned subsidiary, Fibretech. A simiar corporate path was foowed in Gueph. The new independent companies were successfu, operating with a ot of vision in the right market at the right time. And they have continued in that adventurous path under McCartney, for exampe, Fibretech has continued on page 15 STAGING (519) Ottawa St. S., Kitchener JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2006 exchangemagazine.com 13

5 exchange janfeb /28/05 3:17 PM Page 14 COVER STORY Secure Computer Condominium Wateroo Data Fortress reies on Atria f it were not for Atria Networks, Wateroo Data Fortress woud not exist. That s the contention of Miro Forest, and he shoud know he s the founder of Wateroo Data Fortress, which he describes as a tier one, coocation data centre. Which means? We provide a high security, high reiabiity pace where peope can put their web infrastructure or computer networking infrastructure... we provide secure, reiabe hosting, bandwidth and backup services at very affordabe prices. Which means? Think of us as a very secure condominium for computers. That s a pretty good description, even if the previous phrases are more technicay accurate. To date, 35 area companies have chosen to ocate computers at the WDF secure faciity. Forest s company offers a secure enveope for those computers with guaranteed air conditioning, fire safety systems, high-tech back-up generators, and networking. The networking is one of the two important contributions Atria in its earier incarnation as Fibretech made to WDF. The other, according to Forest, was Miro Forest that Atria opted not to go into the of Wateroo I Data Fortess 14 exchangemagazine.com JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2006 coocation business, which some other teecommunications companies have done. Atria stayed focused on its main business, providing fibre optic services, and that eft a niche for WDF, which was founded ess than three years ago. Forest says that Atria recommends his company to its cients. And it is definitey a company that coud not exist without Atria, because Atria provides very reiabe networking. That incudes internet access at whatever speed you woud ike, as we as private virtua channes. Wateroo Data Fortress provides compete backup in its systems; there are two entirey separate fibre routes into the WDF buiding, one aeria and one buried, which connect to two separate points of presence in Atria s network. A of this is to do everything possibe to keep the computers of WDF s cients operating and on ine in the face of power outages and other simiar probems. It works. This past summer,. there were more power outages in Wateroo than in the past five years combined... we just saied through a of them with no down time for the computers in the Atria-connected computer condo caed Wateroo Data Fortress.

6 exchange janfeb /28/05 3:17 PM Page 15 PHOTOGRAPHY: JON ROHR continued from page 13 introduced WiFi hubs and other services. In 2002, they achieved a Canadian first with the aunch of WiFi aong University Avenue, Wateroo, offering untethered digita services to students at Wifrid Laurier and University of Wateroo. That actuay was simpy the first step in what is now the atest Atria project. On October 31, UpTown Wateroo went wireess with the aunch of the UpTown Wateroo WiFi zone, which provides wireess internet access for businesses and individuas who subscribe to the service in UpTown Wateroo. Wateroo Mayor Herb Epp caed it an exciting move for the city. We re proud to be one of the eaders in making wireess internet access avaiabe to businesses and citizens. McCartney points out that this was a joint project of Atria, the city of Wateroo and Uptown Wateroo. Atria now has 700 route kiometers of fibre optics, and serves probaby 200 mid and arge-sized corporations as cients... We are a first cass, wordcass teecom company. Shown at the aunch of Uptown Wateroo;s Wi-Fi Zone from eft, Steve McCartney, Wateroo Mayor Herb Epp, Wateroo CAO, Simon Farbrother and Wateroo Councior Mark Whaey. you enter, a bright, airy, arge room, a gathering pace. So Atria is now the first room you enter before you go out to the rest of the panet. At the time of the merger announcement, McCartney tod Exchange, This positive association aigns perfecty with the company's vision to bring communities together, Atria? It amost seems that the process of amagamating the two forward-thinking fibre teecommunications compa- We think we need to Recipient of the Best Western Internationa s Best of the Best Awards 2003, 2004 & 2005 become a itte Corporatey appointed guest rooms & attractive meeting faciities bit bigger... arge enough to afford the introduction of new products and new services. STEVE McCARTNEY nies was easier than choosing the name for the marriage. McCartney says, I hate to think how many names we went through. The merging companies worked with Copp Communication to find the right moniker. At first we taked of Atrium. This is simpy the pura of Atrium. That s the first room Buyers Laboratory Inc. s Pick of the Year The bizhub C350 won Outstanding Fu-Coour Mutifunctiona Imaging System for Genera Office Appications. It s your a-in-one document soution with fast 35ppm output in B&W & 25 ppm coour. You have a Konica Minota embedded print system, powerfu on-board PageScope software, Scan-to-HDD (Scan-to-User Box) and more even booket-making and Fiery Image Controer with professiona coour management toos! Ca today! JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2006 exchangemagazine.com 15

7 Canada Post is changing the rues. COVER STORY TIME IS SHORT. ARE YOU READY? Switch to digita before it s too ate. INS Inc. is offering incentive pricing if you switch to digita before December 31, PHOTOGRAPHY: LISA DRENTERS PHOTOGRAPHY From eft: Steven McCartney, President & CEO, Atria Networks Inc. Ron Charie, President & CEO, Kitchener Wimot Hydro, Rene Gatien, President & CEO, Wateroo North Hydro, John Grotheer, President & CEO, Cambridge & North Dumfires Hydro, Jim MacKenzie, CEO, Gueph Hydro, Stu Wison, Vice-President, Atria Networks Inc. A Network Soutions Company servicing sma and medium sized privatey hed companies Merger & acquisition Ca today! 75 Northand Rd., Wateroo, ON N2V 1Y8 te fax website Connecting Business Buyers, Seers & Investors strategies and procedures. Businesses for Buyers, Buyers for Businesses. For a compimentary, no obigation consutation, ca today. (519) exchangemagazine.com JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2006 to nurture improved business and community reationships using broadband technoogy. And he added, Wateroo Region and the Gueph area are becoming powerhouse economies in this province. This merger anticipates an expanding need for our broadband services. Atria is a geographic consoidation and a natura move to ensure we can continue to add the products and services these dynamic markets demand. No Going Sow Dynamic markets, indeed. If McCartney is invoved, there wi be dynamism. He came to what is now Atria Networks from Futureway in York Region, where he was founding CEO. However, when the company decided to go into a sow grow, he parted company with the company. Looking to be where the action is, he was at first dubious about a utiityowned fibre company in Wateroo. But I met with the directors, and they said they wanted to be reay competitive. And it s been outstanding... Fibretech was aowed to be totay independent. I have never had a singe ca from one of the hydros saying, What s going on here? They totay understand that it s We are a first cass, word-cass teecom company. got its own board, which has reay been good for this company. And now, amost three years ater, and a coupe of months into the new incarnation as Atria? It s more fun than ever, he says. I never expected to be here, but it s been good. I don t think you understood what you had. When they did that connectivity for the schoos, I think it was the first in Canada. Wateroo had a the schoos on and I don t think anyone ese in Canada did. It s just outstanding. McCartney s marketing savvy kicks in: This was a big dea, but it was so quiet. Why were you so quiet about this? It seems unikey that wi ever be a probem on McCartney s watch. Atria is on the move, and the word is going to know about it. He taks with great enthusiasm about WiFi in UpTown Wateroo; about the decision to connect with Be, to give customers the sort of buet-proof eve that peope expect from someone ike Be; about the continued demand for fibre services; about Atria s intention to get invoved in VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protoco). Stay on ine: there s ots more coming.