ONTARIO - Introduced to the world of logistics while temping early on in her career, Rosemary Marr went on to build a world-renowned shipping company, Transera Group of Companies. Last week Rosemary and 4 other women entrepreneurs were honoured for their outstanding achievements in business, at the 10th annual Rotman Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Awards for 2001.

"We are proud to be celebrating ten years of entrepreneurship," said Rotman School Dean, Roger Martin. "Tonight the Canadian women entrepreneurs we are honoring have relentlessly pursued innovative and unique business strategies to create value in the economy and for their customers. They have combined attitude, creativity, risk-taking and ambition to become industry and global leaders. We truly believe that these Awards help encourage and inspire the kind of integrative thinking that will help Canada compete in the new millennium."

And now to meet the five top achievers selected this year ...

Start-Up Award
Kim McArthur, McArthur & Company Publishing Ltd., Toronto, ON. Presented by Deloitte & Touche.

Kim became an entrepreneur when Time Warner announced it was closing Little Brown Canada, the company she had started and run since 1987. The folding of Little Brown left one player in the Canadian publishing industry. When Kim started her own publishing company, McArthur & Company, she gave the leaders a run for their money.

Started in 1998, the company is now the second largest Canadian-owned publisher of Canadian fiction with sales of over $10 million. In its short history, McArthur & Company has published 20 bestsellers, including 6 Giller prizewinners. For the last two years Kim’s company has published the top selling adult fiction novel in the country with Mave Binchy’s novels Tara Road (1999) and Scarlet Feather (2000).

Innovation Award
Jody Steinhauer, President & Chief Visionary Officer, The Bargains Group Ltd., Toronto, ON. Presented by Ford Motor Company of Canada.

When Jody graduated from the International Academy of Fashion, Merchandising & Design she received awards as the most promising student and in academic excellence. As an entrepreneur she has more than lived up to the initial promise her former teachers saw in her.

Jody’s company, The Bargains Group, provide wholesale deals on men’s, women’s and children’s clothing for national, local retail chains, and small independent stores. With The Bargains Group Jody saw an opportunity to carve out a special market niche that provided clothing for the needy.

As the social and non-profit sectors have seen their financial resources dry up, more corporations want to make giving an important part of their community involvement. Jody’s company has stepped in to fill the gap acting as a go between by taking the corporate donations and delivering them to the non profit organizations. Not only has Jody made The Bargain Group time-effective and need-specific she has increased the company’s buying and giving power by almost 400%.

Impact on Local Economy Award
Linda Knight, CEO, CarePartners, Belgrave, ON. Presented by Bank of Montreal.

Growing up in rural Huron County Linda had first hand knowledge of the dynamics and challenges of small communities. She used this knowledge along with her training as a Registered Nurse to start her own home-based nursing agency, Community Nursing Services in 1983.

In 1991 Linda opened McKeeva, a second home nursing agency in Owen Sound. Government changes to home health care forced Linda to fold her private sector business and register the agency as a non-profit. The changes also meant becoming an employee of McKeeva.

More government changes in 1996 meant that Linda could re-privatize her business. Using her new skills in business management Linda took the opportunity to build a new company. McKeeva became CarePartners, a name that Linda felt better reflected the nature of the patient and client relationship. In the last five years CarePartners has increased its revenues to $12 million. Linda and her small staff team now manage over 500 registered and practical nurses from a number of support offices in the region.

Export Award
Rosemary Marr, President & CEO, Transera Group of Companies, Calgary, AB. Presented by Export Development Corporation.

It was a temporary Girl Friday position that introduced Rosemary to the world of freight forwarding. Rosemary left the first company for a more forward thinking competitor in Vancouver. When the opportunity to head a new office in Alberta came up Rosemary jumped at the chance. There she worked around the clock to increase sales while maintaining low overhead. Under her charge the Alberta office soon outpaced it’s Vancouver counterpart in total sales.

Rosemary started Transera in 1985, a company that has made its reputation managing project logistics in the mining and oil industries. Over the years the former office assistant has increased her revenues from $1 million to $42 million. An industry leader in freight logistics to the former Soviet Union, Transera has generated more than 40% of it’s sales abroad. That figure is expected to double in the next five years through acquisitions and global expansion.

Lifetime Achievement Award
Doreen Braverman, President, International Flag & Banner Inc., Vancouver, BC. Presented by Women's Television Network.

Doreen got wrapped up in The Flag Shop after ten years as an elementary teacher and associate professor at Simon Fraser University. The Flag Shop, the first full service shop of its kind in North America, has gone on to achieve number one status in this relatively small market.

Doreen has also found a niche for herself in the billion dollar banner market. Scott Paper went to Doreen after searching all over the world for someone to make a quilted banner. The Flag Shop specializes in short runs of printed and sewn banners. Doreen has also received requests from the film industry because of her willingness to deal with any number of unusual textile requests.

You may have seen her work at the Calgary Winter Olympics (1988), the Calgary Stampede (1982-2001), Expo 86 in Vancouver, or the Royal British Columbia Museum’s Leonardo di Vinci Exhibit in Victoria (1998).

Nominations for 2002 can be made starting November 23, 2001. For more information go to the website at www.cweya.com.

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