Swinging for the fenceWith an enviable cash flow, Highpine Oil & Gas is looking for new opportunities, reports Gary Toushek. Highpine Oil & Gas Limited is a Calgary-based company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas, and gas liquids in western Canada, and currently focused on the Pembina Nisku Fairway in central Alberta. It was incorporated as a private company in 1998 and went public three years ago.

In with the oldGary Toushek learns how Redcorp Ventures Ltd. is employing some innovative methods to make an old mine new again. New commodity prices for base minerals and precious metals are good reasons to revisit an old mine that produced faithfully for seven years.  The Tulsequah Chief mine is located at the juncture of the Tulsequah and Taku Rivers in a remote part of the northwestern corner of British Columbia, very close to the Alaskan border, not far from Juneau. Originally mined by a subsidiary of Cominco Ltd.

The US government has charged a Netherlands-based oil trading firm with manipulating crude oil prices in the first civil complaint since energy regulators began a new investigation into wrongdoings in energy markets.┬á The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) accused Optiver Holding, two of its subsidiaries and three employees with manipulation and attempted manipulation of crude oil, heating oil and gasoline futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange.┬á The CFTC, the governmentÔÇÖs main regulator of commodity markets, said the accused tried to ÔÇ£bang the closeÔ

Silver buckshotTriMet, the Portland regionÔÇÖs transit district, uses a variety of strategies to keep people moving around the city economically and efficiently, Gary Toushek learns. The early years of public transit in the Portland, Oregon, area were precarious to say the least. About 35 different entitiesÔÇöpublic, private, or combinationsÔÇötried over the course of a century to create a workable transit system, but none was successful. With Rose City Transit facing bankruptcy, the state legislature stepped in and created TriMet in the late 1960s.

In with the oldGary Toushek learns how Redcorp Ventures Ltd. is employing some innovative methods to make an old mine new again. New commodity prices for base minerals and precious metals are good reasons to revisit an old mine that produced faithfully for seven years.  The Tulsequah Chief mine is located at the juncture of the Tulsequah and Taku Rivers in a remote part of the northwestern corner of British Columbia, very close to the Alaskan border, not far from Juneau. Originally mined by a subsidiary of Cominco Ltd.

Getting into shapeMountain States Health Alliance is busy constructing new capacity and replacing old buildings as it cuts operating costs and improves care and service, Mark Moody tells Ruari McCallion. The new Franklin Woods Community Hospital in Johnson City, Tennessee, is showing the community the shape of things to come from the Mountain States Health Alliance (MHSA). ÔÇ£It isnÔÇÖt a conventional square or rectangular building; itÔÇÖs been designed in a Z-shape, which enables it to both provide the space we need and also preserve the natural environ

Improving to thrive Despite dark times for much of the industry, Intermet Corporation believes the next 18 months will be bright ones as it continues to reap gains from lean manufacturing and related initiatives, Keith Regan reports. As a major supplier to the automotive industry in the United States, itÔÇÖs easy to imagine Intermet Corporation girding for the worst.

From refuse to re-use

Keith Regan reports on how steps being taken today by IESI’s Seneca Meadows landfill reflect a strong belief in doing right by the community.

The Seneca Meadows landfill in central New York State has a long track record of innovation in the environmental area. That reputation helped attract the interest of IESI, a Fort Worth, Texas, solid waste management firm with operations across much of the US, which bought the landfill in 2003. Two years later, IESI merged with BFI Canada Income Fund.

Building on innovationWith a new CEO in place, the consumer division of Husqvarna is aiming to expand on a culture of innovation in products and process alike, as Keith Regan learns. The name may not roll off the tongue of Americans just yet, but Sweden-based Husqvarna is already the worldÔÇÖs largest maker of outdoor power equipment, such as lawn mowers, chainsaws and portable garden trimmers and pruning tools, as well as a top provider of specialty cutting tools to the construction industry.

Perfecting improvement While lean and continuous improvement have been part of the culture for some time at Flowserve Corp., Keith Regan learns how the company is looking to extend its initiatives into supply chain and logistics. Although Flowserve Corp. celebrated its 10th anniversary only recently, the companyÔÇÖs roots reach back more than 200 years to the 1790 founding of Simpson & Thompson. TodayÔÇÖs Flowserve, based in Irving, Texas, was formed by the merger in 1997 of BW/IP and Durco International.