While I have had many interesting experiences and enjoyed many challenging opportunities, one of my strongest was several years ago. We have a remote First Nations client that had been having issues with their inventory (mostly residential construction materials) and had qualifications in their audit report. Leadership at the First Nation did not want this qualification so we were tasked with performing the count for them. This involved first completing a count in November to establish a baseline of inventory, and then costing, so the year end cost would hopefully go more smoothly. Myself and a team of two others took the small plane north of the Arctic circle to do this, we had two days. We landed at 11:00 a.m. and the sun was about an inch above the horizon. We spent the daylight hours counting all the outdoor sites, (of which there were a few scattered around the community), as well as the lumberyard. Then the evenings (beginning at 3:00 or 4:00 p.m.) focused on the inside locations of which only one was heated. The second day was spent counting items accumulated over the years from various building projects in the dimly lit, windowless attic of the shop with our wooden pencils and mittens, (ink might freeze and mechanical pencils might not function properly). The challenge was first figuring out what something was, (if it was labeled or had a brand and serial number that was a win), then counting it by some measure (length, units, volume, weight, etc.), and transcribing that onto our count sheets hoping we'd be able to locate a price for it later. Eventually, after about 9:00 p.m., one of the team suggested that CPA Canada should add a segment of us shivering in the dark, cold room of random materials to their promotional campaigns establishing the brand for the new designation. The task was certainly a challenge and something unique, but we had fun on the project. It is an example of the varied opportunities Crowe MacKay is able to provide to its team members and clients that is difficult to find somewhere else.
Peter Woodruff
Partner, Whitehorse