smart | entrepreneurs


Fixing to thrill I


Adrenaline Adventures leaves excitement in its wake


t’s a concept you can’t find anywhere else in the world. “There’s nothing like this is North America,” says Jason


Rohs, of Adrenaline Adventures’ acres of outdoor entertainment. “Just to come and experience everything we have in one day at one location… I don’t think you can do that anywhere in the world, quite frankly.” What used to be 50 acres of farmland in


Headingley is now awash with activities throughout the hot and cold months – its wide-ranging activities bundled into one neat little package. In the summertime, Adrenaline Adven-


tures’ premiere cable wakeboarding park comes alive – along with a rope course, ziplines and paintball quarters – not to mention a hub of 20 beach volleyball courts in near-constant use, and touch football and ultimate Frisbee being played on three Canadian Football League regulation-sized fields. “Just sitting here and people-watching is


amazing,” says Jason. Hundreds of people congregate at the adventure park seven days a week all summer due to ongoing programming. Along with the new sports (football and


ultimate) came improvements to the site: a walk-up bar was added next to the volley- ball courts, in addition to the wrap-around patio one floor up at the clubhouse, which serves up beverages and a stunning view of the whole park. How it sprouted


Jason and his wife, Michelle, had origi-


nally planned for a water park akin to Fun Mountain on the acreage, which they felt was missing west of the city. Finding they only needed about 15 acres for a water park, they cast their net a little further. In his research, Jason stumbled on the


concept of cable wakeboarding, which had some modest success in North America and was thriving in Germany.


Beach volleyball courts are in constant use. Paintball can be enjoyed all summer and fall. Cable wakeboarding has caught on with locals since the park introduced it here. Adrenaline Adventures is a playground for adults. “I saw about five different places in the


States and saw there were already 65 in Germany alone,” remembers Jason. He loved how it opened up the lake sport


to anyone who didn’t have a cottage outside the city or boat access. “It’s so simple; you can just show up,” says Rohs. “Not every- one has a boat… It’s allowed those people who’ve always wanted to wakeboard to go wakeboarding.” Te concept is catching on in Winnipeg:


Adrenaline Adventures has seen its wake- boarding memberships shoot up about 40 per cent year after year. Once the cable wakeboarding infrastruc-


ture came to be, another novel idea was born out of the necessity of digging lakes. Tey took the ground they removed and piled it back up on another portion of their site, forging a ski hill. In the winter, skiers and snowboarders


can hop on a towrope or pitch up the hill to ride down, and many youngsters spend the day snowtubing, making the most of inclement weather. Te perfect staycation


While there’s always action stemming


from the park, Adrenaline Adventures has also made a name for itself as a host for travelling concerts and festivals. Its wakeboarding facility has welcomed


the Wake Park World Series and the Cana- dian National Wake Park Championships, hosting some of the best riders in the world. In July, the Fullflex Express Tour will


come to the grounds – featuring Skrillex, Diplo, and six other artists – bringing a thumping expose of electronic dance music to the park. Plus, Adrenaline Adventures’ next reno-


vation will see it incorporate a Las Vegas- reminiscent pool area, creating the ulti- mate staycation spot. It seems the more Adrenaline Adventures


adds to its offerings, the more people the owners see coming through, fulfilling the rare business prophecy of “if we build it, they will come.” “Tere’re so many different and diverse


groups coming here now,” says Rohs. “We always say, ‘Come feel it.’ Once people get here, it’s pretty addictive.” Adrenaline Adventures is located at 600


Caron Rd. in Headingley, Manitoba. Visit www.adrenalinemb.com for hours of opera- tion and pricing.


WorkJam helps businesses drive profitability


while improving the lives of hourly workers Canadians develop technology for businesses to liaise with hourly workers productively


in the hourly work economy, and create huge economic benefit for businesses. It also helps advance the well-being and prosperity of hourly workers. The Canadian technology industry veterans have a


F


successful track record in building enterprise software companies, including e-commerce vendor Hybris Software which sold to SAP in 2013. With WorkJam, line and store managers can holistically


manage the employee-employer relationship life cycle – in- cluding sourcing, qualifying, hiring, onboarding, schedul- ing, engaging and evaluating employees. WorkJam also provides the only commercial platform


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ounded by Steven Kramer, Joshua Ostrega, and Mark Sadegursky, WorkJam is the first employee relation- ship management platform to solve critical problems


scheduling, training, and engagement, the process is bro- ken – resulting in massive value leakage that suppresses profitability across industries, especially the more than 2 million service companies in the United States where labour accounts for 20 to 70 percent of overall costs. “Hourly workers also lack the ability to manage and mar-


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people from which they can recruit and qualify candidates based on skills and availability. Conversely, employees seeking hourly positions that are part of this network can efficiently find positions, market their employability, and manage their availability. With WorkJam’s cloud-based platform, employers can


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a win-win for both businesses and hourly workers. Busi- nesses benefit by lowering recruitment costs, improving attrition rates, optimizing labour in relation to demand signals, and improving the customer experience with happier, more engaged employees,” says Joshua Ostrega, COO of WorkJam. “Hourly workers can control their work-life balance,


maximize their earnings, develop skills and advance their economic well-being. By solving the disconnect in the employee-employer relationship, we can make the economy work for everyone – something we can all get on board with." WorkJam is a cloud-based, mobile and web-accessible


employee relationship management platform. For the employee, WorkJam allows hourly employees to find and apply for jobs based on their availability. Once hired, they can manage their schedules, pick up shifts, or trade shifts directly from their computer or mobile device. WorkJam puts employees in control of their time, allowing them to create a more consistent and predictable work schedule and income. For more about WorkJam, visit www.workjam.com.


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