Community is important to us, and the COVID-19 pandemic hasn't changed this. Read on to see how we continue to support our communities across the globe during these unprecedented times.
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ATCO responds to Fort McMurray Floods amidst COVID-19 precautions
Fort McMurray is no stranger to Mother Nature’s whims. Flooding is a regular spring-time occurrence; however, the most recent one to hit the city in April 2020 was the worst they’d seen in years. Add to that a global pandemic and it’s safe to say residents and responders have had a lot on their plates.
It was all-hands-on-deck in Fort McMurray with our Utilities crews working around the clock to ensure gas valves were turned off, outages responded to, and–first-and-foremost–that customers and employees stayed safe, all while maintaining COVID-related protocols.
We want to extend a HUGE thank you to all our people in Fort McMurray helping to keep residents and each other safe in these unprecedented “pandemic + crisis” circumstances. We salute you.
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ATCO's partnership with Alberta Health Services
ATCO team lends their expertise to Alberta Health Services
Early conversations with Alberta Health Services (AHS) revealed help was urgently needed in the form of engineers, armed with their disciplined project planning skills, critical thinking and attention to detail. Enter two of ATCO’s best and brightest: Margaret Kulinski, EIT, and Stephen Melle, Engineer, were seconded to two temporary roles within AHS in April 2020 to support AHS to streamline processes and procedures, bolster community initiatives and prepare for the province's phased reopening plan.
Dr. Jia Hu, medical officer of health for AHS' Calgary Zone, said that bringing in outside perspective during a time of crisis and uncertainty can be just what's needed to push through gridlocks in processes that have a critical impact on preparing our healthcare system to handle something as far-reaching and largely unfamiliar as a pandemic.
Margaret and Stephen completed research work, a deep-dive into the effects of re-opening various parts of society on case counts, comparing data from other parts of Canada and countries around the world that are at different stages of reopening their economies during their work term.
ATCO tents offer families a chance to connect during COVID-19
Through our Equipment Loaner Program, we’re sharing the chance for families to stay connected by dedicating our full suite of ATCO tents, BBQs and soundstage set-ups (free of charge) exclusively to support Alberta Health Services (AHS) through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our partnership with AHS began in April 2020 when provincial health care staff from Grande Prairie and Peace River reached out with a need for outdoor shelters to support drive-thru COVID-19 testing. We were pleased to deliver. Since then, we’ve also deployed our canopies at Senior’s Care Centres across Alberta to support outdoor visitations and smaller physical-distancing gatherings.
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ATCO operating health screening checkpoint at Canada/USA border
ATCO Frontec was pleased to support Alberta’s pandemic response efforts through a contract with the Government of Alberta to provide a new health screening checkpoint as travellers cross the border from Montana into Alberta.
Coordinating with Alberta Health Services, Alberta Transport, and the Canadian Border Services Agency, we operated the COVID-19 screening checkpoint to the north of the Coutts Port of Entry and provided the command and control organization, medical screeners and logistic services until September 2020.
Our experienced Disaster and Emergency Management team managed this opportunity to serve Albertans through this pandemic as restrictions as lessened. Prioritizing safety is integral to our ATCO culture and the chance to expand our work through serving the Government of Alberta is one we take seriously. As we see restrictions from the COVID-19 shut-down being lifted, it’s important to remain vigilant to reduce the risks of a new wave of infections.
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ATCO Mexico helps its community with medical solutions and safety kits
ATCO develops and installs new turnkey medical solutions for Mexico
On the frontlines, through these difficult times, health professionals around the world are working day and night to help those suffering from COVID-19. Our incredible team at ATCO Espaciomovil in Guadalajara, Mexico has stepped up in a big way to help these modern-day heroes.
ATCO is the largest manufacturer of modular products in the Mexican market, with the second largest fleet of rental assets in the country. Most recently, as part of a two-part contract, we are designing and constructing medical clinics for group Grupo Modelo, one of the world's top breweries. These clinics will be donated to support ongoing medical efforts in Mexico City and Tijuana.
The first project was recently completed in just five days—a small modular clinic for the Government of Mexico´s National Institute of Respiratory Diseases (INER) in Mexico City–which was the first hospital in the country to receive and treat COVID-19 patients. The unit will function as a standalone reception and initial examination area.
The second project, currently underway, is much more ambitious—a full modular hospital for the city of Tijuana in the northern state of Baja. We hope to have this building completed in 14 days or less.
ATCO donates safety kits to Indigenous families
In 2020, ATCO Mexico donated more than 400 safety kits containing face masks, chlorine and hand sanitizer, to Indigenous families in the Mountains of Zongolica, located near our hydroelectric facility in Veracruz.
We will distribute an additional 325 kits to the remaining families in the area in 2021.
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ATCO's Spruce Meadows Mobile Experience
We’re a proud partner of Spruce Meadows and we miss it dearly – everything from the beauty, sights, tastes and smells of this world-class sport and entertainment venue. Since COVID-19 pandemic restrictions led to the cancellation their 2020 Tournament season, we decided to do something exciting and bring “ATCO’s Spruce Meadows Mobile Experience” right to the doorstep of five lucky contest winners (nominated by their peers).
The results were incredible – learn more here.
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Supporting seniors in our communities
Since 1930, ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen has been sharing recipes and advice with you. Our original aim was helping homemakers get the best results when using natural gas. Today, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are sharing our meals with isolated seniors in Calgary who have been financially impacted by COVID-19 and live alone, with a caregiver or in a seniors’ complex. In partnership with Calgary Seniors’ Resource Society, the talented and caring ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen culinary team has proudly provided 11,700 nutritious and delicious meals to seniors in need since late fall 2020.
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#3things4neighbours
Thanks to ATB CEO Curtis Stange for the #3Things4Neighbours challenge nomination! We’re always giving back to our communities – from delivering meals to seniors, to providing shelter for family gatherings and holding a drive-thru grad.
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Drive Thru Grad 2020
Congratulations to the Calgary Graduating Class of 2020! ATCO was proud to be the Main Stage Sponsor at this unique event, held at Spruce Meadows and Calgary Stampede from June 15-26, 2020.
Drive Thru Grad 2020 was created when a local Calgary events company, a group of parents, and sponsors like ATCO, joined forces to create a memorable experience for high school grads whose graduation ceremonies were cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. The goal was to provide graduates to walk across stage and celebrate with their classmates at a safe social distance.
See more here.
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A Very Merry Veterans Thank You
A Very Merry Veterans Thank You
ATCO kicked off the holiday season early at Calgary’s ATCO Village–a community of 15 tiny homes ATCO built in partnership with the Homes For Heroes Foundation dedicated to serving those veterans who may have landed on difficult times, and to whom we owe a deep gratitude for their service in protecting our country.
ATCO decorated the Village with a festive light display set to music, followed by an employee drive-by to thank our special veterans, and to celebrate the Village’s one-year anniversary.
As an extra holiday gift, ATCO matched $100,000 in donations made to the Homes For Heroes Foundation during the holiday season.
Learn more at: https://www.ATCO.com/H4H.
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Meet our neighbours: Burwood Distillery
Community-minded distillery gives a hand (sanitizer) to flatten the curve
During these uncertain times, it has been amazing to see how local businesses have been stepping up – and changing up – to support their communities. One such example is Calgary’s Burwood Distillery, known for their flavourful gins and honey influenced spirits. With the onset of the pandemic, they’ve changed their production to create a type of alcohol that is in high demand for people of all ages – hand sanitizer!
Burwood Distillery went above and beyond to ensure that their fellow citizens, businesses and non-profit organizations have access to hand sanitizer, and ATCO is proud to have played a part in this initiative. When we heard that they were shifting some of their spirit production to hand sanitizer, we reached out to purchase some for our offices and facilities. Our contact at Burwood mentioned that they had a shortage of bottles, so our supply chain team jumped into action, quickly sourcing a thousand 500ml bottles over the weekend, arranging for delivery and donating them to this great cause.
We caught up with Jordan Ramey, co-founder of Burwood Distillery to discuss.