ASET Technology Alberta Winter 2021 - 21

spotlight
Spartan's Sustainability Leader Nannette Ho-Covernton (left) and President and CEO Grant Wilde (right). Image courtesy of
Spartan Controls Ltd.
" We've doubled down on that innovation
focus over the last few years by looking
to our smart people with great ideas
to develop industry applications, "
Wilde explains. " Complemented by our
digital business, where we're used to
connecting devices and information
and understanding information flow,
we can bring these pieces together in a
more sophisticated way, while delivering
business insights. "
These industry solutions, built in Calgary, and data management
capabilities have led to the creation of a joint venture in
the US west coast called Spartech Pacific, between Spartan
and another Emerson Impact Partner, Caltrol Inc. Building up
Spartech Pacific has signs of early success, due to Spartan's
proven track record, and a similar regulatory environment
around the energy industry in Colorado and California.
As well as the expansion into southern markets, the company
has recently started up an AI/machine learning joint venture
called BlueMarvel AI, with AltaML. " The mandate of that company
is to build software applications and solutions on top of
our systems and products, so that we can provide production
optimization for customers, solve reliability challenges,
and put information literally on the phones of customers, so
that they can make better real-time decisions for their operations, "
Wilde says.
These external pushes and new ventures have been matched
by provincial developments, reflecting Spartan's enduring
support for their roots. They've invested in local services over
the past few years, and put up new infrastructure in business
hubs around Alberta.
" In Edmonton and Grande Prairie, we have just opened up
new service centres. We've added physical infrastructure to
support customer operations. And some of that is certainly
focused on the oil and gas industry, which continues to be
such an important part of the provincial economy, and an important
part of our business, " Wilde says.
Paralleling that longstanding collaboration with western
Canadian industry is the company's work supporting local
post-secondary institutions. Spartan's Sustainability
Leader, Nannette Ho-Covernton, highlights an over 50year
support of technical institutions, pointing all the way
back to the first scholarship the company created for NAIT
in 1965.
" We provided a $250 scholarship. Currently, that doesn't
seem significant, but it was to the person that received it,
who became a Spartan employee shortly after because of
that support. Our engagement level with academia is long
term, " Ho-Covernton says.
In the decades since, Spartan has kept up this support in
the form of grants, scholarships, bursaries, educational
content and a sizable supply of equipment. " Investment
over the years has recently grown to over $10 million, in
support of local schools in the communities we, and our
customers, work and live. We're having future professionTECHNOLOGY
ALBERTA | WINTER 2021 | 21

ASET Technology Alberta Winter 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASET Technology Alberta Winter 2021