Premier Equipment

On January 9th LEAF visited Premier Equipment in Elmira. Tim Dowd along with 7 others gave us a presentation about Premier Equipment and what they do. We got a tour of the building, (Premier head office), the shop, the parts room, and the offices. Premier Equipment supports community programs such as Fida-Haiti and Friend in Need. They supports over 130 community events per year. This is important because some things don't earn them a profit but it helps the community out. Premier Equipment has a real team atmosphere. They all help each other out and it feels like family. They have a wide variety of products such as John Deere, Stihl, Frontliner, and more. This diversity helps their economic success. They are not selling products to only farmers but to homeowners and businesses for lawn care and even to kids who want to buy toy tractors. As LEAF students, we can benefit from learning to work as a team in our own workplace in the future. I enjoyed the trip because I like John Deere and am doing co-op there in 2nd semester. On Behalf of LEAF, I would like to thank Premier Equipment for taking the time to show us around and tell us what they do.

All Treat - Walker Environmental

All Treat is one of Canada’s largest compost facilities. The waste they collect is food waste from Ontario cities like Waterloo and Hamilton. Yard waste lawn clippings and leaves are also collected. This organic waste is broken down by microorganisms to produce a valuable end product - compost. The heat from the microorganisms breaking down the organic waste kills all pathogens and creates a safe product. The compost must be turned to add oxygen and water is added to the process. There were a lot of large equipment needed to move tons of material daily. Their finish product of soil amendments and compost is stored on site until spring season. Their business model is producing a high quality product and letting their reputation do their marketing. I was impressed with the scale of the operation and the size of the massive compost piles and equipment needed. It was a good learning opportunity for LEAF because it shows where and how compost is made. When you add compost to your own garden it is interesting to know that it use to be yard and food waste.