Spring break-up — that lovely time of year when freeze-thaw cycles abound, transforming what was once solid ground into muddy messes — is officially upon us.

In this blog post, we'll review the basics of spring break-up, how it impacts companies and workers, and — most importantly — best practices to help you maximize workplace safety when faced with these extreme conditions.

Although we're still early on in 2020, this year has already been full of positive change and growth at Paradox. In February, we introduced you to our new VP Business Development, Michael Ford. Now, we're celebrating the well-deserved appointment of Neil Sheehan as Paradox's new Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Neil originally joined the Paradox family in 2017 as our Financial Controller and was promoted to CFO in January 2020. We recently sat down with Neil to learn more about his history, professional journey, and guiding principles and motivations.

While many of us are inclined to associate bullying with grade school and children, that isn't the only arena where bullying takes place. Bullying can happen to anyone, anywhere: at school, at the office, at home, and — perhaps most prevalently nowadays — online.

And although bullying is unacceptable in any arena, it's workplace bullying that I’d like to give some special attention to today. It’s a subject that gets much less attention than it deserves, to the detriment of everyone involved.

We recently welcomed our new Vice President Of Business Development to the Paradox family. Mr. Mike Ford joined our growing organization in January 2020 and has wasted no time getting to know our business, our people, and how we are positively impacting the access solutions sector.

No stranger to getting projects on solid ground, Mr. Ford joins us from Stonhard, a leader in industrial flooring. Our PR and Marketing Manager, Kelly Meyers, recently interviewed Mr. Ford — here are some highlights from their conversation.

Access mat users — both renters and owners alike — all face a common truth: It's more expensive to replace access mats than it is to treat them right in the first place.

It's 2020. Our economy is still trying to recover, the workforce now spans four generations (hello, Gen Zs), and the way business is conducted is constantly being redefined by emerging technologies... and this is only a small sample of the disruptive forces we as business owners must consider as we make decisions that will impact the future of our companies.

Luckily, there are a few simple steps you can take to help your business thrive in this changing environment, no matter what line of business you're in.

Western Canada's energy and natural resources sectors are synonymous with the provisions of commodities across Canada and throughout the world, which is no easy feat. Large plays where valuable natural resources are sourced are often in areas that are virtually inaccessible. Unstable land foundations such as high-water tables and soft layers of earth effectively impede safe and efficient access to these regions.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” — Arthur C. Clarke

Roads are an indispensable part of modern infrastructure. They enable the transport of people and goods around the world and have been around for thousands of years. In fact, the earliest evidence of constructed roads dates all the way back to 4,000 B.C., in former Mesopotamia (now Iraq) where these ancient, stone-paved roads were built using mud bricks and bitumen. 

As humans, we seek to innovate. We push the bounds of what technology can accomplish in order to improve our quality of living. This can happen as a result of the development of new technologies and procedures, or as a result of improvements to existing technologies and procedures. Either way, the end goal is the same: being better off than we once were.

“Every experience is a paradox in that it means to be absolute, and yet is relative; in that it somehow always goes beyond itself and yet never escapes itself.” — T.S. Eliot

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a paradox (par· a· dox) as “a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.”