A Steinbach business, that has roots in agriculture, has made the final ballot for the Best of America Small Business Awards.
Cameron Bergen is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of mode40. Bergen explains they work primarily with Fortune 1000 manufacturing organizations across Canada and the United States.
"We take data, and we turn it into money," says Bergen, explaining that they help optimize processes through analyzing, optimizing, and disseminating information using software, artificial intelligence, and other tools.
Bergen's background is in agriculture, where he spent 20 years in manufacturing food and beverage. He notes over that time, his primary role and responsibility was to raise the bar in the industry on systems, performance, and optimization.
"I really struggled at being able to find an organization that could help me on that journey," admits Bergen. "That could help me specifically in getting information from all the different places that exist and then turning that information into something that's a useful tool or useful outcome because there are lots of different disciplines in order to accomplish that."
Bergen says after working with all the major companies in Canada and the specialists across North America, he was never successful in locating an organization that could help him on his journey.
"So, about four years ago, right at the spring of 2020, many of us still remember the headlines at that point, we decided to launch mode40 and build a company that we believed was in need and that we always wanted to work with," he says.
Bergen says their business started in the basement. At first, it was only Bergen, but then he quickly added a business partner and a team member within the first six months. Today, mode40 has a staff of more than 30 across Canada and the United States. In addition to that, there is a team in Europe.
"We've grown quite quickly over the last four years, and we don't see it stopping any time soon," he says.
As mentioned, Bergen says their roots are in agriculture but mode40 has been pulled into other sectors and manufacturing, primarily food and beverage, which he says is their biggest market.
"We work with some of the largest food brand companies that you'd see on the store shelves," says Bergen.
They also work with consumer package goods, which you might see in pharmaceuticals and then in manufacturing, mostly related to automotive.
Bergen says mode40 has made the final ballot for the Best of America Small Business Awards. Bergen says they are very fortunate to be recognized in this way. He notes it was through a rigorous process and evaluation that they were selected as a finalist in Canada.
"We're very humbled about the nomination," he says. "It's very appreciated to see the team's efforts also recognized in this way because at the end of the day, what we do is tough, it's really hard to do and it's a lot of work. But these kinds of moments for us, getting recognized as top in Canada and in our space is appreciated."
Bergen says he believes that the work they do at mode40 is game-changing.
According to Bergen, there is a long list they are judged on and specific criteria that must be met. This includes answering the question of what sets their business apart and what have they done that is challenging the industry to grow.
Bergen says they also had to answer what it is like to live a day at mode40. He notes this is of significant importance to them.
Judges also looked at growth in terms of finances, employment, and market. He notes it is really an examination of their entire company and how they rank in all of those different sectors.
Bergen explains that there is a public component to the award process. The public is invited to vote on their choice for the Best of America Small Business Awards. Voting happens from October 7th to 25th. Winners are expected to be announced in early November.
Whatever the outcome, Bergen admits that they have already reached what they had hoped to achieve. He notes their goal was to be recognized as among the top few in the country.
Meanwhile, Bergen says there is an incredible amount of innovation that happens in southeastern Manitoba; something he says he has been fortunate to witness firsthand his entire life.
"A lot of what we do here today and the way we innovate, the way we think, the way our community works, the way we collaborate as a group, those attributes don't exist in bulk everywhere," he points out. "It's very rare in communities where they do."
Bergen says he loves to shine a spotlight on southeastern Manitoba and to show the rest of the country what is happening in this part of our province.
"We are an innovation powerhouse, we've been doing it for a long time, we just maybe haven't been sharing it," adds Bergen. "I'm very excited to be able to have an opportunity in that way, to just shine a spotlight on the community."