The Pulse: March 15, 2022

Chef Paul Shufelt has opened Hayloft Steak and Fish and a third location of Woodshed Burgers in the southwest Edmonton neighbourhood of Cameron Heights, adding to the Robert Spencer Hospitality stable alongside Workshop Eatery and The Greenhouse.

In Shufelt's words, the new development came about through "dumb luck and persistence." Last fall, a customer who resides in Cameron Heights was insistent that Shufelt take a look at a vacant building in his area. Eventually, Shufelt agreed to meet the landlord for a walk-through.

"I immediately saw the potential," he said. "I would compare it to how a chef would respond when you give him a black box of ingredients and his mind starts racing on how to put everything together."

Although some suggested that Shufelt should simply replicate Workshop Eatery in a new spot, he didn't want to take away from the original. "We wanted to complement Workshop Eatery and maintain true to what we do and the relationships with our farmers," said Shufelt. "This is how Hayloft Steak and Fish came to be."

Still, Shufelt recognized the restaurant would have to be tailored to meet the needs of the neighbourhood. "It's one thing to do the thing you want, but will the community take to that?" he said. Factoring in the design of the space, which features a lounge on one side, pairing a higher-end restaurant with a more affordable offering made sense.

"I like to go out for a nice steak dinner, but I can't afford to do that every day," said Shufelt. "Maybe you're celebrating a special occasion, and you go to the steakhouse side one day, but a week later, you're stopping in with the kids and grabbing a burger after a hockey game or when you don't feel like cooking."

Combining Hayloft and Woodshed Burgers in one place also has the benefit of upholding company's philosophy. "It allows us to hold true to 'use the whole animal'," said Shufelt. "Traditional steakhouses leave much of the animal behind with the farmer. This would help us move the lesser known cuts of beef."

• The Confederacy of Treaty Six Nations and the Métis Nation of Alberta have joined a collaboration with Parks Canada and the City of Edmonton to explore the creation of a national urban park in the Edmonton region. The "pre-feasibility" phase of the project was announced on Monday at Edmonton City Hall. Chief Tony Alexis of Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation called the idea "a step in the right direction towards Reconciliation." It is unclear where the park would be located.
• City council has asked administration to analyze the potential impacts of the proposed Edmonton Metro Transit Services Commission (EMTSC) service model on ETS and the city's operating budget. A report is expected back in September as the EMTSC finalizes the first phase of its plan. Edmonton will pay about 56% of the cost to run the regional system.
• The Green Violin Community Development Company is working to create an affordable housing community for homeless Edmonton veterans called Home Again Village built using eight, 20-foot-long SeaCan units. Executive director Yasushi Ohki told Postmedia the final step is to secure land from the city. Coun. Karen Principe is supportive of the project. "I had the pleasure to meet Yasushi and to visit a SeaCan Cabin and I see this as a viable solution to the affordable housing needs of our city," she said.
• Edmonton police are asking for dashcam footage in relation to the death of 59-year-old Abdullah Shah, the notorious inner-city landlord also known as Carmen Pervez. He was found outside a residence in the area of Heath Road and Riverbend Road with life-threatening injuries and later died in hospital. Shah's criminal record goes back to 1983, and he has been the subject of numerous EPS investigations over the years, reports CBC News.
• Edmonton police have shot and killed three people in as many months. "I am worried that at this pace, we might be on for a record that nobody might be proud of," criminology professor Temitope Oriola told Global News.
• WestJet announced it is restoring its service across Alberta to pre-pandemic levels with 35 daily departures from Edmonton to 15 domestic and two transborder destinations. Flights to Los Angeles and Las Vegas will depart four times each week.

Podcasting is a medium that serves niches well, and you can't get much more niche-y than Build Up, a podcast about marketing for homebuilders.

Produced by ZGM Marketing, the podcast offers interviews with homebuilders, industry insiders, and experts on branding, marketing, sales, customer experience, and other aspects of the business of building and selling houses. It is hosted by Jordan Mair and Salina Halabi, who work out of ZGM's Edmonton office.

The podcast is part of ZGM's own content marketing to help it drum up business from homebuilders, but it's a great example of a branded podcast that is accessible to non-specialists as well. If you are in marketing and communications of any kind, it's worth checking out, not only for the insights shared during the episodes, but also as an example of how to do a podcast for your organization in a way that serves both the audience and your business goals.

To get even more meta, check out Episode 8, which features Build Up producer and ZGM content strategist Santana Blanchette on the importance of content marketing. The show is also a bit of a window into Edmonton's homebuilding industry, with guests such as Kim Tieu of Cantiro, Robin Nasserdeen and Tara Van Horn of Coventry Homes, and Amy Power of Rohit Group of Companies.

You can listen to this and other podcast picks from Taproot on Listen Notes.