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| NEWS - April 15, 2008 |
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| Pollard celebrates 100 years |
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By Andrew Coffey
Leader Staff
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Pollard Banknote turned 100 years old last Friday. The Barrhead division celebrated its 15 year anniversary on the same date, and welcomed local dignitaries and company executives for the festivities.
The scratch ticket manufacturer that supplies nearly a third of the world’s lotteries has made leaps and bounds since the company first opened in Barrhead in 1993. Last year, the company produced over a billion scratch off tickets, when in 1985, that number was only 12 million annually. An even greater accomplishment is that Pollard Banknote has stayed a family owned, competitive, industry leading company for 100 years.
Mayor Brian Schultz thanked Pollard Banknote for becoming apart of the local community and giving back, all while becoming "fine ambassadors for the town of Barrhead." The company, which Barr-head-Morinville-Westlock MLA Ken Kowalski was instrumental in bringing to the area, has put Barrhead on the map according to Schultz.
The town presented the company with a commemorative plaque, as did deputy reeve Darrell Troock on behalf of the county. Pollard Banknote Chairman, Lawrie Pollard, also took time to thank the local community for its support, and to thank all of the workers who have helped make the company successful here.
The scratch off lottery ticket business is growing due to new markets in Europe and parts of Asia. When Pollard Banknote went into the scratch off ticket business, there were twelve other competing companies worldwide. Today, only two remain. One is Pollard Banknote, and the other its slightly larger competitor, Scientific Games of Atlanta, Georgia. With these two companies vying for the marketplace, company officials say the greatest challenge is staying on the cutting edge.
One of their efforts to lead the industry is in packaging. Lotteries like the French national lottery have been converting to pre-packaged tickets that contain several scratch-offs at a better value. Pollard Banknote quickly established itself as the leader in this area, and co-designed a $1 million dollar piece of equipment solely for the purpose of producing the lotto packets. When the Barrhead plant started 15 years ago, their focus was on printing scratch offs. Today, the plant has transformed to focus solely on specialty packaging.
Tickets arrive from Winnipeg, the company’s headquarters, and then are processed on the plant’s impressive packaging and cutting equipment. The finished product is then shipped from the secure facility all over the world. This specialty is what has helped Pollard Banknote close the gap on its leading and only competitor, Scientific Games. While that company triples Pollard’s annual output, they do not do specialized packaging. Therefore, major customers like the French national lottery, the Quebec lottery, and several American lotteries have all turned to Pollard Banknote to meet their demand.
Pollard Banknote currently employs 1,300 people who supply over 40 major customers. Barrhead plant manager Fred Setterington oversees the work of seventy employees at the local facility. Setterington says one of his greatest demands is finding enough staff to meet the demand. The facilities at Pollard Banknote in Barrhead are state of the art, clean, and allow for maximum output. The Barrhead plant alone produces over two million lottery packets per week, and could sustain the production of even more.
During the anniversary celebrations, company executives were on hand to meet with employees and special guests, and to talk about the companies past, present, and future. Pollard Banknote appears poised to continue its rapid and successful growth, with the Barrhead plant sure to continue playing its vital role. |
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