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Astec Safety is aligning itself with the goal of a new Team Bottcher curling rink to represent Canada at the next Olympic Games and step onto the medal podium.
The Lloydminster company has made a four-year sponsorship agreement with the Alberta-based all-star rink to promote its own journey to become a world-class safety course provider.
Brendan Bottcher, who won the 2021 Tim Hortons Brier, is joining up with fellow champions Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert for the 2023-26 Olympic quadrennia
Jeff Mulligan, chief operating officer at Astec, said when they learned the players were getting together for a shot at the Olympics, they jumped at the chance to come alongside them.
“They’re trying to move from assembling the team and a strategy they will execute to gain prominence over the next four years, “ said Mulligan.
“Astec is the same. We now know that our online learning products are being used across the country and into the United States.”
Mulligan says Astec sees many parallels to the work Team Bottcher is undertaking to achieve success with its own mission to provide world-class performance, products and services, while nurturing a winning culture.
“For the next four years we want to grow that presence and grow that brand and be more competitive than we already are,” he said.
Mulligan says by being a sponsor they also hope to receive the benefits of Team Bottcher’s experience, their journey, their commitments, and go from there.
The sponsorship will bring some or all members of Bottcher’s rink to Lloydminster for a youth curling clinic during the 2022-23 season with the date to be determined.
Mulligan says there will also be a “hot stove’ for the families to meet and greet the players afterwards.
Astec is hoping to reinvent the former Wayside Curling Classic in Lloyd in the 2023-24 curling season.
“It will be a world curling tour event and it’s going to be the Astec Curling Classic now and it will be hosted by team Bottcher,” explained Mulligan.
He says Astec is hoping to bring these two events to Lloydminster on an annual basis as a result of their sponsorship, calling it a win-win-win.
“Anybody who achieves a world-class performance, anybody who is top in their game, their sport and their business— I think when you can bring that back to Lloydminster and you can have people interact with that, it’s good for our community; it’s good for our company,” said Mulligan.
