Entrepreneur has advice for city council

Many years ago, I started a business in Sudbury. I was born and raised on the family farm. Mother died when I was nine, an aunt raised my sisters and me.

I quit school after Grade 7. It was too hard to make a decent living on the farm, so I went to Toronto and took an electrical apprenticeship.

After four years, I was working hard with a helper, six employees and three trucks. After a lot of thought, I made a decision to get advice. After many negotiations with a business management company from New York City, a crew came to Sudbury and analyzed our company. It took three weeks.

I was then passed a binder 2.5-inches thick. It outlined the duties, authorities and responsibilities of each person with the company. I also institutes a modern accounting system.

A substantial part of our agreement was they were to be able to fish every evening for lake trout. My business quickly flourished to 72 employees, 30 vehicles and 8,000 customers.

They stated if I followed their recommendations, but did not clear enough to cover their costs in six months, they would come back and stay with my company for as long as required to do so.

Much to my surprise, we far exceeded all expectations. Much of the credit was to an outstanding person, Cec Cloutier, who looked after my business for 42 years. She was the smartest business person I ever met.

My grandfather, a farmer with a Grade 3 education, told me, “if you have a dog, let him do the barking and keep your mouth shut.”

I would strongly advise the city do the same. Council must be prepared to follow the recommendations completely. Have them recommend an overseer to institute and monitor the results.

That person should be an outsider without any connections to the city or councils including the mayor.

Bud Burke
Sudbury