Since 1984 I’ve had 4 different businesses, starting with a boat repair company in 1984 after graduating from Ryerson in Electrical Technology.  In 1984 there was a recession and it was tough to get a job, hence the boat repair business using what I learned about many summers working at marinas and sailing schools.  The same year I got my first job working for SquareD in the head office doing marketing and technical support for part of the product line for Canada.

I spent the next 6 years in the electrical and factory/process automation industry before starting my second company called ASAP Control Sales, representing Pepperl+Fuchs a manufacturer of factory and process automation products.  I spent the next 10 years growing this business until one day I received a phone call saying “you must sell your business to us, the manufacturer of the products I was selling.  It was either sell them the company I had built or they threatened to stop shipping to me.