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Preferred Sourcing is a company on the move. And that’s not justbecause this six-year-old company has recently come to Canada,opening an operation in Cambridge last fall. This is a company

determined to grow its business by opening new locations (the newestis in Charleston, South Carolina); by seeking new customers; and by cre-

atively expanding its menuof services.

Company President JeffWeisenauer talked aboutPreferred Sourcing’s successso far, and the company’sneed to be flexible and cre-ative, in an interview fromthe Indianapolis headquar-ters. He described his com-pany’s current core businessas “often, a reactiveresponse to customers’needs and issues.” But headded, “We are workingwith our customers in assist-ing them to become moreproactive.”

He said that to accomplish this, Preferred Sourcing has developednew, value-added services, which he hopes will lead to “more contrac-tual-type work ... We’re very, very young and we have to add more long-term contract business.”

This is the vision of a man whose company has gone from zero toamazing in just six years. Preferred Sourcing was founded in 1998;today, there are locations in Indianapolis; Marysville, Ohio; Fort Wayneand Muncie, Indiana; Birmingham, Alabama; Wixom, Grand Rapids, andAuburn Hills, Michigan; Spartanburg and Charleston, South Carolina;and, of course, Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.

The company’s staff now totals in excess of 350, and is growing rap-idly, according to Nicole McGlogan, Regional Sales Manager of theCanadian Operations.

QUALITY ASSURANCE SERVICESPreferred Sourcing provides quality assurance services — sorting,

inspection, rework, containment, supplier development, technical rep-resentation, quality assurance training and supplier quality engineeringservices. The key role involves sending a team into a customer’s plant (orcarrying out the operation at the Preferred Sourcing location) to typical-ly perform sorting, inspection, and containment.

Virtually all of the current clients of Preferred Sourcing are from theautomobile industry, but Weisenauer and McGlogan both point out thattheir services are applicable — and available — to other industries. Suchdiversification is part of the company’s five-year plan.

Weisenauer says, “Preferred Sourcing has grown quickly to become aleader in the third-party inspection industry ... serving as our customers’‘eyes and ears’ in the field, providing the data necessary to identify andsolve problems.” Preferred Sourcing stakes its reputation on the detec-tion of non-conforming parts and, when necessary, containment proce-dures. While its traditional services include part sorting, inspection,reworking, light assembly and containment, the company now offersTechnical Representation and Supplier Quality Development Servicesdesigned to optimize production processes and supplier relationships.Brian Howard, the Provider Quality Engineering Manager at theCambridge facility agrees that these services will help ensure that qual-

PREFERRED SOURCINGhas come to Canada

C O M P A N Y P R O F I L E

PREFERRED SOURCINGhas come to Canada

GILBERT J. de AVILA

General Manager

NICOLE McGLOGAN

Regional Sales Manager

BRIAN HOWARD

PQE Manager

ity is built in to the manufacturingprocess and will help prevent costlyproduction delays. His departmentprovides leadership, technical sup-port and quality engineering to devel-op and strengthen supplier partner-ship programs and provide feedbackto continually improve performance.

IDENTIFIED A NICHEBefore Weisenauer launched

Preferred Sourcing in 1998, he was inthe automotive industry; he identi-fied a market for sorting and inspec-tion services and, after extensiveresearch, moved to meet that need.Preferred Sourcing has grown expo-nentially in the six years since. Saleshave increased by an impressive 80%each year since 1998. This growthtrend continues in 2004.

McGlogan says, “There is a tremendous opportunity and need herein Ontario to partner with tier 1 and tier 2 suppliers and the OEM’sthemselves. It’s incredible.”

Weisenauer explains that the Cambridge facility was opened toserve an established customer base — “Honda, General Motors,Daimler-Chrysler” are all clients.

The Canadian operation has been both welcomed and appreciated.Preferred Sourcing tracks customer satisfaction assiduously, andmakes the results of surveys known. Surveys at all plants consistentlyshow very high numbers indicating their work “meets” or “exceedscustomers’ expectations.” McGlogan is thrilled that the first Canadiansurveys have shown 100% “exceeds customers’ expectations” results.

Weisenauer praises his Canadian team. These results “are very excit-ing to me. It is the quality of our employees that gives us the uniqueability to talk intelligently with our customers.” Weisenauer further sug-gests, “It is our management team’s commitment to training that ele-vates us to the next level.”He also attributes the immediate success toGeneral Manager Gilbert J. de Avila, McGlogan and Howard. They bringextensive experience and expertise to their positions; de Avila is expertin automotive design, tooling, production/assembly and quality sys-tems, and they are introducing unique approaches to customer costsaving opportunities that are now being integrated south of the border.

The Cambridge operation, 45 Saltsman Drive beside the Toyotaplant, includes warehouse space, to allow sorting, inspection andother Preferred Sourcing work to be carried out at their facility. Often,

though, the need is critical, and a team is immediately dispatched tothe client’s facility.

While Weisenauer and his team look to grow and diversify their verysuccessful business, they have not lost sight of the importance of theservice that has brought them to their current level of success. He says,“We understand that time is money. The cost of a shutdown caused bysuspect or non-conforming supplies can be astronomical as it ripplesthrough the manufacturing process. That is why Preferred Sourcingprides itself on a response time measured in hours, rather than days.”

McGlogan sums up the Preferred Sourcing service: “We provide ahighly trained workforce that responds quickly, professionally andeffectively to customer issues.” And, according to customer response,they exceed expectations in the process.

(left-right) Michaela Röder, Logistics/Associate Trainer, Deb Lowe, Office

Administrator, Blake Watson, Field Administrator, Craig Wonnell, Team

Leader and Amanda Zayette, Team Leader.

45 SALTSMAN DRIVE, CAMBRIDGETEL: 519.650.1774FAX: 519.650.1703

www.preferredsourcing.com

Inspection • Sorting • Containment • Reworking •Supplier Development • Technical Representation

• Quality Assurance Training •

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MAY 2004 l exchangemagazine.com l 7

DEPARTMENTS

9 PUBLISHER’S NOTE

10 BUSINESS MONITORWaterloo Region CAO retires; New directory launched; How tocompete to win; Sportsworld $8.6million project; Their motto is our calling; Quarterly report

33 WATERCOOLER

MOVER & SHAKER

12 PROVIDING THEPERFECT STEAKBY PAUL KNOWLESThere are 365 M&M Meat Shops – and Mac Voisin has a story for every one

FEATURE

38 MAKING A DIFFERENCEBending, Breaking and BuildingBY JON ROHRProfessor Mike Worswick and his team at the University of Waterloo are moving step by step closer to the creation of a virtual machine shop.

COLUMNS

22 WEALTH MANAGEMENTBY DANIEL GIRARDHedge Funds

24 BUILDING BETTER BOARDSBY JIM BROWNChoose Your Champion Carefully

26 BUSINESS & THE LAWBY MELANIE REISTFair Treatment Key in Disability Cases

28 TAXWISEBY TERRY WICHMAN“Fair Taxes”

30 SALES TALKBY WAYNE VANWYCKThe Customer Experience

SERVING BUSINESS IN WATERLOO REGION AND WELLINGTON COUNTY

P.O. Box 41030, Waterloo ON N2K 3K0 • Tel: (519) 886-2831 • Fax: (519) 886-6409email: editor@exchangemagazine.com

ExchangeCONTENTS

Volume 21, Number 5 MAY 2004

On the cover: Mac Voisin, president and CEO,M&M Meat Shops.

Making a Difference: Mike Worswick

Publisher/Editor: Jon Rohr

Associate Editor: Paul Knowles

Feature Writers: Paul Knowles, Jon Rohr

Advertising Sales: Brian LyonTMR (519) 886-1946

Creative Director: Diane Johnson

Art Direction: Laurie Martin

Circulation/Office Administration: Leanne Rohr

EXCHANGE magazine is a regional business publication pub-lished by Exchange Business Communication Inc. President,Jon Rohr. Eight issues per year are distributed to each companyin Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph, and Fergus asdetermined by Canada Post Business Postal Walks.Subscriptions are available for $29.90. Send cheque or moneyorder to Exchange, P.O. Box 41030, Waterloo, ON N2K 3K0.Attn: Circulation Department. Back issues are available for $8per copy. Phone: (519) 886-9953. Fax: (519) 886-6409. ISSN0824-457X Copyright, 2004. No part of this magazine may bereproduced without written permission from the publisher.

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MAY 2004 l exchangemagazine.com l 9

We’ve Just Increased CapacityBY JON ROHR

What’s this rumour people are spreading? That boomersare to blame for the world being in a state of chaos,the market collapsing, new wars being fought on new

frontiers, politics weaving deep threads of cynicism and skepti-cism, and religious uprisings increasingly on the march. Theboomer wave is blamed for pretty much everything that appearsto be disruptive and a general nuisance, from terrorism to spam.

The only issue that has even a hint of truth is that the marketis holding back on growth and on prosperity. But even that isnot true, here in Waterloo Region andarea. Not here where the fruition of yearsof planning and forward thinking has blos-somed. And now we see the expandingcapacity of a key transportation resource,poised for growth. I’m referring to our new,localized air travel service, offered byNorthwest and QuikAir. Sure, there areskeptics, and it may initially be a bumpyride, but like other area businesses, I amconfident business will step up to the serv-ice, and explore the conveniences and opportunities that airservice provides. And work it into a “growth strategy”.

So what does an airline offer in way of “growth strategy” tolocal business? Two words: exporting opportunities. One of thebiggest barriers to entering a market is when a “growth strate-gist” doesn’t recognize the opportunity. The time for opportunityseems right. The market is cyclic, and it’s time we see renewedmarket confidence — 2003 was hot, and 2004 will be hotter.

A large majority of our woes come from uncertainty. Butwhat do we have to be uncertain about?

We're all familiar with the saying: life has two certainties —death and taxes. The latter we need to get control of and quick-ly. How? By discouraging “frivolous spending” and increasing“intelligent spending”. The other is death, which can be left upto an actuary’s mortality table. Ironically, these tables are where

we find the silver lining. We’re all growing older. And with age comes status. Studies

show that a large percentage of the population attains a sharedeconomic status as those people reach certain milestones. Thatbeing said, the highest level of income earners and savers arebetween the ages of 50 and 64. Economist calls that particularage group “a high savings period”. It’s when parents becomeempty nesters; kids are well on their way to independence, andthe house is paid off.

It's accepted that baby boomers have adirect impact on the products and serviceswe all have available to use. It’s also accept-ed that the baby boomers will start theirlong foray into retirement in four years. Afear exists that, from 2008 onward there willbe a period of decline for stock markets andthe economy. An over-strained economywill be the result of boomers cashing in theirinvestments, becoming pensioners anddraining the reserves of North America.

What's not commonly known is that the biggest birth yearsof the post-World War II baby boom actually occurred at its tailend. Those from the truly big birth years were born in the USbetween 1957-61, and in Canada, from 1961-66. The silver lin-ing is that by 2015, estimates indicate this group will only beginto enter their high-savings period and equity gain period. Longterm concern is unwarranted.

The gap between the number of high earners and pensionerswill increase, with more high income earners with disposableincome. In the US it will peak in 2015,in Canada, closer to 2020. Good newsfor business and better news for com-munities which can balance the ele-ments of a healthy community, oppor-tunity, growth, lifestyle and a future.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

JON ROHR IS

EDITOR AND PUBLISHER

OF EXCHANGE

MAGAZINE FOR

BUSINESS

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The Regional Municipality of Waterloo is bidding farewell to one ofits administrative leaders, a man who has been with the Region

since only months after its formation in 1973. Gerry Thompson, ChiefAdministrative Officer, has announced his retirement.

Thompson was hired “within the first few months,” according toRegional Chair Ken Seiling — who himself has been part of the region-al government structure since 1979, serving as Chair continuouslysince 1985.

Thompson has served in a variety of roles with the region, includ-ing heading the roads department, the engineering department and,most recently, his very successful stint as CAO.

His success has been recognized at the highest levels. In 2003,Thompson was awarded the Lieutenant Governor’s Medal ofDistinction in Public Administration, an honour bestowed on onlyone person annually. The award recognizes “excellence in publicadministration in Ontario.” It is “awarded to the person, who hasshown distinguished leadership in public administration in Ontario, orwho, by writings and other endeavours, has made a significant con-tribution in the field of public administration in Ontario. The selectioncriteria for the Medal include: leadership; innovation and creativity;accomplishment/impact; dedication and sustained effort; and contri-bution to the profession and the community.”

Thompson’s nominators and sup-porters praised his professionalism,with phrases like, “inspires trust andrespect”; “fair and caring”; “a naturalleader”; “enthusiasm and energy”;and “vision”.

Commenting on the CAO’s retire-ment, Ken Seiling summed it all upas “credibility.”

“Gerry has a great deal of personal credibility with people heworked with,” said Seiling. He also noted that Thompson was “capa-ble of working within a political system” — not always the easiestassignment — where he would “offer the best possible advice.”

Seiling said that Thompson’s “personal credibility” extendedthroughout the province and beyond — as shown in the presentationof the Medal of Distinction. Thompson, said Seiling, was able to turnhis reputation and influence to good for his municipality — “in thelong term, he really helped the Region.”

A few of Thompson’s many accomplishments in the region include:• administrative reorganization of the corporation in the early 1990s;• development of a multi-disciplinary, cross departmental culture;• being instrumental in securing provincial and federal financial sup-

port for the University of Waterloo’s Researchand Technology Part, a unique six-partnerproject• involvement in the $250 million light railpublic transportation project in Waterlooregion.

Thompson has also taught in the Universityof Western Ontario’s Master of PublicAdministration Program and the Banff Centre.

Exchange leaves the last word to thedeparting CAO. When asked about his post-retirement plans, he replied, “I’m entertainingthree or four options in the management con-sulting and law professions. But first, beforeanything, I’m going sailing.”

Bon voyage.– by Paul Knowles

New directorypublishedThe Employer Recruitment Strategy Task Force(ERSTF), a local group made up of localcommunity organizations interested in increasingemployer involvement in apprenticeship, haslaunched the “Employer and Trade AssociationDirectory”.

“The intent of this directory is to provideinformation on resources available to employersand trades people, as well as providing

networking opportunities,” says Carol Simpson, ExecutiveDirector of the WaterlooWellington Training &Adjustment Board. ThisBoard, one of the

community groups involved, developed andproduced the directory on behalf of the Task Force.

The ERST, was set up in early 2002 and has beenworking to develop local action strategies based onthe “Hire Profitability” report, released last year. Thisreport, completed by Larry Smith of the University ofWaterloo, made a number of recommendationsaimed at assisting small to medium-sized employersto increase their participation in apprenticeshipprograms as well as hiring and retaining suitableapprentices.

Alyson Nyiri, ERSTF Project Coordinator, added,“This directory was developed to provideinformation on local, provincial, national andinternational employer and trade organizations byspecific trade and sector, and lists information byover 80 specific trades”

Simpson stated, “Many employers don’t think ofhiring apprentices as a community benefit but moreas just a regular part of doing business. By rewardingthose whose contributions are exceptional, we hopeto raise awareness of the benefits of trainingapprentices and to highlight the need to increase thenumber of employers offering these opportunities.”

To obtain copies of the directory, contact AlysonNyiri, ERSTF Project Coordinator at (519) 622-7122 orerstf@wwtab.com.

10 l exchangemagazine.com l MAY 2004

BUSINESS MONITOR

Sportsworld has broken ground on an $8.6 million development project which will create Kitchen-er’s newest Twin Ice Pads and Arena on the site of the outdoor Go-Kart track, which will be relo-cated to a new site adjacent to the waterpark. The Twin Ice Pads will seat 650 in pad 1 and 250in pad 2. The facility is set to open mid-October, 2004. Pictured here are: (l-r) Keith Baulk, Direc-tor, City of Kitchener; Carl Zehr, Mayor of Kitchener; Brian Banks, General Manager, Sportsworld;Joseph Wood, Chief Operating Officer, Sportsworld; Gary Hauck, Ball Construction Inc.; ScottStorey, Director of Marketing, Sportsworld, and front, Frank Pizzuto, City of Kitchener.

$8.6 million Project Launched

Gerry Thompson, Waterloo Region CAO retires

Gerry Thompson

(l-r) Alyson Nyiri, ProjectCoordinator and CarolSimpson, Executive Director of the WaterlooWellington Training &Adjustment Board

MAY 2004 l exchangemagazine.com l 11

BUSINESS MONITOR

How to compete and win

In a recent technology forum, Research InMotion chief operating officer Don Morrison

commented on what he describes as an “ava-lanche of capitulation.” Morrison says the ini-

tial resistance fromRIM’s target customersto a pager that offers e-mail capabilities, isover. The commentscame out of a panel discussion called“ T e c h n o l o g yConvergence: How toCompete and Win,”hosted at theUniversity of Toronto’sRotman School ofBusiness in mid-March. During theforum “convergence,”which is commonly

associated with the grouping together of prod-ucts and services, is redefined as “taking inno-vative technology and watching it convergewith heretofore unsuspected marketneeds.” Shane Schick, editor of ITBusiness, likens it to “the kind of thingeveryone in IT likes to think they’redoing but which only happens aboutonce a decade.”

“It’s not technology that is intuitivelypurchased, but has to be sold,”Morrison adds. “You have to convinceother people they want your dog food —you have to make a bet, and then goand talk to customers. I don’t think thecreative process is a democraticprocess. It’s a gutsy, courageous, bet-taking kind of process.”

their motto is our calling

Any original equipment manufacturer who declares “Chrome is King” has awelcome at Kuntz Electroplating Inc. And there is no better person to wel-

come them than Mike Kuntz, Director of Business Development of this 56-year-old company. Kuntz was very excited about working with their newestclient, so much so that he convinced management to authorize an $8 millioncapital investment that would introduce a brand new computer-assisted hoistdie cast aluminum line (HD). This line is dedicated to meet the growingdemands of this new relationship, a sign of Kuntz’s commitment to innovateand change their thinking. All this is to service a client of legendary reputationwhose past is well chronicled — none other than motorcycle fabricator, HarleyDavidson Motor Company.

“There are probably fewer than five metal finishers in the world that can dothis kind of plating on this substrate to Harley standards,” says Kuntz. “We real-ly had to step outside our core competency — and it took some convincing”.

Kuntz Electroplating has been supplying Harley Davidson with the cosmet-ic engine components for their Twin Cam 88 engine, which will power nearly75% of the 300,000 bikes Harley Davidson plans to build in 2004. This numberis expected to increase to 400,000 by 2007.

A the heart of the deal is a new, dedicated die cast aluminum polishing andplating line at Kuntz, one that by the end of 2004 will have created 100 newjobs at the Kitchener facility.

Kuntz started doing business with Harley in July 2002; each year sales havedoubled. Kuntz calls it a “business in a business”. This was the first time in 15years that Kuntz Electroplating ventured out of the secure automotive market,and the first move that came out of a strategic decision made by managementin 2001 — to diversify. “We want to have different baskets to draw from,” adds

Kuntz. Around the same time, HarleyDavidson approached them with asimilar philosophy and a desire toexpand their supplier inventory.

The task wasn’t easy. HarleyDavidson uses a special substrate,die cast aluminum. It’s used to man-ufacture most of their engine. Kuntzplates Harley’s rocker boxes, top andbottom, tappets, transmission sidecover, cam cover, and other trans-mission covers for the beta and dynaengines.

In an industry where processintelligence is well guarded, Kuntzwas required to start fromscratch. Kuntz is quick to acknowl-edge the skill of his engineers. TheR&D resulted in a significantinvestment well before capitalcosts were calculated. When itcomes to plating, the polishingaspect is quite a significantprocess. Kuntz has installed newrobotic polishing cells that arecutting edge. With their strong

push on the polishing aspect of the busi-ness, accompanied with their new diecast hoist line, Kuntz expects to reachcapacity on their HD line solely withHarley Davidson product. They are work-ing with a company whose track record islegendary — Harley has posted 18 con-secutive years of growth and profit, andexpectations are that by 2006 HarleyDavidson will be approximately 20% ofKuntz Electroplating product.

The other four Kuntz lines — wheels (cur-rently 70%), tubes (running boards),bumpers and aftermarket products — arealso expected to be solid players in futuremarkets. When all is said and done, Harleyhas found a supplier who just might be evenmore fond of chrome than they are.

(below) Mike Kuntz, Director of BusinessDevelopment, in front of chrome Harley Davidson covers.

Don Morrison

• Waterloo Region’s CTT reports area business-es’ key exports in 2002 totalled $10.7 billion,up 20.1% from 2000. By comparison,Ontario’s exports declined by .3% and exportsfrom Canada declined by 4.1% over the sameperiod. US, UK, Mexico, Germany and Japanwere the top five importers. The US repre-sented 95% of exported products, with $4.1billion to California alone. Other US statesranked high in export purchases wereMichigan, Ohio, New York and Texas.Principle exports included machinery, trans-portation equipment, electrical and electricalproducts, fabricated metal products and plas-tics. Exports from Waterloo Region represents5.2% of Ontario’s total exports. Exports fromthe area exceeded five provinces includingPEI, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New

Brunswick and Manitoba. The study was pro-duced by Paul Knafelc, of CommunityBenchmarks, for the CTT.

• Gartner Dataquest reports, "All the majorsoftware companies are each in a transitionfrom older proprietary systems to standards... we're right in the middle of the transition... growth in [US] corporate software spend-ing will pick up around 2005."

• According to Minister of Finance RalphGoodale in the new federal budget, capitalcost allowance rates on computer equipmenthave increased from 30% to 40% a year. Forbroadband, Internet and network equipmentthe rate has moved from 20% to 30%.

• In February the increase in investment inten-tions for 2004 was a main reason neworders for manufactured goods posted oneof their best gains in two years.

QUARTERLY REPORT

12 l exchangemagazine.com l MAY 2004

There are 365 M&M

Meat Shops – and

Mac Voisin has a

story for every one

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Mac Voisin,president andCEO of M&MMeat Shops

Providing the perfect Steak

MOVER & SHAKER

BY PAUL KNOWLES

MAY 2004 l exchangemagazine.com l 13

Providing the perfect Steak

14 l exchangemagazine.com l MAY 2004

ac Voisin is a story-teller.Oh, sure, he’s lots of other

things, too — a highly success-ful businessman, an effective andnationally-recognized fundraiser, anhonoured corporate citizen, an innova-tor, perhaps even a visionary.

But he is a heck of a story-teller. Oneof his favourite tales concerns the ori-gins of his nation-wide chain of M&MMeat Shops, started and still based inKitchener. It involves a simple conversa-tion with his then-brother-in-law, lawyerMark Nowak.

“Mark and I were at a barbecue, look-ing at these T-bone steaks,” he recalls.The question wasraised as to whyrestaurants canalways serve “theperfect steak,” whilein supermarkets,buying steaks “is acrap-shoot.”

“We just wanted

high-quality steaks,” says Voisin.The co-founder of M&M Meat Shops

is also a man of action. “Monday morn-ing, I called a retail supplier in Torontoand asked that question.” The answer?High quality restaurants serve steaksaged 21-28 days. It makes for a greatsteak — but the process turns the meat adark red, instead of the popular brightred adorning supermarket meat coolers.Supermarket shoppers don’t like thelook of the aged steaks.

The conversation continued betweenMac and Mark — their initials producedthe company name, M&M. “What if wecould sell restaurant steaks? Once you

grill them, they look thesame!” And so — goesVoisin’s story — a busi-ness was born on Octo-ber 10, 1980, a businessdevoted to “offeringrestaurant style foodproducts to consumers atthe retail level, flash

MOVER & SHAKER

“We just wanted

high-quality steaks,”

says Voisin.

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frozen, portion-controlled foods in largerthan normal pack size, at reasonableprices.” And a business dedicated to edu-cating consumers, based on the very realneed to convince them that an unusual-ly-coloured piece of meat was actuallygoing to taste a lot better.

As the enterprise was launched, Voisinleft his career as a home builder, andNowak stopped working as a lawyer.Eventually, Nowak returned to the law;Voisin stayed with his new business.

Which was not, by the way, an instantsuccess. Today, there are 365 M&M MeatShops right across Canada, almost all ofthem franchise operations. But in theearly years, it wasn’t an easy road. M&Mopened three retail stores in October,1980, but for some time, “we struggled.Most of the stores were breaking even,or worse.”

But Voisin is a visionary; he believedin his plan, and M&M Meat Shops con-tinued to expand, even before the finan-cial rewards started to come.

Voisin believes that the chain’s even-tual success has been based on givingthe customers what they want. “We go tothe consumer, and say, ‘What do you

want?’ We do surveys all the time.” Andthose surveys affect the items on offer inthe shops — some items are added,while others are dropped, on a regularbasis. Between 25 and 30 products arereplaced this way, each year, and thenew products have always been carefullyresearched and taste-tested, often evenby the CEO. “When we introduce a prod-uct, all the people here think it’s a bulls-eye,” before it ever reaches the shelves.

Voisin admits that one of the tough-est parts of the job, today, is explainingto loyal customers that a certain itemhas been discontinued because it wasnot popular enough.But he also notesthat most customers approach the serv-ice counter with the eager question,“What’s new?”

None of this consumer-relationsexpertise came instantly, though. Voisintalks of a “five-year learning curve,” asthe stores discovered what customerswanted — and simultaneously educatedthose customers about M&M’s productsand approach. Voisin says that having“knowledgeable helpful persons” at theservice counter was a big surprise, andhugely popular, with customers used to

impersonal supermarkets.And by 1986, “it really started to catch

on,” says the President and CEO. “Ialways said, it’s up to us to convince theconsumer.” That “convincing job” has anumber of streams. Voisin says that“although we advertise, a lot,” 90% ofconsumer education is done, one on one,at the well-staffed service counter.

And then there is M&M Meat Shops’image as a corporate citizen, one of thebest things Voisin and colleagues havegoing for them.

M&M is known, nation-wide, for itssupport of charitable causes, especiallyhelping the Crohn’s and Colitis Founda-tion of Canada. Every year, in May, thecompany’s stores — all of them! — holdM&M Meat Shops Charity BBQ Day (in2004, it will be held Saturday, May 15).So far, M&M has raised $7.8 million forinflammatory bowel disease research;$1.2 million of that, in 2003.

By the way, within a couple of years,“nation-wide” will probably be an inade-quate description. Voisin says M&MMeat Shops will probably expand intothe United States within two or threeyears. And as evidence that good deeds

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do have a ripple effect, some of theimpetus for that growth plan comesfrom the American counterpart of theCrohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Cana-da, which covets Voisin’s fundraisingexpertise and dedication for the causesouth of the border.

The Charity Barbecues are not theonly community efforts of M&M MeatShops. Voisin points to other fundraisersfor the same cause, including five golftournaments across Canada, one of

which is an incredibly successful sportscelebrity golf tournament held at Kitch-ener’s Deer Ridge course every year.Asked for more information about thelocal tourney, Voisin laughed and saidthat would accomplish nothing — thepopular event sells out months inadvance, every year.

M&M franchises are encouraged toget involved in their communities, andVoisin estimates that each of the 365stores is involved in 20 to 25 community

events, each year. Some do up to 50.For example, when the Stratford fran-

chise offered to cater, free of charge, thereception at the Stratford Book Festivallast year, not only did they donate thefood, but they showed up to serve, ledby franchise owner Phil Miller, apronand all.

Voisin says that the stores wereinvolved in their communities, holdingcharity barbecues, “from the very earlyperiod.” But “it wasn’t until 1988 that wecame up with the idea of everybody get-ting together for a single corporate char-ity.”

They chose the CCFC, not becauseanyone in the company was known tohave a connection with the illness, but“because we were trying to help a little-known cause.”

Help, they have. M&M Meat Shops’efforts contributed about 35% of theFoundation’s annual revenue, almost allof which goes to research. Voisin is nowan expert on the issues; he points outthat “Canada has the highest incidenceper capita of inflammatory bowel dis-ease in the world ... over 150,000 Cana-dians” are sufferers.

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It may seem an odd affiliation for afood company, but Voisin is proud, notonly of the fundraising, but of the profileraising. These were conditions peopledidn’t talk about, until the Charity Barbe-cues started. “It was a closet disease,”says Voisin. But that has changed, achange for the better.

It’s not surprising that the folks at theCrohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canadahave nothing but good to say aboutVoisin and his company. MichaelHoworth, National Executive Director, haspublicly stated: “M&M Meat Shops is atremendously successful business, largelybecause of the quality of people who ownthe franchises, and the good peopleworking in the stores and offices. EverySpring, the M&M Meat Shops family rollsup their sleeves and gets ready for CharityBBQ Day ... more successful every year.I’m sure that if all of the friends at theCCFC were to stand up and shout, ‘Thankyou, M&M Meat Shops!’, the roar couldbe heard from coast to coast.”

Michael Burrows, National Past Presi-dent of CCFC, simply offers “A hugethank you to Mac Voisin ... and everyoneat M&M Meat Shops.”

Voisin stresses that “every store” par-ticipates in the charity barbecues, and indozens of other community events. Howdoes M&M Meat Shops guarantee thattheir franchisees will buy into this corpo-rate consensus?

“We take a lot of time to invite theright people into the team,” says Voisin.“We make sure. Then, we indoctrinatethem into the M&M culture, whichincludes being a part of the community.”

There’s a good chance the folks in thefranchises are going to get up close andpersonal with the company president,too — Voisin says “I visit about 100stores a year across the country.”

Voisin puts his energy where hismouth is; he’s very involved in commu-

nity activities. A Kitchener native, he isPresident of the St. Mary’s General Hos-pital Foundation, and has worked withorganizations ranging from the Kitchen-er and Waterloo Community Foundationto Junior Achievement, to the Food Bankof Waterloo Region. He admits that he

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A true indicator of any healthy market in real estate is diversification and through diversification comes overall stability. Asthe region’s industrial and office real estate markets have matured and diversified, stability has followed.When looking at themarkets in comparison with the rest of the country, vacancy rates are comfortably below the national average and the large

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On the industrial side,once again the region’s overall vacancy rate,at just over 3%, came in comfortably under the national average of5.1%. Unlike the office market, the trend in the industrial marketis moving more towards speculative construction from the moretypical design-build construction that we have seen in recentyears. This potentially could create some upward pressure onvacancy rates as new vacant buildings hit the market.The overalldemand for manufacturing and warehouse facilities in our region,as companies push out from the greater Toronto area, should compensate for this speculative construction and vacancy rates,while they might see slight upward pressure, should remain comfortably below the national average throughout 2004.

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MOVER & SHAKER

loves community involvement, andloathes committee work. He’s happiestspearheading a project, seeing it suc-ceed, and then moving on to some-thing else.

But that restlessness doesn’t showitself in his commitment to his company.Or perhaps it is assuaged by the contin-ued success and growth of M&M MeatShops, which has twice in this centurybeen named one of “Canada’s 50 BestManaged Companies.”

Voisin’s bio lists hobbies includinggolfing, scuba diving, fishing, “and mostof all ... people.”

One of his favourite places to golf ishis own, small six-hole gold coursearound his cottage, just west of WolfeIsland near Kingston. However, Voisin

claims that he’s just a “hacker, becauseI refuse to get serious about the game. Icall it ‘hack and laugh’ golf.” He fishesfor bass in that area, as well, but hisscuba diving can take him fartherafield. Voisin holds an advanced divingcertificate and a scuba instructor’slicense; he’s done close to 200 dives inthe past 15 years, many in theCaribbean, but many more in LakeOntario, exploring shipwrecks near his

cottage.To serve the 365 M&M Meat

Shops across Canada, the compa-ny employs 95 people at its Kitch-ener head office, another 12 in aQuebec regional office, and 18more in the Alberta regionaloffice. Voisin estimates that thefranchises, averaging about eight

staffers per store, have “the better part of3000” employees.

Financial growth has been consistent;the 10-year graph goes up from $128million in sales in 1994 to $342 million in2003. And, “we continue to open 25 to30 stores a year,” says the president. “Wehave stepped up the pace in Quebec,with 43 stores. That market has reallytaken off.”

With all those stores across thecountry, where is the room for growth?“We’re going into smaller and smallertowns,” says Voisin. Public awarenessof M&M has grown to the point where“we’re almost guaranteed a big open-ing. We hear, ‘It’s about time you guysgot here.’” May 13, a new M&M MeatShop opens in Whitehorse, Yukon.

So what about the giant leap south ofthe border? Voisin believes the time isnearly right. “There is nothing like M&MMeat Shops in the U.S.,” he says. Well, itlooks like there soon will be.

That will mean some exciting newretail outlets. It will mean restaurantquality steaks on American barbecuegrills. It will mean dozens of friendly,charitable community events. And itwill mean that Mac Voisin will have awhole new set of stories to tell.

“We were trying

to help a

little-known cause.”

The annual M&M Meat Shops Charity BBQ Day is held at every store in May as a fundraiser for theCrohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada. (top right photo) Mac flips burgers at one of the barbecues.

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