Vol. 11, No. 48 Wednesday, December 2, 1981 28 Pages First ever recipient Stokely Van Camp Corporate Citizen of the Year Stokely Van Camp of Canada is the first reci- pient of the Whitby Chamber of Commerce Good Corporate Citizen Award. The award will be given, on an irregular basis, to the Whitby business that best exem- plifies the idea of a good corporate citizen. In presenting -the award, chamber secretary-elect Nigel Schilling described Stokely as Whitby's oldest continuing in- dustry. "This industry is as much an institution in Whitby as the Ontario Hospital (now known as the Whitby Psychiatric Hospital)," he said. Stokely, he said, has provided jobs for Whit- by youths during the summer months and has for decades been the buyer of cash crops grown by area farmers. "Now that so much of our good farm land is in the hands of developers, it rents hundreds of acres and keeps them productive in growing foodstuffs rather than becoming overcome with weeds," Schilling added.- But this is not the pri- mary reason for the award being given to Stokely Van Camp. Schilling said that when Stokely consoli- dated its Ontario opera- tions, the plants in Essex and Trenton were closed and the one in Whitby was expanded. "It was necessary for Stokely and the town to reach agreement regarding the location of the addition to the plant and the supply of water and discharge of effluent and I have it from high authority that at all times, Stokely has been very co-opera- tive," he said. "Most of you are probably not aware," Schilling told his audience, "that during the day, the effluent from the canning opera- tion goes into an enor- mous holding tank which is emptied into the sewer system in the dead of night when the treatment plant has ex- cess capacity." The local attorney CONT'D ON PG. 2 Andy Paterson, vice-president of marketing~for - The award was instituted by the chamber this Stokely Van Camp of Canada is seen here accepting year and will be given, on an irregular basis, to the the Whitby Chamber of Commerce Good Corporate Whitby business that has proven itself to be a good Citizen Award from secretary elect Nigel Schilling. corporate citizen. - Free Press Staff Photo He's "Mr. Whitby" Mayor Bob Attersley Business Pers on of the Year As far as the Chamber of Commerce is concerned, he's "Mr. Whitby." "He's a super-optimist - he believes in Whitby," according to Bruce Howie, second vice-president elect of the chamber. And for that reason, the chamber awarded its third annual Business Person of the Year Award to Mayor Bob Attersley. Attersley had attended the chamber's annual meeting last Wednesday night with the aim of presenting the award - never believing that he would be the recipient. "This is the biggest surprise I've had since I've been in office," he told his audience. And then he went on to tel] the 70 chamber members present about all of the good things that Whitby has to offer. "We've got a beautiful town," Attersley said. "We've got a beautiful town to sell, a beautiful town to market." The following morning, the 41st Mayor of the Town of Whitby said he was "more than slightly" surprised that he would be given the honor. "I think it's a real honor," Attersley said. The long-time local politician and renowned amateur hockey player also gave the credit for his success as a businessman to the people of Whitby. Attersley is president of the Attersley Group of Companies which started with a tire store in the downtown on March 1, 1960. Since that time, Attersley Tire has grown into an operation employing some 130 people in operations spreading out from Whitby to Oshawa and Kingston in the east and Toronto in the west. Attersley's operation is no longer confined to tires either. He is also an automotive supply distributor for AC Delco. He adds that he believes the key to his success in business is the way his customers are treated. "I treat other people the way I like to be treated." Another key to success, he maintains, is to take a positive outlook. "You have got to be positive," Attersley believes. "Far too often people are too quick to criticize." He also gets angry with those who criticize without giving an alternative course of action. "I will not tolerate criticism for the sake of cri- ticizing," Attersley said. This applies not only to his private business dealing but to how the Corporation of the Town of Whitby is run as well. In Attersley's view, the town is a business and should be operated like a business. "The town is a business whether you like it or not and the only difference is that it is funded through taxation." Taxation, he continued, is the price paid by the corporation shareholder (the property taxpayer and resident) for services provided by the town. 'The town provides a service," Attersley said ad- ding that "business principles can be applied to the town. As mayor, he perceives one of his main jobs to be promoting the town and its people and ail that it has to offer but sometimes ail that comes out are the problems. "I like to talk about the good things," he said, "the bad things we'll work to correct but we need to hear about the good things." Attersley also related his feelings about the town which he has made his home. having been born and raised in Oshawa. "There's a ring in the air that you just don't feel in other communities." he said. "It's the people that make the town." "If it wasn't for the people of the town, I wouldn't be where I am today." 19sh sn s..ay z'ti Christma