Page 10, Whilby Fiee Pres,. Wednesday, March 15, 1995 . .. .. .. Sklar Whitby poised for more growvvth in95 By John Dujay The Trillium awards were reenl handed out to the beat uriue manufacturera in Ontario. Sklar- Peppler of W=tb took top prize to cumnte a great turnaround in the compan's erformance. In 1990, the Canada-U.S. free- trade agreement took effect. Current president Bob Tweedy hadjus t purchased the company -- whch was started by four Sklar brothera in 1945 -- and immediately was propelled "right into the teeth of the storm." Gone*was the tariff security blanket for Canadian manufacturera. They now had to compete witb cheaper Ainerican importa. Tweedy "s free trade bad a "brutal impact on the residential furniture industry for Canada." It's estimated that the industry bast about one- third of its employment, he says s. Originally the tarifas were about 15 per cent. Then they were gone. "It made it very tough to survive," he saya from bis office wbicb looks out onto the 401. 1bounces back in Kiev, Russia, for about $30,000, a trial shipment in some dep artment- stores., "It's been a un thnf to see that market (open Up) says Tweed. Sklar proâuces on% residenà tial upholstered furniture. Tweedy wanted the company to concentrate on that aspect to ensure cost and quality effectiveness. As part of the turnaround, they divested in a plastics division and focused more on producing high quality upholstery. Last year sales were more than $35 million, including $5 million in U.S. shipinents. ThI:s SKLAR-PEPPLER recently made a trial shlpment to Kev, Russia. The low Canadian dollar has helped exports. Photo by John Oujay, Whltby Fr.. Prou. Tweedy decided that the only way for Sklar to survive was to become a "slim trim operation."1 Their firat objective was to I P idoperates the world's ogs petroleum pipeline, and we view environmental protection as an integral element of our business. We also support communities across Canada that are commîtted to enhancing and protecting the environment for future generations. Is Cm uiyBs . nirnenal1itaSv is a grant program that offers up to $5,000 to local groups working to improve or preserve the environ ment. To qualify, your group must meet these critcria: - be non-profit, and not dedicated to sports; - have an open membership to the general public; - operate within proximity of IPL's pipeline; - enhance or protect the environrnent, or generate public avareness or environmcntal issues. Initiatives supported in the past include construction of interpretive nature trails, tree planting projects to enhance wildlifi. habitat, and dcvcloprncnt of recycling programs. Deadline for grant applications is April 30, 1995. Contact Scott l3rummct at (403) 420-5306 (collcct) for more information. Address aIl correspondence to: IPL Community Based Environmental Initiative IPL Tower, 10201 Jasper Avenue, Box 398 Edmonton, AB T5J 2J9 d Attention: R.S. Brummet "mw interprovincial Pipe LUne Inc. regain lost market share. "We're flot nuite there yet, but we've corneback a long way," hie says. As acomp'any policy, face-to- face communication is very important. "We don't write a lot of memos; we talk to each other," he says. In 1992, Sklar began the slow turnaround. And last year, "We started to see the fruits of our efforts," Tweed y says. The low Canadian dollar la bel pin Conp anies like Sklar seIl thýeir products to the U.S. They. also seli to Japan, Europe and the Mideast. Sklar recently placed their first order o fd tii1 Documnent Shredding # Hîgh volumne equîpment wilI reduce your shreddîng cost # Secure locked containers at no extra cost # Bonded drivers #*100% of paper is recycled # Certificate of destruction # Volume discounts available year-end, clean-outs CAIÀL NOif (905) 427-3605 (Derrick) ffÀgffzOffÀU4:l WASTE SYSTEMS was up about 30 pe cent from 1993,figures, says Teedy. Sklar bas showrooma in Mississauga and in North Carolina, for display purposes Two projects in the works at Sklar involve reducing physical stress on employees. Týweedy sayýs one involvesa non-stress spr«nging systein which is the frst of its kindin the world. Another involves a type. of beam that will be shot into employees' muscles to alleviate stress. "We try to keep on1 the leading edge of technologyi" he says. Furniture imdustry plans for the future. The Oanada-U.S. free trade agreement was heralded as the coming of a new age for this country In t1 furniture industry it caused some major hardsip, but the 'industry appears to have turned the corner.and is headed for a bright future. "We dropped (in sales) througb the nineties," says Ontario Furniture Manufac- turing Association vice presi dent ' George Sinclair. "Probably the lowest point was 1992 an dit was $3.6 billion." The association expects a four to six per cent growth for 1995. The figures for 1994 were about $5 billion in sales. Recently, the Ontario government', - through the economie development ministry, announced *a sector blueprint' and funding of about $150 million. Minister without portfolio for finance Brad Ward announced the plan at the 2lst Trillium awards banquet held recently in Mississauga. "By embracing our sector approach to economic developinent, this industry can co-operatively address the tremendous challenges that many individual companies cannot address alone," hie said. Ward said the plan hopes to increase shipments to $1.3 4 billion and create more than double the current amount of jobs to 12,300 persons by 1999. As well 'the plan hopes to increase the industry's world competitiveneas. The furniture association will work witb the ministry to develop the scheme, saya Sinclair. A a 105-year-ol d organization, the association "acts on aIl aspects of furniture Elizabeth *Bethu Parise - Broker H.G. Roughley Umited is pleased to announce that Beth Parise has joined their staff of Insurance Professionals. Beth has over 20 years expenience in both Persona] and Commercial Linos of Insurance. H.G. Roughley Uimited is celebrating their 50th Anniversary in business during 1995 serving the Durham Region with quality insurance products for business and personal roquirements. 1000 Slmcoe St. N. Oshawa 576-7770 Toronto 686-5857 manufacturing andi selling," be says. "There isn't an element of the industry that were not invoved with. "Our interest is to provide a forum for membera and non- members to have a cordial ,exchange of ideas." Members pay a percentage of their sales to, contribute to the association's estimated $500 000 to $600,000 annual budgîet. They -have 120 members, down fromn past years because "we lost a number of companies due to the recession and free trade," saïs Sinclair. It is estimnated that about 20,000 permanent jobs, were loat during the recession. The association wo rks witb a 'skeleton staff of about six full- time persons. Most of their work is contracted out. It gives us accees to a lot more skiffil," say s Sinclair. He says the association wants to proýmote more trade to such emerging markets a 's Mexico,, implement more high technology training and innovation in the industry and attempt to standardize the industry more in line with ISO 9000. "If you improve your technology, you 've got to improve your workIers,"il e says, which should open more opportunities for growth. Business award nominations underway The Whitby Chamber of Commerce business person and corporate citizen awards will be presented this year in early sprig instead of October. Te chamber is accepting nominations for bath awards until March 31. Those nomninated for the business award must have made an outstandinig contribution to the- town during 1994/95 and have been working and/or doing business in hIMtby in 1994/95. They must be successful in their occupations. Nomination forms are available at the Whitby *charnber office. Nominations may be mailed, hand delivered or faxed to the chaxnber office, at 128 Brock St. S., Whitby, Ontario, LMN 4J8. Fax number is 668-1894. Nominations received after 4 p.m ., March 31,- will not be considered. CaIl 668-4506 for further information. - 1 ý. .1 ' , 4 1 . - 9 ý - 8 . ýj , ,-ý , j y &