Positive attitude has paid off

Posted By CHRISTINE ENDICOTT , R & T STAFF WRITER

To learn about the difficulties of working in manufacturing in Leeds-Grenville, meet Ken Burton.

The Prescott man has endured five layoffs or company closings over the past two decades - including a company closing during the current economic downtown -but he has managed to find a well-paying manufacturing job, this time at Casco in Cardinal.

Burton is one of many local people who are prospering despite the challenges of the recession -people who call themselves lucky.

"Stay positive," he advises anyone who has suffered a layoff or business closing this year. "If one door closes, another one will open. It may take time."

After graduating from South Grenville District High School, Burton counted himself lucky to find a job as an operator at Pirelli Cables in Johnstown, until he was laid off in 1995 after seven years.

"We had just bought our house ... so it was kind of a shocker," he recalled in an interview. "But we just lived within our means. We didn't try to keep up with the Joneses."

Burton, whose wife, Leanne, operates a home day care, then found work at Universal Grinding in Brockville. A year later, when he learned it was going to close, he found yet another job, this time at Rehau Warehousing in Prescott.

When Rehau shut its warehouse division, he updated his resumé again and landed a position at DuPont.

"When I got into DuPont, I figured I would be set for life ... but times have changed."

After Invista bought the plant, workers went on strike during summer 2005, and the polymer division suffered layoffs. Burton was offered a janitor job at $15 an hour, roughly half of what he had been earning.

He quickly found another job to support his family, which in addition to his wife, includes the couple's daughters, Miranda, 16, and Kayla, 13. At GC Toshack in Prescott, Burton was the service manager for a year and a half - until he realized the company was headed for bankruptcy.

Finally, in 2007, he was thrilled to be offered a job as an operator at Casco in Cardinal.

"I got there the year they were celebrating their 150th year," he said. "If a company can celebrate 150 years in business, they must be doing something right."

Burton is still at Casco and said he enjoys his job producing various types of starch in the company's dry starch division, but as he looks back, notes, "I never thought I would have this many jobs in my life."

He considers himself lucky: "I never had to foreclose on the mortgage. It was tight for a while, but we didn't lose."

Some of his co-workers at Casco have also come from other businesses and factories which downsized or closed during the past few years in Brockville, Prescott or Cornwall.

His advice to young people is simple: "Stay in school and take up a trade like carpentry, or something like nursing or teaching."

In manufacturing, jobs are becoming scarce, he noted.

"I could be out of a job tomorrow. I really have no control over it."

Leeds-Grenville includes many others who have managed to prosper despite the effects of the economic downturn.

Dwayne Kelly, also a Casco operator, worked at Shorewood Packaging in Brockville until the plant closed.

"I am lucky," he said. "I have buddies who are working for $12 an hour, and they used to make $22 or $25."

Kelly and his wife, Rachel, a hair salon receptionist, have an infant son, Kayden. They weren't completely surprised when Shorewood closed because Kelly's father had worked for Phillips Cables.

"We aren't the first people to lose their jobs," the Brockville resident pointed out.

Ben TeKamp, a small business consultant for the Grenville Community Futures Development Corporation, encourages people to consider self-employment if they have been laid off from their jobs.

TeKamp operated the Self- Employment Benefit program, which has been suspended until April. He hopes the federal government will reinstate its funding.

Since the program started 15 years ago, there is "much, much greater demand" for it, TeKamp said. "The demand is growing because the economy is uncertain."

"When people are laid off, they look for alternatives," he explained.

Many of his students are doing well in the current economic climate, including Kevin Hoover and Dan Davis of Freedom Mobility Products, which sells wheelchairs, scooters, ramps and lifts.

"It's a good business for the future, the way the demographics are changing," Hoover said from his County Road 29 shop. "Diabetes is on the rise, which causes a lot of people to need our products as well."

He and Davis are willing to visit clients in their homes and always respond to calls right away. This personal approach to service has led to early success since Freedom Mobility opened in September.

"It's definitely a learning curve ...but we are doing well."

Previously, Hoover had been managing an advertising division for a printer, while Davis worked in the mobility industry in sales. The two friends had spoken about starting a business.

"When we were both laid off, we decided to bite the bullet," said Hoover.

Another of TeKamp's students with early success is Elaine Ferguson, 66, who in September opened Golden Soles Footwear and Accessories on King Street in Brockville.

Ferguson, who has lupus, said she had trouble finding comfortable shoes. She had previously worked for a security company in Dartmouth, N.S. and returned to her hometown of Brockville last year.

"I am now doing what I wanted to do," she said, between serving customers at her downtown shop. "I have always wanted to have my own business. ... I am loving every minute of it."

Ferguson planned the business carefully and is cautious about stocking too much product. Many customers find what they need right in the store, and Ferguson can also order shoes, slippers or boots to fit custom orthotics. She also travels to retirement homes to fit people for shoes.

TeKamp also mentioned several other recent students who are successful following a layoff, including Scott McNamee, who opened Cranks Bicycle Shop in downtown Brockville after completing the program, and Theresa Kenney-Churchill, who started Savvy Shoes, also downtown.

"They have all found a niche. They have looked at the local market and the need out there," said TeKamp.

Strong marketing and networking make the business successful, he pointed out.