Garfield Flowers: a role model for today’s youth
Garfield Flowers: a role model for today’s youth
The Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) has welcomed three Aboriginal business leaders into its Aboriginal Business Hall of Fame (ABHF) at the 9th Annual Circle for 2015 National Gala Dinner in Toronto in February. Chief Victor Buffalo, Harry Cook, and Garfield Flowers established milestones which future generations of Aboriginal entrepreneurs will advance.
Garfield Flowers
We profiled Chief Victor S. Buffalo in the March edition, Harry Cook in the April edition and this edition we feature Garfield Flowers.
The following is an condensed version of the CCAB video tribute to Garfield Flowers, which was presented prior to his appointment to the ABHF. The full version is at www.ccab.com.
Garfield Flowers has built a thriving commercial empire, on the desolate coast of Labrador, using little more than his own ambition and talent.
Garfield, a Labrador Inuit, was born in 1940 at Shango Bay not far from Davis Inlet. The first of six children of Chesley and Jessie Flowers, a traditional couple who made their living as trappers and fishers as their ancestors had done for a thousand years.
The family moved to Flowers Bay when Garfield was a baby, and then to Hopedale when the U.S. Airforce setup a Radar Station there in the early fifties. Hopedale is a tiny isolated spot on the Labrador Coast. The settlement began as an Moravian Mission to the Inuit in the late 1700s.
Garfield loved growing up in the middle of nature and says the best part was the unbelievable freedom he had. He attended residential schools in Labrador. He got through grade eight in the late fifties and started work as a clerk in the government store in Hopedale. During the summers he also worked as a labourer on the radar base and eventually started maintaining the power plant that provided electricity to Hopedale.
In 1961 he married Sylvia and they soon started a family.
Garfield took the big step of running his own show in 1969 when a man he considers his mentor encouraged him to bid on a contract to run the local weather station. He got the job and called in his observations every hour to Goose Bay for fourteen years.
Garfield describes himself as an ‘ordinary Joe’, but calling him a serial entrepreneur might be more accurate. He started a few businesses on the side, like road construction and selling candy, while he was running the weather station.
In 1982 as the weather contract was winding down, he bought a building from the now abandoned radar station, moved it into town and turned it into a general store, bringing in hundreds of items never seen before in Hopedale.
He setup Northland Enterprises, as a holding company for his activities. He became a brewers agent and started a bar, he opened a garage and setup a construction company. The local post office is in one of his buildings and he’s the biggest landlord in town. He convinced the phone company to bring service to Hopedale in 1966 and he owns most of the heavy equipment in town.
At one time he employed thirty-four local people, which in a town like Hopedale is like a couple of thousand jobs in a big city.
There are a lot of stories about Garfield and some of them are even true. Like the one about building a road from the town to the dump, using garbage as his material and saving Hopedale a million dollars. Or the one about his Caribou-loving friend from Goose Bay who called one day, to see if he could spare some meat. Garfield put down the phone, the sound of two shots came though the receiver. Garfield came back on the line and said “There’ll be some on the way down to you on the morning plane”.
While running all of his businesses, Garfield also served Hopedale as a councillor and mayor for twenty-seven years. His last holiday in Antigua was in 1980. Garfield had a quadruple bypass in 2003. He was supposed to retire, but he went stir-crazy and was soon back at work running Northland from his kitchen table.
Although he has slowed down a bit, he’s not ready to call himself a success yet, he says he needs another four years for that. He’s still got a ton of ideas, he wants to start a chicken farm, buy a Hovercraft, open a micro-brewery and circle Newfoundland in a speedboat, he thinks that could be his grand finale.
Garfield says he has never taken a cent he didn’t earn and can’t understand people who do. He thinks more Aboriginal people should get into business because that’s the way to become independent and get back some of their freedom.
He says his biggest accomplishment, is the empire he built to pass along to his three kids and four grandkids.
Garfield Flowers has been chosen to enter the Aboriginal Business Hall of Fame because his vision and deeds have shown young people how to meet the challenges of the business world. His career established a milestone passed which succeeding generations of Aboriginal entrepreneurs will advance.
CAMSC reports $27 million procurement spend by corporate members with Aboriginal and minority companies in 2006
Improving access to corporate supply chain would boost Canada's economy
The Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council (CAMSC) is reporting that its corporate members spent over $27 million in procurement dollars with Aboriginal and minority companies in 2006. This compares with a collective procurement spend of $16 million by CAMSC members in 2005.
The increase reflects a growing recognition among corporate Canada of the value of working with Aboriginal and minority-owned suppliers. Quebec-based JYCO Sealing Technologies has been a beneficiary of the program through its relationship with DaimlerChrysler.
On April 10 and 11, 2007, the Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council (CAMSC) hosted the third annual Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Procurement Fair at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto.
The CAMSC Procurement Fair is a forum where corporations and Aboriginal and minority suppliers can share insights, expand their networks, and forge new opportunities. Attracting business executives, government representatives and Aboriginal and minority-owned suppliers of all sizes, the fair includes a cross-border workshop on best practices in supplier diversity.
“Our goal is to link corporate Canada with Aboriginal and minority businesses, which are becoming increasingly crucial to Canada’s economic future,” said Orrin Benn, president of the Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council. “By facilitating access to $30 billion in corporate purchasing, we can help to grow Aboriginal and minority-owned business enterprises to strengthen the Canadian economy.”
The Hon. Paul Martin, former prime minister of Canada, gave the keynote address at the conference. His remarks focussed on the need to integrate Aboriginal and Minority businesses in the Canadian economy.
The agenda also included a series of roundtables on corporate procurement with leading corporations that have recognized the value of working with Aboriginal and minority-owned suppliers. The Fair featured corporate exhibitors, Aboriginal and minority suppliers and networking sessions with corporate procurement directors.
Sponsors of the fair include DaimlerChrysler, Xerox, Cisco and RBC Financial Group.
"DaimlerChrysler has actively supported minority-owned suppliers for 23 years and our involvement with CAMSC is another example of how we can help these suppliers leverage opportunities for sustainability and growth,” said Peter Rosenfeld, Executive Vice President - Procurement and Supply, DaimlerChrysler Corporation. “We recognize the value in having a supply base that mirrors our company and customer base.”
CAMSC is calling for federal procurement, certification and reporting policies that will foster growth among Aboriginal and minority small and medium-sized businesses. In a 2006 report entitled Why Aboriginal and Minority Business Integration is Essential to Canada’s Economic Growth, CAMSC recommended a procurement policy that would require companies doing business with the federal government and with crown corporations to report on their purchases from Aboriginal and minority suppliers, and the harmonization of federal purchasing rules with U.S. regulations, which would expand market opportunities for Canadian entrepreneurs.
CAMSC recently announced the addition of Acklands Grainger, Comstock, Enterprise Rent a Car, Johnson & Johnson Inc., KSR International, Pfizer, State Farm Insurance, TD Canada Trust and Wal-Mart Canada Inc. to CAMSC’s already impressive list of national corporate members. These nine companies join a number of premier Canadian businesses that, through CAMSC, see the value in engaging Aboriginal and visible minority enterprises.
For more information, please visit www.camsc.ca.
Canadian North has announced that it would begin service to Kugaaruk, Taloyoak, Kugluktuk, and Gjoa Haven in the Kitikmeot Region effective June 3, 2007. The new services use a dedicated Dash 8-100 combined passenger/freight (Combi) prop-jet to link these important Nunavut communities with Cambridge Bay and Yellowknife, as well as Canadian North's extensive northern network and southern gateways.
“In 1998 the Inuit of Nunavut participated in the purchase of Canadian North with the dream of providing a higher quality of air travel for all northerners,” said Tom Ruth, President of Canadian North. “Our expansion into these four key Kitikmeot communities is taking that dream one giant step forward.”
The new Kitikmeot schedule includes service to Kugaaruk four days per week. Taloyoak and Kugluktuk will be served six days a week. Gjoa Haven and Cambridge Bay will be served on a daily basis. The schedule provides for next day connections to Rankin Inlet, Iqaluit and Ottawa. The service levels to each community will be adjusted as demand warrants.
Kelly Kaylo, Canadian North's Vice President, Marketing & Sales, is really pleased that passengers on the new service will be able to enjoy Canadian North's award-winning Aurora Class service and the lowest fares available in the market, including a special 50 percent off introductory fare.
“We're proud to introduce our new Dash 8 Combi aircraft because it allows us to offer the same great in-flight service our customers are accustomed to receiving on our jet aircraft.” She continued saying, “Passengers will benefit from our everyday low airfare as well as a 50 percent off introductory airfare for flights on the new routes from June 3-24, 2007 when booked by April 30, 2007.”