Interviewed by Jason Rhyno

Canadian Electrical Wholesaler sat down with Thomas Brockway, founder and president of Brockway Enterprises, an independent electrical manufacturers’ representative for the Atlantic provinces, to talk business, industry challenges, leadership, customers, and the bright future of Atlantic Canada.

But first, a little background…

Thomas Brockway has done the industry circle. He got his electrical feet wet at 19 years-old working the counter for a contractor in Newfoundland that had a wholesale division. He moved on to the technical side, did purchasing and then electrical estimating, looking after a crew of guys and overseeing projects. Later, he moved his young family from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia and worked for a manufacturer as a direct employee with a company looking to establish an Atlantic Canada regional office.

After a few years and establishing that company’s office, Brockway was approached to become a partner in a new business. He accepted, however, “it didn’t really pan out to be what I thought it was going to be from a business perspective,” Brockway explained. “So, committed to be in the agency business, I decided to start my own agency as Brockway Enterprises. That was in August of 1988.”

On Starting a Business

“I had always been a sort of entrepreneur, right from the get-go… As a matter of fact, I hired my first employee when I was 11 years old. I needed to expand my paper route!

“When I started my business, our sons were just entering their teen years… It was a bit of a risk.

“In 1988 there was a downturn in the economy here… and when I put together my first five year plan for the business, my biggest challenge, quite frankly, were the banks. They wanted everything from the soles of your shoes to your family’s blood. I was very fortunate in achieving my five year plan in three years without the banks’ help.”

“Having the support of my wife during all of this was of utmost importance… because she had a lot on her shoulders in terms of the benefits package for the family through the company that she worked for and that bridged us to help with our sons and family needs for stuff like dental.”

“When I first started my agency business, about 50 percent of my time was selling the agency business… customers really didn’t have a warm and fuzzy feeling about the agency business. So I spent a good part of my time saying we are legitimate businesses, we do what we say we do, so having been able to achieve that as an industry along with all of our counterparts across the industry and in the U.S., that question is not there anymore.”

On Leadership

“I always had a very strong work ethic… And ‘mission statement’ got the title ‘Mission Statement’ back in the 90s when it was popular to do a mission statement. Our mission statement came from a work ethic I personally had and shared with any people that I hired within the time frame that I stated the company going forward. It was our work ethic and plan, and the mission statement followed after it became trendy. But it had a deeper meaning for me.”

“One of the things that I impress upon the people that work for us… is that you have to learn. And you have to learn the right ways and the not so right ways.”

“I would never ask anybody to do anything I wouldn’t do… If I take a task or project and I feel the need to do it to its end and do it properly, that’s what I try to give to people. I don’t have any high expectations other than for them to fulfill their own capabilities.”

“Now sometimes there comes a time when a task is beyond someone’s capability… and it’s important to recognize that and either help the person achieve that level of capability or move it to another person that is inherently capable of doing it. As a leader it is important to identify those capabilities and roles within people.”

“I’ve had staff say to me I just need a job for a year then I’m going to move on… and if that person was a good fit for what we needed at the time, I would try to support them. Then again, if I had somebody come to me and say I want to start a career in the industry and I want to make a contribution to a company, help that company grow and help myself grow as a result, that’s the kind of person you love and you want to keep your hands on.”

On Customers

“One of the things that we get on a regular basis from our clientele that they know where we stand when they deal with us… and that’s why they enjoy the relationships we have in the industry: they know where we stand. We say things the way it is and we don’t necessarily polish it. It doesn’t give the right message if you’re going to try to polish something up.”

“In many parts of the industry, and I won’t call it playing games, but we don’t partake in that type of market… We just do it the way it needs to be done.”

On Associations

“I won’t come into something unless I can give what is required… Whether it comes from something that is voluntary or whether it comes from creating a business, there’s always a select few that do the work whether that’s behind the scenes or in front of it. I’ve always been in position where if I could give time, I did, and if I had to focus on something else and couldn’t give the time, I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t do it just for the sake of filling void in an association.”

On Industry Challenges

“Not to be cliché, but our biggest challenge is people… And I know that’s everywhere. We’ve been very fortunate, our core staff here of a dozen, there’s nobody that hasn’t been here for less than 12 years. But we’ve had an abundance of people over the last eight to 10 years of people who have come and gone and come and gone.”

“Looking at the young people today, who have access to so much technology and so quickly… they don’t have the presence to say ‘I will wait two or three years to have a career.’ And I think what we try to sell to the younger generation today is that something quick isn’t always the right way to go.”

“I would say a second challenge is the amalgamation of much of the industry… with regards to acquisitions and merging of companies, of manufacturers and distributors. We’re seeing that in the agency business as well. It offers both challenges and opportunities and balancing both of those is a challenge.”

On the Future

“I’m very excited about the next 10 years and I’m not sure I’ll be here to enjoy all that 10 years of excitement… but certainly here in Atlantic Canada the prospects for the future are very, very bright. They are as bright as I’ve seen in 25 years here. After next year, from 2015 forward, it’s going to be very exciting in Atlantic Canada and I can see it in all four Atlantic provinces. There’s an enormous amount of mega projects that are already approved and ready to move on and it’s just a matter of getting over the hurdles of our economy to bridge that forward.”

On the Electrical Industry

“We play an important role in the world, electricity touches everything… and looking at that not just on the sales side of the business but also from an engineering side of it, an accounting side of it, it can all play a role in our industry and fulfill a person’s needs and strengths that a person has to offer to an industry. It’s not just getting into the electrical business to be an electrician anymore, it’s getting into the electrical business to fulfill a need and a career option that can be very rewarding. It’s important to bring that message to the younger people.