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IA, 1 0. WINS)N SAN . P)81. PI<OGRESS FITION. WlIIIT13Y LP IRESS Lofthouse Brass stili making the part they started with 24 years ago When George Lofthouse started Lofthouse Brass Manufacturing Ltd. some 24 years ago, his first produet was a half-inch flare riut and he is stili producing that part today. However, since then Lof- thouse Brass has gone into producing brass forging for almost every use possible from plumbing parts to sheli casings for defense pur- poses. In 1957, it was an operation employing two, people, Lof- thouse himself and. an assistant. Today the payroll shows more than 70 ein- ployces at the Whitby plant alone with more people working at the company's recently opene(l Burks FalIls faci lity. Lofthouse lrass is located on Hlopkins Street and f rom that location it does an in- ternational trade that is ever i ncreasi ng. In fact, Lofthouse Brass is only one of three Canadian brass forging companies in Canada, and has been leading the way by designing many of its own manufacturing equipment. The 20,000 square foot plant features presses up to 200 ton and has complete rnachining facilit jes for producing forgings weighing as little as five ounces to* as large as five pounds. Lofthouse Brass also boasts a sales and engineering staff that can provide service from assistance in product design to price estimates to tool design. Lofthouse says that the company has been involved in the recently opened area of zinc forging and is looking ahead to becoming involved in the aluminum forging field - which is a new field for specialists at Lofthouse CONT't)ON PC. 7 Hookers-now 5O year, In 1931, Alvin Hooker opened a service repair and gas station on Highway 7 in the village of Kinsale, about three miles west of Brooklin. Six years later lie becamne a sub-dealer of Chas. Cooper of Claremont selling General Motors cars and trucks. When Cooper retired from the business, Hooker became the authorized Chevrolet Oldsmobile dealer for that area. This was in 1959 when Gerry Hooker joined his father and brother, Jack, in the business that was now known as Hooker Chevrolet Oldsmobile. From 1939 until 1969, the Ilookers were also the owners of a John Deere trac- tor franchise operating out old of the same facility. During the 1970's Hookers experienced a rapid growth in business until the need was found in 1977 to open a totally new sales and service facility. From a staff of 10 people, the dealership grew, with the addition of a large body and paint centre, to employ over 50 people. With the present staff and expanded facilities, Hooker has established itself as a- complete shopping centre for the automotive con- sumer including the sales and service of new and used cars and trucks, leasing and parts and service. In the 1980's, ilooker ex- pects to further its reputation through service to the Whitby, Ajax and Pickering area. e Serving Oshawa Alan Smith recalled how the Cooper-Smith Limited, Oshawa started.- It is a family affair said Mr. Smith, who is a former owner and member of the Board of Directors of this Celina Street seed and garden centre. It began four generations ago when Alan Smnith's grandfather, Edwin Elgin Cooper purchased the business from J.O.Guy in 1905. Mr. Guy was the Oshawa harbour-master as well as being a coal and feed dealer at the time. Mr. Smnith's father married a Cooper and on January 1, 190q the Harry Smith and E.E.Cooper partnership became officialI*. When Alan Smith's father passed away in 1929, 'Aubrey" as he was known to his friends, managed the business until he di*ed in 1948. Alan Smith had joined the company in September. 1945 and took over the operation of the firm in partnership with Joscph Higgins. whoni Mr.* Smith termed as being -a grand old man" who was hired in 1914 by Alan « mith's father and remained wvith Cooper-Smith until I9-s8 He was -a valued friend,-" w Mr.Smith. For the past 35 years Alan Smith has managed the family business as president and ow,.ner. but since December, 1978 his sons Steve. Peter and Hugh have taken ovt'r the operation of the business. Although there have been rn.anyl changes in the business sincc Mr. Smith startcd with the firm in 1945, the actual volume of the business has been mosr startling. When he began with the company in the mid 1940*s he recalled that the sales of the company were approximately $40.000 annually. but at the end of this year he expects it to exceed the $1.000.000 mark. The sales for the company could well exceed this mark as Cooper- Smith recently opened a new 20,000 square foot office and warehouse in the Hopkins Street, Whitby. Industrial Commercial Park. The firm This opened in this new location in order to keep up with the increase in ncw teed business. In combination with the Celina Street, location, they now have t 30,000 square feet of warehouse space available to give better service a ,sp4 to aIl customers. Il Alan Smith is proud of his sons and especially of bis son Steven who ot, is the president of the firm and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in econom- cm ies, which he obtained while studyin g at an agricultural college. His own of th- learning of the business came from constant reading and being in con- F4 tact wvith the experts. Mr. Smith said. a d-i With the innovation of garden plots in Oshawa-Whitb: a rea, the- gard- mad e-n supply bulncs'. ha% grow,ýn by leaps and bounds. and the Cooper- othe Sm ith firm along i,%-ith it. The backbone of tbis firm is garden supplies.%. %%iîî but il alo ba% man *v ohe r ,pecialities sucb as speciahitv types of fced. AI~ This i% one- art-a that 1Nis rowing in demand everv vecar-. rc a ( 119 Con 16 Ce M ifor Four Generations -~. w' t)'.$~ ' i - 'q 4 liq& .type of feed mnclodes pigeon feed as well as bird seed or budgies and canaries. The d is shippedl from the Cooper-Smitb firm to aIl parts of Ontario. The firm also niakes ty pes of pigeon grits which are shipped aIl across Canada. The pigeon feed has been ccialit"v «t tht '(ooper-Srnith firmn for at least 50 years. is nul ofteti that an old familv firm remains in existence, especially with the pressure ig business. But ihe Cooper-Smith finm is a glowing exarnple of how a family firmn can petc with the multinationals. Its owners have Iived in the area since the beginning he century and have alwaYs ht-cn able to help the people in the area by giving advice. or c'saniple, an -vone Ii'.ing in fhe Whitby-Oshawa area can always receive expert c Wpon rcquest on what he neuds for the specific location where he lives. The area is ce up of glacial deposits and wbal is sandy soil in one area is a dlay based soil in an- er location. lb us the CCooper-Smith faily wbo have lived in the art-a sincc 1905 lic ,uic to know wbat th~e problerm i%. 1:4 tn Sriith li n<.-, thas hi' t, %». S'~ilI continue to operail.'the bsiesuntil theim sons arc Av îî' take ove tr h arniil< parint-rship fîrmn isumers Drive, Whîtby 668-l114 atina St., Oshawa 571 ml1541 OPERUSMITÎI Worehouse Outlet (1978 Ltd.) 1%-