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Office:Eq uip-ment> pro'duet centre o]pens locally, The nieWest,,office, equipment business, openedin. Oshawa at 9 Bond St. W. on Dec. 8. Office Equipment, a Cannon. produet. centr;is backed by, offices in Quebec and Ottawa as The franchise uccess FROM PAGE 21 sure it'sa commercial banker. The key word is time. Take the ime ta do a proper invesugation. Make sure the franchiser can deliver what he says he can. There are some pitfalls but the odds are stili better with a franchise. <Abaut 85 per cent who go into business with a franchise are stili in business after five years. That's a ve&y high success ratio. Doug Rabbins is a Hamiton- based business broker and a well- known lecturer an small1 business. Sepaqratinýgfactfrom fiction FROM PAGE 2 ,qualify for duty reductions when tradedwiththeU.S. "It will be crucial for imparters, or-people who. compete with impor- ters, ta understand how the miles of origin workiii their specific circuni- sta nces," says Buckley. "Errars here can be.crîtical. Not only wili a company have ta examine it own «classifications, 'but its competitor's aswell.' -ýThe case studies also explore variaus ýrelevant tax issues, ex- *change rate factors, the indirect. impacts ofthe agreementthrough *its.effect on custamers, and passible j consequencesoýf international a nd domestic mergers or acquisitions, Th.report,,emphasizes the magnitude of the agreement. "O66ver 50 pieces of Canadian, American, _and ternat1onal, legisiation are related ta the agreement," says Buckley. "The full implications of the pact can only be realized .by analysis of al, relevant documents. "Competitian for tomorrow's customers will only intensify. With or without the freetrade agreement, companies will have ta, build strategie plans that expand t heir horizons to encompass, the North American and global markets," he says. Clarkson Gardon, with. its management. consulting firm Woods Gardon, provides a range of accounting, audit, tax, management consulting and in- solvency services from 25,offices'1ýý, across Canada. --ýChanges at Co bi Foods PROM PAGE 2 "We harvest ail the peas for the al the growers, " says Johnson, noting that Cobi has a fleet of seven pea harvesters. Meanwhile the Marquis brothers are hired ta harvest the corn. The corn used is called Crisp 'n Sweet, a naturally high sugar corn that was the product of a demand for a new kind of corn. About 40 ta 50 varieities are grown and evaluated every.year in a company laboratory in Nova Scotia. "There's always new developments in varieties caming along," says Obritsch.- "Probably not a week goes by when we'renotevaluatingsomething.' Much of the Whitby plant is made' up of warehause space, with only a relatively sm ali space used for the actual pracessing. One side of warehausing is fiiled with empty cans (made by Continental Can), the other side wîtb full cans. Canned goods are in 10, 12, 14, 19,28 and 100- ouncêsizes. The pracessing building has.nait changed a great deai since first bIlit in 1934, although the corn-cutting equipment is considered ta be the most modern in pracessing. Névertheless, major upgradirng of that 54-yearý-old facility is piannied, including .mare equi pment. Renovations wili be carried outaover the longterm, says Obritsch, since the current busy period doesn't permit ashutdown period. Not so iongterm will be lm- pravements Iin safety conditions, such as ventilation and hea ting. That was ane of the complaints of workers who went on strike last year. "Within the last year, we 've im- proved heating and replaced the roofs...anid this year we're iooking at newfloors -nd rewiring the whole processingarea:" Obrîtsch - admits 'that Managemient-employee relatiôhs haven't been ideal. . "We've had rough relationships with aur employees over the years, " he says. But he notes that attempts have been to improve relations with such programs as drug awareness and alcohol addiction campaigns and supervision training. 1 "It is a new area for Cobi-Stokely -employee relations," he says, ad- dingthat workers may have been a, "bit leery" at initial steps'taken by management toward fimproved relations., well 'as Markham.,' manager, e store wast community 1 "Salespeo coming oui Toronto 50 Vw supported. ,A away with 's long distanci The offlc, a,, waàrehousé in size and epioys two sales Linda Lylyk,-sales consultants asÀwell as Lylký.1 3xplained that the The store offers an array of opened .because a 'Ca»n-non, office equipment ikes ta deal locally. including typewriters, dictating eq uipment, calculators and" )ple were always copiers. tthis way from .Computers and laser pintera ve knew we would be -are- also offered at 'he store, s .well, the store does ýwhich "follows up ,on sales. ;oe charges sueh 'as We don't believe in selling -e chaiges," she says. copiers thèn walking away," says, e is 3,200 sq. ft. in' Lylyk. When a, vompany buys certain' produets such as a, domput er, Office Equipment wili- arrange ta have, the users trained, at. theý Markham location. '!The training is very thorough and after.the training a, phone cali is al .that is needed to- get heip." , Seri-cing is ,alsé available and the Oshawa location .cani arrange ta have larg e equipmett delivered..-, WHITB Y.:ý C ~ M Manufacturers of: Sciair Polyethylen e film, Dartek Nylon Film, and Vexar Plastic Netting, PRQGRESSING"WITH WHIT'BY -SITE -Wh*itby -Ontarloa