1989 BUSINESS SHOWCASE Wednesday, February 22,1989, Page 10 Whitby BMW location is east Canada distributor By Adam Sikora BMW, a name whose symbol represents fine automobiles and motorcycles, continues to prosper in Whitby. BMW's Whitby location, one of two in Canada (the other in Vancouver) imports automobiles and distributes them to dealer- ships east of Manitoba, while the Vancouver warehouse takes care of the other half of the nation.1 Formed in 1970, the Whiby operation, on Champlain Ave. just north of Hwy 401, was pre- viously located in Scarborough, moving out here in 1981 when bigger facilities were required. Currently employing a staff of about 70, as well as practising the hiring of students in sum- mer, more will likely be hired in the future as a possible expan- sion is under consideration and office space is now being renova- ted. "Since we were bought back around 1986, we've really come together", says Mike Brennan, a controller for BMW. Canadian- owned until 1986, BMW ope- rations in Canada were then purchased by the German parent company. Retail sales figures for 1988 show that 5,006 units were sold, up from 4,864 in 1987, at an average price of about $45,000 each. This may seem a bit costly for the average person's budget, but BMW counts on the discriminat- ing car buyer to know they are paying for quality and crafts- manship. Therefore, it won't be a surprise if there is an even big- ger increase of sales in 1989. CROVEN CRYSTALS Inc. of Whitby munications, avionics, aerospace and produces quartz crystals for telecom- military applications. Croven supplies crystals to U.S. and Canadian military By Debbie Luchuk The telecommunications, avionics, aerospace industries and the military of the U.S. and Canada are the biggest custo- mers of Croven Crystals Ltd. of Whitby. Manufacturing high-reliability, low-aging rate crystals for fre- quency controls, and microwave relays among other uses, Croven has been in Whitby since 1954, said Ken Catherwood, of management. In Business For 25 Years at the Same Address DON VALLANCE EQUIPMENT LTD 655-3291 655-3122 Dealer For: MF M19rFegsn S~KUBGTR9 "It was started by a group of Americans, and is an American- owned firm," Catherwood said. However, the Whitby operation is the sole operation in Canada. "We have about 175 employees, and they belong to the anadian Auto Workers union. We do hire students in the summer; it depends on how busy we are," Catherwood said. Em ployees are mainly from the Whitby-Oshawa area, and many of them are longterm employees. He said the company may hire -five or six more workers in the. near future. Gross sales in 1988 were "in the eight million range," Cather- wood said, mostly to American customers. There are also west European customers. - Croven prides itself on fast production and shipping of orders to American customers. The company clears American customs and pays the duty for U.S. customers. Prices are also quoted in American dollars. "We think free trade will be of benefit to the company, and we also think it will be of benefit to Canada,"Catherwood said. Croven is located on Beech St., Whitby. Oshawa Centre expansion will create 700 new jobs Construction is well underway on the $100-million expansion to the Oshawa Centre. Work was started in October, 1988 and is to be finished in the fall of 1990. The centre was opened in 1956, and with expansions in 1968, 1970, 1974 and 1978, has more than tripled in size. The mall was purchased by Campeau Corporation in the early 1970s. It now stretches over three-quarters of a mile and employs 2,500. That total is expected to climb to 3,200 after construction is completed. Some of the changes to the mall will include the relocation of the cinemas which will also be doubled to eight theatres from four. A second story will be added to the Zellers store and two new courts will be added simiar to the one in front of Eatons. Plans also call for a whole new lower'level of stores as well as various expansion throughout the mall. While most of the work is expected to be completed before the 1989 Christmas season plans are for staged openeings of the new additions throughout the year. A new logo has also been designed and will be unvieled at the Centre's merchant's annual meeting, Feb-uary, 28. EMPCO makes arc furnaces FROM PAGE 9 upturn. "1988 was good for us. Thereis a lot of confidence in the steel industry now," said Maud. EMPCO has provided arc fur- naces for Lake Ontario Steel Co. Ltd. (LASCO) and Stelco as well as many steel firms in the United States. EMPCO is looking forward to the opportunity to seIl in the United States-without the tariffs. "It (free trade) should make things better for us. We should be more competitive when selling into the States," said Maud. One advantage EMPCO has over its competitiors is the two American plants,. opened as a means of making it easier to sell in the U.S. With the steel industry grow- ing, EMPCO is lookinq at expanding its present facilihies to add another fabrication bay. "We hope to expand within the comingyear," said Maud. . ,..~.,.,. ,..,~ t I February is Heart and Stroke Month HEART AND STROKE FOUNDATION OF ONTARKO Please give. Improvingyour odds against Canada's #1ikiUer BROOKLIN,