PAG~~~~~~W Lmt y 10 I1TuF1ZsPi UN8Dy WtJR e,1 111 , #, ~"Free*Trade- It's Worki*ng!?"e WH1TBYMAYOR Bob Atteroley presents an officiai key chain to Lachian and Pia William- son co-founders of the Consortium. Free Pre. Photo Mayor opens Consortium ofices in historie downtown building Whtby~s newest <'old7 building was offlcéially opened for business asat week. Mayor Bob Attersley and otber town dignitaries were on hand for the traditional ribbon cutting* ceremony marktingr the opening of the Consortium Group of Com- panies' new head office. The company has refurbisbed the former Whitby Chronicle newepaper building at 173 Brock Restoration of the bildingb' the Consortium Group, wuic includes six separate comae that specialize i fnancial plan- ning began last year. Ahighligbt of the opening ceremony was a presentation to Mfichael Higms, greaLt grandson of William Hliggins, foýunder of tbe Whitby Chronicle. H. vreceived a framed photo- graph of tbe former inewspaper office as it looked inibis ances- tor's day. Mayor Attersley then presen- ted a commemorative key chain from the town to Lachlin and Pia Williamson owners of the Con- sortimum (eroup. The company's new headquar- ters was constructed in 1862 and serv'ed as office for the newspa- per until 1900. It was then used as a water pump factory and later, as a pant factory making blue jeans. In subsequent years the build- ing was home to a movie theatre frozen food storage plant, food processing company and most reoently, abanquet hall. In 1989. it was designated as an architectural landxnark under the Ontario Heritage Act. Make a smart career move. New Home Sales Openings Cail Jack Grant, Broker 668-4000 ©1989 Coldwell Banker Resi de ntial Real Estate. Presented by An Independently Owned and Operated Member Broker of Coldwell Banker affiliates of Canada Inc.* COLDWELL BA.NKER is a registered trademark of Coldwel Banker and Company Tue Drham ]eWon Maeeufaturer's Asaciaiton will hold a panel discusion on "Free Trside -It'a Workingfl" at General W. Pikorski PolishVeteran'sHall, i55 Stevenson Rd.' N., Osbawa on =rsa, March -8, 1990. with =i ur at. 6:30 p.m. and the panel, di<uson at 7:.45. Cq'st is $35.00 Mmi panel will feilature Ron Bail, owner and president of EscÀlator Handrail Company Carl E. Beigie, chief economisft, -MeLean McCarthy Laimited;- and Ken Fisher, manager, invé~stment attraction, Ontario Ministry of Induistry, Trade and Technology. Mr. Bail, was educated in business at Durham Coilege and i engineering at Ryerson Po 'ecncal Institute. Ron bas bee#u involved with rubber products since graduation. Since founding Escalator Hlandrail Company in 19ý77, he bas turnod it into the jvorldIs largest manufacturer of bandrails for escalators. SThe. company now exports over 90% of its product to customers worldwide from plants in. Oshawa and Buffalo, New York. Professor Beigie joined the faculty at the University- of Toronto as the Claude T. Bissell visiting professr in Canadian - American Relation~s hM1981-82. Prior to that ti4ie, he had been fuing executiv D director, and later president~ of~ the C.D. Howe Insfttlt. He is the author of numerous articles on economie policy matters and bas won a National Business Writing Award and the Adolph C. Abram~son Award of the National Association M o Business Economists. 1Profeor *Beigie is a frequent com tar on current econionic topics and specializes in Canada'- U.S. relations,. business fore- casting, and policy analysis. In bis over ten, years with the Ontario Ministry of Industry, Trade and -Tecbnology, Ken Fisher bas deait priarily wth Canadian'exporta to the United States. As head of the U.S. section of the Ministnj, Ken and bis department assisted Ontario manufacturers " interested in exportng ta, the United States. Prior to tbat, he was the senior representative at tbe New York City Office. Ken' bas recently been« appointed Manager of Investment Attraction, a department set up to, bring new investment to Ontario. L(e1SJ BUSI~IESS 1 How to know if you, need a computer .When is it time te ask whether a computer could *benefit your operations? Right now. Dollar for dollar,, pound for pound, there are very few tools that hoid such potentiai for significantly increase your productivity - your output per hour of work - at such a low cost. And as David Hassan, president of Hassan Steel Fabricators in London discovered, the choice of whether or not te automate may not even be yours te make. The company, which fabricates' auto parts, used te receive its weekly orders from General Moters (GM) by mail. In reply, it would send a telex te GM indicating *the contents' of the shipments. "That's al gone the way of the carrier pigeon," says, Hasson. "About four years ago, GM advised each of its several hundreds, of suppliers that al order information was soon going to, be sent out by computer modem only. In order te stay in business, we bad to get ,a computer, too. It was a simple case of automate or evaporate." Despite ail of; ihat, computing may not make snse for your particular opera on. You must clearly underst d what you would like te, do ~fitb a computer and make n informed, intelligent purch' decision. "Don't believelnoe wbo tells you that the ýýomputer is a universal cure-a.ýI " advises Bill Harris, marketing manager at Digital Equipment of Canadaý Limited. "It's not. If you automate a paper-based business operation that is a mess now, the result will be an automated- mess. What computers do very well is gather, store, access' and process, information far better than any paper-based. approach. That allows you to make botter informed, faster decisions." For instance, it migiit take your bookkeeper anywhere from a. baîf bour te a day to gather information froin a manual posting systern. , A computer-based system could yield the same information in less than 1/100 of the 'time. More importantly, the bookkeeper or, accountant can analyze those, figures and find out how future situations might look if certain changes occurred today'. Instead of performning a lot of boing- and' repetitive tasks,. the,.com pu-tel¶,-. frees us te do what we do best"-- think and use our imaginations. That tends to make for a happier work force -- a benefit that shouldn't be overlooked. Al o that is good news. ýBut getting inte computing isn't painless. It represents change. To let the computer do its job, you It says in the manual, 'Your computer will free up your staff ta think and use their imaginations!"' Richard -S. Price Personal Fînancial Plainner' Comçouterized Preparation WhiIe Yýu Wait By Appolntment OnIy Some 'retums may be, higher (416) 649-3458 (416)683-77551 have te, re-examine the way ini which you n'ow manage your daily operations and re-organize some of those tasks. That can be time-consuming' and difficuit in the short term, but don't let it scare you. It!s a tremendous opportunity to lay good groundwork for genuine productivity growth. Your goal should be te gain botter control over your own information and become more responsive te, the needs 0f those who count on the bottem lune -- your customers. Our next coiumn will, guide you through the process of selecting and purchasing a system that ýfIts, your needs.. nid m