Whitby Free Press. Wednesday, June 30. 1993, Page 11 business newsi RENOVATION WORK is going weII at Durham College's new skills training c entre. Fifty machine shop and industrial maintenance students and staff moved into the centre Monday. It's to be substantially completed and ready for occuancyAug.15. Photo by Mark Reesor, Whitby Free Press Blacksmith FR GM PAGE 9 Lang Pioneer Village, just eut- side Peterborouigh -- int he black- smith shop, of course --five years age. That was appropriate, since Brak's interest in sritbing was first kindled "going down te Lang when I was just a wvee kid an d watching an eIder fellow shoeing herses."~ He worked at Lang until last summer while attending Trent University, but the Iong drive and poor money convinced hirn te start bis own shop, 'Blacksmi- thig by Brak.' Uenp eo le think of black- srniths, sheîng herses is likely te corne te rnind, but Brak snys tbere's a lot more te smithing than making iron feotware. He dees a'fî types of rnetalwork --'"it's really only limited by your imagination" -- using traditional methods; forge welding and general repairs, reproducing and rnanufacturing latches, hinges, lock rnecbanisms and fireplace sets, ornamiental and other iron- work -- hie even makes custom wookworking and carpentry tools, garden implements and bellows; everytbing frorn srall single chamber fireplace jobs te, six-foot-long, doubl e-charnber shep bellows. Brak says hoe welcornes dornes- tic and architectural special orders, and bas a portfolio and examples of bis work available. ParlF~iamen1tary ReportI ~ Aîming for excellence By Ros Stevenson Durhm rnding MP Recently I had the pleasure of participating in what was probably the most significant announcement during my il years as a politician. The occasion was à cerernony inaugurating the Bureau for Excellence in the Durham Region (BEDR), located at Durham College. While the officiai title rnay sound a bit awesome, it's an organization in which we ail have an interest. It points the way te, a better future. In years to corne, the BEDR should have a very important impact on the cornmunity and the lives of many arnong us. It puts Durhamr egion in the very forefront of a nationwide rnove te make quality a principal goal for Canadian business and industries. For the past 30 and more years, the rest of the world bas watched with envy as automobiles, TV, stereos, cameras and other products from Japan, Germnany and a few ether countries carne te dorinate world rnarkets. That wasn't due te low prices and cheap labour, but because buyers l<new they were getting excellent qunlity for the rnoney they spent. Canada simply cannet afford te ignore this sort of competiton ia the world rnarketplace. We are a trading nation and have te, seil our exprts te survive. We just den't have enough people te consume everything we make. At least one-quarter of ail the goeds and services we produce here have te be sold abroad. What that means, essentially, is that one in three working Canadians depend on international trade for their jobs and livelihood. And, of course, it's at least equally important that we have the incentive te keep buying our own Canadian products because we knew they offer us top value. Ln today's world, quality isn't just a fad or fashion -- it's the very future. Business Week magazine stated recently that quality rnay well be "the biggest competitive issue" for the rest of this decade and on into the 2lst century. About two years age, Durham College president Gary Pelonsky first approached me and the federal gevernrent about the need for prornoting total quality management in Durham. His foresight bad a national, as well as local, impact. It dovetailed with the federal Prosperity Initiative, a plan te create a bigh-wage, high-employrnt future for Canadians, based on a commitrnent te _quality, innovation and educatien. From this came the National Quality Institute and the Canadian Network for Total Quality, in which our BEDR is o of the first participants. The aim 15 te promoe and, we must hope, put in place locally a firmn comnitment te total quality, along with related and necessary changes te management and werking procedures and principles. Special attention is being given te small- and medium-sized businesses, because of their recognized importance in generating econemic grewth and new jobs. Being corapetitive doesn't mean Canadians have te work for the sarne low wages as, for example, some Mexicans are paid. The quality of our products is a key facter and will becorne even more important in the years ahead. With the Bureau for Excellence in Durham Region, we can equal what Japan and Gerrnany have been doing, and do it even better. FA rFm % Renovations at former Cadbury plant in Whitby