Rob Greno |
| After eight years with the City”

- of Terrace, Rob. Greno, the

Director of Economic Develop-
ment, has left with his wife and
two children for a new position
in Whitehorse, He will begin his

-_ flew job as Manager of Legisla-

tive Services (deputy adminis-

‘Business Beat

Planning director heads north -

Rob Greno leaves after sight years

trator) i in Whitehorse on July 18.

by Tod Strachan

However, Greno didn’t leave
town without approximately 40
friends and business associates

' getting together at the Terrace.

Hotel last Thursday to honor -

— him for his. years of service to

the city.

During the evening, “Greno
was told repeatedly that: he and
his: wife, Carol, will be “sadly .
inissed”’ ‘by the community. He.
was then presented with a six-
inch jade carving of a gold pan-

‘ner.and Kermodei bear, engrav-

ed, “Carol and Rob, we're go-
ing to miss you. All your friends

Look carefully before
_ buying a business

The difference between a successful

by Phil Harti
' Manager, Terrace
Federal Business
Development Bank

limited.

‘retailing concern and one that fails is
good management, and that comes into
play before anyone starts a retail business
or buys one already in operation, |

In other words, an entry into a retail
business must riot just happen. It must be
well planned in advance because it is far
wiser to foresee problems and adjust
them than to suddenly be forced to react
when alternatives or capital may be.

Buying an existing retail operation is.
the quickest way of being in business,

since it allows immediate cash sales to an
established clientele.

There also are a ‘number of other advantages to this course of
action: the business will have established lines of credit with both.
its customers and suppliers and established lines of supply for the
products being sold; if the business is large enough to have _
employees and they remain, there will be an experienced staff in

place. In addition, the former proprietor should be able to pass

on direct experience of the business.
Finally and most important, an existing business has a proven

history that reduces the uncertainty of a retail venture, making it ©
- much easier for a would-be purchaser to assess both the actual

state and potential. A proven business record also may make it .
easier for the buyer to obtain financing as the lender would not
be basing the loan solely on forecasts that he might think are

_overly optimistic.

There are, however, certain disadvantages in buying an existing

retail business:

Location could prove a problem, since it could have been
chosen for certain market conditions that no longer apply. For

affluent or less populated.

‘example, the neighborhood may have changed and become less:

Part of what is being purchased are “facilities, image and .

_. business policies which can be difficult to change.

Changes to facilities can mean additional costs and loss: of
revenue should the business have to close during alterations.

. The image of the business will be well established, but the new
owner must consider if it is an image that he or she wants it to |
continue to have and whether changing it would result in a loss

of customers.

Established business policies under the previous, proprietor such
as customer credit, refunds and deliveries, may not fit into the
new owner’s style and methods of operation of his profit plan.

In the purchase price, there likely will be a charge of goodwill,
the present value of business potential that represents established
customers and store reputation, but the dollar value to attach to

this item can be difficult to determine accurately.

~ Before buying an existing business, a prospective purchaser
should ask questions about the real reasons for the owner wishing
to sell: the physical condition of building and facilities; the ac-

curacy and completeness of business records; accounts payable.

and if all are recorded: contingent or hidden liabilities; accounts
receivable and bad debts; and the state of the inventory in both

value and quality.

- Only when all of those questions have been answered cana
complete analysis of the business be made, and a decision taken
as to whether it ij is, indeed, a good buy.

in Terrace’.
Greno also received a
telegram from Skeena MP Jim

. Fulton, stating his regrets for the

loss of a valuable city employee
and member of the community.
Fulton’s constituency secretary
Norma Randall then: presented
Greno with a‘gift of a cedar box
decorated - -with Haida- artwork
on behalf of Fulton.

Greno. first moved to Terrace
from Victoria in 1980 to fill the
position of Director of Plan--
ning. He says that due to growth
and expansion within the city, he
was soon given additional eco-

nomic development duties and
in 1986 was put in charge of the
building inspection and licensing
departments. In April of this
year, Greno was appointed as
the Director of Economic
Development.

While working for the city,
Greno’s duties included eco-
nomic strategy development,
tourism development, the pur-
chasing and sale of real estate,
public relations, long term plan-
ning, the community develop-

-ment plan, writing and enforc-

ing bylaws, and subdivision ap-
proval.

- “Terrace Review — Wednesday, July 13, 1988.13

Greno says that when, he. and.
his wife first moved to the Ter-. 7
race area they felt like they were’
“taking a horrendous step into.
the wild blue yonder”, but they
soon found that the north had a
lot to offer. ‘Terrace. was a.
good move,” says Greno.

He says that, '‘Terrace has a
lot.to offer in terms of future,
development,’’ but adds that it’s
time for him to take another step
in his career of city administra-
tion. And because of his ex-
perience here, he says he has no
qualms of moving even further
north.

‘Research begins probe.
of sawmill conditions ©

Cancer researchers in B.C. are
looking with interest into the

. high incidence of certain kinds
- of cancer among sawmill and

pulp and paper workers.. There
are about 400 sawmill workers in

_ Terrrace, and about 433 Terrace
_ and Kitimat residents working in

the pulp and paper industry.

A recently announced study is
scheduled to begin in January
and will measure wood dust ex-

- posure in the sawmill industry,

testing mills in the lower
mainland as well as interior and
coastal areas. With a lottery

funds grant from the ‘B.C.

Health Care Research Founda-
tion, UBC researcher Kay
Teschke and her colleagues will

try to determine if the wood dust |

‘Regional

board keeps
marina

Four months after proposals
-were invited for the purchase of
the MK Bay marina in Kitimat, a
facility owned by the Kitimat-
Stikine Regional District, a
Select’ Committee of regional
district board members has re-
jected both of the two offers
they received.

A'plan from the Kitimaat In-
dian Band for a multi-million
dollar development at the
marina with an offer to purchase

it for $1.00 was immediately re-

jected because the offer wasn’t
accompanied by the specified
$5,000 deposit. Custom Sports

_ Centre Ltd. of Kitimat offered

$305,000 for MK Bay, but in-
dicated that they already own
$130,000 in assets at the marina,
bringing the net purchase offer
down to $175,000.

The Custom Sports offer was
considered, but. after two
months of negotiation the board

~ committee decided to decline,

The regional district will con-
tinue to operate the marina,
which has consistently lost
money over the past few years,
but regional. district adminis-
trator Bob Marcellin said that
doesn’t rule out the possibility
that the marina may be put on
the block again 2 at some future
time.

cancer,’

‘measuring

is a contributing factor to cancer
‘among workers.

‘Studies of woodworkers,
particularly finishing carpenters
who doa lot of sanding, have
suggested their inhalation of the
very fine bits of wood con-
tributes to nose and throat
Teschke said. The
sawdust in mills may be dif-
ferent, and this will be tested.

Workers’ Compensation
Board information officer Bren-
da Whittingham said they have
no evidence of the problem as
yet. One of WCB’s occupational
‘health physicians said that hard-
woods showed some connection
to nose and throat cancer in a
British study, but B.C.’s soft-
woods haven’t been implicated.

The UBC team will: also be
the exposure of
sawmill workers to chloro-
phenate, an anti-stain chemical

used to prevent the formation of —

black fungus on damp limber.
Surinder Malhotra of the [WA
in Terrace said sawmills in this
area just began using chloro-
phenate and the chemical
PCMTB to dry lumber in the
past two or three years, so it may
be too soon to see any resulting

cancer. While it won't take very
long for the researchers. to
measure exposure to wood dust
arid chlorophenate, Teschke said -
the analysis of the data will take
up to two years.

A recently released study
undertaken by the Cancer Con-
trol Agency of B.C. shows that
pulp and paper workers .are
more likely to develop a form of
cancer called non-Hodgkins
lymphoma. Dr. Pierre Band ex-
plained the cancer attacks the
lymph glands, and the dioxins

‘and solvents used in the industry

are suspected. “This exposure is
something we have to explore,
it’s a possibility.”’

The study involved over
‘14,000 cancer patients from all .
areas of the province, contacted
through the B.C. cancer reg-
istry. Patients were asked for
detailed, lifetime occupational
histories. The relationships be-
tween occupation and cancer
that were found are significant
because they mirror the conclu-
sions of a previous study that
looked at mortality stemming
from-cancer, The thousands of -
case studies are still being
analyzed.

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No. 4-5002 Pohle Ave., Terrace

638-0261