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B6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday August 22, 2001 Business To reach this section call 845-3824 Fax:337-5567 Town's only bowling alley getting new lease on life H opedale Bowl ow ner R obert Talbot is determ ined to keep local bow lers happy in renovated operation Joe Vautour, (right and below ) w orks on equipm ent at H opedale Bowl. Photos by Brent Foster By Howard Mozel OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF H opedale Bow l may be O akville's last bow ling alley, but if R obert Talbot has any say in the m atter it will be around for a long tim e to come. B uilt around 1960 in the basem ent o f H opedale M all, the five-pin bowling alley was bought by Talbot nine years ago, at w hich tim e he inherited a lot of the original equipm ent including the lanes and even some old shoes. Since then, Talbot has invested considerable money and countless hours to bring his business back from the past. In fact, renovations and the running o f the place has been a real fam ily affair involving his father-in-law and his daughter Natalie, who also w orks at the bow ling alley a couple days a week. Talbot's wife spent two w eeks of her holidays this year painting. H opedale Bowl earned the distinc tion o f being O akville's last bow ling alley after the one at T rafalgar Village closed in M ay in preparation for m ajor renovations to the plaza. In the years since Talbot bought the place, the alley has been essentially g utted, reco n fig u red and im proved w ith a new kitchen, ceiling tiles, auto m atic scoring system, air conditioning and a party room painted in cartoon characters by one o f Talbot's neigh bours - nam ed Sherry B ow ler no less. A 50-inch T V is going in next year. T his year alone, Talbot has spent $175,000 sprucing up the alley, a jo b w hich included the arduous task o f replacing all 16 string pin machines, w hich he bought used in A lberta and installed w ith his father-in-law. (Parts for the old m achines were im possible to find anym ore.) "I used to fix the old ones myself, three hours a day until I had enough," said Talbot, who explained the original m achines often left grease and grit on the bow ling balls. N ow all that rem ains o f the original alley are the 16 lanes, the first 24 feet o f w hich are hard maple, the rem ainder soft maple. Talbot adm its that even these will have to be replaced - at $5,000 each - over the next five years or so. The O ntario Five Pin Bowling Association will then certify all lanes. A lthough Talbot has replaced m ost o f the old rental shoes, som e o f them are still available to those bow lers who, for reasons both superstitious and otherwise, insist on using this footw ear no m atter w hat its archaic condition. O riginally from M ontreal, Talbot was a drywall contractor for 25 years. He becam e im m ersed in bow ling in the m id-Seventies after m eeting his wife at B urlington's R oseland Bowl. "I fell in love with the gam e," he said. Talbot was so enthralled by the pur suit that he becam e a m aster bow ler and enrolled N atalie and his two sons in the Youth Bowling Council (YBC). Like their father, all three becam e pro ficient - even cham pionship - bowlers. "I was alw ays in bow ling alleys growing up," said Natalie, who also attended tournam ents including one in C algary w ith her brothers. Talbot feels so strongly about the benefits o f bow ling that he encourages everyone to at least try it. Set in a "good, safe, clean" environm ent, he says it's especially good for children and young people. "B ow ling is som ething you can do until y o u 're 90 years old," he said. "It's a good atm osphere w here you can m eet new people. You can 't beat it." Closed for renovations since June 23, H opedale Bow l w ill re-open the first w eek o f Septem ber ready for the R obert Talbot: renovated facility will reopen next m onth start o f public bow ling and leagues. Pre-registration for the Youth B ow ling Program takes place Saturday, A ugust 25 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the centre court o f H opedale Mall. Liquor licenced for the past five years, H opedale Bow l offers glow in the dark events, disco bow ling and leagues for every age group and skill level, even those w ith special needs. (Talbot hosts a fundraising tournam ent benefiting the Special Olym pics every summer.) Talbot also hopes to attract more corporate parties, since he m aintains renting the alley for a night is cheaper than taking everyone out to a bar or restaurant - and a lot m ore fun. Terry Budd Committed to community involvement Im agine tw o young adult children w ith a passion for com m unity. He has been contributing to this w orthy foun M G 's asking their father and m other to open a British dation for the past six years. Terry was also involved in a L eyland dealership and dad and m om saying yes. 24 hour drive for the C ancer Society and a recent Bike for Well that's w hat happened in 1973 w hen D arryl and Stroke fundraiser. Chris Budd approached their father Stuart and m other I have to thank Jessie, the w onderful lady who answers Bonnie. the phones at B udds' Im ported Cars, for helping Sue, my In O ctober o f 1973 B udds' British M otors m arketing coordinator and me break out o f the opened its doors on Speers Road. Terry, the "telephone tag" gam e, as is com m on with youngest, and o u r featu re entrepreneur, busy business ow ners. A nd special thanks to T H E E N T E R P R IS E C E N T R E joined them after com pleting school in 1975. Terry w ho was very patient w ith our persis B udds' expanded their line in 1977 to tence in draw ing out m ore inform ation about include SAAB. In 1978, B udds' British him. W hen finally asked, for the fourth tim e, Motors becam e B udds' Im ported Cars. In "so w hat else?" , Terry paused, then added that 1990 B udds' added BM W and acquired a he coaches hockey. A nother reflection o f a franchise w hich opened on the N orth Service devoted husband and father o f tw o children. Road. T heir m any im ported cars including M y husband aspires to som eday ow n a presti Recognizing Oakville gious car. We have often visited all o f B udds' Jaguar. Entrepreneurs In A ugust o f 2000, Stuart passed aw ay o f locations and we dream . I do tell my fam ily cancer. The fam ily w as devastated. S tuart's "d o n 't touch" , b u t.... So Terry, if you are spirit, integrity, honesty arid sense o f hum our however, required to clean o ff a set o f tw o adult fingerprints along rem ain today and guide the fam ily daily and his vision will side o f three child sized sets o f prints on your Jaguar XKR always rem ain intact. convertible, on behalf o f my family, please accept our apol The three brothers have segregated their m anagem ent ogy. B ut w ho know s, som eday w e m ay m eet as w e are buy duties betw een the group o f franchises. Terry m anages ing that fingerprinted autom obile. B udds' Im ported C ars, w hile his brothers are involved with Budds' BM W o f O akville and B udds' Saturn, SAA B, Isuzu This article was subm itted by Laurie M orrison , o f O akville. Executive Director o f The Enterprise Centre. Terry's com m itm ent to the com m unity include support It is part o f the Pride o f Oakville Series, celebrating our for the Com m unity Foundation o f O akville. Terry likes the local entrepreneurs. Make sure to read through the next C FO 's concept in that it is the interest o f the capital funds three weeks and enter our Dine with a CEO contest hosted that are distributed to charities such as the Y M CA , the by M ayor Ann Mulvale. Contest rules can be fo u n d in the Oakville T rafalgar M em orial H ospital, the D ream H ome August ll" 1 Oakville Beaver or at Lottery, and other w orthw hile projects all in the O akville w w w .en te rp rise c en tre .c o in . Networking guru at Chamber dinner International netw orking guru and O akville resident, D onna M esser, will be the guest speaker at the Sept. 4 m eeting o f the Oakville Chamber o f Com m erce B u sin ess W o m en 's N etw orking Dinner. The evening begins at 5:15 p.m. For m ore inform ation and to regis ter, call C y n th ia F o u rn ier at the Cham ber, 845-6613 ext. 28. Pride of Oakville Program helps w om en b e co m e entrepeneurs Thinking o f starting your ow n busi ness? N ot sure where to start? N eed support and mentoring? The New Start p rogram designed especially for w omen can help you. Through this three-m onth training program, you'll leam the skills to successfully launch your ow n small business. S ponsored by the W om en's Inform ation & S upport C entre o f H alton in partnership w ith T he Enterprise Centre, successful business ow ners and trainers will share their expertise to help you with your busi ness idea. To leam more about the N ew Start Program, w hat's involved and how to start your own business, attend a free orientation sessios. The final orientation session will be held Tuesday, Aug. 28, from 7 p.m. 9:30 p.m. Orientation will be held at The W om en's Inform ation & Support Centre o f Halton. To register, phone our adm inistration line at 905-8479104. ZENON revenues up 81% for quarter Clean water and money seem to pour out of O akville-based ZENON Environmental Inc. The world leader in membrane-based water filtration, is boasting second-quarter revenues up 81% over the same time last year. Revenue for the com pany's second quarter -- $29.4 million -- is the highest ever, and marks an 81% jum p over the same quarter a year ago. "Opportunities for our technology have never been better. We are experi encing significant improvement in all market sectors as shown by our quarterly results," said Dr. Andrew Benedek, chair and CEO o f Zenon who founded the company in 1980. "Our recent inclusion in the TSE 300 Index is also further indication that the investing public is becoming aware of these opportunities," said Benedek. With a record-setting half year behind it, Zenon now faces a backlog o f $64.4 million worth of new contracts that it has booked for the next quarter. Water consumption is on the rise as world population increases -- and the need for decent water for drinking, and industry, rises with it. That's evident in Zenon's $7 million contract to supply m em branes to Samsung Electronics in Korea -- for the largest industrial ultrafiltration m em brane plant in Asia and world-wide. Zenon's industrial business has also been growing in the power plant industry where clean water is key to electricity production. 'W ith $10 million in orders for this sector, Zenon is poised for further growth in North America where its municipal business activity was steady during its second quarter, too, with more than $26 million in new orders. "We will see ongoing activity in this sector as municipalities now recognize that membrane technology is effective and provides the best quality and safest water possible," said Benedek. Also during its second quarter, Zenon announced the largest membrane waste water plant in the world, to be built in Italy. Europe is ripe for municipal market opportunity for Zenon's technology, par ticularly in light o f upcoming European Union directives on more stringent wastewater quality and drinking water quality standards, said Benedek. Som e m utual fund firms offering fee charge options The w ay you and m ost investors pay fees to own a mutual fund is wrong. We covered som e o f this in the last article and now we will present a few new industry options that address some o f the problems. The difficulties with mutual fund fees, as previously m entioned, are numerous. O ne o f the biggest problem s is that approxim ately half o f investors do not realize that they pay any fee at all. This is largely due to the fact that the fee is not reported to investors on their mutual fund statements. Then, there is the issue o f paying the management expense ratio (M ER) on a typical equity m utual fund, around 2.5%, when approxim ately 1% o f that is actually paid to the advisor. The fund company remunerates the advisor with an initial sales com m ission and/or an ongoing service fee that is also referred to as the trailer commission. W hy is the investm ent return report ed after the full 2.5% is deducted if only 1.5% is a direct cost to the investm ent? Gone are the days w hen your advi sor just explains how mutual funds work or w ho the "hot" m anagers are. A good advisor now needs to cover a m uch broader range o f issues that relate to you and your long-term goals and objectives including retirem ent planning, tax strategies, estate issues, debt reduction, and funding the high cost o f post-secondary education. W hy is it appropriate to allocate all o f these "advice expenses" to ju st the investm ent portion o f your financial life? The solution is to unbundle the costs o f ow ning mutual funds. The industry is beginning to respond PETER WATSON Dollars & Sense to the dem and for more transparency and there are now some new options and trends to consider. W rap accounts have becom e popu lar in recent years. Their investm ent reporting is m uch better than mutual funds. The fee is reported on the client's statement, so you know exactly how much you are paying for the investm ent services. T he problem with w rap account statements is that the advisor's part o f the fee is also included. W hile part of the value can be allocated against the investm ent, m uch o f the ad v iso r's efforts are focused on broader client issues. M any mutual fund com panies now allow investors the option o f purchas ing their mutual funds in an "F Class" share. In this type o f mutual fund share, only the mutual fund com pany and m anager's costs are included in the M ER. You then have to negotiate with the advisor w hat his or her fee will be. Some mutual fund com panies will collect the fee on behalf o f your advisor while others require you to pay your advisor separately. This is a trend that is well advanced in the United States. Investors purchase funds and pay low er M ER costs to the fund company. Then, they pay an addi tional fee to the advisor. In m y opinion, this US pricing model is better because it is more trans parent. The client understands what the spe cific costs are for the investm ent versus the advice and is, therefore, in a better position to determ ine if they are receiv ing value for their money. M y prediction is that this method of mutual fund pricing will grow in popu larity in Canada. Clients will know exactly what their advisor is paid and probably expect a higher level o f ser vice for that fee. Peter W atson, MBA, CFP, RFP is the president of Peter W atson Investm ents -- an O akville firm specializing in retirem ent planning, RRSPs, and investm ent plan ning. He can be reached at 842-2100.