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By Bill Horne During their start-up periods, small businesses often face some fierce competition. Statistics have shown, in fact, that whether a new business sinks or swims is usually deter- | mined within the first couple of years of operation. To assist small businesses, the Ministry of Transportation and Communication has initiated a program called Physical Distribution Consulting Services. The program's purpose is to help small businesses by reduc- ing their distribution costs. In the past, distribution pro- blems encountered by Northern businesses were handled in southesrn Ontario, but results were poor. Need "It all began when I attended a transportation forum that was held in Kapuskasing," said Howie Wilcox, northern transportation consultant with PDCS in Timmins. *'That was back in the summer of °83 or °84. There was a cry from the region that they needed help, so we opened our first Northern Ontario office in Timmins back in August of °84."° Wilcox said he was sent north alone and his territory included all Northern Ontario. "Tt was a one man show. | was all over the place." A busy schedule kept Wilcox from visiting as much of his ter- ritory as he would have liked. "In the first vear I was only able to make two trips to" nor- thwestern Ontario. One was to Thunder Bay and the other was to Atikokan."' The need for a second office was apparent and so in August 1985 a second office opened in Thunder Bay. thus splitting Northern Ontario into two territories. Peter Dudka is Wilcox's counterpart in Thunder Bay. Dudka's territory stretches from the Manitoba border east to Longlac, while Wilcox's ex- tends fromn Longlac to the Quebec border. north to James and Hudson's Bays and south to Parry Sound. "Initially things were slow."" said Wilcox, although he travelled extensively for the first year. '*What I was doing was introducing myself and the pro- gram to chambers of commerce and to economic development groups in the North. Established Now that the program has become well established and more and more businesses know of the services that are available the calls for help are steadily increasing. "Right now I'm actually operating out of two offices,"' said Wilcox. "This one here in Timmins and one in the Sault." He hinted that a third office may be slated in Sault Ste. Marie in the near future. but that nothing has been finalized yet. It is easy to see why requests for their services continue to grow. By simply picking up the phone, any business in Northern Ontario can obtain practical ad- vice on any of their goods distribution problems. "Transportation is the third highest cost of doing business,"' said Wilcox. This factor is com- pounded by the fact that "many Hosting... what a wonderful way to discover the world Interculture Canada, a not-for-profit organizaiton for intercultural exchange has officially launched its host family search campaign in Ontario. Thanks to Interculture Canada, On- tario residents now have the opportuni- ty to host a young foreign student who will live as a member of their family for almost a year. After being careful- ly selected in their own country, 168 young students will spend the 1987/88 school year in Canada. They come ..om 35 different countries and are bet- ween 15 and 18 years old. Interculture Canada pays special at- tention to the twinning of the students with the host family. Because of the wide range of applicants, Interculture Canada is able to choose a youth hav- ing common traits with the family in terms of interests, activities or even personality. This way, families and students not only discover their similarities but also enjoy the richness of their differences. Any family is eligible to host. Two parents with children, single-parent families, young parents, older couples,..all are welcome. The new son or daughter does not expect to be considered as a guest but as a member of the family. Host families are not asked to make special expenditures for their student but they do pay food costs and incidental ex- penses as they would for their own teenager. Interculture Canada is a member of AFS International/Intercultural Pro- grams which is the world's largest net- work of high school exchange pro- grammes operating in 73 countries. In- terculture Canada is a not-for-profit and non-governmental organization. Families interested in getting more information about hosting a student may call 1-800-361-7248 or write to In- terculture Canada, 59 rue St-Jacques, Bur. 700., Montreal, Que., H2Y 1K9. SCENES for sale at captured for you by WHITE SAND LAKE | PHOTOGRAPHY Spend some time in the country and experience the ageless beauty of the North Shore of Lake Superior Ss. JOHNSON HEWSON 824-3155 Professional Photography | Portraits. Weddings & Commercial MAGIC small- and mediumrsized businesses have one man who has to wear three or four hats. These guys are just spread too thinly." Dudka agreed that sometimes the job of distributing goods is not given proper attention. '*You ask some businessmen what their transportation bill is for the year and they can't tell you. So we may encourage them to start up an accounting system that isolates transporta- tion costs."' If acompany's problem is not too complex, an attempt will be made to resolve the matter over the phone. If the problem is more complicated, a personal interview can be arranged at the client's place of business. Wilcox said "many people who call for help lack the knowledge of various alter- native modes of transportation available to them. They' re pro- bably used to dealing with the established larger carriers, but now there are smaller and specialized carriers." Although the program is um- brella titled under physical distribution, the service they provide applies to a much wider spectrum than one tnight first imagine. Wilcox said the dif- ferent aspects of the business that they look at includes bring- 'ing in the raw materials, warehousing, packaging and shipping. Both Wilcox and Dudka have wide-ranging backgrounds in distribution and business exper- tise but obtaining the least ex- pensive form of shipping for Terrace Bay-Schreiber News, Wednesday, January 21, 1987, page 11° MTC service offers help to shippers their clients is their primary concern. Wilcox said "a lot of the work that I'm dealing with is concerned with exports. Since deregulaton in the States all kinds of opportunities of shipp- ing into and out of the States exist. : He explained that large truck- ing companies and tariff bureaus kept the competition out of the added to the cost of shipping. A common complaint by shippers in Northern Ontario is that the cost of freight rates is too high. That may be changing soon. Wilcox said he*believes that if legislation is passed as it has been proposed, Northern On- tario will see a lower rate scale. And that would be welcome news to businessmen in Nor- northern States and therefore . thern Ontario. Our classifieds are the best deal going and offer fast results too! Terrace Bay Hydro NOTICE 1987 Schedule of Rates Terrace Bay Hydro has made application for approval of the following schedule of rates and charges for 1987. If approved, these rates will be reflected on all hydro bills issued after February 1, 1987, covering consumption of elec- tricity after the date of the January 1987 meter reading. Residential Service First 250 kwh 8.70 cents per kwh Balance kwh 4.93 cents per kwh Minimum Bil $5.25 per month General Service Billing Demand First 50 kw no charge Balance kw $3.85 per kw Energy Charges First 250 kw 0 cents per kwh 8.7 Next 12250 kwh 5.21 cents per kwh Balance kwh 3.67 cents per kwh Minimum Bill $5.25 per month These rates reflect an average 2.6% increase over the 1986 rates. For more detailed information contact: L.H. Simons The Corporation of the Township of Terrace Bay P.O. Box 40 Terrace Bay, Ontario POT 2WO Bay District proposal should be submitted Ministry of Natural Resources Cy Ontario 1987 SPRUCE BUDWORM CONTROL PROGRAM INFORMATION CENTRE The Ministry of Natural Resources invites the public to review the Terrace 8:15 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.: for dealing with the spruce budworm in 1987; from The proposal will also b Resources offices in Terrace mation Centre, until February 27, 1987. January 27-28 1987 at Highway 17 P.O. Box 280 Terrace Bay, Ontario POT 2W0 Ministry of Natural Resources Telephone: 807-825-3205 during this period to: District Manager P.O. Box 280 Terrace Bay, Ontario POT 2W0 PUBLIC REVIEW PERIOD e available for viewing at the Ministry of Natural Bay and Manitouwadge following the Infor- Comments concerning the proposal Ministry of Natural Resources Telephone: 807-825-3205 For further information please contact: Derrick Tirschmann Ministry of Natural Resources Hon. Vincent G. Kerrio Minister Mary Mogford Deputy Minister P.O. Box 309 Manitouwadge, Ontario POT 2CO0 Telephone: 807-826-3225