1800's Flair.

"Tea house by the locks" concept nabs first place in entrepreneurship competition

SAULT STE. MARIE -- Whenever Vic Duffield walks past the old lock superintendent's house at the Parks Canada Heritage Canal, he sees an opportunity waiting to be cultivated.

The two-storey Victorian-style residence constructed in 1895 by the stonemasons who carved out the canal, has been a bucolic photographic backdrop for wedding parties and a favourite gathering place for cyclists, waterfront strollers and boatwatchers who wish to stretch their legs.

"It's such a beautiful spot, Duffield, a third-year Algoma University College psychology student, says of the sandstone dwelling set amongst the twisty elms on the park grounds. "I go down there, and I don't want to leave."

For years, Duffield had nurtured the idea of renovating the building, turning it into a restaurant in the style of a turn-of-the-century English tea house. A graduate of Saulto College's food and beverage management course, he bounced his plan off a few friends, including some local restauranteurs who've offered to back him financially for the $60,000 start-up.

"People come down here to take wedding pictures all the time and if they want to get something to drink all they have available is a pop machine. It's really a shame."

Last year his concept and business plan was judged so innovative, he took home top honours in the inaugural BRIDGE Entrepreneurship Competition. First place earned him $10,000 in cash and professional services donated by local businesses and development agencies.

BRIDGE is the Bi-National Regional Initiative Developing Greater Education -- a joint-venture consortium between Algoma University College, Sault College and Lake Superior. State University in Sault, Michigan and the Sault's economic development corporation. Its purpose is to promote and cultivate entrepreneurship at the post-secondary level.

The competition is an element of their business development process modelled after a highly successful program developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

BRIDGE executive director Mike Delfre explains that the process involves changing the orientation of education by marrying it with business creation. Instead of students graduating into the job market, they graduate straight into their own Start-up companies.

"Their education has to be an enterprise-creation activity, rather than just an education," Delfre says.

With the aid of a Royal Bank CD-ROM given to all competition participants, Duffield fine-tuned his plan into a winning entry.

In his 'Teahouse by the Locks' venture, he envisions a quaint and intimate 40-seat restaurant, open seven days a week, decorated with antique furniture to draw in some of the 188,000 visitors who frequent the park from May to October.

Duffield says in a community where unemployment remains an ongoing concern, his venture would provide four full-time jobs and as many part-timers, including Sault College chef trainees.

"I think it would be successful," says Duffield whose lengthy resume documents 20 years in the hospitality industry as a caterer, short-order cook and chef serving five-star fare at places such as Toronto's prestigious Waterfront Tennis and Squash Club. "I've approached a lot of local businessmen and their wives so I don't think funding will be a problem. It's just getting permission."

Duffield says Parks Canada, the operator of the designated Heritage Canal and park grounds, has been lukewarm to his proposal since 1994.

The residence has not been occupied by a superintendent since Parks Canada took over the canal from the St. Lawrence Seaway Authorit. Heated year-round and wheelchair accessible, the building is used for occasional board meetings and educational programs, with some upstairs office space used on a seasonal basis. But a lack of funds to relocate these activities has put Duffield's proposal on the government agency's backburner.

While his proposal hasn't been swallowed wholeheartedly by Parks Canada, it has piqued some initial interest from the City of Sault Ste. Marie's economic development corporation and the tourist consultants studying options to revitalize the Norgoma museum ship moored at the Roberta Bondar Marina. Duffield says the community support and the renewed interest in his concept has encouraged him to begin lobbying local politicians and business development agencies.

Delfre says the teahouse submission incorporated all the necessary ingredients in a well thought-out business plan - "how well they use resources, how good their research is, obviously the idea itself, the financial aspects and the presentation."

Through entrepreneurship fairs, business-plan competitions and by assembling a pool of mentors, Delfre hopes the BRIDGE process will ultimately broaden the city's stagnant economic base and create self-generated opportunities to keep budding entrepreneurs home.

This year's contest kicked off in mid-December and runs through this spring to the awards ceremony on May 8. The 18 student teams participating this year match last year's total, of which five actually launched small businesses while the rest remain works in progress.

According to the competition rules, at least one team member must be enrolled at an area post-secondary institution. Team sizes can be unlimited - "the bigger, the better" says Delfre - with participants being encouraged to recruit a mixture of disciplines to their team.

The winning entries, judged by a panel of local business professionals, receive a first-place prize of $10,000 which includes a package of cash, business equipment and professional services such as legal, accounting and marketing advice. The second-and third-prize winners receive $5,000 each.

In the next year or two, Delfre plans to integrate the program into the curriculum of the three participating institutions as an academic program and further expanding it into the district high schools.