Control your own destiny.

Carl Crewson learned ages ago that to be competitive, a business has to be able to rely on itself at every stage of the production process.

"I think there is an over-riding thing you need to keep in mind as a company, and that is to be as self-sufficient as possible so you are controlling your own destiny," he says. "It is important you manufacture as much of your product as much as possible so you're controlling your product and controlling price.

"Being in the North is a little different from sitting in the middle of Hamilton or Montreal where you have a lot of other little manufacturers who you can maybe do things for," he says. "We're in the North so I can't go next door to get canopies manufactured and that sort of thing. We do those things ourselves."

Crewson and his family are owners and operators of BW Marine Products, a group of independent, yet related companies that manufacture and distribute a range of boating and marine-related products throughout Ontario, the United States, the Netherlands, Norway and Japan.

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Fresh out of high school, Crewson acquired a job at a marina in 1957, and in 1959 he moved to North Bay. In 1967, he and two other fellow employees bought out Baywood Marine. The business expanded into other areas, and a decade later Crewson bought out his two partners to run the business with his family.

By ANDREW WAREING

Northern Ontario Business