Heroes in high places: extraordinary entrepreneurs from two different worlds.

I do much of my musing and most of my driving on Highway 69 between Sudbury and Toronto. I find if I do not muse, I mean seriously muse, then I speed, and that can get very expensive.

I hate driving slow, particularly on the four-lane part, and therefore musing is not only a creative way of being cheap, it is good for my mental health.

In the last month Ive found myself on Highway 11 into North Bay one time, and into Gravenhurst on another trip.

It is much harder to muse on Highway 11, particularly south of Gravenhurst where there is a lot of traffic, a thousand gas stations and restaurants, and it is just much busier than the same latitude a few miles to the west on Highway 69.

What did happen however is that both my visit to North Bay, and my visit to Gravenhurst gave me a lot to muse about.

In North Bay we had our annual Northern Ontario Business Awards program and it was a smashing success. Great winners, wonderful hospitality and fabulous speakers at our conference. One of the most inspiring talks came from Frank Dottori, the president and CEO of Tembec.

A few weeks later, wearing my Innsystems hat (a database company we own that provides back-end inventory management and secure reservations for hotels and B and Bs), I attended an outstanding event at the Gravenhurst Opera House, which introduced Muskoka's new tourism strategy. We are partners with them. At this event, among other outstanding speakers was a fellow by the name of Bruce Poon Tip the president of G.A.P Adventures Inc, which stands for Great Adventure People.

His story is nothing short of astonishing. I cannot possibly give it justice in a column. What got me to musing however is the similarity between Frank, who is closer to my age (mid 50s) and president of a multibillion-dollar forestry company, and Bruce, who is president of a 30-million-dollar adventure company at the ripe old age of 34.

I have seldom experienced the excitement one feels when confronted with such burning ambition, humility, integrity, commitment to sustainable development, and the pure joy of flying against the lethargy of conventional wisdom. This is not just being an entrepreneur, it is leadership of the first order.

Bruce at his tender age was appointed to the World Bank. Yes, I said World Bank. Why? Because his brand of sustainable tourism includes community development around the world. Bruce says to his potential customers "If you are comfortable at home stay there." He believes you must experience the real culture of the places you visit, and that means being with the people and not being hermetically sealed off in a four-star hotel. For that reason his largest tour includes 12 people and a local tour guide.

Frank is a member of the Order of Canada. He is chair of the softwood lumber committee that is battling U.S.-imposed tariffs. He is also an environmentalist. Yes, I said the president of Tembec is an environmentalist. He supports the Kyoto accord. He is a huge energy user and he thinks there should be a carbon tax. When the Kyoto accord was struck, he decided Tembec would operate as if it were law. They have cut their energy consumption by 60 percent while doubling their business. Frank is out of step with his business colleagues who, in the mainstream, would like to dilute, delay or destroy the Kyoto accord.

These are two men of extraordinary vision and courage.

They live in different worlds.

They live in different generations.

What they share is confidence and citizenship. Confidence in themselves, confidence in their ability to make a difference. Confidence in their knowledge that if you are blessed to have the freedom to create wealth you have an obligation to be a trustee for the generations that follow.

If you want a little more on these folks and their values take a visit to www.tembec.ca and to www.gap.ca. I guarantee you will find relief in these dispiriting times of mediocrity and malfeasance in the business world.

These people are heroes in high places and we should pay attention.

Michael Atkins is the president of Northern Ontario Business Ltd.