Manager steps in to salvage jobs: Union Energy branch closure prompts former employee to launch a business. (Sault Ste. Marie).

When a strike forced the closure of Sault Ste. Marie's Union Energy office, Nick Huizing had to act fast.

As his service technicians hit the bricks in late March, the energy, service provider's head office decided the branch held little growth potential and was preparing to contract the work out to an outside contractor.

So Huizing, as branch manager, scrambled to save the jobs of his employees, all the while doing the service work of five technicians for two months. He put together a proposal to start his own company and pitched his idea to be Union Energy's contractor of choice for the Sault area.

"Basically I put together a contract with them to rent the same building, five vehicles, all the parts inventory and equipment to start up my own business," says Huizing. "We hired all the guys back except one." His staff on Drive In Road consists of four service technicians, two clerical staffers and a sales representative.

Launched in early August, Superior Home Comfort provides sales, installation and repairs of furnaces, air conditioners, water heaters and fireplaces mainly to the residential market, along with some light commercial.

As an authorized service agent for United Energy they supply Carrier heating and ventilation products while keeping the same demographic area covering the Sault and Echo Bay.

"Basically Union Energy were looking for a new type of business model and places like the Sault and North Bay didn't have the demographics and potential for growth they were looking for.

"They wanted to keep the rental business, but not the heating and ventilation business. There was not a big enough growth opportunity for them and they wanted to contract out."

Huizing says Union Energy had offered him a new managerial position in either Sarnia or Chatham, but the move provided little in the way of long-term job security. Having spent most of his life in the Sault working in the heating business for 20 years, he decided to "go right back to square one again."

In outlying communities such as Thessalon and Elliot Lake, he explains, Union Energy has outside contractors in place, but the contract is paid as they do the service call, billed at a pre-determined rate.

"What Union Energy does with the Sault is we have a contract to get paid a set fee for taking care of their service for them, not on a per-service call basis."

With a rental customer base of about 15,000, along with 1,600 clients on Union Energy's protection plan, Huizing plans on picking up those households when their current agreement lapses and is sending out letters offering a competitive plan to sign up with Superior Home Comfort.

"It's going well as far as signing them back up again."

Since opening his doors, Huizing says business is as good as before, "if not better."

Labour was the biggest expense prior to the strike, but now with a non-unionized workforce, employees share in any of the company's success through profit-sharing.

The business started off with a bang with one of the hottest Augusts on record. Usually a slack month, the run on air conditioner repairs and installation went through the roof. Now the company is well into the busy heating season with a raft of furnace installations and maintenance calls.

For the time being, Huizing says his company's immediate goal is to build on their existing strengths of providing good quality service before considering branching out into other energy-related services.