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canadian industry Online - NOVEMBER 2014
T
he agi l i t y of
a young com-
pany guided by a skilled leader
can present unique opportunities, not
just for the startup, but for an entire
industry. Building on the skills learned
from a history of positions in the auto-
motive sector, Suntrition President and
CEO Grant Bourdeau took advantage
of a weakened industrial real estate
market in Windsor to launch the nutra-
ceuticals company. “I was a skilled
tradesman, working in a family auto-
motive manufacturing business,
stamping and robotic weld assembly,”
said Bourdeau. “I had been kind of
exposed to a lot of different areas in
manufacturing, right from sweeping
the floor to working in the mainte-
nance department, then running the
maintenance department, and then
project engineer and then engineering
as a whole, then operations manage-
ment.”
In 2001, when a local natural
health products manufacturer folded,
Bourdeau approached the landlord of
the industrial space that the company
had been operating to inquire whether
he might be able to negotiate to save
the company and its employees’ posi-
tions. “The previous business occupied
8
out of 10 units, so it basically wiped
out the whole complex,” Bourdeau
said. The resulting agreement allowed
Bourdeau to launch his dream startup,
risk-free and though he proceeded to
build relationships within an indus-
SUNTRITION
