In Cape Breton, past family operations have included those owned and managed by members from diverse communities, including the AfricanNova Scotian community. Some of these establishments include restaurants, retail shops, electrical service businesses and food manufacturers, like Paul’s Food Factory.
also mindful of the next generation, and aids young entrepreneurs through its established training and development program.
Jennifer Sheppard, daughter of the food factory’s founder, Paul Price, said her family business caters to customers only on Cape Breton Island. It was a conscious decision to refocus their three-decade-old Whitney Pier business on that region of Nova Scotia, she said, after offering their food products across the province for a few years.
Sheppard said she’s served on the board of directors for Business Is Jammin’, a registered charity, and found the experience worthwhile. “So I was familiar with BBI, and I learned a lot just from sitting on the (BIJ) board for a short time.”
Sheppard knows the Black Business Initiative strives to help Black-owned enterprises do well. The organization is
BBI’s Business Is Jammin’ program had 1,205 fresh-faced participants in 2013-14. Of these, 191 attendees were from the Sydney and Glace Bay region.
At Paul’s Food Factory, a handful of young people are getting a close look at the workings of a family operation. Four high school students are employed there part-time, Sheppard said, doing
shifts alongside the company’s full-time staff. By most accounts, there’s a distinct difference between running a family business (or working for one), and toiling in the private sector for a large organization or smaller firm. It comes down to family ties and family values, according to KPMG. For Boateng, an additional benefit to running a family company is being your own boss. “Now I kind of understand why employers do some of the things they do,” he said with a laugh. “I enjoy setting the tone and the direction of where the business is going to go,” said Boateng. “To me, it feels like this is where I’ve always been meant to be.”
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