Left to right: Suzanne Blanchard, vice-president (students and enrolment) and university registrar, Carleton University; Corrie Hobin, interim chief advancement officer, Carleton University; Michael Hapke, president and CEO, Advanced Group of Companies at the signing ceremony in October.
HOCKEY WITH THE HAPKES Michael Hapke explains why a $1M commitment to Carleton reflects both his past and his principles By Jeff Todd
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very October, Michael Hapke has an important decision to make. Do I haul the boards, plexiglass, netting and lights out of storage? Or is this the year I finally stop constructing a hockey rink in my backyard? Inevitably, the decision is made: the rink is happening, “one more year.” It’s a painstaking job, one that takes months of preparation, hours upon hours of care, patience and attention, all for that smooth stretch of ice — 104 feet by 44 feet, complete with nets at each end, full boards, overhead lighting and safety netting to keep most of the pucks in play.
In the end, Hapke then asks himself the most important question of all. “Why do I do this?” he wonders, with a laugh. The reason is always the same. The thump of the puck on the boards, the sharp ping as it strikes a goalpost, the crisp chill of winter — these are more than sounds and sensations for Hapke, CEO at the Advanced Group of Companies, which consists of Advanced Mortgage Investment Corp., Advanced Capital Corp., Advanced Alternative Lending and Ottawa’s largest mortgage brokerage, Mortgage Brokers Ottawa. For this leading businessman, who doesn’t exactly have tons of time on his hands, the rink reminds him of his childhood. It brings him peace.
It’s the same reason why Hapke is giving back to the Ottawa community with a historic pledge: a $1-million commitment to Carleton University’s athletic department, transforming the home of the Ravens hockey team into the Advanced Capital Ice House. “Working with Carleton University on the Ice House has been a very natural fit,” he explains. “I didn’t play on the hockey team. I didn’t play on the football team. I actually didn’t play on any of the sports teams. I just went to school there. For me, this was an opportunity to give back to an institution that gave me the opportunity to grow and dream, which helped shape my career, and to share the joy that was brought to me by being on the ice. I want to give that to others.”
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