Skip to content

The first five years: Silverman?s saved our bacon

Michael Atkins has owned Northern Life newspaper since September 1973. On the occasion of this, the 30th anniversary of his purchase of the company, he has written a series of columns recalling some of the adventures of those years.
Michael Atkins has owned Northern Life newspaper since September 1973. On the occasion of this, the 30th anniversary of his purchase of the company, he has written a series of columns recalling some of the adventures of those years. The first column described how it came to pass that he came to Sudbury at all. This week a look at the first five years.

The first five years in the saddle at Northern Life is a blur. I?ve never worked so hard or had so much fun as we packed into that time period. We faced imminent bankruptcy regularly, separated by brief periods of time when the Sudbury Star was either on strike or was threatening to be on strike, and we?d make enough money to go for another run. All of this we endured with good cheer and blind faith.

Silverman?s (on Elm Street) was one of the
newspaper?s first big supporters
What we lacked in business skills we made up for in sheer gall and enthusiasm.

Our big break came when Silverman?s a big department store in Sudbury at the time decided to throw their support behind us.

I remember the day I made my big presentation to them. I walked over to Silverman?s from our office and I was a little early. I strolled through the store and decided it wouldn?t hurt my case to make a modest purchase. I bought a sweater. I was at the cash register when Peter Silverman, the proprietor, came onto the floor and beckoned me to his office. I left the credit card with the cashier and joined Peter and his senior staff.

Simpkins? cartoon from 1978
In the middle of our discussions there was a knock on Peter?s door. It was the cashier. She was extremely upset and explained sheepishly that the credit card company had demanded that she tear up the credit card on the spot, which it was clear from the shards of plastic in her hand she had done, albeit with reluctance.

This was not good. I shifted uncomfortably in my chair watching my newspaper go down the drain and decided the best defence was a good offence.

I looked Peter straight in the eye and said that if this is how he treated preferred customers I wasn?t sure we
should do business at all.

Peter, bless his heart, was mortified. He castigated the cashier, apologized for her behaviour and offered to sign the contract on the spot.

I could not believe this reversal of fortune and to this day thank that poor woman for her timely intervention. I?m sure we would have done some business with Silverman?s without the incident, but my guess is it would have been at a lower rate and I?m not sure it would have happened in time to save our bacon.

In the fall of 2001, 23 years after the Sudbury 2001 conference, Mayor Jim Gordon and Michael Atkins opened a time capsule planted in the provincial building.
As for the card, well, when you run out of your line of credit, what is a boy to do? One thing you should not do is buy a sweater you can?t afford.

After three years in business we had not figured out how to make money, but were very pleased we weren?t losing much. This lead one of our partners to insist we buy a failing weekly in Thunder Bay as it appeared we were in danger of making money in Sudbury within the year. This we did, and not many years later we found ourselves
with papers in Nipigon, Terrace Bay, Ignace, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Sturgeon Falls and for a time North Bay.

Eventually, we figured it out and started to make money.

In 1977 two things happened. Inco announced huge layoffs and the Steelworkers went on strike not long after. It was a grim time. A group of us began meeting in our pigeon-invested boardroom on Cedar Street looking at ways
to work together to help mitigate the troubling times.

What emerged was an economic self-help group co-chaired by myself and Elmer McVey, then president of the Sudbury Labour Council. We dubbed it Sudbury 2001. The idea was to bring together the important interest groups and encourage them to take responsibility for our economic future.

Before long we had the support of the president of the chamber of commerce, The president of Laurentian University, the president of Cambrian College, the president of the Steelworkers, the president of Mine Mill, senior executives from both Falconbridge and Inco, the regional chair, the mayor of Sudbury, and the ex-officio participation of local MPs and MPPs.

Our promise to one another was to leave our politics at the door, and against all odds we did.

In the spring of 1978 we had a huge conference at Laurentian University and set ourselves the task of taking responsibility for a sustainable economic future. It was an extraordinary time and involved an astonishing group of people.

Scratch someone who has lived in Sudbury for 25 years and the chances are they remember those days.

Although the Sudbury 2001 group worked on numerous specific job creation projects?ask one of those old timers about goats if you want a little fun?the lasting legacy is that it began a tradition of working together in Sudbury that has spawned any number of initiatives over the years. It was without question one of the most rewarding periods of time in my life.

Michael Atkins can be reached at [email protected].

Comments

Verified reader

If you would like to apply to become a verified commenter, please fill out this form.