Bremner's Shows that Honesty is among the top Keys to Success

Leon Bremner has owned, operated Bremner Farms Ltd. in Napan for over 36 years

Originally From: New Brunswick Business Journal
Written By: KRIS MCDAVID

After nearly four decades at the helm of one of the Miramichi's most successful and well-known enterprises, it's fair to say that Leon Bremner knows a thing or two about how to run a business.

Bremner has had to weather recessions, a fire which destroyed a significant portion of his business, and an ever-changing business climate over that time, and even at 69-years-old he still enjoys the challenges of overseeing the company he built from the ground-up.

He said where countless businesses have come and gone, Bremner Farms' success and longevity can be attributed to a very simple formula that should be taught in Business 101.

"Honesty, availability, and a good product -- in that order," said Bremner.

"I have a good association with my staff, they work very diligently for me, and I have an excellent co-operation with my customers. I look after them and I treat them as I'd want to be treated myself.

"I always tell my employees that, if you can't whistle when you're coming down the lane to work, there's something wrong."

Bremner Farms is very much a family-owned firm, and Bremner said it's important for that atmosphere to translate into his day-to-day operations.

His family home is located adjacent to the rows of gleaming New Holland products, and his two Collies can be seen meandering around the well-manicured grounds.

Bremner's son Todd operates the company's satellite location on the outskirts of Moncton at Lutes Mountain, while his brother Bruce owns Bremner's third facility in Dalhousie alongside his sons Robbie and Scott.

"I have two dogs, I have a wife," he said. "We go where we want to, we do what we like and, we're not lavish people by any means, but we simply enjoy life.

"We live a quiet life here and, usually, customers who come here say they feel very comfortable coming here, and we're quite happy being where we are. To me, enjoying life is having a good business, a good staff, paying your bills on time, and treating people with honour."

The son of a dairy farmer and a proud Miramichier, Bremner said he lived outside the region for a dozen years before deciding to return to the region he's always called home in the early 1970's.

He said Miramichiers have a lot to take pride in, and said it was difficult to watch as communities up and down the river suffer this past decade in the wake of mill closures, thousands of jobs lost, and the subsequent exodus of skilled workers to the western provinces.

Bremner, true to his nature, chooses to focus on the positives and predicts a thriving Miramichi before too long.

"I think you're going to see quite an upswing on the Miramichi," he says. "I think you'll see the Weyerhaeuser mill come alive once again. We're going to see people working again at the old UPM (and current Umoe Solar) site, and I think there will be some other things springing up as well.

"We'll have our share of downfalls, and there will be some hurt, a lot of which we've already gone through, but we're resilient and we'll get through it."

Bremner adds he has no plans of slowing down; he loves what he does too much, and isn't quite ready to hand the company keys over to one of his sons just yet.

"At my age, people all say 'You should be retired', and I'll always answer with, 'Retired to what?'" he said.

"As long as my health is good, and I think I've overcome a bad bout of health which I had last year, but if I'm healthy I want to be here. And as long as my staff and my customers are able to put up with me, why not?"

n Bremner Farms Ltd. is located at 505 South Napan Road in Napan and at 3320 Route 126 in Lutes Mountain.