Thinking Big in a Small Town: Robert Carter, RC Industrial Services

Robert Carter knows a good opportunity when he sees one. And that’s exactly what he saw when he looked around L&A County in 2003.

Although Robert had been living in Napanee for almost 20 years by then, he had spent the last 15 years commuting to Kingston every day to work at the Alcan plant. But what he saw when he looked at the economy inspired him to quit his job and start his own business closer to home. 

“The economy was in rough shape a few years ago,” he recalls. “Some of the bigger companies were starting to make cutbacks. I saw that as an opportunity for someone like me.”

Robert took advantage of that opportunity and formed RC Industrial Services, a company that makes, repairs and maintains equipment and machine parts for industrial clients. “We fix things for industry,” Robert explains. “We help their businesses thrive.”

In the process, Robert and his business have been thriving too. They count some of L&A County’s biggest businesses --- Goodyear, Bombardier and Strathcona Paper – among their clients. They also serve clients from nearby Kingston and Belleville and from as far away as New Jersey, Kentucky and Oklahoma. (“The American clients are mostly design work,” Robert explains. “For the maintenance work, we try to keep within a 50 kilometre radius.”) Over the years they’ve grown from three employees to 28, and moved out of their rented building and into their very own 21,000-square-foot shop on Goodyear Road.

Looking back on his career, Robert realizes that he’s an unlikely entrepreneur. “I’ve always worked for other people,” he says. “I’m a millwright by trade. I could have easily stayed that way forever. But the recession really opened my eyes. I realized that companies were going to need to do things more efficiently and that I could help them do that.”

When he looks toward the future, Robert sees even more opportunity in L&A County. His company recently custom made all of the support brackets for the First Light Solar Park. “That was an exciting project,” he says. “And it looks like more solar parks are coming to L&A over the next few years, so we’ll have more exciting projects to look forward to.”

For more information regarding business opportunities and entrepreneurship in Lennox and Addington County contact Stephen Paul at 613-354-4883,ext. 234 or spaul@lennox-addington.on.ca,  or visit our site http://www.lennoxandaddington.com/