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LEATHERDALE NEW V-P OF CAMBRIA - A GUTSY, GROWING NORTH AMERICAN COMPANY I call them "Recession Busters." Gutsy, bright entrepreneurs with drive, ambition and a vision, who fight for rights and freedom and the North American dream of creating wealth, sharing wealth, and making it a better world. "Heroes" is also what I call these hard-working private enterprise players - who don't cave to the greed and corruption of the get-rich-quick casino of capital markets on Wall Street, where fat-cat brass with their excessive pay and bonuses, stand in line for bail-out money paid for by hard-working taxpayers on Main Street. Today, let me introduce you to one of these "heroes." His name is Marty Davis, a visionary who's determined to not only survive, but thrive during this dark economic storm. Davis is CEO of Cambria, a Minnesota-based, innovative firm that produces top-of-the-line natural quartz surfaces, like countertops and flooring. And I'm so impressed not only with the product, manufactured by Canadian quartz mined in Quebec, but also with his entrepreneurial determination to bust this recession by investing in his people and product across North America and now here in Ontario - that I've joined his exciting team. Effective April 1, I became Vice-President, Marketing and Business Development in Canada. And I am loving it. For my loyal fans, who follow my commentaries on lindaleatherdale.com since by departure from the Toronto Sun where I was Money Editor for more than 20 years, let me explain I've been real busy and that is why my blog has not been updated in awhile. But be sure, I am not going to stop crusading for Main Street. Nor will I stop offering financial advice to help you through this global meltdown. My commentaries on my website will continue. You can also read me online at Canadian Business Journal.com, and I'll continue to do regular commentaries on a host of media outlets, including radio and TV. Meanwhile, watch for a new series of seminars, featuring myself and my real estate dream team - where we'll explain how Ottawa's Home Renovation Tax Credit works, how to get the best bang for your renovation buck, and the pitfalls to avoid when setting out to renovate your home into your castle. Bottomline is real estate remains a dynamic engine of our economy - so when leaders pull off bonehead moves, like taxing to death this valuable segment of our economy, I'll continue to speak out. I applaud Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty for some brave initiatives in his recent budget to keep our housing market alive, like his Home Renovation Tax Credit, where you can spend from $1,000 to $10,000 in home improvements and get a $1,350 tax credit, until February 2010. Everything from exterior and interior painting to laying new new sod and paving a driveway is included. So too, of course, is using Cambria's wonderful quartz products to improve your kitchen and bathroom. And it's these two renovations that offer the biggest return on your renovation dollars. Other housing initiatives by Flaherty include: • A new First Time Buyers tax credit of 15% on the first $5,000 of a purchase price, to a maximum of $750. • Hiking the maximum allowed to be withdrawn "tax free" from an RRSP to buy a home under Ottawa's Home Buyers Plan from $20,000 to $25,000. For a couple, that's a maximum of $50,000. • Lowering the down payment amount needed to qualify for a conventional mortgage from 25% to 20%, meaning anyone who comes up with a 20% down payment will avoid paying hefty insurance premiums. But while Flaherty boosts housing, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty appears to be as determined as Toronto Mayor Miller on nailing the coffin shut on this valuable sector that with spinoff jobs is one of our biggest job creators. First, McGuinty's Liberals gave Toronto Mayor David Miller sweeping taxing powers that led to a new municipal land transfer tax, while property tax bills are also going through the roof. Then he rammed through a new tax grab by forcing small construction players, who were already paying their own insurance, to start coughing up workers' compensation premiums. Then, in a new "Green Shaft" Home Energy Audit bill - Queen's Park won't allow Ontario home owners to sell their homes or condos until they pay for a new home energy audit. Today an audit costs $300 to $350, but mark my words, the price will skyrocket if this bill becomes law. And now this: Leaders at all levels are standing behind a move by McGuinty to harmonize the hated GST (goods and services tax) with the PST (provincial sales tax) by July 2010 - a move that will give Queen's Park coffers an additional $1.5 billion a year in sales tax revenue with the 8% PST now hitting services that pay a 5% GST, meaning a new 13% tax on legal, insurance, real estate commissions and other transaction fees. This skyrocketing tax grab is despite an exemption on homes valued at $400,000 or less, with new home buyers getting whacked by $800 million in higher taxes, which wipes out the $500 million in tax relief, when Flaherty cut the hated 7% GST to 5%. "There are so many things wrong with this tax that it's hard to know where to begin," says BILD (Building Industry and Land Development Association) in its latest newsletter. Not only will a harmonized tax be a job killer, says BILD, but it contradicts the Greater Golden Horseshoe Growth Plan by making it more expensive to live closer to the City. "Homebuyers will now have to drive until they qualify." BILD warns, adding the HST also unfairly targets new homebuyers in the GTA, who account for about 45% of all buyers of new homes and who will be hit with 85% of new hike in sales taxes. This new tax grab also flies in the face of Flaherty's home renovation tax credit. A study by Altus Group, a real estate research firm, estimates fpr every $1 Flaherty's is giving Ontario homeowners through his tax credit, Queen's Park is increasing taxes by $3.50, or 3.5 times the value of the tax credit. BILD says it's not giving up the fight, nor is the Ontario Home Builders Association. I stand with them. Meanwhile, there's so much work to be done to bust this recession. And believe me, Cambria is doing its part by investing and creating new jobs. It recently opened up its new Fabrication facility north of Toronto. The Cambria team also isn't afraid to, dare I use the expression, "think outside the box." A feverish fan of The Band, Cambria CEO Marty Davis signed up my friend, Rompin Ronnie Hawkins (who gave The Band their start) to create some buzz around his growing empire. "Hard as rock," and "rock solid" describes the company and its product. Davis also signed up supermodel Cheryl Tiegs, who graced the front page of Sports Illlustrated three times and was born on a Minnesota farm, to represent Cambria in the States. Go to www.cambriausa.com and watch the video of how Cambria transformed the supermodel's California home with its quartz products. Tiegs is a "Green" advocate, and praises Cambria for its environmentally friendly products. The company also teamed up with HGTV's Designer Guys, who recently visited Cambria's state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Minnesota, where millions has been invested in new technology and where 16 new colours in the spring 2009 line have just been produced. Says Designer Guy Anwar Mukhayesh of the Design Agency: "It was really incredible to see what can be engineered using natural quartz. Along with some great new solids which I think will speak to the more contemporary designer/customer, there were two really innovative and exciting new colours that I know will create some buzz in the industry, both for commercial and residential projects." I, too, got see the colours during a recent Minnesota trip. Amazing. Next week, there will be an exclusive preview at an upscale Yorkville bath and kitchen boutique. And soon, all the world will see. Let me stress, it's the gutsy, true capitalist spirit of Cambria and the Davis family that's so inspiring. In the worlds of Marty Davis' father, Mark, who built an agricultural empire with Daviso Foods that's gone global and survived many economic peaks and valleys during 50 years in business: "It is about people, not just the Davis family, but each of the employees, producers and customers." He adds it's also about "the American work ethic and how important individual people and their work are to the dynamics of a capitalistic society." I am proud to be part of their team.
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