Northland: From skiing to landscaping

De gauche à droite / From left to right: Don Puttee, Catherine Ledoux, Yanik Charron, Geneviève Payette, Julien Cousineau, Karen Guay, Guillaume Gariépy & Erik Guay. ©Catherine Ledoux

Erik Guay – the most highly decorated alpine skier in Canada’s history – and his wife Karen recently acquired Northland in partnership with two couples, friends of theirs who, like them, are inveterate skiers. After all, what could be better than having a landscaping firm for getting the most out of winter and the snowy slopes?

Founded in 1989 by Laura Scully and Louis Joncas, over the years Northland has become a true jewel of Mont-Tremblant entrepreneurship. For more than 30 years, Northland has been able to mould the landscapes of greater Mont-Tremblant and showcase the beauty of the region. Laura and Louis, who will remain involved for a while to ensure a smooth transition, thus pass the torch of this renowned institution to equally impassioned people.

“Louis and I have been very lucky to be on the leading edge of making things even more beautiful as the region grows,” Laura Scully notes. “It’s been truly amazing. The new team, mixed with some of the originals and the awesome crew, will make sure the Northland adventure keeps going in the best way, with a great mix of fresh new energy and hometown roots. Thank you all: it’s been quite a ride!”

The dream team

Guillaume Gariépy and his spouse Geneviève Payette are joining Erik and Karen’s adventure, as are Catherine Ledoux and Julien Cousineau. Former competitive skiers, Guillaume and Julien also coach skiing when winter rolls around. One fun fact: these three longtime friends shared a podium in 1999 (see photo).

“I think it will be great and an excellent fit with our skiing lifestyle,” Karen Guay emphasizes. “From our perspective, landscaping makes perfect sense. Our partners are also very involved in skiing and feel the same way.”

For more than ten years, Geneviève and Guillaume have been running the landscaping firm Paysagement Gariépy in the Piedmont area, and Julien and Catherine have Pelouses JC Lawns in the Vaudreuil region. Their expertise will be invaluable, along with their employee contribution and territory to work.

“The Northland and Paysagement Gariépy territories are beside each other,” explains Geneviève Payette, Northland’s new general manager. “Our businesses are both members of the APPQ*. We share a very similar work ethic and system of values,” she adds. “Paysagement Gariépy now becomes a kind of business office for Northland in Piedmont.”

Consolidating a way of life

Working all-out in summer has its advantages. At the end of summer, during which they’d worked without a break, Laura and Louis got into the habit of taking off for a month in Hawaii.

“Laura and Louis have been a great inspiration to us, for both their professional life and their family life,” Geneviève notes. “We have always admired what they succeeded in creating: a fine family business with a real community spirit in their team. They have a reputation for delivering quality projects and for being close to their customers. Those are the same values on which we developed Paysagement Gariépy.”

The challenges

As it is for most entrepreneurs, employee recruitment will be a major challenge, but Karen remains confident.

“Our associates have substantial experience: lots of team leaders and the majority of the experienced employees will be back this season, including Yanik Charron and Don Puttee, who remain shareholders,” says Karen. “Some have been with Northland for well over ten years […]. I believe, as well, that the breath of fresh air we’ll be bringing into the company will promote recruitment.” “We’re getting more and more CVs from Montreal – really nice profiles – but lack of accommodation is an issue. There’s a big gap between salaries and the price of lodging. We find we’re losing good candidates because of this,” Geneviève mentions.

Skiing and of course, family

The secret for a successful partnership often lies in shared values. Providing themselves with a way of life that allowed winter skiing was a priority for Northland’s new shareholders.

“Together, we have a total of nine children close in age,” says Geneviève, “We share values and our lifestyles are alike. We are good-hearted people who care about community and human relationships. We sensed that Northland as a company is very close to its community, and we knew that Julien and Catherine are like us. When Erik, Karen, Julien and Catherine suggested to us that we join the adventure, we knew that we had found ourselves, that we would be a winning team, because we all aspired to the same lifestyle. It took skiers to be able to understand each other,” Geneviève concludes.

* Quebec’s association of professional landscapers

 

More from this author by clicking on his photo below.

Guillaume Vincent

 

Guillaume Vincent430 Posts

Rédacteur et journaliste de profession, Guillaume Vincent a fait ses armes au sein de l’agence QMI. Il s’est joint au Tremblant Express en 2014. Promu en 2017, il y assume depuis le rôle de rédacteur en chef et directeur de la publication. / A writer and photojournalist by profession, Guillaume Vincent won his stripes in the QMI agency. He joined Tremblant Express in 2014. Promoted in 2017, he has been editor-in-chief and co-publisher since then.

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