It is always encouraging when local dignitaries take the time to celebrated the opening of a new business in the area. From left: Andrew Den Dekker, President, Brodie-Ag, Steve Quail, sales manager, Brodie-Ag Moose Creek, Rob Flack, Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, Al Brodie, company founder, Michael Lazaris, constituency assistant for MPP Nolan Quinn, Francois Landry, Mayor, Township of North Stormont. Tinkess Photo
MOOSE CREEK – In an era when many companies try to be all things to all people, and constantly spout the rhetoric of “one-stop shopping”, Brodie Ag is unique. They sell and service feed mixers to the agriculture sector and they do it very, very well.
Brodie Ag recently held a grand opening for their new Moose Creek location, but don’t go thinking that they are new at this. They are not. Founded by Al Brodie in 2004, they have two locations, one in Tavistock, Ontario (Brodie-Ag West), and their new location in Moose Creek at 1760 Highway 138 (Brodie-Ag East). The company was acquired about three years ago by Andrew Den Dekker, who is the current company president.
The face of the company in Moose Creek is St. Albert, Ontario native Steve Quail who has been with the company for just over a year. “When I started a year ago, we had a mandate, kind of an eight-month window to have a location here,” said Quaile. “With our plan, we were a little bit longer. We ended up here, and so far, so good. We had this event to kind of introduce ourselves and then keep on going.”
There was a steady turnout for the event with people coming and going throughout the day. Rob Flack, Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness stopped in, as did North Stormont Mayor Francois Landry, North Stormont CAO Craig Calder and Michael Lazaris, constituency assistant for MPP Nolan Quinn, who was unable to attend due to other ministerial responsibilities.
With music playing in the background and fresh coffee and baked goods available throughout the morning current and potential clients were welcome to wander around and have a good, close look at the equipment, and the facility itself with a well-stocked parts department and service bays. A delicious buffet style lunch which included ribs and roast beef was provided, and while it was being served, those in attendance had an opportunity to hear from Founder Al Brodie, Minister Flack, Mayor Landry, and constituency assistant Lazaris, who presented a certificate on behalf of MPP Quinn.
Brodie spoke first, introducing Minister Flack, explaining that the two men had followed similar paths initially in sales, Brodie with Co-op and Flack with Masterfeeds. He expressed his pleasure with Minister Flack taking the time to drop-in for the grand opening.
“So, I’ve been in the Ag business for four or five years now. I guess I should say 68, because that’s how old I am. I was born and raised up in cows. And all those years, I don’t think we’ve ever had a more deserving or more qualified, more committed Ag Minister than we have today. He knows the industry inside-out; it’s been his background. I’m very pleased to have you here today to help us celebrate this moment. That means a big thing to me. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Minister of Agriculture.”
Minister Flack was brief but spoke of the value of agriculture to Ontario’s economy.
“So, one in nine jobs in this province depend on a sustainable Agri food system, from farm gate to consumer plate,” said Minister Flack. “That’s 871,000 jobs, up 30,000 since 2018. Our GDP in this process, oh, by the way, food and beverage in this province… so, those that process food and those that process and distribute our beverages has been strong. They employ more people than the auto sector. How many people know that? You always hear auto is important right now. EV is important for our economy. It’s growing, but the GDP of Agri food in this province is $51 billion, it’s massive.”
Mayor Landry spoke of the value to a community that is built on agriculture. Anytime you get a business like Brodie’s coming into our municipality, and not just any municipality. North Stormont is agricultural; we do not have the big industrial or commercial. This is our life.
“To have local, whether it’s SD and G or Prescott-Russell, I think having somebody local to talk to or to look and tend to their machinery is absolutely fantastic. So again, thank you very much.
The Brodie-Ag Moose Creek location is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday they are available for emergency services only. You can reach them by phone at 613-667-1213, or by email at brodie-east@brodie-ag.com. You can also visit their website at brodie-ag.com.
