An Advanced Degree from the School of Life

HHis casual sweater, spectacles and accommodating yet confident manner have graduate student written all over him.

In fact, Jon Green is a high school graduate who now counts his former High School, McNair Senior Secondary in

Richmond, BC, as one of many customers in his fast growing furniture supply business, Jonathan Morgan & Company (JM&C). He agrees itís somewhat ironic that most of his clients are schools. ìI guess I was kind of typical, not very motivated at school ó I sometimes wish I could go back and do it over,î he says. He enjoyed Shop, especially woodworking, but admits he wasnít academically inclined. His favourite subject was Art. He also liked playing Chess, and there is a Chess set in his office. ìThis is where I calculate my next business moves,î he jokes.

The truth is, he has no time for either Art or Chess. Now 31, married and with two young sons, heís an extremely busy man leading his company to compete successfully against much larger suppliers.

He was a mere lad of 16 when he began working for his grandfather, who owned an Industrial Supply company. By the time Green was in his early twenties, he was supervising 15 employees. At age 27, he was ready for something new.

He entered the extremely competitive furniture supply business because several of his relatives in other parts of the globe were already doing well in it. They encouraged him to make his move. ìIíve only been doing this for four years, but I actually have thirty years of family business experience behind me,î he says. Keeping things in the family works well, he says; his secretary, Megan Burrowes, is a distant relative, so when he needs advice, he knows where to find it.

Even so, he faced serious obstacles from the beginning.

Perhaps the most daunting was that due to provincial budget cutting, the educational market wasnít exactly awash in cash.

His competitors were telling him bluntly that it was a bad time to get into this sector.

Green saw it differently. His experience with the industrial supply business had taught him something about working with customers in tough times with tight budgets. ìI first got involved with management during the depressed ìeightiesî, when everybody was having cash flow problems. What we did was work with our clients, and focus on what we could do to help them out, really be of service and offer better value.î

He says that cutbacks are an opportunity to focus on serv-

By Monika Ullmann

Green stays on the phone until a deal is reached.

Green and Megan Burrowes, his secretary.

Jon Green in his office, getting ready to meet a client.

School of Life School of Life School of Life ice and building strong relationships; he has made this the heart of his busitive from the start. And they were very accommodating; service is just excelfoundations of his success. ìOur business values derive from ness approach. lent. There are never any problems or our belief in community service, honìThereís really a massive hole in hassles-itís all in how itís handled,î esty and integrity. Thatís the whole the market when it comes to service. And I also like the aspect that I can be of service to the community-I have kids in school and I can do something she says. She says she loves her job because it means she gets to meet a lot of nice people. And being ënice peopleíis the real root of our success.î _______________ Monica Ullman is a freelance writer working in Vancouver, BC. She has published numerous feature articles onpositive there.î bottom line for Jon Green. He grew up health, the environment, high technologyHeíll even mediate on prices and in a religious household, and the val- and the arts. She enjoys writing quotes between clients and furniture ues he learned at church have stood marketing materials for several clients, manufacturers whose lines he carries. him in good stead in business as well. and in her off hours she is working on a The Oak Bay Kiwanis in Victoria He doesnít make a big deal out of it, children’s book and her mother’s needed some chairs for their facility, but he credits his belief as one of the memoirs. but found that the manufacturer was charging them for making minor changes to the design. Green made a couple of calls and persuaded the manufacturer to give the client what they needed to complete the deal. Or if itís a question of persuading the manufacturer to change a colour, Green does his best to get everyone on the same page. ìIt can take some time and effort, but itís always worth it in the end,î he says. Greenís sales people are equally committed to this strong service ethic. Randy Oui has been with JMC for only a year, but he used to have his own company and knows what it takes to keep clients happy. Rob Wills, member of the Building Committee spearheading construction of a new Parish Centre and Gymnasium for Immaculate Conception School in Vancouver, says that the service heís getting is exactly right for his needs. ìRandy satisfies us at our pace; he gets us the data to make the right decisions. Heíll check in with us every couple of days, just a friendly call, and that keeps me focused, too. We had a big job to do, and with the Gymnasium we needed some special folding chairs and pull-out bleachers. Randy came in with some very good quotes and he got us exactly what we wanted. It really is one stop shopping; they have great diversity.î Other customers are not shy about singing his praises either. The Business Assistant at McNair Senior Secondary, Sandi, says she is one of Greenís first customers and sees no reason to go elsewhere. ìWe had some other quotes, of course, but he was very price competi-

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