Business View Magazine | March 2018

119 170YEARS STRONG F or an astounding 17decades,safetyand industrial supplies provider,MackenzieMilne, has been riding high on thewinds of change. Nowcelebrating 170 years of business excel- lence in the Sarnia,Ontario region,the legacybegan in 1848with Charles and JohnMackenzie,brothers of the then second PrimeMinister of Canada,Alexander Mackenzie.The entrepreneurs started as a tinsmith shop,then tookon ship’s chandlery,and added tools and hardware as the town became a city.When the oil industrywas born,the firmspecialized in petro- chemical supplies and continued to push into safety supplies as the industrial era ramped up. Today,MackenzieMilne has parlayed its rich history of impeccable customer service and nichemarketing into a thriving entitywith sales in 2017of almost $9 million.BusinessViewMagazine learned the compa- ny’s secrets to longevityand continued success,right from the source-MackenzieMilneManager,Greg Primmer,and SalesManager,Albert Hoekstra.The following is an edited version of our conversation: BVM: Congratulations on your 170thAnniversa- ry! Can you give us some highlights of Mackenzie Milne’s history? Primmer: “The founders,Charles and JohnMack-