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Northern Ontario renting and leasing firms, which once catered to mining contractors had to find alternative markets through 2009, with flexible companies such as Money in Motion seeking ways to excel.
Even amidst a recession, expansion plans are in the works for the 20-year-old company, which mainly brokers money for leasing and has offices in Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Toronto, Ottawa and Winnipeg.
Although the credit markets have tightened, money is still available for clients, particularly for leasing finance opportunities for anything from equipment to working capital.
In combination with the growing strength of the oil and potash industries, officials are looking to expand into Saskatchewan a year and into the West Coast area within three years.
"Business hasn't stopped here, not once, and we're still doing business every day," says Kurtis Chisholm, manager of business development.
"We have money to lend and that's something we're still doing. I'm not going to sugarcoat it and say that things are amazing, but there's a lot of good stuff happening."
Over the years, its initial focus on forestry has taken a backseat to other potential markets being explored by the company and recessionary times have forced even further consideration of other regions and ideas.
Although some of the slowdown has trickled through, businesses from construction and transportation are still looking at taking on projects and some forestry projects have begun to return. This contributes to optimism at Money in Motion and to the continued hiring more people including a corporate account officer.
With 23 people in its five offices, the company's small size has made it nimble and capable to adapt to the changing market, says Chisholm.
"We've been working hard to keep doing what we do, but we think it'll position us really well for when we emerge from the downturn. We're here to help and we're going to continue to do that."
The same approach towards diversification has lent strength to SMS Rents, an equipment rental and servicing business, which previously held a strong focus on both forestry and mining. These include offices located in Sudbury, Timmins, Kapuskasing, North Bay and Bracebridge. Six branches are located in southern Ontario with three more in Quebec.
As a division of SMS Mining and Equipment out of Mississauga, SMS Rents is finding strength during the recession by appealing to smaller construction contractors and do-it-yourself homeowners.
During tough times, contractors are resorting to leasing, rather than buying equipment for the bigger jobs, says Brett Moroso, regional manager of SMS Rents.
With $20-million in equipment, the company has seen such success with this approach that it's expanded in Sudbury.
Having officially settled into its new 17,000-square-foot facility on Lorne Street this spring, SMS Rents has been able to access new sectors of the market, with walk-in business tripling through the first half of 2009. Expansion is expected to continue at the new site.
People who otherwise wouldn't have driven to the end of Lasalle Boulevard to visit the previous site have been drawn to the new location, says Moroso.
"We had a great market share of the large contractors, the big business and a very small share of the smaller-sized business, which we're going after pretty aggressively right now."
www.smsrents.com
www.moneyinmotioninc.com
