Ask Peter Matusch about his experience of spending 31 years as the head of CCM Group of Companies, and he smiles, shrugs, and quietly says it’s simply all about hard work.
Speaking without bluster or ego, Matusch betrays no hint of the hardscrabble past which began in war-ravaged Germany at the end of World War II, carrying him to his current place as president of the successful Sudbury-based business.
It’s a legacy that’s helped usher him as a 2009 inductee into the Sudbury Area Mining Service and Supply Association (SAMSSA) Hall of Fame, alongside North Bay’s Ron Miller of Miller Technologies.
In fact, it’s only through the words of his son, Steve Matusch, that one would ever know of Peter’s history.
Himself a successful businessman through Ionic Engineering Limited, Steve lifted some of the veil carefully draped over his father’s life during a passionate presentation that left many attendees teary-eyed at the Dec. 9 induction.
“He has a German obsession with perfection and attention to detail, and all his customers are repeat customers because he believes in quality workmanship,” said Steve, painting his father as a shy but eminently hard-working man who lives for his work and his family.
“As his son and friend, he’s one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met.”
Born in the Sudetenland along the Czechoslovakian border in 1946, Peter was but an infant when he and his mother were put onto a train as part of the mass expulsion of more than 500,000 Germans from the area at the end of World War II.
Never having known his father, who served as a soldier in the German army, Peter and his mother were forced to resettle in other parts of Germany. His mother was forced to steal food from surrounding farms, and at the age of 6, Peter began to travel the countryside, offering his services as a worker to raise money for the family.
It’s this hard history that stuck with him. Emigrating to Canada at the age of 13, he later worked in the Kingston shipyards for years before moving to Sudbury, joining the pipefitters’ union.
“He says he took every bit of overtime that was offered to him, and I believe it,” said Steve.
“His only hobby was his family. He did everything in his power to make sure we didn’t live through what he grew up in.”
In 1978, at the age of 32, he decided to kick off his own industrial contracting company, Copper Cliff Mechanical, on Lively’s Fielding Road.
Over time, the business grew off the sweat of Peter’s brow, as he adapted and thrived.
However, a series of bad contracts and tough times through 1995 nearly destroyed everything Peter had worked for.
“I checked the soup kitchen, but I didn’t like the menu,” said Peter with a smirk. With that, he began the hard work of rebuilding his company.
Since then, he’s poured his energy into diversification and “being better,” strategies he credits with his business rebirth. The hard work paid off: 2008 marked the best year in the company’s history.
“Never put all your eggs into one basket,” said Peter.
“You really need to diversify your services.”
These days, the company includes a number of facets, including CCM Contracting Ltd. and Equipment North, which is run by Peter’s wife Rena.
While it once rose as high as 400 employees in its heyday, Peter’s company now sits at a steady workforce of 40.
“CCM is one of those companies that flies under the radar, and it’s quite a bit bigger than most people know, those who know if it,” said Steve. “I think the company’s a reflection of the person who built it. The company’s not showy.”
The work ethic that built up the CCM Group is something Peter worked hard to pass onto his son.
Chuckling, Steve recalls a time where his father made use of an Inco contract to temper his blossoming teenage rebellion.
In 1984, Steve was sent to the Stobie Mine to hammer out some sewage piping, which was only accessible through a 400-foot unlit, cramped crawlway.
Dragging his sledgehammer behind him, Steve had to smash a cast-iron pipe only to be covered with “what you would expect you would be covered with,” and if that didn’t work, a fellow worker would have to use a cutting torch, filling the tunnel with acrid sewage-scented smoke.
As unpleasant as it was, Steve says he suspects to this day it was his father’s mischievous way of showing him the importance of hard work.
Averse to publicity or media attention, Peter’s quiet presence among a roomful of his peers stands out if only from the continuous respect shown to him.
Steve said it’s a sign of his humility that, when informed he was to be inducted into the SAMSSA Hall of Fame, Peter responded that he wasn’t worthy or special.
Many of the event’s attendees openly disagreed, however, with subsequent speakers often showing their respect before launching into their presentation. This includes Marc Boudreau, president of both SAMSSA and Bestech, who took a moment to recognize Peter’s legacy.
“He truly is an inspiration,” said Boudreau.
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