KBC President Eric Norenberg presents Gary Arcand with a certificate recognizing his 50 years with the business Photo provided by Bev and Gary Arcand

A long-time employee of one of Kemptville’s staple businesses is retiring at the end of April.

Gary Arcand started working for Karl Norenberg, the founder of Kemptville Building Centre (KBC), in 1971. He met Karl when they both worked at Eastern Breeders and when he went out on his own to start a construction company, Gary followed. In 1975, Karl decided to open Kemptville Building Supplies (now KBC) on County Road 43, and Gary started driving their truck, delivering building supplies to people all over Kemptville and the surrounding area.

Gary continued driving the truck for KBC until he hurt his shoulder and had to move to the floor five years ago. He says he loved doing deliveries because he was always on the move, and although he didn’t love the idea of giving that up, he also really enjoyed being able to meet people coming into the store. “I got to know a lot of people over the years, and it wasn’t so bad then,” he says.

Gary has been on leave for the past several months due to COVID-19; but his official retirement date is April 30. It will mark 50 years working for the Norenbergs and KBC. KBC President Eric Norenberg says Gary is one of many employees who have been extremely loyal to the business. In fact, Gary’s brother, Donald Arcand, started working for his father in the same year as Gary and only retired a few years ago after 45 years with the business.

“It’s more of a family really,” Eric says about his dedicated employees. “I know that I can rely on them, and I help them out and they help me out, so it’s more of a friendship, family, team environment.”

Although Gary is looking forward to retirement when he will be enjoying some travelling and hobbies like hunting and fishing, he says he really enjoyed his time at KBC. “It was a good group of people to work with and I met a lot of nice customers,” he says. “I made a lot of friends out there.”

 

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