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Anne Kelly
Business Administration, 1992; Secretarial, 1963 - President, Gartec Industrial Supplies Ltd
Anne Kelly first attended vocational school at the Bell Road campus in Halifax in 1963. Like many women at that time, she enrolled in a secretarial program following the completion of high school. "There were few options for females at that time," she says, "My, how times have changed!"
Today Anne, 61, is President of Gartec Industrial Supplies Ltd. - a supplier of equipment to manufacturing plants and machine shops; mostly in the field of pneumatics and safety supplies.
"I am a woman in a man's world, that is for sure," laughs Anne. "There was a time not so long ago that it was extremely rare to find a woman running this type of business." Anne recalls the earlier days of the business when one client joked she must be a 'token president'. She rolls her eyes, "If he only knew how much I've invested into this business," she says.
Part of that investment meant learning how to keep the business running smoothly; that meant staying on top of the changing technology in the workplace. In the early 1990's Anne enrolled in the Business Administration program at NSCC Akerley Campus to upgrade her skills. The decision was doubly challenging: at the age of 47, Ann was a mature student in a class of mostly younger learners. While many students were fresh out of high school, Anne had three teenage girls and was dealing with a terminally ill parent.
"Back then school councilors recommended I drop the course because life was becoming so complicated for me," Anne says. "But I could not quit. I would have regretted it forever."
Academically, it was also the leading edge of the computer age - something completely new to her and to some of her instructors. "I think the teachers were going home at night to learn what they had to teach us the next day," she says. "Computers changed everything so quickly. It was really tough."
Anne, her husband Don (along with Richard Garnett) started Gartec in their home 18 years ago. From there the business moved to a warehouse space in Beaverbank. During that time Anne returned to NSCC yet again - this time for a course in ISO certification. Gartec achieved ISO 9001 status in 2002.
In May 2006 Anne took the business to the next logical phase in its growth; she purchased a building and created a walk-in commercial space in Burnside Industrial Park where customers can handle equipment before they order it.
Anne gestures around the shop, "All of this has been made possible because I wanted to keep learning as the business evolved. I had to. With the advent of computers and the emphasis on ISO certification, it was essential to continue to upgrade my own skills over the years. NSCC has been instrumental in that process."
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