14 ~ Sunday, June 24, 1990 - North Shore News GILLARDON KEEPS FREIGHT- FULLY BUSY RUNNING A business can be try- ing at the best of times. By SURJ RATTAN News Reporter And while the boss of a large established business can often af- ford to sit back and put his feet up, the head of a smaller and newer company can ill afford that luxury. Jagro International Inc. presi- dent Rolf Gillardon knows this only too well. It is no surprise, therefore, that the 45-year-old West Vancouver resident puts in 12-hour days, seven days a week at the West Hastings Street office of his freight-forwarding and customs brokerage company. From behind his desk, Gillar- don ships goods from destination to destination all around the world. Most freight-forwarding com- panies are part of large interna- tional conglomerates. Jagro, as a small, independent operation, plays the role of a David com- pared with the world-wide freight-fowarding Goliaths the company competes against. Gillardon and his wife Elsbath started Jagro four years ago and now have a staff of 10. “A freight-forwarder arranges the movement of goods, ideally on a door-to-door basis,’’ says Gillardon. ‘‘We pick the cargo up at a supplier’s facility anywhere in the world. We get to the nearest port and put it on a ship.” Jagro also acts as a customs AFFLUENCE 2INFLUENCE to pull strings NEWS photo Stuart Davis ERNEST NAGY, director of customs, reviews plans with Jagro boss Rolf Gillardon. broker, which is a benefit for the company’s clientele. “We like to act as a customs broker so we can have control over the shipment from door to door. When we’re finished with the customs of the shipment, we take the next step and receive the goods off the vessel or the aircraft and arrange for the delivery to the co-signee,”’ says Gillardon. “The co-signee, instead of hav- ing to deal with a lot of different companies that do a little part of that door-to-door service, they T CAN'T SEEM TO GET COMFORTABLE _ ON THAT BED OF YOURS? wn ceeynsnere an me te 6 TRY THIS BED OF OURS. The Thomasville Powerbed gives you the right angle on comfort. Just press a butlon and move your head and feet to any position you choose. It sure beats pounding pillows and rolling around trying to get settled. But you have § no idea just how wondertul the Thomasville Powerbed is until you try it here, at McConneil’s. today or any day this week. You'll wonder where it's been al! your ite But you'll know where you want it from now on, and that’s the most comlonable bedroom anywhere YOURS! Come see us today POWERBED Electrically Adjustable Beds By Thomasville =~ LOUNGE RELAX Now Fie Hit fox auons 685-8414 OSU Mainland Street at Helms ken Downtown Vancouser, Bt CANADAS TARGEST PHOMASVIELE GALLERY lL Ootlrs THOMASVILLE GALLERY 435-5566 4240) Manot Street Burnaby, Ht (Halt block west ot Sheraton Vill Hatch MUNDAY TO SATE RDAL OAM FOS PAD St ND Ay NOON TOS PM deal with one organization which pulls the strings, coordinates everything, books the cargo and looks for competitive ocean freight rates.”” Jagro’s largest, and most re- cent job was the transportation and delivery of a massive 900- tonne crane for North Van- couver-based Vancouver Wharves Ltd. The parts for the crane came “CONG from all over Europe and took four weeks to transport to Van- couver via the Panama Canal. And while the federal govern- ment has recently launched a media campaign to inform the public and businesses about what it claims will be the benefits of its controversial Goods and Services Tax (GST), especially for Cana- dian companies competing inter- nationally, Gillardon is not im- pressed. “The GST will affect us great- ly,’’ he says, ‘‘particularly because we're a small company and we're an independent company so we're not part of an_ international organization where the money is just there to operate your com- pany no matter what is involved. “The GST will put a tremen- dous burden on brokers because they will be involved in outlaying much more funds than is currently the case.”” While Jagro is a relative new- comer to the freight -forwarding and customs broking business, its boss is a well-travelled veteran of the industry. Gillardon, who was born in West Germany, has spent 20 years working for large international freight-forwarding companies in such cities as Hamburg, London, New York and San Francisco. In 1977 Gillardon and his wife moved to B.C. and settled in West Vancouver’s Dundarave area. Gillardon says he doesn’t mind that his company is smaller than the international outfits he com- petes against. In fact, he says, he wouldn't have it any other way. Jagro, he says, can still do the job the large freight-forwarders do while at the same time offering its customers a personalized service. “Big enough to handle, small enough to care,’’ Gillardon says as he mentions his company’s slogan. But he also admits that Jagro can use ail the publicity it can get and proudly points to a framed copy of a North Shore News story that deals with Jagro’s part in transporting the Vancouver Wharves crane. TRANSMISSIONS & MUFFLERS “ GUARANTEED SERVICE! 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