SUMMERSIDE — Lennie MacAusland was at a crossroads.
Tired of bouncing around from seasonal job to seasonal job, the Summerside native knew a tough decision was looking him in the face.
“Basically I thought my choices were to go out West and work in the oil patch or go to school, get a trade and go to work out West,” said the 38-year-old.
“Either way I didn’t see a career in P.E.I.”
MacAusland had made the western swing a few times before.
In the early 1990s he was a promising young defenseman scouted by the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League. He played three years in the WHL. He had spent enough time crisscrossing the prairies to better appreciate the lifestyle of the Island.
“I left Summerside hoping to make a career in hockey but it wasn’t in the cards,” he says. “It is a great experience but, like many Islanders, I always saw myself settling down and raising a family in P.E.I.”
About six months ago at a Summerside watering hole, opportunity knocked.
MacAusland remembers it well.
“I was bartending. A group of guys from U.S.A. and Toronto came in. They were talking about this new company they were relocating to P.E.I.,” MacAusland recalls.
“We got to talking and they told me the company had long-term plans to hire over 100 employees. They were looking for some people right away. They told me to stop over to the plant the next day and I’ve been here ever since.”
MacAusland was hired as the production manager for CCT Industries, located in the Summerside Industrial Park.
CCT manufacturers filter cartridges and cones for HMI Industries of Strongsville, Ohio, which markets and distributes the Filter Queen brand of household surface cleaners and indoor air quality systems. CCT also manufactures and sells air and surface cleaners for the commercial cleaning market under the Restorer brand name.
It is a job that excites MacAusland and it challenges him daily. He takes great pride when he often looks down the production line at his ever-expanding team. It is a team, he says, made up largely of individuals who faced the same tough decisions he did.
“It is a group of dedicated men and women from the local area. They just wanted a good job that challenges them,” he says. “They produce quality products that are distributed around the world. They take special pride in being part of that process right here in Summerside.”
MacAusland says as production ramps up, more job opportunities will come with it. He expects that to happen quickly.
As someone never comfortable in the limelight, MacAusland agreed to share his story because he wants others to know about his company, as well as others that may be around.
“Sometimes we suffer from a lack of confidence in P.E.I. Here you have a company like CCT Industries selling products to clients around the world and those products are made by Islanders in Summerside,” he said.
“We have to recognize our Island potential. I am grateful CCT Industries did.”
