Jayne Weber (left) and her daughter Amanda Sears (right) are quite happy with the arrangement after relocating the head office of FOCUS on Facilities from Ottawa to Winchester. Courtesy Photo
WINCHESTER – There were a lot of negative things that happened around the world because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but many businesses also discovered that they didn’t need to be in large, expensive urban centers to prosper. FOCUS on Facilities is one company that discovered that they could serve their clientele just as well from Winchester and enjoy a better quality of life as well.
Jayne Weber is the president of FOCUS on Facilities. She started in the office furniture business in the early 1990s and has been working with her daughter Amanda Sears, a workplace solutions consultant for at least 20 years.
“We’re really enjoying the fact that we’re now working from Winchester,” said Weber. “Amanda is in Brinston and is married to a farmer, and I have a small hobby farm here. It’s a great opportunity for us, but we do plan on expanding the business again, so we are in growth mode.”
“But we’re keeping our roots where we are now,” adds Sears, “Because we like it here.”
FOCUS on Facilities specializes in providing quality Canadian (and some US) office furniture, storage, and ergonomic accessories. They provide space planning and installation services, and oh, did I mention the specialization in custom solutions? No cookie cutter approach here!
Sears acknowledges that the work environment has changed and FOCUS on Facilities has changed with it. “We’ve changed gears a little bit,” says Sears. We recently became authorized agents for two really great manufacturers out of Montreal. One is Lincora which sells premium standard all welded lockers. The other is called Ducharme, which focuses on premium theatre seating, auditorium seating, for the performing arts and education markets. They have done seating for the West Block of Parliament.”
As agents for Lincora and Ducharme, FOCUS on facilities will have distribution rights for all of Ontario.
FOCUS on facilities likes to work with projects involving between 10 and 50 people. They find that that scale works well with what they provide. “We’re really, really, customer service oriented,” says Weber. “Customer service is everything to us. And customer satisfaction is everything to us. We need to make sure that we can provide the right services for the right clients.”
“I think one of the important things worth mentioning is that as we were in the city for so long, before moving out to the rural area, we really want to bring that level of service to the rural businesses,” adds Sears. “They don’t necessarily know these services are available. Many small businesses will buy from a big box store, but they don’t know that that there are consultants available to help them with their space planning, ergonomic needs, and to be able to provide them with custom furniture that will fit their space and make them functional at the same time.”
If you have any questions about the products and services FOCUS on Facilities has to offer or would like to explore how they can assist in creating an efficient workplace, don’t hesitate to reach out. Their team is here to help!
You can reach them by phone at 613-859-1832 or by email at info@focusonfacilities.ca. You can visit their website at www.focusonfacilities.ca.
If you would like to have a light shined on your business, please contact us at: editor@etceterapublications.ca or call us at 613-448-2321.
