The first time I met Bruce it was on a distributor fact finding mission in October of 1997, shortly after I was hired a Sales Manager, Training Manager, Marketing Manager, etc.  Obviously, Hydro Mobile was in its inception stage with about 30 people on board and my hat was way too big!

During this mission, the idea was to determine which distributors were committed and who I was going to be training and working with.

After a few preparatory meetings with Albany Ladder head office, I secured a visit with Bruce to help with the installation of a 60ft long x 35ft free standing M1 Mast Climbing Work Platform set up.

I will always remember this cold October morning in Schenectady, NY.  When I got to the job at 7:00 AM, Bruce was like a Tasmanian devil ripping through a forest. The equipment, except for the tower sections, was already installed and everyone around him was working at wrapping up to start laying brick.  Bruce’s hands and clothing were completed soiled!

Back in those days, our favorite expression was ‘Great Hydro Mobile salesmen have dirty shoes’. In our opinion, being on site and in the trench to help and teach customers was the way to go.

In my following years of work with Albany Ladder (Now NES Rentals), I discovered that Bruce was an access expert, i.e.; the ideal sales profile AGF Access group is planning to develop within its network. Helping customers find creative access solutions and training employees to do the same with the use of Booms, Scissors, Swings, System Scaffold, Frames and of course, Hydro Mobile was his forte.   

Bruce was also one of the trainers in his company’s CHOICE Program. With Bruce’s help, I was allowed (and blessed) to join this program with a group of Albany Ladder employees in 2001. This intense boot camp about life and the importance of making the right decisions changed my life, for the better.

With all this experience and wealth of knowledge guess what happened when Bruce announced he was retiring from NES Rentals in late August 2007?  Hydro Mobile hired him as its master trainer!

Now 5 years later, Bruce is definitely hanging his skates and investing more time with his wife Patty, his kids, grand kids as well as the ‘Canadian Woody’, a beautiful wood boat he is building by hand.    

We wish Bruce a merited retirement in great health and spirit. We also thank him for all the hours he invested training people around the country to make sure they would return home safely every night.

Lesson learned, and as you would say:  "The Bottom Line is – Caring about people, really caring"