HPAC: Nancy, thanks so much for joining us on HPAC On The Air. First, please tell our listeners a bit about Groupe Simoneau and your journey into this industry.
Nancy Simoneau: Well, I'm an accountant by trade. So I finished my accounting degree in 1992. At that time it was a very difficult time for the economy and I couldn't find a job. So my dad, René Simoneau, had started in 1984, a service company for boilers. He was a boiler maker and high-pressure welder, and I was working a bit for him while I was a student. But after that, I said, well, if you want me to join you, then I will start the manufacturing arm of this company if you allow me to do so. He said, yes, because I was one of the first persons in the family to get a university degree. So he was probably thinking I knew everything and I was great at everything. So he put his confidence in me and I started to manufacture boilers at that time. And I fell in love with this trade and the people within the trade, and I've been in this market for almost 38 years now.
HPAC: I noticed there's a very nice quote from your father on the company website. He said, "I'm sure you'll do a better job than me. If you succeed, all the better. If you don't, I will always be your father, and I will always love you." Can you talk about that a bit?
Simoneau: Yes, that's what he said to me when he left the company. He was quite young, 53 when he left, and that was soon after the second tower fell in New York City on September 11. And he just got overwhelmed, I guess, by all the things that were happening. And he said, "Well, Nancy, I'm out of here." I think first of all, we can't be two leaders like we were in the same place. And he said, "If I want to enjoy my life, I need to take time now." He said, "You do whatever you can with the company and if you put it in the drain, I will still love you, my dear."
So that was a big source of stress for me because I knew I was bearing his assets every morning on my shoulders when I was coming in to work. So that's the reason why I wanted to buy the company from him. I said, well, at least if I buy the company, he's going to be secured. His money's going to be out of reach. And that's how I bought it back from him and started my own journey as an entrepreneur.
HPAC: As both the first woman and the first international member to lead such an established association, what does your appointment say about ABMA now?
Simoneau: Well, first of all, it's an honor to be appointed as the chair of the ABMA. I remember when I started in this trade, ABMA was the authority in this business. So I had a very high appreciation of the association because we were always referring to it to make sure that we were doing our stuff properly and according to their recommendations for safety and efficiency, etc. So I think my appointment also is showing the evolution of this association and the openness of all the members to embrace where we're going and how we all have to play together to serve an industry that is mission critical for our customers.
On an ABMA podcast a year ago, heralding the launch of the new Women In the Boiler Industry group, aka WIBI, you said that "Women bring something different to this industry." Could you please elaborate a bit more on that here?
Simoneau: It's been fantastic the level of interest that we are seeing with WIBI. I think women, what most of the time bring to the table is a little bit more empathy and sensitivity. And our industry is particularly driven by engineers because it's quite regulated. With a boiler, you burn gas, you have pressure. So it needs to be well-designed, well-built and the safety of the people surrounding the equipment is always the first thing we think about. But by having a lot of engineers in our industry, sometimes we lose a bit of the sensitivity and empathy we need to capture all 360 degrees of the situation so that we can care for our customers. So I think we bring that.
We also have a lot of precision. I mean, we stick to our stuff. And I'm not saying that men don't have that. I don't want to look like it's us versus them. It's us together. And much of the time, we bring a little bit more of a customer-centric focus, making sure what we care for is bigger than us.
HPAC: Overall, what are you most excited about for your term as ABMA Chair?
Simoneau: I want to put a little touch of my vision into the ABMA. So my mantra for my two years is "every member matters; ears open; heart engaged; and ready to serve." So I want everybody in our association to make sure they get what they want out of it. If all of us, including the staff at ABMA, live through those values for the next two years, then I think it's going to make a difference on how our members feel. They will feel welcomed, valued, understood and listened to. No matter who you are, you are a member of ABMA. And that's important for me.
HPAC: Given this unusual political moment in U.S.-Canada relations, do you anticipate the issue of tariffs playing any role at all for you or your firm this year? What about sustainability issues or energy-efficiency goals?
Simoneau: It's quite stressful in a way because I think we at ABMA have this vision of including Canada. We have many people from Europe, as well as members from Mexico. Our industry is quite integrated, so it will impact all of us if we have tariffs because we have many Americans sending equipment into Canada and the opposite, too. Boilers, burners and other equipment. So, for sure, it will put pressure on our industry if we have that. What I dread, though, is I don't want our relationships to be impacted. We are dear friends. We're collaborators and we've been together for many years. We don't have power and control over the policy and we don't want to become politicians.
And as much as I'm a Canadian, we have to keep our heads cold and work with our logic and our business sense. So I think resilience is key, and agility. Sometimes maybe I trust too much life, but I have a tendency to see my glass of water full and there's going to be opportunities. There's going to be maybe collaboration, getting more involved between some manufacturing companies. We don't know how it's going to unfold, but I know it's going to be a tough period. In the end, I really think it's going to be for the best for everybody. So I put my confidence in life. My mom was saying to me when I was young: "Trust life, trust life, Nancy."
It's going to unfold properly, but we have to make sure that we keep our employees secure. I mean, there's a lot of uncertainties and insecurities, I think, on both side of the border right now. So we have to calm down the play and make sure that we keep our head cold and our logic first before we put our heart on the table.
