As published in Atlantic Business Magazine, Volume 14, No. 3 (June/July, 2003 issue)
Would you step in front of a runaway train? No? It would be equally foolhardy - and ineffective - to tell Tim Banks that entrepreneurial dreams can’t happen in Atlantic Canada. “By believing in myself and not worrying about what others might think, I have developed APM group into one of the largest businesses on PEI,” he says. Starting with nothing but intuition and sweat equity, Banks has built a commercial development empire with annual revenues approaching $100 million and employees numbering in the hundreds. This in Canada’s smallest province, an island with fewer residents than most major cities. Banks is proud to share the story of his success, not because he likes to brag, but because he hopes it sends a message to other would-be entrepreneurs. “I am motivated,” he says, “by the idea of demonstrating to younger generations of Atlantic Canadians that economic and personal development can be achieved at home.”