As you probably know from TV commercials, one bank advises you to "save your money."

That sounds like good advice, especially for small businesses in these troubled economic times.

But after listening to Jean-René Halde, maybe the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) should come up with a new slogan: Get your money.

Halde, the BDC's president and CEO of the federally owned lending institution, says small businesses will definitely get their money in this era of increased credit tightening.

Bayne Stanley, Business Edge
BDC's Jean-René Halde says he is pleased with the apparently sound fiscal health of the Canadian economy compared to the U.S.

Given the current economic picture, some people may think Halde should have stayed semi-retired, rather than accept the BDC's top post in 2004.

"It was a worthwhile endeavour because of the bank's mandate," says Halde, who admits his golf handicap is on the rise. "I'm working much longer hours, but this is a wonderful organization."

1. What are your parents' backgrounds?

"My father was a sales rep for a polyethylene-bag manufacturer and my mother was a secretary with an insurance adjuster."

2. What early lessons did you learn from them?

"Probably the best lesson was that it's important to have control over your life, and that only comes with some form of academic achievement. Once you've got that, you can decide to have a more senior job and a better control over your life."

3. What was your boyhood dream?

"I probably saw myself running some form of company and probably living in a nicer neighbourhood than I was brought up in. It was comfortable, lower middle class. It was quite acceptable. Later, I obtained my pilot's licence and flew for a while. That was fun. I just enjoyed the freedom of flying. But besides that, I was a pretty serious kid."

4. What steered you toward studying economics?

"At the time, the choice was mainly between arts and science. I was always interested in the business side, talking to my dad about selling companies and the things that he was dealing with. The best way to take that on was by taking economics as a business degree."

5. Harvard, especially its MBA program, pioneered the case-study method that is used in business schools across North America. What kind of cases did you study while completing your MBA at Harvard?

"They basically force you through a program where you cover pretty well every subject matter. The first year, you don't have a choice. They cover everything from finance to marketing to organizational behaviour to strategy and so on. The ones I tended to prefer were related to strategy. You do so many that they kind of blur into one long case."

6. What was your first job while you were a student?

"I was a (computer) programmer back in the days of Expo '67 (in Montreal). Most of my summer jobs were programming."

7. How did you end up joining People's Jewellers?

"It was basically coincidence. I was president of what was called, at the time, the Canadian Club (at Harvard) because there were a number of Canadians. A business person from Toronto, who was the owner of People's Jewellers, came to campus for some type of executive training. Because he was Canadian and I was president of the club, I got to meet with him and show him around the campus. When he asked me what I was planning to do when I graduated, I gently said: 'I'd like to come back to Canada, but I haven't decided yet.' He said, 'Well, come and visit and we'll talk.' While I looked at a number of opportunities, I thought his was the most appealing."

8. What is your outlook for small-business growth in the next year?

"We're all reading what's happening south of the border. The danger, as we know, is that the financial crisis hitting the U.S. actually starts to hit the real economy. That will happen if consumers stop spending because they're concerned; if banks reduce their lending then, obviously, less projects will be undertaken by businesses. So this is a bit of a fragile environment. I think Canada is much better positioned than the U.S. at the present time. We've got a sound fiscal position. We've got banks in much better shape, so we've got what it takes to carry us through. We just want to make sure that the system keeps going."

Jean-René Halde

9. What's your take on the financial crisis in the United States?

"I don't think I can add much to everything that's been said. It's a crisis of confidence. It's a crisis of liquidity. Every newspaper these days is full of details and reports on it. I'm not sure I can add much value besides saying that I think Canada is in better shape than the U.S."

10. How will the U.S situation affect Canadian small business specifically?

"Indirectly. If you're an exporter ... because the U.S. is our largest client, you could be affected, depending on the industry you're in. By the way, only eight per cent of Canadian companies export. If you're in the 92 per cent that don't export, you could still be affected - you have to be aware of the global, or at least North American, situation and really try to figure out as an SME where you fit."

11. Why do so few SMEs export?

"That's a very interesting question. I think it's in the midst of improving. As people understand better how the world works, we're opening ourselves to the fact that the world is changing and there are markets out there that we should capitalize (on). There are such things as global supply chains, where you could be a supplier to a large company that you can move around the globe with. "There are a lot of opportunities for those that are willing to look for them. We're starting to really do a better job at this.

"Now, let's face it, there are a lot of businesses that will never export. If you're the corner store, you're not going to export. If you're the local salon, you're not going to export. So not all businesses can export."

12. What is the BDC doing to help small businesses increase their exports?

"A number of things. One, awareness - just making entrepreneurs aware of the need to look outside (the country). Two, we have a large consulting group that actually will go in and help a specific company think about where they are, where they should be and steps that they should be taking. Then, we've got different financing programs - very flexible financing programs - to help companies thinking and wanting to look at exporting. We have very specific types of loans. For example, if you want to go and survey foreign markets, if you want to see what's out there and establish contacts and try to penetrate different markets, we have a special loan program to do that. It's called Expansion Loan. If you actually decide that you want to export, then you need what we call capacity building. You need to build a plant or you need to increase the size of your plant and, again, we'll be there to help you. We're Canada's development bank, and I think the word 'development' speaks for itself. We're trying to get our Canadian entrepreneurs to develop."

13. What is BDC doing at this difficult time to ensure that small businesses have access to credit?

"We're very much open for business. There is no doubt that there is some credit tightening happening in the marketplace. One of our roles is to be a complementary lender, and the definition of complementary has many meanings. One of the meanings is to be there in good times and in bad times. We'll lend if you want to buy a building.

"We'll lend if you want to buy equipment. Even if your project is moderately risky, we'll still be there for you. We will price for risk, meaning if your project is a bit risky, you might end up paying slightly more, but we're open for business - and you'll get your money."

14. At the same time, are you tightening your lending rules?

"No. Absolutely not. We're careful. We want to support projects that make sense ... If you assume right now that there is some tightening going on, our role is to be there - and open for business so that entrepreneurs can find the capital that they need to keep going."

15. Many entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial groups say that Ottawa doesn't do enough to provide capital to small business. What do you say as a rebuttal to them?

"I will not speak for Ottawa. They deliver a lot of programs. The only thing I can say is, if your project is a good project, we'll help you. And, I'm serious. If it's a good project, trust me, you'll get your project."

16. How do you define a good project?

"One where the business plan makes sense. One where the management team looks capable of achieving the desired outcome. That's it."

17. You have called for improvements in business leadership. How would you assess the quality of leadership within small companies?

"Entrepreneurs are very smart people. Generally, with the right information, they make the right decision. The one advice I would have is that, at times, they may not have the right perspective - the right big picture - and I, for one, believe that entrepreneurs should create little advisory boards to help them think about their business. I'm not talking necessarily about an accountant or a lawyer that they use every day. I'm talking about other business people that have been there, that have seen different things, that have a bigger picture of what's happening, because most entrepreneurs are very quick to act if they see the opportunity or if they see the thread. It's just to help them identify the issue properly because once they identify it, they'll make the right call. But in some cases, they might need a bit of help understanding the issues and making sure they're challenged. I like little advisory boards because they can really help an entrepreneur think about things a bit differently and really bring perspective to the discussions."

18. Do entrepreneurs do enough to practise corporate social responsibility?

"We could all do more. It's very much a function of one's personal value system. I think, though, there is an increasing awareness of corporate social responsibility. We're seeing an awful lot of businesses when it comes to that, and I think people are getting more sensitized and aware of the fact that we all need to do our fair share to get things better. There's a nice movement in that direction that was not there 20 years ago. I think we're going in the right direction. Some will move faster and some will move slower. It all depends on the people."

19. You have also stressed the need for small-business operators to have a succession plan in place. Why do most fail to have a succession plan?

"Because entrepreneurs are very busy. There's the old saying: The urgent chases away the important.

A small entrepreneur is just inundated with urgent stuff. The second reason, I guess is, it's like writing your will. No one wants to think about the fact they're getting old and they've got to move to the next step. There is just a natural tendency to not want to deal with it. Too many entrepreneurs leave it to the last minute, which is unfortunate, because then the transition is not always as smooth as it could have been, had it been planned earlier."

20. If you weren't running the BDC anymore, what would you do?

"I would probably be back doing board work, sitting on various boards as I was, and again doing some consulting as I was doing. But the one thing that the BDC has shown me is, there are a lot of needs out there just to improve our collective situation. The question would be: What else could I be doing to help, even though I'm not at the BDC. The question will, at some point, come up, because there is going to be some succession at some point. I will go on to do something else ... There is a tremendous amount of satisfaction to know that you're helping. It's very satisfying to know that you're making at least a slight difference."

Jean-René Halde

* Title: President/CEO, Business Development Bank of Canada.

* Born/raised/age: Montreal, 60.

* Education: Halde has a bachelor of arts from (the former) Collège Sainte-Marie, a master's in economics from the University of Western Ontario and an MBA from Harvard.

* Family: Married with three adult-aged children.

* Career: Halde briefly worked full-time for Imperial Oil and Telemedia from the summer of 1969 to the fall of 1970 between completing his master's and starting his MBA. He began his career in Toronto with People's Jewellers, became general manager, and then moved back to Quebec and became a senior vice-president with Carling-O'Keefe brewery in 1977.

Two years later, he became president and CEO of large food chain Métro-Richelieu Inc. He then headed Atlantic Video and Sound, food packager Culinar Inc. and Toronto-based Livingston Group. After Livingston was sold, he briefly became CEO of Irwin Toys and then headed his own consulting firm, Experlead Inc. Considering himself semi-retired, he also sat on boards and "quite honestly enjoyed life a bit.”

In 2004, he was recruited as president and CEO of BDC.

* Moonlighting: Halde has sat on the boards of several businesses and organizations. He currently serves on the boards of the Conference Board of Canada and Montreal General Hospital Foundation.

BDC

* Brass: Jean-René Halde, president/CEO; Edmée Métivier, executive vice-president, financing and consulting; Jacques Simoneau, executive vice-president, investments; Paul Buron, executive vice-president and chief financial officer.

* Profile: The Montreal-based Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) provides financing, capital and consulting services as part of its mandate to help create and grow Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises.

* Stats: Last year, increased its loan and investment portfolio by $865 million, or nine per cent, to $10.6 billion. BDC reported net income of $84.6 million for the year. Earlier this year, it announced $21.5 million worth of dividends, which go to the federal government.

* Corporate Structure: The BDC is a federal Crown corporation. The government of Canada is its sole shareholder.

* Website: www.bdc.ca * HQ: Business Development Bank of Canada, 5 Place Ville Marie, Suite 400 Montréal, Québec, H3B 5E7 * Phone: 1-877-232-2269