In a rash moment, company president Gerry Brookwell once told his staff he’d retire if First Impressions Sportswear & Cresting ever cracked the $1-million mark in monthly sales.

Well, it happened not long ago. And Brookwell, who founded the enterprise in 1983, backpedalled like a politician fudging an election promise.

“Hey, I’m not ready to go,” protested the grinning boss, shamelessly reneging.

Besides, business is too darn good to pull the plug now.

Larry MacDougal photo, Business Edge
First Impressions president Gerry Brookwell has presided over a yearly growth rate approaching 20 per cent.

First Impressions has joined Maxus Technology Inc. and Spindle Stairs and Railings on the shortlist for the Calgary Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year Award, a bauble to be presented on Thursday night.

Brookwell and his 40-member staff would be delighted with a victory, but they really don’t need outsiders to reassure them that they’re working for a bona fide champ: annual sales of close to $7 million, a yearly growth rate that’s pushing 20 per cent and a solid-gold roster of return clients have convinced them of the fact.

Revenue is so buoyant that Brookwell’s salespeople don’t have time to hustle up new accounts for the comprehensive First Impressions line of in-house embroidery, custom manufactured sportswear and corporate promotional products. They’re too busy servicing their current ones.

Nor has Brookwell ever had to bother buying an ad. All his new business comes via word of mouth.

So what is this guy? Let’s just say he’s adaptable.

Brookwell had been sailing along with his own profitable floor-covering business before the economy went flat back in the early ’80s. After folding his tent . . . er, his carpets at a profit, he started casting about for fresh action.

A friend was in the sportswear and uniform game and Brookwell became intrigued.

After investigating the market, he decided custom logo embroidery had the potential to be huge.

Sadly, he didn’t know the first thing about stitching or sewing.

“When we opened, we bought two embroidering machines (still going strong at First Impressions’ 22,000-sq.-ft. Calgary warehouse on 4th Street S.E.),” Brookwell recalled.

“Our first contract was for 100 logo crests for the Okotoks Gun Club. It took us forever,” he sighed.

“Threads would break, fuses would blow, the machines wouldn’t run. My son, Garth, and I were doing it with another employee. None of us knew a thing.”

Within a year, though, Team Brookwell was getting the hang of it.

Then contracts began coming on stream from official sponsors of the 1988 Olympic Games: garment companies such as Sun Ice and White Ram. Before long, Stanfield’s was shipping panels of material for embroidering from corporate HQ in Nova Scotia to First Impressions in Calgary.

As word spread, Brookwell’s modest staff began working round-the-clock to keep pace with demand. “We never shut down,” he said. “Between 1984 and 1988, we had as many as 50 people working for us on contract. It just grew from there.”

Brookwell was shrewd enough to avoid letting his bottom line become too dependent on Olympic-related business. Today, he says that by simultaneously cultivating a base of non-Olympic customers, he was able to keep sales in overdrive long after the closing ceremonies became a memory.

“Contracts like the Olympics can over-ride you,” he reasoned. “Then, when the Games end, you’re out of business.”

In the years and months prior to the Games, Brookwell made sure no more than 50 per cent of First Impressions resources were devoted to Olympic sponsors.

For similar reasons, he doesn’t plan to chase contracts from sponsors of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. “Besides, I don’t want to be on an airplane flying to Vancouver every other day,” Brookwell said.

Flushed with success, the company absorbed a jacket manufacturing outfit in 1989, as Brookwell broadened horizons. First Impressions began to supply corporate clients with as many as 1,500 to 2,000 custom-designed and embroidered jackets a pop, each made on the premises.

As time passed, the company added caps, shirts, sweaters and all manner of promotional products to the inventory: from sharp watches to pen-and-pencil sets to logo-stamped golf balls.

First Impressions’ customer database includes aristocratic corporate names that repeatedly return to Brookwell for promotional items, many of them exceedingly high end.

International drilling- services giant Baker Hughes is among his clients, as is Enbridge, Agricore United, Cargill, Trimac and Calgary Co-op. Even the Calgary Police Service orders its shoulder patches and neon safety vests from First Impressions.

Retire? Not a chance. Those million-dollar months are too much fun.