Succession At Brainworks
MONCTON – A succession has happened at one of Moncton’s biggest marketing agencies.
The reins for Brainworks have officially been handed to co-founder and owner Brad LeBlanc; He takes over from his fellow co-founders David and Lorrie Hawkins.
“I’m enormously grateful for the opportunity to learn from David and Lorrie. I’m enormously grateful to every client and every team member we had. I’m excited for what the future holds and excited for David’s new role in all of our lives,” said LeBlanc in an interview with Huddle.
LeBlanc said he bought the last five percent stake in a succession process that began in 2017.
“I’m faced with tremendous responsibility. I had zero percent equity when Brainworks started so it’s been quite a journey to go from zero to 100 in a 10-year period while bootstrapping the company,” said LeBlanc.
The succession process has gone on quietly behind the scenes, LeBlanc said, with the first transaction taking place in 2020. With the transfer of ownership complete on June 30, LeBlanc now owns the sole stake in the holding company that owns Brainworks.
LeBlanc stressed how much he appreciates taking on the degree of responsibility the sole ownership stake entails, speaking admiringly of the leadership and mentorship Hawkins showed him.
“When arrived in New Brunswick he was homeless. So, between that and his successful exit from building Hawk Communications, a company that was successful for 40 years, to starting Brainworks when he was 65, that deserves celebrating,” said LeBlanc.
“It doesn’t often happen that you have a successful transition across such a broad age range; David has been in this industry for 55 years. This wouldn’t have been able to happen [and] there’d be no Brainworks today if not for David and Lori’s belief in me.”
“We want to celebrate that, loud and proud. We’re grateful to deliver the message. We’re proud of the transition…and the transfer of knowledge so that Brainworks can continue to grow and thrive in a sustainable way,” he added.
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While he is retiring, Hawkins will still play an advisory with Brainworks.
“He’s not going anywhere. He will stay involved with the firm but he’s going to take a step back now from everyday agency life, after a 55-year run,” said LeBlanc.
This move comes months after the firm reopened at a new location at the historic property on 413 Main Street. The move happened last year, following a fire at Brainworks’ former home (171 Lutz Street) in April of 2021.
Brainworks made the official announcement at the Sept. 14 announcement of the finalists for the upcoming Chamber of Commerce of Greater Moncton’s Business Excellence Awards. The awards were the first major event hosted at Brainworks’ new location.
Going forward, LeBlanc told Huddle he’s planning a “four-year sprint” for the firm. That will involve a significant investment he plans to announce in the next couple of months, a major project in 2023, and the pursuit of opportunities with a variety of international clients from Toronto to Mexico City.
It also means a new project management system and hiring three-to-five new staff members to complement the 20 already working at the firm.
LeBlanc said Brainworks has already begun “beefing up” its professional services, hiring a full-time finance and administrative director.
“All of this has kind of been going on in the background,” he said. “We started with nothing, and I do mean nothing, in a sunroom in Dieppe. We just want to say a giant thank you to everyone who supported us all these years.”
Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].