Emphasizing the basics of life

Posted: May 31, 2013 5:10 p.m.

Businessman Frank Flaman. The Frank Flaman Foundation supports some local and national charitable organizations, but most of its emphasis is on providing the basic necessities of life to people in the developing world. Photo: U of R Photography

Ask Frank Flaman a question and the words come tumbling out, revealing an energetic man who has very definite ideas shaped by his life experiences. For example, Flaman credits his parents and growing up on a farm near Southey, Sask. for giving him a good foundation in life. At the same time, he was not content with just farming.

“A lot of farmers were content to spend the winter curling,” Flaman observes. “Me, I’d be buying grain bins or something, and then reselling them. Farming was all right, but I could do a lot better in business.”

Flaman’s career is certainly proof of that. Soon after he and his wife Bernice settled on the family farm in 1959, Flaman bought a new baler and swather, and began contracting out his equipment and services to other area farmers. If he could sign up enough customers, the equipment would be paid for, he reasoned. He was right. Bernice managed the business while Frank capitalized on the opportunities he saw around him.
 
“I can’t turn on a computer,” he says, “but I know it’s important to look around at the talents one has and expand on them.”

He and Bernice also raised 10 children, including three teachers (Kate, Fran and Cindy), a business manager (Carla), a homemaker (Carmel), a fitness trainer (Gwen) and an entrepreneur (Crystal). When he began offering a wider range of agricultural equipment and expanding geographically in the 1980s, the three sons – Rudy, Don and Steve – began managing different locations in Saskatchewan, while Frank headed to Alberta to establish the company there.

Although he and Bernice separated about 30 years ago, they remain good friends.  Both are very connected to their children, grandchildren and soon-to-be first great-grandchild. Flaman recently married his partner of the last 20 years, Ruby, who will accompany him to Regina when he receives his honorary degree.
 
Flaman shifted his business strategy from expansion to diversification in the 1990s, including into Flaman Fitness, prompting some people to openly question his sanity.
“When I started with a few treadmills,” Flaman recalls, “people said, ‘Why would a farm equipment dealer sell treadmills?’” The answer, it seems, is because the market was there, waiting to be tapped. The company is now the largest retailer of fitness equipment in Western Canada.

The Flaman Group of Companies continues to flourish, but the man who founded the company has shifted his focus to the foundation that bears his name, and to managing more than $1 million in philanthropic donations made by the foundation each year. This activity also reflects a shift in Flaman’s personal life.

“I used to have a big house and a new Cadillac every year. I gave up all that (stuff)! Now I have Ruby, a good family, a two-bedroom condo and a Smart car, and that’s all I need,” he says.

The Frank Flaman Foundation supports some local and national charitable organizations, but most of its emphasis is on providing the basic necessities of life to people in the developing world. This includes projects such as supporting schools, providing clean drinking water and restoring the eyesight of people in the Third World.
 
“In those places, you can get so much more bang for your buck,” Flaman states. “You can drill a well for $10,000 that will benefit 1,000 people, which means it’s only $10 per person,” he explains. “You can restore someone’s eyesight for $50. That’s a very effective investment that will help someone reach their potential, and other givers who support the Foundation know that their money will be used to do good work.”

Flaman says he would prefer not to be in the limelight, but he’s willing to step forward to share his message about helping to alleviate suffering in the world. When asked if he has a formal message prepared to deliver when he receives his honorary degree from the U of R, he says no. At the same time, he repeats his rock-solid belief that the world would be a better place if everyone did more sharing of whatever gifts they have.