Cyril and Pamela Bulgin, Rob Crosbie and the late Janet Gardiner were inducted into the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame Thursday evening. Pictured from left are the Bulgins, Crosbie, and Gardiner's children Jane, Susan and Steve Gardiner.
Gardiner was the first female chartered accountant in Newfoundland and Labrador, and the first female chair of the Memorial University Board of Regents, Junior Achievement NL says.
She helped family business Chester Dawe Ltd. grow from one retail location to a major Atlantic Canadian building supply chain, working as the company’s treasurer and director. Her father, Chester Dawe, was also inducted into the JANL hall of fame.
Gardiner was previously inducted into the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador and was invested into the Order of Canada.
Along with Gardiner, Cyril and Pamela Bulgin and Robert S. Crosbie officially entered the hall of fame Thursday evening at a ceremony at the new convention centre in St. John’s.
The Bulgins were recognized for starting the clothing chain Eclipse. JANL says the couple opened their first store, The Jean Shop, in Twillingate in 1974, eventually expanding the chain across Newfoundland. The stores were all eventually renamed Eclipse.
Eclipse Stores Inc. now has 76 stores across the country and between 500 and 600 employees.
Along with Eclipse, the Bulgins started the clothing brand Tattoo in 1995.
Crosbie, the chair and CEO of Crosbie Group Ltd., is credited with steering the family business in new directions. The diverse business has been around since the 19th century.
Crosbie has previously been named the 2014 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the year, MUN’s Alumni of the Year in 2003 and the winner of the 2014 J.D. Eaton Alumni Tribute Award. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather have all been inducted into the JANL hall of fame.
The Telegram is a gold sponsor of the JA Business Hall of Fame.
