Making a business dream a reality

Making a business dream a reality (1 min 42 s)

Added on November 1, 2016

Description

In Quebec, business transfers to the next generation of farmers is very real issue. Ann-Marie Jobin and her partner, Jean-Philip Leblanc, are part of a third of Quebec business owners who've opted for this option. Thanks to the CRÉAVENIR program, they became co-owners of the Bergerie Joblanc sheep farm. Located in Sainte-Sophie-de-Lévrard in Centre-du-Québec, their business specializes in the sale of reproductive ewes and processed lamb products.

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Making a business dream a reality (1 min 42 s)

Added on November 1, 2016 | Desjardins Group

Note: The information enclosed in brackets describes the visual and audio content of the video other than dialogue or narration.

[Text on the screen: Together, we assist entrepreneurs in bringing their dreams to life.]

[Background music]

[While Anne-Marie is speaking, we see a shot of the outside of a sheep barn, then inside with bales of hay. Anne-Marie and Jean-Philip look into the camera standing in front of their home.]

[Text on the screen: Anne-Marie Jobin and Jean-Philip Leblanc Co-owners – Bergerie Joblanc]

Anne-Marie Jobin: Being a farmer is a way of life. It’s really…7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

[Inside shot of the sheep barn with a breed of black and white sheep, a breed of grey sheep and white baby lambs.]

Anne-Marie Jobin: We in fact specialize in the production of F1 ewe lambs, which involves crossing two breeds. The young lambs from it are really our main product.

[Anne-Marie and Jean-Philip are seated next to each other in the sheep barn. Jean-Philip addresses the camera.]

Jean-Philip Leblanc: I grew up on a dairy farm.

[We see Jean-Philip giving the sheep some hay. The sheep are eating.]

Jean-Philip Leblanc: With 80 milking cows. And sheep, well, they’re living beings too, animals, ruminants. It’s a bit different, but I had the basics.

[We see Jean-Philip throw a bale of hay on a pile. Anne-Marie, on the pile, watches him.]

Anne-Marie Jobin: He was 2 years older than me, and we were studying in the same program.

Jean-Philip Leblanc: Yeah, then time was up, since I was at the end of my studies and I was graduating.

Anne-Marie Jobin: It was time for us to meet.

Jean-Philip Leblanc: Last semester...

[We see Jean-Philip and Anne-Marie leaving the sheep barn. Anne-Marie addresses the camera.]

Anne-Marie Jobin: I knew I loved farming, but I didn’t really know what exactly I wanted to do with it.

[We see Jean-Philip and Anne-Marie walking in the sheep barn between two sections of sheep.]

Anne-Marie Jobin: So, at the end of my degree, I decided to take some business classes. It didn’t last long, since hardly a year after starting we bought the sheep farm.

[Shot of the main corridor in the sheep barn. Aerial shot of a farming region. Bird’s eye view of the sheep farm.]

Anne-Marie Jobin: We were lucky because we are in a region that is very dynamic. There are many development professionals here, many organizations that came together to approve our financing.

[Anne-Marie and Jean-Philip are sitting next to each other in the sheep barn. Anne-Marie addresses the camera.]

Anne-Marie Jobin: The first answers we got back were no. We were told no more than once.

[We see Jean-Philip driving his tractor.]

Anne-Marie Jobin: Desjardins, through its CRÉAVENIR program, gave us a 5-year loan, with a portion that can be converted into grants. It was the financing we needed.

[Anne-Marie and Jean-Philip are seated next to each in the sheep barn. Shot of Jean-Philip who is backing up the tractor into the garage. Anne-Marie addresses the camera.]

Anne-Marie Jobin: If you take away the CRÉAVENIR program, our margins would likely be flat...

[We see Annie-Marie and Jean-Philip entering the sheep barn. Sheep move about inside.]

Anne-Marie Jobin: It’s going really well, we have…It’s better than what we expected, better than what we forecast in our business plan. Last year, we sold 340 lambs.

[Anne-Marie and Jean-Philip are seated next to each other in the sheep barn. Anne-Marie addresses the camera.]

Anne-Marie Jobin: Our goal now is to increase that number to 400.

[Shot of the tractor in the garage. Its headlights turn off.]

[Text on the screen: As a member, you make a difference. Thank you.]

[Image on the screen: Desjardins logo / Cooperating in building the future]