1928: In St-Eugene, in the heart of his native village, Ludger Bourret decided to found his company under the name of Transport Bourret Inc.
1950: Ludger Bourret passes the torch to his sons; Julien, Omer, Jean-Marc, Camile and Robert Bourret. For his part, Paul Bourret, his other son, kept the sawmill.
1952: The company saw a major change by moving its terminal from St-Eugene to the city of Drummondville. Indeed, Transport Bourret arrives in this city while it is in full effervescence due to the extraordinary growth generated by the post-war period. Successful companies like Dominion Textile and Celanese Canada are booming at this time. Thus, Drummondville becomes the preferred place for the development of the family institution. However, Drummondville is not the only operating basin of Transport Bourret. Indeed, the company is also already present in the Montreal sector.
1960: Transport Bourret moves for the second time. Moreover, still located in Drummondville, the new terminal is located on Boulevard St-Joseph. This transfer of space allows the company to experience a significant expansion.
1970: During this year, significant changes took place on the management level. While for the last twenty years, the five brothers jointly run the company, following the death of Julien, Omer and Jean-Marc bought the shares of Camile and Robert to continue as president and vice-president respectively.
1985: In the family business for more than thirty-five years, Omer and Jean-Marc Bourret give the relay of the presidency to the third generation. Francois Bourret, son of Omer, takes the reins of Transport Bourret. Moreover, the arrival of the new president allows the company to expand its range of services by creating the warehousing division, Entreposage Bourret Inc. This new service meets the growing needs of local businesses and allows Transport Bourret to establish more and more his notoriety.
1995: Francois Bourret, together with his brother Maxime Bourret, who acts as Vice-President for this division, create Bourret International Inc. in order to meet the growing demand of Quebec companies to transact with the American market.
2007: To ensure its natural growth, the company begins construction of its new terminal located in Drummondville on Lemire Boulevard. Transport Bourret is preparing for its third move. The new facilities include a 250,000-square-foot heated dock, new administrative offices and a full-service mechanical garage.
2015: Always with the goal of offering the best service to its customers, Transport Bourret is now directly enhancing its operations in the Greater Toronto Area through a terminal located in Mississauga.
2018: The family business is still under the presidency of Francois Bourret. Moreover, his children Valerie and Nicolas Bourret are slowly taking their place in the company. A fourth generation that is committed to the development of the Bourret Group, a proud legacy left by Ludger Bourret.
Did you know?
Companies that survive the transfer from the second to the third generation are in the range of 10% to 15%. Even more, the percentage of those who survive the transfer from the third to the fourth generation reaches a low rate of 3% to 5%.
by Valérie Bourret