This is the story of Kenneth George Reed, father, entrepreneur and philanthropist, from his humble beginnings to industry leader.

Having spent much of his childhood in Verdun, Quebec, and coming from a machinist father and stay-at-home mother, Ken Reed learned the value of hard work. Dad was not destined for a formal education and in Grade 9, he left school. He started working at the age of 14 and bounced from job to job, from packer to salesman to cashier. Dad was looking for a way to make a living and build a career.

After meeting his wife Shirley at the age of 20 at the Montreal YMCA and marrying shortly thereafter, Ken decided it was time to move into a more secure profession. He started as a full-time salesperson at Williams and Wilson, a small industrial distribution company. After several years of learning the trade, Dad decided it was time to get into business, as he was an entrepreneur by nature. In 1968, in his own basement, Dad founded Tenaquip Limited. At home, his ever-growing family of 5 children learned the tricks of the trade at Tenaquip. Of course, there were many lean years, but hard work and determination paid off. Tenaquip finally managed to get out of the basement. Over the next ten years, Tenaquip moved to several locations due to the growth in sales and staff. Tenaquip’s head office is now located in Senneville and has several other locations across the country.

One cause that is particularly close to our hearts is helping people with ALS and ALS research. This is why the foundation is involved with the Montreal Neurological Hospital and ALS societies in some provinces. The year 2014 will mark the opening of the Ken Reed Motor Neuron Disease Research Unit, a research laboratory that took several years to establish and is dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of neurological diseases.