Martin C. Barry
Around 80 members of the Hellenic Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal and their guests gathered at the 40 Westt Steakhouse on Montreal’s West Island on April 18 to recognize the contributions of the board’s founders and past presidents.
25th anniversary event
For the occasion – which was sold out and which took place around the same time the HBOT is marking its 25th anniversary – eight of the board’s former presidents were present, as were all three of the HBOT’s original founders.
The founders and past presidents were presented by current HBOT president John Charalampopoulos with plaques attesting to their service, as he thanked them for their dedication on the HBOT’s behalf.
“Our organization is as great as it is because of the people behind it,” Charalampopoulos said in an interview with Newsfirst Multimedia. “We figured that after 25 years it was time to honour all the people who helped built the HBOT to where it is today.”
25 years of progress
The HBOT was founded by Dennis Kounadis, Jim Constantacos and Leo Housakos. While the board’s beginnings were modest, it has grown in stature and influence over the past quarter-century, just as its founders have also made great strides.
Today, Constantacos heads Constant America, a manufacturer and distributor of specialty chemicals, while Kounadis is a senior partner at a Montreal commercial law firm, and Housakos is a member of the Canadian Senate.
Asked what he sees as the major difference between the HBOT 25 years ago and where it is positioned today, Constantacos said: “I think the quality of our people has evolved. We have more professionals today who are quite interesting and very well educated. I think it’s a credit to our community that we have such an organization as this.”
‘A proud moment’
Senator Housakos said: “Twenty-five years later I’m particularly happy to see a lot of young faces here. An organization can only succeed if it has two fundamental elements – you need strong foundations to build on, and you need people to carry on and add to the layers of those foundations. So this is a very proud moment for me to see the organization 25 years later flourishing and still going strong.”
Dennis Kounadis agreed that the HBOT’s vitality is being maintained by a younger generation of members. “Twenty-five years ago we were five, six people who got it going, and it was hard at first getting people to join,” he said. “Today, look at all the people who are here – and there are a lot of faces here I don’t even know – people much younger than myself who are professionals and entrepreneurs who are doing very well in the community.”
Created the foundations
In the keynote address, Senator Housakos said that a quarter-century ago, Dennis, Jim and himself set out “to try to put together a structure that will last a long time, and let’s try to bring in the kind of people we need to build a strong, solid foundation that will last for decades. Like all individuals who come to Canada with a dream, we too started with a dream to try and do something that would endure.
“I want to say a sincere thank you to the current board and its president for bringing young and old all together tonight to celebrate our 25 years and I look forward to another 25,” he added. “There’s nothing more proud than being a Hellene, being in business and making a contribution to our society.”
