Dan Boaretto and father Peter run Superior Machining and Repairs Ltd. (http://www.superiormachining.com). Located in Concord, Ontario, this firm builds customized machines for a wide range of industries. Dan Boaretto tells the Financial Post what motivated him to become an entrepreneur.

This country: “In 1969, my father came from Italy to Canada. Peter worked several jobs, but then one day, without telling my mother, he bought a machine to help him manufacture parts. He believed in his own talent.”

Changing role: “I grew up in the business, working summers. At university, I studied computers. Since antiquity, machines were handmade and mainly mechanical, but increasingly, machinery is designed, manufactured and integrated with electronics.”

Expertise: “Engineers bring us their designs to build, but our eclectic experience lets us play a more consultative role, offering practical advice and innovative design, transferring mechanical concepts from one industry to another.”

Whatever is required: “We build machinery for the oil industry such as a massive slip ring swivel, installed in oil tankers. The enormous swivel rotates independently of the ship so that the cables and pipes never become tangled. But we’re not limited to a single industry. We can build anything, including giant windmills for the new wind energy industry.”

Exciting: “We’re excited to be so ready to meet the many manufacturing challenges.”