Greg Sorbara, second from right, with his son-in-law Sol Korngold, far left, and his sons Nicholas and Lucas, far right, at the 650-acre Edwin County Farms in Prince Edward County, Ont., that the family purchased in 2008 using a wholly owned investment company belonging to Greg’s six children.David LeClair
Greg Sorbara had a romantic notion. Shortly after stepping down as Ontario’s finance minister in 2007, he wanted to start something new – not alone, but with his whole family.
He floated an idea: take the dividends issued by the Sorbara Group of Companies, the 80-year-old real estate legacy founded by his father, and put it into a company wholly owned by Greg’s six kids.
The children agreed to create an investment company, though the details had yet to be ironed out. “We had no idea what it was going to be,” Greg, 79, says. “But it seemed like it was time to start a new branch or the next generation’s branch of businesses.”
He imagined the kids buying a hundred acres and planting oak trees. “I don’t know why it was oak trees. But just grow something, and in the fullness of time that investment will pay off.”
Whatever the project, he envisioned it being connected to nature. His wife Kate had grown up on a farm outside Toronto and the kids were raised visiting the grandparents and helping out.
The Sorbaras didn’t end up sowing acorns, but in 2008, they used the investment company to purchase a 650-acre farm in Prince Edward County, between Toronto and Ottawa. They planted a different kind of seed that would grow into Edwin County Farms, a certified organic farm with an independently-operated kindergarten-to-Grade 4 forest school on its grounds.
Greg’s son Lucas, 55, manages farm operations; members of three other Sorbara-related family units work at Edwin County, which employs five workers in the growing season.
The company’s ventures have only expanded from there, driven by a high level of family buy-in and trust in the next generation’s values. “There are so many little tendrils of family participation in this story,” says Sol Korngold, 55, Greg’s son-in-law, who represents one of a total of five Sorbara-linked family units to move to Prince Edward County to support their various enterprises.
Kate’s brother John Barlow and his wife Cathy migrated first, turning Edwin County into a hobby farm with cattle, maple syrup, wheat, and hay. In 2013, the family bought the historic but derelict Royal Hotel in nearby Picton.
“I have a little bit of an appetite for heritage buildings,” Greg explains. Funds from the kids’ company and the Sorbara Group financed a nine-year makeover of the 1879 landmark with input from his architect daughter Ginger.
Mr. Korngold left the fintech industry in 2016 to take over the hotel’s renovation and become general manager. “That was a major turning point because someone in the family was taking on the responsibility to develop this family asset,” Greg says. The hotel, which employs around 120, opened in 2021 and boasts a Michelin Key and a farm-to-table restaurant.
The Sorbaras’ story illustrates how the success of a new branch in a legacy family business often hinges on the engagement of the next generation, says Francesco Barbera, founding academic director of the Family Business Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University. “The idea is to tap into some of the principles that they care about and allow them to speak,” he says.
Claire Telford, far left, with Greg Sorbara and his sons and son-in-law in the farm-to-table restaurant of The Royal Hotel in Picton, Ont., that uses ingredients from the family farm.David LeClair
Greg’s son Nicholas, 47, left his career as a film producer in 2018 to move to the county to plot out an organic market garden, initially delivering produce such as radicchio, fresh herbs, and tomatoes to Toronto restaurants. Today, it focuses on selling to The Royal and other local businesses, as well as supplying a farm stand and farmer’s markets. Nicholas’s wife Claire Telford began using farm ingredients to create teas and also to launch Telford Basics, plant-based soaps and hair care products for the hotel and sold online.
Lucas left his teaching job in 2020 to move to Edwin County Farm. He wanted to join the family enterprise but also to contribute to the renaissance of culinary and agricultural arts in Prince Edward County.
“The county used to be the vegetable basket of Ontario until various economic downturns cut the knees out from underneath it,” Lucas says. “The past four years, we’ve been building up the local farmer’s market to celebrate on a broader community scale.”
Lucas Sorbara left his teaching job in 2020 to manage operations at Edwin County Farms in part to join the family enterprise but also to contribute to the renaissance of culinary and agricultural arts in Prince Edward County.David LeClair
Mara Jernigan, a Victoria-based consultant of sustainable agritourism and hospitality, says it’s difficult in Canada to sustain a European-style, farm-to-table agritourism business, which she defines as focused on serving food from local farms instead of the corn maze, theme-park type of agritourism common in North America.
“When you plop that concept into Canada, you run up against some challenges,” Ms. Jernigan says, citing regulatory hurdles and the financial costs of building a farming business. Access to capital via the Sorbara Group has mitigated the financial strain, allowing the Sorbaras to invest in a sustainable circular model that works, she says.
Ginger and Greg are the main intermediaries between Sorbara Group and the siblings’ investment company. All the kids have input on financial decisions, which these days mostly revolve around common projects such as the farm, hotel and the company’s interactions with Sorbara Group.
Mr. Korngold says their business model’s success lies not only in family members’ financial stake, but the emotional stake too. Although they don’t have a family charter or document clarifying their values, creating the branding for The Royal got them discussing their shared principles.
The restored Royal Hotel, opened in 2021, boasts a Michelin Key and employs about 120 people.David LeClair
But mostly, Greg says, it comes down to trust. Families are families, and tensions arise at times. “I can’t remember how many times I said to Sol, ‘Why do we need a swimming pool at this hotel?’ ” he says.
Mr. Korngold persisted until they all agreed. “Thank God we got the swimming pool, because it’s a very important draw during the summer,” Greg says. The family has learned to check their ego, to listen and to compromise – skills key to bootstrapping the farm and building the hotel during the pandemic.
“No decision means the end of the world. There hasn’t been a bridge we couldn’t cross yet.”
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