The Durham Chronicle 17-18 Issue 05

Community The Chronicle January 16 - 22, 2018 chronicle.durhamcollege.ca 13
Courtesy of Matt Cardwell
Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper presents Matt Cardwell with the Prime Minister’s Volunteer Award for Emerging Leader in 2015.
Matt Cardwell
serves up royalty
in Durham Region
This is one story in a series profiling people who have made an impact in Durham
From cook
to Royal Oak
pub's owner
Tiago de Oliveira
The Chronicle
Matt Cardwell strides into the room
with the stance not only of a longtime
hockey player, but of a man
with determination and a clear purpose
to accomplish his goals.
It is this focus that led the owner
of Whitby’s Royal Oak pubs to be
celebrated for his work by his customers,
his community, and even
then prime minister Stephen Harper,
by his mid-thirties.
Cardwell started his first location
in 2010 but it was a long road to get
there. He needed an opportunity
but when he first approached the
Royal Oak group to partner with
him, he was an unknown.
He says the Royal Oak group
owned thirteen locations in Ottawa
at the time and had never allowed
partners. While the odds weren’t
in his favour, he managed to get
the chance he needed to start his
dream. He moved to Ottawa for two
years, started as a cook and moved
his way up to eventually becoming
a district manager.
“With anything in life, certainly
entrepreneurship, you need an
opportunity,” says Cardwell. “So,
I was privileged enough to get the
opportunity, and then I had to move
to Ottawa for almost two years. To
learn. To train. I spent almost two
years in Ottawa. Fortunately, I
pressed them enough, where they
felt that we could go ahead with the
project.”
In 2012, he was recognized by the
Whitby Chamber of Commerce in
2012 with the Young Entrepreneur.
With anything in life, certainly
entrepreneurship, you need an
opportunity.
“I’ve been very fortunate,” he
says. “It was a really special night.”
A self-described Whitby boy,
Cardwell said those first few years
of business were tough and “inwards
driven” because he didn’t know if he
was going to make it and achieve
success.
“After a couple years I felt more
comfortable and really more people
were approaching me within the
community for assistance and support,”
Cardwell says. “I really answered
the bell, I think I understood
the significance of community.”
He got involved with the community
through his love of sports,
specifically hockey. He played seven
seasons of hockey for the Sr. AAA
Whitby Dunlops and retired after
the 2010-2011 year.
His philanthropic work involves
putting money back into the community
through senior sport teams,
minor league hockey teams, and the
Children's Wish Foundation. He remains
an active alumni and sponsor
for his former hockey club as well.
In 2015, Prime Minister Stephen
Harper presented Matt Cardwell
with the Prime Minister’s Volunteer
Award for Emerging Leader.
Cardwell also ran for the West
Ward Councillor in the last municipal
election.
“I have done what I can behind
the scenes to make sure that those
things are being advocated for and
being helped, and I continue to do
that to this day,” he says.
Cardwell says anyone can become
a successful entrepreneur at
a young age but he recognizes it
may not be easy.
“I was lucky, I had a wonderful
opportunity at the age of 30 that
not a lot of people would’ve had,”
he says.
“I want (young people) to know
that my door is always open for
them if they want to come and talk
about a pathway to success, and to
tell them to get involved in their
community.”