Industrial chemist Ted Powell celebrated his 80th birthday on Tuesday by opening a new warehouse in Altona.
The chief executive of Advance Chemicals started manufacturing cleaning chemicals in Altona in 1977 after the closure of the Nugget factory in Williamstown, where he had worked 14 years.
“At that stage, I was finding it difficult to find a job,” he said. “I ended up buying a run-down chemical company which was losing $1000 per month and I rented a small factoryette in Altona. By cutting back on staff, I was able to put the company on a profitable basis right from the word go.”
His business, which started with a modest staff of two, has grown to export to 30 countries.
Part of the reason he started his own business was to disprove those who told him he had no management potential because of a stutter he’d had since age five.
“I’ve been stuttering all my life and it’s probably only in recent years that I’ve been able to get reasonable control of my stuttering as part of being in Toastmasters,” he said.
An active member of Toastmasters at Williamstown and Werribee, Mr Powell said a highlight of his public speaking was becoming a finalist in a humourous speech competition.
Two years ago, Mr Powell underwent open-heart surgery and had a five-way bypass operation.
He was back at work 12 days later but realised he had to make some changes.
He switched to a low-cholesterol and mostly vegetarian diet. He said this enabled him to throw away the blood pressure tablets he’d been on for 45 years.
“I’m working about 50 hours per week and I’m playing in two table tennis competitions per week,” Mr Powell said.
As well as competing at Werribee and Albert Park, he attends coaching sessions in Collingwood and competed in the World Veterans Table Tennis Championships in Auckland.
Mr Powell has no plans for retirement.
