Mission notebook: How Canadian employer helped set career path for Choose CEO Mathews

Choose New Jersey CEO Wes Mathews hails from Texas. So, it’s no wonder his first job out of school was just outside of Dallas, in Richardson — where he worked in a corporate finance role at Nortel Networks, which, at the time, was Canada’s telecom darling.

The job helped Mathews see the world, as he joined one of Nortel’s business development teams that covered Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

“For the next five years, in my mid-20s, I was living out of a suitcase, traveling the globe, working to win wireless telecom infrastructure deals for Nortel,” he said.

Those trips included numerous visits to Nortel’s global headquarters in Brampton, Ontario, and its sales offices in Toronto.

“I saw the world, and worked in many parts of it, because of the experience Nortel gave me,” he said.

The economic downturn led to a pivot in his professional life.

“In late 2007, my boss told me that the company’s financials did not look good and ‘To chase that diplomacy thing you’re always talking about,’” Mathews said. “It was his advice that got me to apply to the Foreign Service. Months later, I saw the news about Nortel’s bankruptcy while at my first diplomatic posting in Lagos, Nigeria.

“I don’t think I would have been chosen as an American diplomat if I didn’t have the global work experiences that Nortel provided me very early in my career,” he said. “I have fond memories of Nortel and the colleagues that helped shape my formative professional years, and am grateful for the experience.”

Mathews won’t get an opportunity to visit the site of the former Nortel headquarters. That’s OK, his mind’s eye has something better.

“I still have a Nortel stock certificate as a memento of my first employer,” he said.

The schedule

What’s happening Monday

• Country briefing with official from U.S. Consul General office
• Event at JLabs@Toronto, Johnson & Johnson’s life science incubator located at MaRS Discovery District
• Visit to Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence
• Roundtable with American Chamber of Commerce members
• Flight from Toronto to Montreal

Strictly business

Canadian commerce

Exports from the chemical industry drive New Jersey-Canada trade. As recently as 2020, Canadians bought more than $400 million worth of synthetic resins, which are used in the making of plastics, paints and varnishes. Canada accounted for more than 40% of the state’s resin exports. In addition, Canadians are the leading foreign buyers of various cosmetics, fragrances and detergents produced in New Jersey.

Canada is also the primary supplier of energy imports for New Jersey, including crude oil and biodiesel, pus a range of key industrial inputs, such as copper cathodes, palladium, polyethylenes and lumber.

Ontario insights

Ontario is the industrial heartland of Canada, with key sectors including automotive, aerospace and advanced manufacturing. It also is a hub for finance (Toronto is the financial hub of Canada and home to the Toronto Stock Exchange) and has a growing presence in technology, with a strong presence in artificial intelligence, fintech and cybersecurity. Toronto and Waterloo are major tech centers. Toronto is the third-largest tech hub in North America.

The mining and forestry sectors play a significant role in Northern Ontario, with the province being a leading producer of nickel, gold and other minerals.

Toronto company with strong presence in N.J.

Crum & Forster: A leading national property & casualty insurance company with a large, diversified specialty platform, it is headquartered in Morristown — but is part of Fairfax Financial Holdings, a Toronto-based global organization with $28 billion in revenue as of 2022.

C&F, which has a history dating back to 1822, has $4.6 billion in written premiums as of 2021 — and an “A” (Excellent) rating by A.M. Best.

Fun and games

Famous men from Toronto

The Second City is first-rate for performers. You want comedy? Mike Myers, Jim Carrey, Rick Moranis, Eugene (and Dan) Levy and Will Arnett all hail from the area. You want an all-time good guy? There’s Keanu Reeves. An artist? There’s Drake and The Weeknd. Next-generation stars? Consider Michael Cera or Patrick J. Adams. But, if you want the GOAT, there’s only one person who fits the bill, whether you know him as Johnny LaRue, Dewey Oxburger, Uncle Buck or Del Griffith: the late, great John Candy.

Devil of the Day

It’s Canada, so we’re talking hockey. We’ll admit it, John MacLean is from a little way outside of Toronto (in Oshawa) — but, you can find it on a map of Toronto. MacLean, of course, helped put the New Jersey Devils on the map, as his famous OT goal against the Blackhawks in April 1988 put the franchise in the playoffs for the first time. Years later, he helped the Devils win their first Stanley Cup. He still ranks second in team history in goals (347) and points (701) — and fourth in assists (354).

Quote of the Day

“New Jersey is the most welcoming state inthe country for filming right now. I think you’re going to see a lot more films coming here for years to come.”

— Tom Bernard, co-founder of Sony Pictures Classics, and the commissioner of the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission