When one hears the story about Michael Duck, founder and president of A.C. Dispensing Equipment Inc. and inventor of the SureShot® Dispenser, a few inspirational phrases come to mind like Never give up. . . . Stay connected to yourself and . . . Maintain a sense of wonder! In the Beginning . . . Duck was born in 1957 in Neptune, New Jersey, the middle child of a family of five children. As a student, he “hated” school. His family was not well off, and he remembers wanting to be a garbage collector, because the “garbage man” would be able to pick up all the cool stuff left on the curb and then sell it. In addition to this, he demonstrated business savvy, Duck possessed an innate talent for doing things mechanical. He loved to build and fix. In 1973, the Duck family relocated to Nova Scotia. He quit school in grade 10 and worked as a stevedore along the Halifax waterfront, earning a great income; but the onset of automation technology resulted in him losing his job. An attitude of constructively defiant self-determination outweighed any feeling of frustration during this period.  In fact, it enabled him to be humble enough to ask for help. Duck and his wife got married in 1976, at the age of 18, and turned to his father for help in finding employment. This act of humility created the opportunity for him to work at Baxter Dairies as a general helper. The opportunity also came with a decrease in pay to $3.50 per hour, along with some racism from his … [Read more...]