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When Mike Abbott is asked about his greatest achievement to date, there's no hesitation. "My biggest accomplishments are on the table over there," he says, gesturing to the pictures of his four children that adorn his office.
For the mild-mannered president and general manager of Mississauga, Ont.-based Inacom Information Systems Ltd., this commitment to family is the essence of what he's about. It was this very quality that clinched the deal for his partner Cris Freiwald, president and GM of Omaha, Neb.-based Inacom Corp.'s international division. Inacom, Freiwald explains, is "a very family-focused company." And, having searched for a year for the right person to extend Inacom to Canada, Freiwald found Abbott. "It clicked fast," he says. "Mike just fit the value system and the business goals of Inacom very well. Here's a guy with four kids, working hard."
Originally, Freiwald says, he was searching for a company to buy, but "as we thought about it and met Mike, we figured we could do a startup and it would be even...