Greg Kells is a businessman and political figure in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.[1] He was an "outsider" candidate in the Ontario Liberal Party's 1996 leadership convention.
Kells has experienced both success and failure in his professional career. A millionaire in his early adult life, he lost his entire fortune in a bad real estate deal in 1991, only to recover in the early 1990s (despite a general economic downturn in the province). He was a co-founder of the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution, and has also worked with native groups in the James Bay region.
Kells's campaign for the provincial Liberal leadership showed him to be an impressive orator, but he was unable to develop a base within the party. He received only 24 votes on the first ballot. He has not campaigned for public office at the provincial or federal level.
In 2002 Mr. Kells purchased Sunbelt Business Brokers franchises in Ottawa, Montreal and Northern Ontario. Since then he has acquired or partnered in other Canadian Sunbelt offices and become the "Master Franchisor" for Sunbelt in Canada. He now has 31 offices in Canada and has acquired the Master Franchise rights for 13 other countries including France, Mexico, Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Poland, and the Gulf Coast Countries. Sunbelt is the dominant Business Broker throughout Canada and the rest of the World. He is currently working on opening more offices in Canada and offices internationally. In 2006 Kells was awarded the Outstanding Leadership award for his role in developing Sunbelt.
He has been a guest lecturer at Harvard, Yale and Duke Universities and since joining Sunbelt has become a licensed Real Estate Broker, a Certified Business Intermediary, Certified Machinery & Equipment Appraiser, Senior Business Analyst, Member of the Institute of Business Appraisers, and completed his Master – Mergers & Acquisitions. He sits on the Board of 14 Canadian companies chairing 4 of them. He is an active member of the education committee of the International Business Brokers Association, teaches Business Brokerage for the IBBA and for the Society of Business Analysts, and is committed to improving the quality and availability of professional assistance for those wanting to buy or sell small and medium sized businesses.
He serves as chair of the Canadian Institute of Nature and continues to work with a variety of community organizations and Industry groups to improve quality of life. His wife Gayle is a well recognized artist in Ottawa.