An Edmundston-based entrepreneur with a dream to strengthen the business community and restaurant offerings in his region is doing just that with the help of his business partners and CBDC Madawaska.  

Christian Martin purchased Le Patrimoine - a restaurant offering both traditional and unique flavours of wood-oven pizza, and Italian cuisine – in June 2004.  

The business has operated in the community for 35 years under two prior owners, but he and his business partners see even more potential.  

“We want to make it our own,” Christian said.  

The co-owner of Savoury Group — a company with four partners that owns 11 restaurants in the Edmundston and Bathurst regions — returned to the Edmundston region seven years ago with a vision for the future.  

“We want to participate in the development of our region,” he said.   

After hearing good things about the CBDC from his business partners and others, Christian sought a loan from CBDC Madawaska to finance a portion of the restaurant purchase. 

“We did our research about what their mandates are. Their values and our values matched very well. Like their values to expand local markets like ours in Edmundston,” he said. “So for us it was a no brainer to start there.” 

Christian sought the remainder of the financing for the business from a traditional lender. 

“It was very important to us to deal with the CBDC.” 

After the purchase was finalized, he returned to CBDC Madawaska for an additional loan to buy new equipment and to complete renovations and improvements to the Le Patrimoine. 

“We’ll be able to bring another aspect to the restaurant.” 

Christian first became a business owner in 2011 when he purchased a Thai Zone franchise in Moncton. He eventually sold the business and moved back to Edmundston where he opened the Mexican chain restaurant Qué Padre, with his business partners.  

He was also part of the Pür & Simple expansion in Atlantic Canada, selling 14 locations during his time at that job. He sold the territory back to the head office after his family knew their third child was on the way and decided to expand their business portfolio locally. 

Owning restaurants like Le Patrimoine provides a unique challenge compared to a franchise - which is something Christian loves.  

“It’s the thrill that you always need to evolve,” he said, adding knowing the local market well is key to making the right investment choices for the business.   

With the success of the business and a vision to expand the offerings in the Edmundston and Bathurst communities, he and his business partners continue to open new restaurants.  

“I think the population recognizes us for bringing new stuff and trying to evolve the restaurant scene. We’re doing our part to make sure our region is well-known for the restaurant industry.” 

It was while one of his partners was opening a business in Bathurst that he first learned about the CBDC. 

“For us, and our group of businesses, it’s nice because we know that any new idea we might come up with, they’ll be the first ones to jump in,” he said of the CBDC.  

Christian said that’s a nice change from a traditional bank, which makes decisions solely based on numbers.  

“The CBDC... is approachable and they also deal with you face-to-face and deal with the person and their work ethic and so on. I think that’s very important.” 

He’s since returned to CBDC Madawaska and CBDC Chaleur for other restaurant projects in those regions.  

“I couldn’t ask for a better process. There’s no wait times. You fill out everything that they require like any financial institution... and they offer support to do it,” he said. 

With more business goals in mind, Christian says he won’t hesitate to approach the CBDC again.  

“The CBDC is approachable. They’re there for the region. Our goal is the same as theirs because they want to grow the region and make sure that we have nice projects, new things and so on.”