Who’s Who: Jeremy Lutes

Who’s Who: Jeremy Lutes

By Mike Butler

This ‘Who’s Who’ is about a real prince of a fella everyone! I’ve known Jeremy Lutes, and his wonderful parents, for many years, but it wasn’t until recently when I interviewed Jeremy on my half-hour discussion show on Eastlink TV called Annapolis Valley In-Focus, that we really got to know each other well. Jeremy is an intelligent, positive, talented, and genuinely nice person, and I’m very excited to feature him here.

Jeremy Germain Lutes was the last baby (or so he was told) born in the Wolfville hospital and, believe it or not (based on those striking youthful looks), that was 41 years ago. Jeremy attended Wolfville Elementary, Wolfville Junior High, and then it was onto Horton High School. Jeremy was fortunate enough to take a year off from high school between grades 11 and 12 to live in New Zealand as a Rotary Exchange Student. This was an incredible experience for him. From there he returned home, finished high school, then went to StFX. After a year at StFX Jeremy left, as he wasn’t sure why he was attending University in the first place (lost-boy syndrome).

From there he began his working career which has taken him from store management at Future Shop, to music management, restaurant ownership, business analytics, and now back to the Valley to be in business. It’s been a wonderful ride with a lot of road left to travel. About his current job, Jeremy states, “I am a Managing partner at both Thermo Homes and Equilibrium Engineering. Previous to this I was working for a private IT company analyzing business opportunities but wanted to work for myself. One of my current partners presented me an opportunity to be involved in Thermo Homes/ Equilibrium, so I quit my (well-paying) job and took a chance. The primary focus of each business is energy reduction and management through energy efficiency.”

Jeremy has been involved in both businesses for more than five years. Over the past three years, both businesses have doubled in size and have created six new full-time jobs in the Annapolis Valley. One personal objective of Jeremy’s, as an employer, is to provide his staff with a positive, progressive work environment in which they can reach their full potential. “Every day is different,” he says, “we employ the most amazing people, I am able to turn an idea into a tangible thing, and I get to live in the Valley.”

From a volunteer perspective, Jeremy was previously on the Board of Directors for the Halifax Pop Explosion for twelve years, and the Music Nova Scotia Board of Directors for one term. These positions illustrate a long-standing passion for the arts, as well as a desire to engage and help develop a strong future for music in Nova Scotia. And, as if that’s not enough, Jeremy is currently serving his first term as President of the Annapolis Valley Chamber of Commerce and brings a unique perspective to the Chamber. So Jeremy covers music, business, technology, and MORE!

He’s also a brilliant published poet! He says, “I’ve been writing poems for 8+ years. There are three self-published collections and I have enough work completed for a new collection of poetry, so that should happen this year.” Jeremy was nice enough to appear at my workplace on two occasions with signed copies of his poetry for me and I was thrilled. I’ve read both and really admire his style. You can find his poetry on his public Facebook page: J.G. LUTES-POET and you can contact him from there to get a copy of his books.

One of Jeremy’s other interests, that he owes to his wonderful father, is birding! Birds fascinate Jeremy and he takes full advantage of having so many varieties here in the Valley to look at and study. In his mind, its like Live Nature Television in his own backyard!