FOOTHILLS ELECTRIC LTD.
A Powerful History Foothills Electric Ltd. Celebrates 40 Years Written and photographed by Camie Leard Muriel and Zygmond Piebiak
F
or as long as he can remember, Zygmond Piebiak has been a tinkerer. The son of Polish immigrants, Piebiak was born and raised in a log cabin on a farm near Eaglesham, Alberta where he rode horses, helped his parents farm wheat, barley and canola and, of course, fixed things. “Mechanical, electrical, it didn’t matter,” he says. “That’s just the kind of person I am. I want to know how things work and how to fix them. And I do.” This fascination with the inner workings of machinery led Piebiak to the commercial radio operator program at SAIT in 1961 and while farming was in his heart (he purchased his own plot of land in 1962) the development of severe allergies meant that under doctor’s orders, he had to move to the city and pursue another passion – the electrical/electronics field.
“I began my apprenticeship August 23, 1965 and have never looked back,” he says. While building knowledge and experience as an electrician, Piebiak met his wife, Muriel, at a dance hall in April of 1965 and they married after a year of courtship. A partnership from the beginning, they started a family. Three sons and seven years later, the two opened their own company, Foothills Electric Ltd. in 1973. “We’ve had 47 years of marriage and 40 years of working together,” says Piebiak. “She does the accounting and I do the electrical work. It’s important to have that division in a partnership – we each bring different things to the business.” It’s a business that was built on exceptional service and decades of expertise in fixing electric motors, pumps, welders and other machinery. Foothills has become known
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Congratulations Foothills Electric on your 40th anniversary! Foothills Electric Ltd. | 40th Anniversary
“Be honest and do good work for people as all customers are kings. It’s that simple.”
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Zygmond Piesiak
throughout the city, and across the country, as the place that can fix the unfixable. Just last month the team worked on a generator that was manufactured in Calgary in 1934 by Esco Electric Manufacturing – the first electrical company started in 1920. “We repair the things no one else works on,” says Piebiak. “We get phone calls all day from all over the place asking questions and we’re happy to offer an answer where other people couldn’t.” Quick with a joke or a tale from days gone by, Piebiak engages customers easily. From everyday homeowners to construction, mining and oil and gas operations, he and Muriel have built a loyal clientele. Like all industries, though, the electrical field has gone through great change over the last four decades. “Things used to be built to be repaired when they broke down,” explains Piebiak. “Now they’re built to be replaced – it’s like that with everything from electrical/electronics to cars – everything is disposable.” So, to stay relevant in a changing market, Zygmond, Muriel and their son, Doug, expanded operations to include the distribution of electrical products. Foothills sells electric deep well motors and pumps, battery chargers, electric motors, genera-
tors and other electrical equipment and is the only licensed Canadian distributor of Surge Pure surge protection bringbring ing the likes of the Calgary International Airport, the Alberta Health Region and other major clients to Foothills. At 70 years old, and after 40 years of entrepreneurship, Piebiak has only begun to think about retirement … well … semi-retirement. He has other passions to explore including writing and western art – especially the work of C.M. Russell. “I’d like to start a C.M. Russell museum – I have more than 650 framed prints of his work,” he says. “I’d also like to write a book about the 4th Elks Triwood Scout Troop – it’s 100 years old and I’ve been with them 35 years. I have colcol lected data back to the date of June 1920 when the Scouts started and have plenty of stories to tell.” In the meantime, Piebiak will continue to tell his stories, fix electrical/electronics equipment and maybe even invent a gadget or two (he’s already created an electronic device to ease pain) all the while sticking to the formula that has kept their business running for four decades: “Be honest and do good work for people as all customers are kings,” he says. “It’s that simple.” •
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40th Anniversary! Foothills Electric Ltd. | 40th Anniversary