GENERAL MANGER DENNY LAWYER, ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER MIKE DRIER, OWNER MERV FINGAS AND OWNER MEIBING FINGAS
Sinclair Electric: Serving Edmonton’s Electrical Needs for 40 Years By Nerissa McNaughton
M
erv Fingas is a very busy man. He’s the former chief of Environment Canada’s Emergency Science Division, a position he held for over 30 years; holds a PhD in environmental physics; three master degrees (chemistry, business, mathematics); along with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry, and a Bachelor of Arts from Indiana. He is the author of The Basics of Oil Spill Cleanup, which is in its third edition, and the Handbook of Oil Spill Science and Technology, which was released earlier this year. In 2010, Merv and his wife Meibing took on a new challenge and purchased Sinclair Electric. The Sinclair family opened the business in 1975. Ill health forced the original owner, Don Sinclair, to sell. The electrical contracting business was a new and exciting option for Merv and Meibing. They also purchased a larger property and office/shop at 11665 147 Street, allowing for more storage, material handling facilities and the construction of a tool room. The larger prop-
erty has also given them room for on-site storage of job site trailers, a bucket truck, and their ever-growing fleet of service vehicles that now stands at 22. In the beginning, the mainstay of Sinclair Electric was service and maintenance work, with a fleet of six trucks and eight employees. In August of 2010, Sinclair Electric hired Denny Lawyer, a semi-retired electrical contractor of 38 years, to be their new estimator. Denny soon realized that there were serious problems that were hampering growth as well as the bottom line. He spoke to Merv and Meibing about these issues and was shortly after appointed as general manager. In May of 2011 Denny hired Mike Drier as a service technician, and within a couple of months, through his hard work and customer satisfaction, Denny appointed Mike as the new manager of the service department and small projects. Mike was later promoted again to assistant general manager; and has been credited with increasing sales within the service division fourfold.
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SINCLAIR’S BUCKET TRUCK
Sinclair’s service department takes care of the electrical maintenance of 95 per cent of all McDonald’s restaurants in the greater Edmonton area, including Spruce Grove, Stony Plain,
Fort Saskatchewan, and more. Sinclair’s service department also caters to many other customers, including residential, commercial and light industrial. Denny estimates and takes care of the larger projects, including 68 McDonald’s renovations, as well as eight McDonald’s new builds. He also estimates and acts as project manager for several other projects including the Westrich Pacific Corp. 32-storey Ultima Tower in downtown Edmonton, the Edgar Developments 29-storey Hendrix Tower as well as two other towers in south Edmonton. Mike and Denny both agree that in order for a business to grow, you have to surround yourself with the best people and treat them well. They have set a working atmosphere that is fun, and rewarding to work in. With this philosophy, total sales have increased by five times and staff has grown from the original eight to between 45 - 60. www.ewel.ca
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ON 40 YEARS!!
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In the end they all agree that it is not just the fact that Denny had the courage to go to Merv and Meibing and point out the flaws in the estimating system and it’s not only because the owners care about and listen to the needs of their staff. It’s more than the highly trained technicians. It’s a full team effort in the office and the field. “I’m very proud of the team,” says Meibing. “Merv and I are not electricians, so we really give a lot of trust to our staff and in turn, they are good to us and represent us admirably. I’m very proud that Sinclair is a desirable place for employees, and I’m proud to see how this business has grown. As a co-owner that feels great.” “To see the company grow and to get profitability,” says Merv, “is very rewarding. When we bought Sinclair, several people told us it was a big mistake. It’s been nice to prove them wrong and build up really good employees. I feel at
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Sinclair Electric gratefully acknowledges the role their team, clients, and suppliers play in their continued growth and success. They look forward to integrating technology into their field operations, ongoing employee development and training... home here thanks to the great camaraderie, and we have established a reputation for high quality work.” Like all trades-based companies in Alberta right now, Sinclair Electric has felt the sting of the labour shortage. “In this market that is a problem that every trade has,” says Denny and Mike when asked about the hot-button topic. “With huge dollars in the oil fields and projects like the arena that come along, they take up a lot of good tradesmen. Manpower. That’s the biggest challenge for us.” Along with rapid growth comes the need for more advanced administrative measures.“Things like getting our first bond,” informs Merv “and growing the fleet and equipment.” “I’ve been in the accounting field for 13 years, and in construction accounting for eight,” adds Meibing.” Since she joined Sinclair Electric as a full time accountant, she has used her ex-
perience to implement job costing, equipment management, and inventory initiatives. Despite the challenges, the company is proud of their growth and what they see each day in the office and in the field. “We built from a smaller, older company,” Merv says. “There were no systems in place for safety. No manuals. No unit numbers on the trucks. Nothing.” “We implemented those systems from the ground up,” Meibing says with pride. Sinclair Electric gratefully acknowledges the role their team, clients, and suppliers play in their continued growth and success. They look forward to integrating technology into their field operations, ongoing employee development and training, and continuing to provide quality electrical service and installations for their clients. •
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