BREAKING GROUND Official Publication of the Edmonton Construction Association
FALL 2014
REDL OR NOT!
Chandos CEO Tom Redl leads his company into the next era
‘PEARL’ IN THE SKY: Thirty-six-storey luxury condo soars above its neighbours
FOCUS ON INNOVATION:
CCInnovations to lead industry forward
‘LEEDING’ BY EXAMPLE:
Alberta demonstrates commitment to green building
SCALING NEW HEIGHTS:
Edmonton Construction Association paves the way for the city’s emergence as a construction powerhouse
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BREAKING GROUND – Fall 2014
Table of contents
10 12
Facilitating relational connections, business growth of ECA members: A message from ECA Executive Director John McNicoll
ECA Executive Committee and Directors
14
Looking ahead for Canada’s construction industry: CCA Industry Summit explores key trends.
18
Government relations address key issues and concerns of Alberta’s construction industry. Lisa Fattori
24
A ‘Pearl’ in the sky: 36-storey luxury condo soars above its neighbours. Beverley Tallon
10215 - 176 Street Edmonton, AB T5S 1M1 Alberta, Canada Phone: (780) 483-1130 Fax: (780) 484-0299 Email: contact@edmca.com Website: www.edmca.com
2014 ECA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Barry Pfau, President Chris Ambrozic, Vice-president Dave Bentley, Treasurer Marvin Olansky, Chairman
28
Focus on innovation: CCInnovations to lead industry forward. Melanie Franner
38
Family Ties: Jen-Col builds strong foundation for future growth. Ashley Espinoza
44
New opportunities and applications spur growth in modular construction.
50
Lisa Fattori
54
6
Dawson Wallace Construction: Quality work gets the job done right. Beverley Tallon
Putting people first: After nearly 35 years in the business, Chandos Construction continues to exemplify the employee-ownership model. Benjamin Freeland
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
John McNicoll, Executive Director 2014 ECA DIRECTORS Don Barr Roger Buksa Trevor Doucette Paul Forgues Conal Hancherow Garry Humeniuk Alan Kuysters Mark Lindquist Jason Mercier Andrew Ross Joseph Rotella Ken Stewart www.edmca.com
Cover image credit: Curtis Trent Photography
COMMERCIAL & INDUSTRIAL
IT’S ALL ABOUT STRUCTURAL STEEL
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58 62 64 72
ECA Breaking Ground
Driving Edmonton’s ring road straight to completion: Northeast Anthony Henday Drive project gears up to open this fall. Emily Pike Like father, like sons: Second generation continues Binder Construction legacy. Jillian Mitchell
President David Langstaff
Scaling new heights: Edmonton Construction Association paves the way for the city’s emergence as a construction powerhouse. Benjamin Freeland
Managing Editor Katrina Senyk katrina@delcommunications.com
80
Advertising Sales Donna Burner Cheryl Ezinicki Corey Frazer Jennifer Hebert Michelle Raike Anthony Romeo Gary Seamans Colin James Trakalo
Production Services Provided by: S.G. Bennett Marketing Services www.sgbennett.com
82
Art Director Kathy Cable
FMI Center for Strategic Leadership comes to Canada, offers bold new leadership lessons. Michael Mangum
Execution: The biggest challenge for business. ECA and Results Canada excited to launch Execution Workshop.
90
86
ECA & Predictable Futures introduce informative new workshop series: A Business Succession Roadmap.
92
The art of succession planning. Gordon D. Wusyk Using Gold Seal certification to showcase construction projects.
102 110
ECA partners with RAIC Centre for Architecture at Athabasca University to explore the future of education.
8
Advertising Sales Manager Dayna Oulion
‘LEEDing’ by example: Alberta demonstrates commitment to green building. Melanie Franner
Relationships key for Desco success: Networking brings in business, generation after generation. Jon Waldman
105
Publisher Jason Stefanik
The Vets family business is growing again—and in more ways than one. Emily Pike
76
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Published by: DEL Communications Inc. Suite 300, 6 Roslyn Road Winnipeg, Manitoba R3L 0G5 www.delcommunications.com
Executive summaries of Fall 2014 ECA Breaking Ground features.
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
Index to advertisers.
Layout & Design Dana Jensen Advertising Art Sheri Kidd Joel Gunter Copyright 2014. ECA. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the publisher. ©
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein and the reliability of the source, the publisher in no way guarantees nor warrants the information and is not responsible for errors, omissions or statements made by advertisers. Opinions and recommendations made by contributors or advertisers are not necessarily those of the publisher, its directors, officers or employees. Publications mail agreement #40934510 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: DEL Communications Inc. Suite 300, 6 Roslyn Road Winnipeg, MB R3L 0G5 Email: david@delcommunications.com PRINTED IN CANADA 09/2014
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Where The Work Is COOLNet Alberta is the leading provider of project tender opportunities for the commercial construction industry.
coolnetalberta.com COOLNet Alberta Partners
Facilitating relational connections, business growth of ECA members A message from ECA Executive Director John McNicoll
W
elcome to our second issue of ECA Breaking Ground. This resource is rich in content and should be mined for your inspiration and for the business opportunities within it. On behalf of our ECA Board, thank you for your continued participation in the ECA and your contribution to our industry. Generally, the only people who take time out of their work to contribute to “the common good” of the commercial construction industry are those who understand giving. The ECA Board is full of givers. Givers give – they give to their families, but also to others all around them. They give community leadership, they coach youth, and give time and money to great causes – and they also volunteer on boards like the ECA. Each of our board members are busy leaders, and do much more than just ECA board work. In June of 2013, your board outlined four key priorities that we now call our four pillars. These four pillars are: Procurement, Collaboration, Education, and Networking; and in each, we have made incredible progress. In networking, we have held some 30 events already in 2014, and all have been extremely well-attended. I’m off to Commonwealth Stadium’s Battle of Alberta tomorrow for our second annual ECA Tailgate Party – and we are sold-out! It’s fantastic to see people networking and developing business connections through the ECA. One key meeting can change the course of a whole company and its business execution. Without relational connections, growth is unlikely. Please look to receive our calendar of events for 2015 in your membership packages and online in December of this year. Why not book all 2015 events into your personal calendar in order to further develop your network?
10
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
Collaboration: Collaborative work has served to develop excellent working relationships with the Alberta Construction Association (ACA) and each of the local construction associations of Alberta (LCAs). As a group, we have updated the software offerings of COOLNet Alberta – which now allows for private bidder spaces, a major new addition. This system allows for the singularity of “one system for all” instead of the awkward fragmentation of hundreds of planaccess systems – all at no cost to our members. This saves time, money and energy, and allows all of us to focus on the productivity of our companies without the headaches of IT and password-hassles and expenses. Very exciting! In July, in collaboration with the City of Edmonton, the ECA held a well-attended information session regarding City permitting, building ties to the city leadership of Scott Mackie, Eugene Gyorfi and Judy Walz. All agreed to continue to work together to make Edmonton the best city in the world with regard to the permitting process – not by complaining, but by working to find common solutions to our challenges. We are enthusiastic about the Young Builders Group (YBG), launched in February of this year. The YGB now has over 400 members and is steadily growing. Through this group, the ECA is building competencies, connections and career-path understanding for all of our people who are in the “first half” of their construction careers. The YGB has been a massive success with the help of our ECA Board; in particular, Andrew Ross of Clark Builders as the appointed board member chairing our YGB leadership team. If you know of a person who should be involved in the YGB, please help them to get engaged by contacting our office. I hope we will soon be the largest YGB-type group in the country. Look out Toronto, we are after your title!
Finally, you might have noticed that the ECA has recently gotten a
and all other essential concerns of our members. I am confident that
new look. This new logo represents our first change in nearly 25 years
we do. However, if you ever see some neglect or concern about the
and seeks to bring our look into 2014 while celebrating our rich 83-
services we are providing, I want you to know that we welcome your
year history. With the new brand launch this past September, we are
help, critique, and ideas for improvement.
also now introducing a new website to better highlight association services, allow for better interactions with members, and facilitate ease
Thank you again for all you each contribute to our industry and the honourable way in which you do it.
of components like course registration and renewals. With so much being done to improve our association, you might ask if we still have our “eye on the ball� with regard to procurement
Sincerely, John McNicoll V
ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 11
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE President Barry Pfau Ledcor Construction Limited
Chairman Marvin Olansky A & H Steel Ltd.
Vice-president Chris Ambrozic Scorpio Masonry (Northern) Inc.
John McNicoll Edmonton Construction Association
Treasurer Dave Bentley HUB International Phoenix Insurance Brokers
12
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
Executive Director
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Treasurer President Treasurer President Dave Bentley President Barry PfauTreasurer Dave Bentley Barry Pfau Dave Bentley HUB Internatio Barry Pfau Ledcor Construction Limited HUB International Ledcor Construction Limited Phoenix Insura HUB International Ledcor Construction Limited Phoenix Insurance Brokers Phoenix Insurance Brokers Vice President Chairman Vice President Chairman Vice President Chris Ambrozic Marvin Olansky Chris Ambrozic Marvin(Northern) Olansky Inc. A & H Steel Ltd. Chris Ambrozic Scorpio Masonry Scorpio Masonry (Northern) Inc. A & H Steel Ltd. Scorpio Masonry (Northern) Inc.
DIRECTORS Don Barr Lloyd Sadd Insurance Brokers Ltd.
DIRECTORS
DIRECTORS DIRECTORS
AlanDon Kuysters Barr Don Barr Don Barr Lloyd Sadd Brokers Ltd. PCLBrokers Construction Management Inc. Lloyd Sadd Insurance Ltd.Insurance Lloyd Sadd Insurance Brokers Ltd. M.W. (Mark) LindquistM.W. (Mark M.W. (Mark) LindquistEmcee Construction and Emcee Con Emcee Construction and Manageme Management Ltd. Mark Lindquist Roger Buksa Management Ltd. Roger Buksa Roger Buksa Arpi’s North Inc. and Management Ltd. Construction Arpi’s North Inc. Emcee Arpi’s North Inc. J.P (Jason) Mercier J.P (Jason J.P (Jason) Mercier A & B Concrete Pumping A &(2007) B Conc L Jason Mercier A & B Concrete Pumping (2007) Ltd.
Roger Buksa Arpi’s North Inc. Trevor Doucette Trevor Doucette Graham Construction and Engineering Inc.
Trevor Doucette Trevor Doucette Construction and Engineering A and & Graham BEngineering Concrete Pumping (2007) Ltd.Inc. Graham Construction Inc. Andrew Ross Graham Construction and Engineering Inc.
Paul Forgues Supreme Steel LP Conal Hancherow Thermo Design Insulation Ltd. Garry Humeniuk Shanahan’s Limited Partnership
Chairman Marvin Olans A & H Steel Lt
Paul Forgues Supreme Steel LP
Andrew Ross Clark Builders Paul Forgues Paul Forgues Andrew RossSteel LP Supreme Supreme Steel LP
Clark Builders
Andrew Ro Clark Build
J.M. (Joseph) RotellaJ.M. (Josep J.M. (Joseph) Rotella Lafarge Canada Inc. Lafarge Ca Lafarge Canada Inc. C. (Conal) Hancherow C. (Conal) Hancherow Joseph Rotella C. (Conal) HancherowThermo Design Insulation Thermo Ltd. Design Insulation Ltd. Thermo Design Insulation Ltd. Lafarge Canada Inc. K.J. (Ken) Stewart K.J. (Ken) K.J. (Ken) Stewart GatewayInc M Gateway Mechanical Services Gateway Mechanical Services Inc. (Garry) Humeniuk G.J. (Garry) Humeniuk KenG.J. Stewart G.J. (Garry) HumeniukShanahan’s Limited Partnership Shanahan’s Limited Partnership Gateway Mechanical Services Inc. Shanahan’s Limited Partnership
Clark Builders
Alan Kysters Alan Kysters ECA Breaking Ground Alan Kysters PCL Construction Management Inc. • FALL 2014 13 PCL Construction Management Inc. PCL Construction Management Inc.
Looking ahead for Canada’s construction industry Industry Summit explores key trends and developments that may impact construction
W
hat will the Canadian construction industry look like in 2019, and what are significant issues that will impact the industry? These were some of the questions posed to more than 70 partner association staff and board members from across the country at the Canadian Construction Association Industry Summit. The Summit, held in conjunction with the Canadian Construction Association board of directors’ meeting in June, was part of an industry environmental scan that will facilitate the association’s strategic plan development for the next five years. The two-day session was facilitated by an outside organization, as well as by CCA chairman Serge Massicotte. During that time, participants were given opportunities to discuss with one another the various issues they see impacting the Canadian construction industry, both now and in the future. The Summit featured two components, designed to engage participants in lively and relevant conversation. The first was a series of roundtable discussions regarding the future of Canada’s construction industry. At randomly assigned tables, participants conversed about some of the major themes impacting the industry, and that would play a significant role in the industry’s future. The second component of the CCA Industry Summit was to consolidate those discussions under seven different themes. From there, participants were encouraged to discuss themes of particular interest to them—such as labour, globalization or technology—and help determine why those themes were critical to the success of the Canadian construction industry. “The Industry Summit provided a great opportunity to examine the issues of importance to our industry, and to have broad conversations on where our industry is heading,” says Serge Massicotte, 2014 Canadian Construction Association chairman. “Throughout our two days of meetings, we heard about a number of trends that will impact our industry. As the national voice of construction in Canada, the Summit served a valuable purpose to help guide our association in the coming years.” The seven themes deemed critical to the success of the Canadian construction industry were as follows: Business Practices It was felt that evolving procurement methods, payment terms, contract arrangements, and the poor quality of project documents were all areas of critical importance to the success of Canada’s construction industry. Business Succession With an aging workforce, increased retirement, the introduction of younger workers, and the changing dynamic of Canadian firms, business succession will be a very important theme in the coming years, to ensure the success of the Canadian construction industry.
14
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
45
TH
(1969-2014)
ANNIVERSARY
Standard General Inc. Edmonton
Standard General Inc., Headquartered in St. Albert, has asphalt plants in Edmonton, Acheson and Leduc and Aggregate Depots in Whitecourt, Acheson and Conklin to supply the material needs of our clients. Standard General provides the following construction services and materials to the Greater Edmonton area: • Hot & Warm Mix Asphalt & Soil Cement Material Sales • Aggregate Production and Sales, delivery by truck or rail • Hot and Warm Mix Asphalt Paving • Complete Subdivision Servicing • Civil Infrastructure Rehabilitation • Grading and Cement Stabilized Base • Soil Cement and Gravel Base • Concrete Walks, Curbs and Gutters • Slipform Concrete Paving • Roller Compacted Concrete • Municipal, Commercial and Industrial Paving Projects and Site Development • Recycling of Construction Materials
Website: www.standardgeneraledmonton.ca
Building Better Roads Standard General Inc. Edmonton • 250 Carleton Drive, St.Albert, AB T8N 6W2 • Ph: 780-459-6611 • Fax: 780-459-7639
Throughout our two days of meetings, we heard about a number of trends that will impact our industry. Globalization
service life, the role of infrastructure renewal and funding will be
As economies around the globe develop closer ties, globaliza-
important to the success of the construction industry in Canada.
tion will continue to have an effect on Canada’s construction industry. Whether through the changing structure of the industry,
Labour
or the introduction of foreign firms to the Canadian marketplace,
The need for skilled and trained labour will be critical if the
the theme of globalization will impact the industry at home, and
Canadian construction industry is to meet anticipated demand in
abroad.
the coming years. Training, education, and promotion are all important to ensure Canada’s construction firms have the workforce
Government
they will require in the coming years.
In the coming years, government relations will play a critical role for the CCA and its partner associations. This includes
Technology
maintaining a positive image of the industry, while ensuring a
As technology continues to evolve and change at a rapid pace,
strong correlation exists between a healthy Canadian economy
the adoption of tools and techniques to increase productivity, at-
and a strong, vibrant Canadian construction industry. Govern-
tract workers, and provide service to clients will all be important
ment leadership will be required to bring to fruition key resource
for the Canadian construction industry.
development and trade-enabling infrastructure.
With these seven themes in mind, the Canadian Construction Association will embark on its strategic planning in the fall of
Infrastructure
2014. From there, a new plan will be set in place to help guide
With infrastructure remaining a critical component of a strong economy, and a number of assets reaching the end of their useful
the association forward as it continues to support its members in “Building Canada’s Future”. V
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16
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
John MaRques OWNER/ESTIMATOR
john@richardsonelectricltd.com
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Government relations address key issues and concerns of Alberta’s construction industry
By Lisa Fattori
W
Photos courtesy: PCL Construction Management Inc.
hile government policy helps to set standards and mainstream best practices, Alberta’s construction industry is a self-regulating sector with a vested interest in its continued success. Grassroots initiatives that “There are some fundamental flaws address issues of productivity, competitiveness and the training of and factual errors in this report that skilled workers deliver practical solutions that foster new levels of excellence and expertise. Harmonizing the independence of induswe’d like to see addressed,” says Peter try with government legislation, however, can be challenging and is Pilarski, VP Southern Alberta, with a delicate balance that requires open dialogue, transparency and a willingness to meet on common ground by all stakeholders. Merit Contractors Association. “The In response to industry’s call for updated labour laws, the Alberta whole basis of the report is wrong. Mr. Government commissioned a study to review construction labour relations legislation, with input from union, non-union and alternaSims concludes that the industry is tive-union groups and their affiliated contractor organizations. Reworking well because of registration— leased in April 2014, The Sims Report makes six recommendations and credits the registration bargaining process for Alberta’s stable lawhen really, it’s competition that’s bour relations, which is attractive to investors. The Report generally driving growth.” concludes that the status quo is preferable to increased competition. Critics of the report say that the findings don’t give credence to the proliferation and broad spectrum of alternative-union and open-shop groups and their interests – that the premise of the report is outdated and doesn’t reflect the open, more collaborative approach of today’s industry and
18
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
Recommendations include amendments to the Division 8 provisions that allow for special no-strike/no-lockout carve-out agreements for large industrial projects and, to increase labour mobility, that unions no longer be able to fine their members for working with non-union or alternative unions.
the willingness by all stakeholders to ensure a project’s success. Concerned about how these recommendations will play out, once they are enacted as law, some groups have asked for prudence by the government and clarification of the proposed changes. “There are some fundamental flaws and factual errors in this report that we’d like to see addressed,” says Peter Pilarski, VP Southern Alberta, with Merit Contractors Association. “The whole basis of the report is wrong. Mr. Sims concludes that the industry is working well because of registration—when really, it’s competition that’s driving growth.” Industry has called for amendments to the Alberta Labour Relations Code that will make Alberta’s construction industry operate more effectively and competitively. Recommendations include amendments to the Division 8 provisions that allow for special no-strike/no-lockout carve-out agreements for large industrial projects and, to increase labour mobility, that unions no longer be able to fine their members for working with non-union or alternative unions. In addition, industry has asked the government to fully ban the MERF practice, which enables traditional union contractors to unfairly outbid competitors through the use of cross-sectoral subsidies. On the federal front, some industry players are also in favour of Bill C-377, now before Senate, which would enforce financial transparency by unions. Less controversial, but an issue that impacts the availability of skilled workers in peak
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seasons, is the government’s more stringent access to the Temporary Foreign Workers Program. “The construction industry is very different from hospitality, in that workers are highly skilled and well-paid; but the government has lumped us in with other sectors,” Pilarski says. “There will always be a need for temporary foreign workers in construction and the federal government has made it difficult and costly to bring those workers in.” In addition, industry has asked the As a complement to the Canada Jobs Grant, a government mobilgovernment to fully ban the MERF ity grant would enable workers to take advantage of work opportunities across the country, offering support for those with big commutes practice, which enables traditional and helping them to integrate into the communities where they are union contractors to unfairly outbid employed. “This grant would encourage labour mobility and match the right skills to the right job,” says Paul de Jong, president of the competitors through the use of Progressive Contractors Association of Canada. “It’s important that cross-sectoral subsidies. these workers feel a sense of community when they are away from home, and we’re asking that federal and provincial budgets set aside some money for local programs to engage workers.” The biggest conundrum for industry and government is the lack of skilled workers and the need to groom the next generation of tradespeople to keep up with demand. In its 2014 budget, the Alberta Government earmarked an additional $200 20
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
“The required re-work for projects is too high, and this is because of a lack of quality workmanship. We are teaching the basics of skills, but who is mentoring our apprentices? We have to stop treating them as an extension of their hammers and ask for their input.” million to the Alberta Heritage Scholarship Fund, to help apprentices complete their programs. While the financial support is applauded by industry, attracting people to apprenticeships, in the first place, remains a challenge. “There is some discussion that the government may put in place some type of apprenticeship minimums or quotas,” says Brian Lacey, VP of Construction for Clark Builders. “This could put those who have achieved journeyman status at risk, if the quotas are difficult to reach. Conversely, you may de-motivate an apprentice to get his ticket, which could reduce his market demand. The initiative could actually backfire.” For Lacey, Alberta’s problems of low productivity and the shortage of skilled labour go hand-in-hand and require solutions that can’t be legislated. “The required re-work for projects is too high, and this is because of a lack of quality workmanship. We are teaching the basics of skills, but who is mentoring our apprentices? We have to stop treating them as an extension of their hammers and ask for their input. As an industry, we have an opportunity to tie a bow around a number of initiatives for a ‘Made in Canada’ solution.” Alberta’s construction industry is looking to all levels of government to help bolster an interest in the trades among youth, and to support a greater number of highschool shops and vocational schools. Advances in technology, construction management expertise, and multi-disciplinary mega-projects with complex operating systems offer diversity in career options
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ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 21
and the opportunity to earn a lucrative living. Raising awareness about the sophistication of the industry and providing the early training of future apprentices can help alleviate the skilled workers shortage and provide the province with a labour force that can meet demand. “Many years ago, the federal government paid for shops in schools,” Pilalrski says. “Today, principals’ budgets are calculated per student, and it’s cheaper to put in a fine arts department than a shop, which means that fewer students end up getting exposed to the trades. We’re planning to raise awareness by inviting teachers and guidance councillors to come and see what it’s like to work on a construction site. The industry needs to form partnerships with schools, municipalities and provincial and federal governments. Promoting the trades will cost each group less money, and will be a success story for the economy as a whole.” V 22
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
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A ‘Pearl’ in the sky By Beverley Tallon
View from the top of the “Pearl” in the sky.
Courtesy: Brinsmead Kennedy Architecture.
T
he Pearl Tower has become a graceful part of the Edmonton skyline. Located at Jasper Avenue and 119 Street, the 36-storey luxury condo soars above its neighbours. Pagnotta Industries Inc., which specializes in construction management and concrete contracting, was the general contractor for the Pearl. With so many corners and angles, the design and structure of the curved walls required a lot of coordination. “It was not a square box,” says company president Alex Pagnotta, who notes that they have worked on this project for four years. Pagnotta says it has been one of their most challenging jobs involving 30 to 40 trades. An extra floor was added part-way through the design project, requiring an extension to the elevators and creating additional weight. “We were working on the tenth floor when the developer started talking about an extra floor. I thought he was joking!” Architect Brad Kennedy of Brinsmead Kennedy Architecture says that their company has done previous work for the Pearl’s developer, Regency Developments. The land needed to be re-zoned and this had become one of the architect firm’s specialities. “It was a tricky sight, as the land was zoned for 11 storeys and we were pushing for what ul“I think it has been a groundtimately ended up being 36,” breaking exercise for our city. Kennedy says. “It took a little over a year in the administraI think the true mark of a good tion and rezoning process.” building is that people in the Concerns of more traffic, potential shadow, and other neighbourhood will reference matters required many comtheir property in relation to it. It munity meetings. Through some specific design techreally becomes a unique, different niques, the company was able Pearl Tower concept marker,” Kennedy says. to demonstrate why a thinly rendering, courtesy sculpted 36-storey tower, usof Brinsmead Kennedy Architecture. ing the same amount of material, would be an advantage to an 11-storey “lay down freezer.” By making it upright, it would not block a lot of the sun and would have the same amount of floor area. This would also allow for a publicly accessible pocket park to the west of the building. “In a city like Edmonton, where we are not used to tall buildings, there is a lot of misunderstanding of the impact that towers have,” Kennedy explains. Kennedy notes that the addition of the Pearl functions quite well in the pedestrianfriendly, highly populated neighbourhood of Oliver. The slender building does not block the view of the river valley and the podium incorporated at the base of the building helps to cut out the wind during bad weather. The plan started with 174 units but with the demand for more spacious The building incorporated a crane suites, it was reduced to 128. The unique curved-glass walls give every attached to the outside of the unit a great view of the river. The building incorporated a crane attached to the outside of the buildbuilding, rather than down the ing, rather than down the centre, allowing inside finishing to occur withcentre, allowing inside finishing to out having to remove the equipment. “During site visits, the operator would start up the crane while we were on one of the top floors. It would occur without having to remove create such a sway, you would swear it was an earthquake.” Kennedy the equipment. states. “I think it has been a ground-breaking exercise for our city. I think the true mark of a good building is that people in the neighbourhood will reference their property in relation to it. It really becomes a unique, different marker,” he says. ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 25
One of the most distinct features of the Pearl is the curtainwall glass. Raj Dhunna, the chief operating officer of Regency Developments, notes that this has never been done in Edmonton. It is actual floor-toceiling glass on all 36 floors. Dhunna says that the glass varies in height from nine to 10 feet, depending on the unit, and fits together like pieces of Lego – one piece on top of the next. The parkade took about a year to finish. It is six-and-a-half floors deep, with one of the bigger floor plates in the city. The build-
ing has three of the highest-speed residential elevators in Edmonton. The elevator pit required digging a hole about three-quarters of a block wide and special equipment was necessary to pull out a 20-foot glacial boulder that was found. “The shoring, rebar, concrete, and dealing with the elements was definitely challenging,” Dhunna comments. The luxury units changed as the project progressed but Dhunna says their long-term relationship with 90 per cent locally sourced trades made it all possible. Regency’s longterm vision in revitalizing the downtown
Images courtesy: Regency Developments.
26
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
Image courtesy: Regency Developments.
neighbourhood has paid off, with 65 per cent of the suites already sold. “We started in 2007 with the whole building process. There were originally three old buildings, circa 1940 to 1960, on this site,” says Dhunna. “The reaction of the public-atlarge and their pride in this building has been one of the biggest rewards for us.” “I think it is a nice addition to the Edmonton skyline,” Pagnotta concludes. “You can see it from so many angles in the city. It’s taken a lot of time, but it has really come together.” V
The luxury units changed as the project progressed but Dhunna says their long-term relationship with 90 per cent locally sourced trades made it all possible.
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Focus on innovation: CCInnovations to lead industry forward By Melanie Franner
S
purred into action by the findings of the 2011 Jenkins Report, which found Canadian businesses near the bottom of the pack when it came to R&D investment, the Canadian construction industry is leading the charge in changing the industry’s competitive landscape. The 2013 creation of a new entity, Canadian Construction Innovations (CCInnovations),
was the first step in this process. And the appointment of Pierre Boucher as president is yet another. Strong Mandate “CCInnovations has two mandates,” explains Paul Verhesen, chairman of the CCInnovations Board of Directors and president and CEO of Clark Builders. “The first is to disseminate information, to have a conversation around innovation. The second is to engage the industry to determine what products, what systems and what processes need to be focused on.” With a vision to “instill a new culture for research and innovation in the Canadian construction industry”, the work ahead may seem daunting. But already, the “buy in” has been substantial. 28
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
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Paul Verhesen, chairman of the CCInnovations Board of Directors and president and CEO of Clark Builders.
Stephen Coote, secretary-treasurer of CCInnovations and president of Group 92 Mechanical Inc.
“So far, we are getting a great response,” says Stephen Coote, secretary-treasurer of CCInnovations and president of Group 92
John Bockstael, vice-chair of CCInnovations and president and CEO of Bockstael Construction.
and everyone is glad to see that someone is taking the ‘bull by the horns’ and pulling it together.”
Mechanical Inc. “I’ve done a few speaking engagements in Ontario
The creation of CCInnovations has met with wide acceptance from
and information about the new organization has been very well-
industry but perhaps more important – it also has met with financial
received. Everyone agrees this is something that industry needs
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The creation of CCInnovations has met with wide acceptance from industry but perhaps more important – it also has met with financial acceptance. Don Whitmore, senior advisor to the Interim Board, CCInnovations, and chairman of Vector Construction Ltd.
Pierre Boucher, president of CCInnovations.
“The Canadian Construction Association provided a very signifi-
As a national body, CCInnovations will have close ties to provin-
cant grant, on the condition that CCInnovations match it,” states John
cial and local organizations, such as the Edmonton Construction
Bockstael, vice-chair of CCInnovations and president and CEO of
Association.
Bockstael Construction. “We have already matched – and exceeded – that amount.”
“It’s really going to be at the local level, where the industry stakeholders reside, that the real change is going to happen,” explains Ver-
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Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
hesen, who cites the fact that most budgets of Canadian construction companies do not currently have a line item for innovation or enhancement. “Our peers in Europe spend millions of dollars looking at ways to improve. In this global economy, you have to be competitive.” Don Whitmore, senior advisor to the Interim Board, CCInnovations, and chairman of Vector Construction Ltd., echoes Verhesen’s comments. “Our productivity and competitiveness in Canada is not on par with other areas of the world,” he explains. “We tend to slip more behind every few years when they review the numbers. This is costing us too much. If we want to become more competitive, we need to be more innovative. It’s going to come down to individual firms not doing things the same old way.” Complacency can be a detriment to the entire industry. “A lot of companies get into a comfort zone, where they are doing well and making money,” continues Whitmore. “But we need to shake things up and look beyond today. The idea of a national body to encourage innovation across the entire industry is an idea whose time has come. It’s time to collaborate and come together for the future of Canada and the Canadian construction industry.”
People and companies come together to work on a project but once that project is over, the team disbands. We need to ensure that there is ongoing collaboration and innovation across the entire value chain – everyone from suppliers and contractors to architects, engineers and owners.
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Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
According to Coote, CCInnovations needs to become the link between innovation and industry. “Part of the reason why we’re not seeing more innovation in this industry is because everyone works in silos,” he explains. “People and companies come together to work on a project but once that project is over, the team disbands. We need to ensure that there is ongoing collaboration and innovation across the entire value chain – everyone from suppliers and contractors to architects, engineers and owners.” At the same time, Coote is quick to emphasize that this collaboration doesn’t have to be about complex issues or new technology (although in some cases, it may). “It can be about something as simple as how an existing technology can be adapted to do a better job for our industry,” he adds, “like how we can take an existing technology like BIM and use it to improve construction methods in our industry.” The long-term goal of CCInnovations, according to Coote, is betterment for the entire Canadian construction industry and to ensure long-term sustainability. He believes that industry needs to think that innovation is equally important as bricks and mortar. “When people recognize the Canadian construction industry as a great market, as a great place to work and a great place to invest their money, that’s when we’ll know we’re a success,” he says. “And to do that, we need to prove to them that we have the initiative and the drive to go that extra mile, that we’re willing not only to be innovative, but to actually drive innovation.”
1. 2. 3.
The timing for an entity like CCInnovations could not be any better. Leading the Cause Pierre Boucher, president of CCInnovations, is one man who is intimately familiar with the need to be innovative. He had that portfolio for several years while at the Canadian Construction Association and never hesitated to undertake new innovative projects. He is proud to be a strong supporter of this industry priority. “The timing for an entity like CCInnovations could not be any better,” he explains. “We are seeing change happening worldwide in a way and at a pace never seen before. With the advancement of new technologies like BIM, the advent of new project-delivery models like IPD and the introduction of new production systems like modularization, the industry can’t afford not to be proactive and adopt new ways of doing things. I think the pressure from the globalization of the construction market is adding to these changing requirements.” According to Boucher, the first focus of CCInnovations will be to bring additional players on board, establish partnerships and start putting in place the networks necessary to begin identifying the areas of research and application. This will need to be driven by industry. And Boucher is just the man to get the ball rolling. “Pierre brings a huge network of contacts to the table,” explains Bockstael. “He knows the players right across Canada. Innovation for con-
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Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
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struction has always drawn his interest. He is a known name and character to many.” Boucher also has the right relationships. “We engaged a recruiting firm that literally went across the country looking for the best individual for the job,” states Verhesen. “It turns out the best individual was right under our nose the whole time. He is passionate about innovation. This is an opportunity for him to finish what he started at the CCA. He has relationships at the research level, at academia and with industry. And he knows how to leverage those relationships for the good of the industry.” Full-speed Ahead With an accepted mandate and an experienced individual to lead the organization forward, CCInnovations is primed for action. It’s a new world out there, with an ever-evolving competitive landscape. And Boucher wants to ensure that the Canadian construction industry ascends to new heights on the world stage, making productivity, profitability, change management, smart construction and labour performance the driving forces behind CCInnovations. “I think any obstacles we may have had in the past are gone,” he says. “We’re now undergoing a cultural shift, where there is an appetite for change. I think we will achieve results that will resonate with the whole industry. We are going to move this industry to a level of competitiveness never before seen. It will be systemic innovation across the board.” With that kind of passionate belief, backed by solid resources and experience, CCInnovations can’t help but succeed. V
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East Edmonton Primary Health Centre.
Family Ties
Jen-Col builds strong foundation for future growth based on deep-seated family values By Ashley Espinoza
J
38
en-Col Construction is a growing company that owes its success to its family values and partnerships with loyal people and businesses – includ-
still stand strong. Second-generation Jen-Col op-
ing the ECA – and knowing what it takes to serve
on why we exist, core values that tell us how to
a northern market.
do it; and a very clear vision and future stating
erator and president Cory Jodoin says it’s a company that will be in their family for ages. “It’s all surrounded by having a clear purpose
Since the company’s inception in 1978, it has
this is where we’re at, this is where we’re going,
been family-owned and operated and has spe-
this is how we’re going to get there. It [having a
cialized in serving the Edmonton and north mar-
clear company vision] really creates alignment
kets. Today, nearly 40 years later, those values
within the company and for us, it really sets the
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
Our core purpose is to
BUILD A BETTER FUTURE Recipient of the ECA “Awards of Excellence – General Contractor of the Year”
www.jen-col.com Ph: 780-963-6523
Borden Park Pavilion. guiding principles for how we operate. Every decision within our company is vetted through that process,” explains Jodoin. But more than that: it is family. The company has always been, and will always be, a family business with family values. “My parents really started the foundation of building an enduring organization: a company that’s going to go on long past them, and long past me. It’s a vision that we’ve committed to as a group,” he states. “That foundation was clearly set by my parents from the beginning, as the founding partners of the company, and within the next generation to carry that forward and to build upon it. The opportunity that the second generaJodoin says working with the ECA tion has, by having the first generation do a remarkable job, is increased,” he adds. has allowed Jen-Col to focus on The Stony Plain-based business won the Edmonton Construction Association GC of the Year award in 2011, which has only helped to strengthen the business. what it does best: offering quality “Success is always measured by your people. We’ve had a lot of great people design-building, pre-construction over the years who have really helped build our business and move us forward. Success is a number of things: it’s people and it’s partnerships. Being a part of consulting, general contracting the Edmonton Construction Association means being affiliated with some of the and construction management major people who it takes to run a large association,” explained Jodoin. “To some degree, building a business depends upon with whom you surround yourself.” – while the ECA takes care of Jodoin says working with the ECA has allowed Jen-Col to focus on what it everything else. does best: offering quality design-building, pre-construction consulting, general contracting and construction management – while the ECA takes care of everything else. “They’re really leaders in the construction industry when it comes to collaboration, education, training, membership, and the services they provide. I can focus on being a general contractor and not worry about a planroom. I send them the documents and they post it; we know we’re going to get coverage on every job,” he explains. “We don’t have to have trades coming here in order to get our information. They’re leadingedge from a technology end of it and they’re enabling sophisticated trades. It’s almost as a onestop-shop. They’re enabling trades to find the information and be able to do work,” Jodoin adds. Jen-Col has been in the commercial and institutional construction industry since 1978, serving all of Alberta but primarily the Edmonton and northern markets. On top of that, the compa40
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
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“They’re [the ECA] really leaders in the construction industry when it comes to collaboration, education, training, membership, and the services they provide. I can focus on being a general contractor and not worry about a planroom.”
North Battleford Aquatic Centre. ny also has served the Northwest Territories
spurt. We’re building a new corporate of-
than do what I’m doing. If I wasn’t doing it
and parts of northern British Columbia and
fice in Acheson next year. Six years ago we
right here, I’d be doing it for someone else.
Saskatchewan.
built this office, in Stony Plain, and we’ve
I absolutely love our industry,” he enthuses.
“We understand what it takes to work in
outgrown it. We’re 30 staff in our office and
“I love the construction industry, I don’t
the north. Back in the ‘80s, we did a lot of
we need to build a new office and a new
northern work. We’ve continually had guys
headquarters. We want to be closer to Ed-
think there’s any industry out there right
in Grande Prairie over the past 15 years.
monton.
We’ve done major projects all over Edmon-
“We’ve bought the land already and
ton and the north, and Edmonton is the
we’re really excited about building the next
gateway to that,” states Jodoin.
campus that’s going to take us in to the
By next year, Jen-Col will be working out of its new headquarters in Edmonton
future, and the next generation of people who own this company,” he states.
now that affords more opportunity, more growth, more branches to tap into, or veer off into – you can go into design, ownership, construction, you can be a developer; there’s so many branches.” Some of the projects Jen-Col has been involved with include the Telus World of
– an expansion that was not just a decision
Jodoin says construction is a growing
made to move the company forward, but
industry, a great one to work in, and he’s
also greatly needed, since the company has
grateful to be a second-generation Jen-Col
the East Edmonton Primary Health Cen-
outgrown its Stony Plain office, which was
owner and operator.
tre, the Athabasca Regional Multiplex, and
Science renovation and expansion project,
“I’m lucky because I’ve known from an
a number of schools, hospitals and recre-
“We’ve been in constant growth. In the
early age what I’m passionate about and
ation centres. For more information on
last year, we’ve really had a great growth
what I love. There’s nothing I’d rather do
Jen-Col, visit www.jen-col.com. V
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The MEG Energy Christina Lake Lodge near Conklen, Alberta, earned ATCO Structures & Logistics a 2013 Award of Distinction from the Modular Building Institute. Image courtesy: ATCO Structures & Logistics.
New opportunities and applications spur growth in modular construction By Lisa Fattori
I
n a booming economy, “better, faster, cheaper” is a mantra that drives greater efficiency, productivity and economic prosperity. Modular construction delivers a competitive advantage on many levels, offering speed to market, quality-controlled building construction and, in some cases, lower operating costs. From workforce camps and school classrooms to office complexes and multi-unit residential buildings, the modular construc-
tion industry is expanding and becoming more mainstream as an alternative to stick-built construction practices. “Modular construction is on the rise because of the energy market, with the oilsands driving the demand for
workforce housing,” says Tom Hardiman, executive director of the Modular Building Institute (MBI), the international trade association that serves the modular industry. “In harsh winter conditions, you can’t build on-site and you can save 20 to 50 per cent on the construction schedule. We’re also seeing an increase in multi-family modular housing, such as four- to eight-storey affordable housing units, where you can cut as much as 40 per cent off of the construction schedule and get tenants in earlier.” Of the 42 Canadian members of the MBI, almost half are located in Alberta and include modular manufacturers, dealers and suppliers. “We have 15 well-established modular manufacturers in Alberta, which is great for the 44
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
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Workforce camps include all of the bells and whistles that you’d find at any conference centre or high-end resort. Image courtesy ATCO Structures & Logistics.
Modular construction offers many benefits, including the construction of a building’s modular units in a controlled plant environment, without the concerns of harsh weather and working conditions or of potential damage to exposed materials that are stored on-site. Image courtesy: Modus Inc.
46
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
local economy,” says Stephen Tamayo, Canadian member services director for MBI. “You have companies that manufacture workforce camps and then provide the catering and all other services in those camps. The industry is also experiencing a lot of growth in residential housing and commercial construction, in both the public and private sectors.” Modular construction offers many benefits, including the construction of a building’s modular units in a controlled plant environment, without the concerns of harsh weather and working conditions or of potential damage to exposed materials that are stored onsite. A project’s site preparation can occur simultaneously with building construction, which reduces construction schedules. Also, on-site activity is minimized, which improves safety and offers fewer disruptions in populated areas. The construction method is particularly conducive to remote locations, where skilled labour is not readily available or where the cost to transport and provide accommodations for workers is too expensive. Built to the same standards and specifications of traditionally built structures, modular buildings are in fact stronger, so that they can withstand the rigours of transportation and craning onto foundations. With the pre-fabrication of modular units, there is also less construction waste, which is better for the environment. Headquartered in Calgary, ATCO Structures and Logistics is a modular construction pioneer and a world leader in workforce camp construction. High-profile projects include the MEG Energy Christina Lake Lodge near Conklen, Alberta, which earned the company a 2013 Award of Distinction from the MBI. Designed for MEG Energy’s crew
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Acheson office modules arrive on site.
Image courtesy: Jandel Homes Ltd.
Benefits of modular construction: • A building’s modular units are constructed in a controlled plant environment, without the concerns of harsh weather and working conditions or of potential damage to exposed materials that are stored on-site. • A project’s site preparation can occur simultaneously, which reduces construction schedules. • On-site activity is minimized, improving safety and offering fewer disruptions in populated areas. • The modular construction method is particularly conducive to remote locations, where skilled labour is not readily available or where the cost to transport and provide accommodations for workers is too expensive. • Modular buildings are stronger, so they can withstand the rigours of transportation and craning onto foundations. • The pre-fabrication of modular units means there is less construction waste, which is better for the environment. • Owners don’t have to be involved with the construction of the building, so they can continue to run their businesses with no distractions.
“With the modular process for Harvey’s, we began constructing the building in our factory, even before the site was prepared, and had the restaurant completely open 38 days after the modular units arrived on-site,” explains Cal Harvey, CEO of Modus Inc.
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Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
of oilsands workers, the 120,000-square-foot building is comprised of 137 modules and two pre-engineered metal buildings. Two-storey, 60-person dorms feature private three-piece bathrooms for each bedroom, as well as a workstation, sitting area with TV, and a refrigerator. The facility also includes high-end executive suites. On-site amenities and common spaces include a kitchen, dining room, a lounge with fireplace, a theatre, fitness facility and a preengineered gymnasium with a full basketball court. Green features such as a rain-catching system, ample glazing, dual-flush toilets and a grey-water system increase energy efficiency and help to lower operating costs. “In the last 10 years, we’ve seen an evolution of the dorm-room design, moving from multi-person dormitories with common areas to two-person, ‘Jack and Jill’ dorms with a shared bathroom,” says Craig Alloway, VP of sales for ATCO Structures and Logistics. “Now, the industry standard is bedrooms with private ensuites. In a tight labour market, you have to keep up with competitors and provide accommodations that will attract workers. These workforce camps include all of the bells and whistles that you’d find at any conference centre or high-end resort.” The retail sector is also capitalizing on the short construction times offered by modu-
lar construction. Crossfield, Alberta-based Modus Inc. recently completed a Harvey’s restaurant in Grande Prairie, which is the first modular restaurant in Western Canada. Harvey’s plans to roll out similar restaurants in other locations, and Modus will be constructing other quick-service restaurants for Wendy’s, A&W, Starbucks and Tim Hortons. “With the modular process for Harvey’s, we began constructing the building in our factory, even before the site was prepared, and had the restaurant completely open 38 days after the modular units arrived on-site,” says Cal Harvey, CEO of Modus Inc. “For a company that wants to generate cash flow, you can get revenue coming in three to four months earlier than you would with traditional construction.” Modus Inc. is also the go-to modular builder for classroom construction, having won every contract tendered by the Alberta government in the last eight years, for a total of almost 2,000 modular classrooms. These modular schools consist of a permanent core, with central offices, lunchrooms and a gymnasium, and modular classrooms situated around the perimeter of the facility. “The Alberta Government has made the modular component a requirement for any new schools, and B.C. and Saskatchewan are also looking at incorporating modular classrooms,” Harvey says. “The big advantage is that as schools grow, you can add more modular classrooms or, conversely, you can take units from a school with a lower student population and relocate them to where they are needed.” In Edmonton, Jandel Homes Ltd. has its roots in modular home construction, but in recent years, has experienced growth in its commercial business. The company can turn around a custom office within 120 days, complete with multiple offices, a foyer with reception, a lunchroom, boardroom and prewired data services. The offices are finished to the same level of an on-site constructed building, but the building is completed significantly faster and requires very little of a business owner’s time. “Time is money and if I’m a consultant for the oilfield, I don’t want to spend one and a half years building my office,” says Mark Huchulak, president of Jandel Homes Ltd.
“The project requires two to three meetings with the owner to finalize the design, and 12 weeks later, we’re there assembling the building on site. Owners don’t have to be involved with the construction of the building, so they can continue to run their businesses with no distractions.” Over the last 60 years, the modular construction industry has matured, improving factory production techniques and incorporating green features for more sustainable buildings. Architects are taking notice, creating hybrid designs with modular parts, and
large sophisticated projects routinely include pre-fabricated elements. Improved processes, an aging skilled workforce, and the demand for tighter construction schedules is expected to drive the industry’s growth in the next 20 years. “Twenty-five years ago, there was a stigma around modular construction, but it’s becoming much more mainstream,” Huchulak says. “Nothing that we build modular is any different than site-built. Modular isn’t a type of structure; it’s simply a different building method.” V
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ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 49
Dawson Wallace Construction:
Quality work gets the job done right By Beverley Tallon
St. Joseph Seminary/Newman Theological College. Photo credit: Jason Ness.
D
awson Wallace Construction had humble beginnings. It was incorporated in Alberta in 1987 by partners Peter Dawson and Wayne Wallace, professional engineers and principals in the business who established their head office in Edmonton. “We had our wives come in to answer phones and do some of the accounting work,” recalls Dawson. Eventually they were able to hire a secretary, another project manager, and some field staff. After five years, they bought a building in which to house their business and growing office staff of six, plus a field staff of approximately 20 people. In 1996, they opened up a branch office in Calgary, which is headed by principal Myron Grunsky. The business steadily grew and they added another principal, Leroy Grunsky, in 2007. They developed a niche market in warehouse, retail, office, and owner-user buildings; strictly in the private-commercial market, avoiding heavy industrial or institutional work.
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Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
Dawson says the ECA has been a good networking tool. “You get a lot of good contacts, not only with your competitors, who we consider our friends, but also suppliers, trades, industry leaders, government representatives, and city officials.” Dawson attributes their success in business to “doing a quality job for our clients, who then come back and award us additional work.” Dawson Wallace Construction’s list of projects is lengthy, with 35 London Drugs, 15 Home Depot/RONA/Totem, and contracts with countless other major retailers. While some projects are bid through invitational tender, many projects are negotiated. “Our clients determine if negotiating the contract is the best delivery format, by considering the nature of the project, the time of year, and if fast-tracking the construction is beneficial.” Dawson adds, “We are much more interested in doing a good job, finishing a job on time, ensuring that the client is happy and that the job is done to their expectations – quality work and service-oriented. We have 170 employees, of which about 50 are salaried supervisory staff. We have a lot of good employees and we try to have fun.” After 27 years in business, they have experienced minimal staff turnover. “We have numerous 25-year employees.” In their first year of business, Dawson Wallace Construction did a volume of about $2 million; company business volume is now around $250 million, and they are expecting next year to be even higher. The company has developed and maintained strong relationships with trades, while not incurring any major disputes. “We manage to settle any differences with our clients and trades amicably,” explains Dawson. The company is proud of the many projects they have done in the Edmonton area. In the last few years, they have completed a $44-million high-end architecture job for St. Joseph Seminary & Newman Theological College, and a 750,000-square-foot, $51-million distribution centre for Gregg Distributors, which is one of the largest warehouse buildings in Edmonton. “In Edmonton alone, we have 15 light industrial projects underway. We believe we have more light industrial experience than any other contractor in our market area.”
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“The ECA is a fabulous organization. It helps the industry in lobbying and getting people together, both socially and formally, for information sessions.”
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Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
They were the first contractor to build in South Edmonton Common and have contracted numerous projects at West Edmonton Mall, including the clothing retailer Simons. Currently they are working on the 1.1-million-square-foot Western Canada Distribution Centre for Home Depot in Calgary, and expansion and renovations to police headquarters in both Medicine Hat and Lethbridge (where they have a part-time satellite office). The company hasn’t had any seriously slow periods. The 2008 recession did not affect them too severely and although business did slow down a bit, they had no layoffs. “We managed to find work in other areas and kept people busy,” he notes. Dawson comments that technology has made their business a lot easier, now that
all employees have computers and field staff have smartphones. “This allows both office and field staff to communicate more effectively and efficiently with our clients, consultants, and subcontractors and service them to make sure their needs are met.” The company’s community work includes Habitat for Humanity –– building one home in Edmonton and several in Calgary, and through other charitable donations, including staff participation in Movember. They are big supporters of the Edmonton Oilers and the Eskimos, with season tickets for both. Dawson says the ECA has been a good networking tool. He served on the board for 10 years and was president in 2001. “You get a lot of good contacts, not only with your competitors, who we consider our friends, but also with suppliers, trades, industry leaders, government representatives, and city officials. “The ECA is a fabulous organization and it helps the industry in lobbying and getting people together, both socially and formally, for information sessions.” V
Dawson Wallace has been providing Construction Management services throughout Western Canada for over 25 years. Our many repeat clients confirm our ongoing commitment to exceed their expectations. We are proud supporters of the Edmonton Construction Association and applaud them for their accomplishments and vision for the future.
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Telephone: (780) 466-8700 ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 53
Image credit: Curtis Trent Photography
Putting people first
After nearly 35 years in the business, Chandos Construction continues to exemplify the employee-ownership model. By Benjamin Freeland
I
t has been said that Alberta’s construction industry emerged from the 2009 recession a changed industry. The recession, while mercifully short-lived for Alberta’s builders, brought about significant changes, including stricter quality-control safeguards and a much more pronounced emphasis on
safety and training. The result has been an industry considerably more peoplefocused than before, a focus given further impetus as industry leaders’ worries shifted from lack of projects to the looming threat of labour shortages. For Chandos Construction president and CEO Tom Redl, however, these post-recession moves by the industry as a whole were something of a “told you so” moment. A fixture in Edmonton’s construction scene since 1980, Chandos has, since its inception, stood out from the pack with its then-unprecedented employee ownership model and its emphasis on positive employee relations. “We’ve been doing this stuff for 35 years,” says Redl. “This meant that when the 54
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
market did get tough, we were three steps ahead. This model has served us very well, and it’s positioned us well for the years ahead.” Music-lovers know the name “Chandos” from the world-famous classical music record imprint by the same name, a name that hearkens to a famous 17th century Palladian house in England where the German-born composer Georg Friedrich Handel was musician in residence. But while the symphony-orchestra model of HR management fits with Chandos Construction, the company name actually refers to Chandos Lake in eastern Ontario, a place where company co-founder Dan O’Brien once called home. “I think the name just had a nice ring to it for the founders,” explains Redl. “That and they explic“In our system, it’s only employees who own itly didn’t want a company named after its owners, but rather a name that reflected the future.” shares, and they’re required to sell them From an economic standpoint, the company could when they leave,” Redl explains. “We really hardly have debuted at a worse time. Nevertheless, the recession-plagued early 1980s were a time of considerbelieve in it; not just as a financial model, but able innovation within Alberta’s beleaguered construcalso as a community-building function. This tion industry, a time that saw the genesis of the openshop movement and also saw one of the Edmonton translates to what we see as an obligation to Construction Association’s biggest membership growth provide opportunities for our people.” spurts. Chandos was very much a product of this innovative time. From the beginning, the company was designed as a closed-circuit employee-ownership model, with a single class of shares across the company and no stock owned by outsiders. Redl asserts that Chandos’s employee-ownership model was intended from the start to be more than simply a financial model. “There are a lot of employee-ownership systems out there that simply amount to token equity for employees,” he asserts. “In our system, it’s only employees who own shares, and they’re required to sell them when they leave. We really believe in it; not just as a financial model, but also as a community-building function. This translates to what we see as an obligation to provide opportunities for our people.” Redl himself joined the company 16 years ago in 1998, and became CEO four years later. Unlike most presidents of construction firms, his professional background is not in construction but in real-estate development. Redl explains that the former company president was looking for an heir apparent, and that he recognized the value of the broader view of - Design and Fab facility located in Stettler - Alberta’s Oil & Gas Heartland - Service facility in Edmonton - Erection and Field Service staff located in Stettler, Red Deer, Edmonton, Calgary - Provides engineered industrial & commercial buildings - CAN/CSA A660 certified (Manufacturer of Steel Structures) - Respected Safety and QC program - Manufacturer of Polyurethane Foam Panels (Spring 2015) - Family owned and operated business
ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 55
the industry that Redl would bring to the company. “There was a recognition at Chandos that construction is essentially a supporting industry to real estate,” he explains. “Bringing me on board was an attempt to bridge the gap between these two industry cultures.” Redl characterizes the industry climate at the time as being “high-conflict,” with a bona fide chasm between the real estate and construction industries. “In real estate, the value is created when the deal is transacted. In construction, value is created through execution. Our job in construction is to pick up the ball, post-transaction, to create value for property owners. This requires good communication between property developers and construction companies, and at the time this simply wasn’t happening.” Redl’s biggest bone to pick with his adopted industry, however, was on the human resource side. “The biggest annoyance for me was that so many construction companies took the view that people were simply commodities,” he says. “Back when labour was plentiful, there seemed to be little thought given to laying people off when they weren’t needed. At the time, very few “Being innovative and attractive to companies were doing the kinds of things Chandos was doing; everything from hour-bank benefit plans to ememployees are one and the same, and our ployee-appreciation parties. Now more companies are industry simply can’t afford to lose sight doing these things, but in many cases they’re doing it out of necessity. But this stuff is in our company’s DNA.” of either,” he says. “To be innovative, you There is no denying that Chandos’s groundbreakneed to invest in training and mentorship, ing financial and human resource model has yielded impressive results. The company has already emerged which we do through a combination of as a force in Edmonton’s highly competitive construction scene, and over the past decade has carved out internal mentorship programs and external an impressive niche in Calgary and Red Deer, as well. training through Dale Carnegie and other With major clients including the City of Edmonton, the University of Alberta and Grant MacEwan University, organizations.” Chandos has been a major contributor to the rejuvenation of Alberta communities. Chandos was recently awarded the contract for Kingsway Toyota, Edmonton’s flagship dealership, on 137 Avenue and 142 Street. Other current projects of note include Pembina Pipelines’ Sherwood Park control centre and the Rosedale seniors’ home in St. Albert.
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Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
“While our model has evolved over time, the heart and soul of the business has always been about respect for individuals and providing people with opportunities. And when you’re in a tight competition for labour, there’s no substitute for that.”
Chandos has also established itself as one of the province’s most innovative general contractors. One of its most exciting current projects is the Mosaic Centre, an office building at 91st Street and Savaryn Drive which, when it opens in May of next year, will be Alberta’s first “net-zero” commercial building. Targeting the Living Building Petal Challenge, LEED® Platinum certification and net-zero energy use, this 30,000-square-foot edifice will be one of the most sustainable buildings in
Canada. It is also the province’s first foray into IPD (Integrated Project Delivery), a subject on which Chandos has emerged as a provincial leader, recently delivering a seminar on it at the University of Alberta. Redl credits his company’s innovative spirit to its founding principle of employee ownership. “We often refer to Chandos as a ‘family business’ and that is exactly how we approach our business,” he says. “When you invest in your people like we do, you create a fertile climate for innovative practices, which in turn creates value for our customers. To be innovative you need to invest in training and mentorship, which we do through a combination of internal mentorship programs and external training through Dale Carnegie and other organizations. Being innovative and attractive to employees are one and the same, and our industry simply can’t afford to lose sight of either.” With the labour shortage boogeyman looming front and centre for Alberta’s construction leaders, Redl sleeps soundly through the night, confident that Chandos’s employee-first model will keep his company ahead of the pack. “The biggest challenge over the next decade will be competition for talent, but as always we’re several steps ahead on this front,” he asserts. “We’re now into our third generation of workers at Chandos, and while our model has evolved over time, the heart and soul of the business has always been about respect for individuals and providing people with opportunities. And when you’re in a tight competition for labour, there’s no substitute for that.” V
ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 57
Sherwood Drive interchange, scheduled to open this fall.
Driving Edmonton’s ring road straight to completion Northeast Anthony Henday Drive project gears up to open this fall By Emily Pike
T
he Sherwood Drive interchange will open this fall, two years ahead of schedule: a significant feat considering the magnitude of the Northeast Anthony Henday Drive project. With 17 construction sites that are working to bring Edmontonians 27 kilometres of six- and eight-lane divided roadway, nine interchanges, two road flyovers, eight rail crossings, and two bridges across the North Saskatchewan River, the contractor on this project, Flatiron-Dragados-Aecon-Lafarge, A Joint Venture, is satisfied with how things are proceeding. “Despite the various challenges with the weather and the restrictive work window we’re in, this project, which began in 2012 and is approximately 50 per cent complete, is still targeted to be finished in October 2016 – right on time,” says Rob Richardson, project manager at FlatironDragados-Aecon-Lafarge, A Joint Venture. The four-year construction schedule might have been longer if it weren’t for the PublicPrivate Partnership (P3) model being used. This model allows the project to be completed more quickly and in a more cost-effective manner: in this case, saving the project three years’ time and $370 million. According to the Alberta Transportation website, by using the government’s P3 model where they partner up with a private entity, the contractor is responsible for a portion of the cost of the project and the Government of Alberta pays them back over the following 30 years.
58
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
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ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 59
North Saskatchewan River bridges.
“By using the Public-Private Partnerships on a total of five sections on Anthony Henday Drive in Edmonton and Stoney Trail in Calgary, the Government of Alberta has saved Alberta taxpayers nearly $2 billion,” says Jasmine Franklin, Communications,
Alberta Transportation. Richardson agrees that P3 model is a successful one: “Because the P3 model is performance-based, the government doesn’t pay until milestones are met and they are getting what they want, and the contractor is afford-
ed the space to deliver the project in the best way possible. It’s a win-win situation that by design saves both time and money.” This “heavy” project utilized 1,400,000 metric tonnes of asphalt, 4,000,000 cubic metres of excavated earth, 94.2 kilometres of driven-steel H-piling for the bridge and 12,000 metric tonnes of structural steel for the steel girders – just a few of the facts that Franklin shared. As the sole steel supplier for the Northeast Anthony Henday Drive project, LMS is responsible for 6,000 metric tonnes of stainless steel and 6,000 metric tonnes of black rebar, sourced both from North America and from around the world, using a dedicated steel broker on staff. “Our steel is being used for the construction of structures such as abutments, columns, bridge decks and retaining walls,” says Norm Streu, president and chief operating officer at LMS. With 10 years of membership with the Edmonton Construction Association, LMS has been working in Edmonton for as many years. “We have worked hard to deliver positive results on all of our largescale construction projects in the residential, commercial and infrastructure sectors,” Streu relates. The total cost of this project is $1.81 billion, with $37 million of financing coming
Total cost of this project:
of asphalt $1.81 billion Amount used on the project: 1,400,000 $878 million metric tonnes LMS supplied: Government of Alberta’s contributions over the next three years:
6,000 metric tonnes of stainless steel, 6,000 metric tonnes of black rebar
60
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
Sherwood Park Freeway. from P3 Canada and $878 million from the Government of Alberta over the next three years. “To date, this is the single largest highway construction project the province has undertaken,” says Franklin. There are some things a P3 partnership cannot resolve, however, and Edmonton’s weather is one of them. Both Alberta Transportation and LMS Steel Reinforcing Group agree: Edmonton’s weather doesn’t make for a simple construction schedule. “The weather impacted progress last winter as the earthworks operations had to be shut down due to cold temperatures. It was also difficult to perform works related to drainage and structures through the winter months. As a result, construction crews worked double shifts to get back on schedule and maintained progress on the project,” says Franklin. “Concrete cannot be poured in extreme cold or during summer rain, but we are accustomed to managing these sorts of construction challenges,” Streu explains. “On this particular project, we prepared steel for a number of bridge decks that were then covered to protect against the weather conditions; once the weather conditions improved, the construction team continued with the concrete pour.” So what’s it like out there, with the con-
struction teams and traffic diversions?
The revitalization of the Edmonton ring
“Although traffic accommodation for this
road will support motorists in the capi-
project has been a great challenge, it has
tal region and the economy, both now and
also been the best part of the project so far,”
into the future. “The Edmonton ring road is
Franklin says. Two-thirds of the project is
a shining example of how this government
being constructed with live traffic on the
continues to make significant investments to
roadway; balancing between keeping traffic
support regional, economic and population
moving and ensuring the safety of workers
growth for the next 25 years and beyond,”
has been challenging but successful.”
Franklin concludes. V
Structural steel for steel girders
Excavated earth:
4,000,000 cubic metres
12,000 metric tonnes $37 million Financing coming from P3 Canada
Driven-steel H-piling for the bridge:
94.2 kilometres’ worth ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 61
Like father, like sons
Second generation continues Binder Construction legacy By Jillian Mitchell
D
Duncan (left) and Colin Binder pose for the camera in front of one of their many projects. uncan Binder of Binder Construction beams with pride when reminiscing about any one of his firm’s projects. But if he had to pick a favourite, the business owner admits he holds a soft spot for the Lillian Osborne High School in Edmonton. Spanning 2007 to 2009, the $27.3-million Edmonton school project was a milestone for the Binder team as the company’s 20th project with Edmonton Public Schools (EPS) and their largest project to date, a whopping 115,000 square feet with the largest gymnasium in the school’s district. “The project also received LEED Silver certification,” adds Binder, like a proud papa. Having pride in one’s work is something Duncan learned from his father, Arno Binder, who founded the company in 1972 on that very principle, along with hard work, honesty, and authenticity in relationships. Today, 18 years after Arno’s sons, Duncan and Colin, took the reigns of the family business, the principles introduced by their father over 40 years ago still govern the business. “Dad was an entrepreneur,” says Binder, the firm’s chief project and operations manager. “The company
62
he was with just before he started his business shifted from vertical to horizontal construction and he wasn’t enjoying that environment. He saw an opportunity to start his own business and took advantage of it.” Forty-two years later, the construction company situated at 108, 17707 - 105 Avenue in Edmonton remains a strong contender in the institutional construc“I feel it’s important to tion sector, with anywhere from 35 to 45 employees, degive back to industry,” pending on the year, many says Binder. “We take a of whom have been with the company since the early lot out of industry, but if days. Accordingly, Duncan you don’t give back to an shares ownership duties with his brother Colin, who industry you hold very serves as the firm’s chief esdear, to me that’s wrong.” timator. Arno Binder also taught his sons the importance of giving back to industry. Leading by example, Arno joined the Edmonton Construction Association (ECA) in the early ‘70s and not long after, served on the association’s board of directors. Son Duncan fol-
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
lowed suit in 1996, eventually serving as association president in 2006. “I feel it’s important to give back to industry,” says Binder, who also serves on the Merit Contractors’ Association Board of Directors and currently sits on the Edmonton Public Schools Foundation Board of Governors. “We take a lot out of industry, but if you don’t give back to an industry you hold Arno Binder also taught his sons very dear, to me that’s wrong.” the importance of giving back to The firm has industry. Leading by example, Arno earned a great reputation for their work in joined the Edmonton Construction the educational secAssociation (ECA) in the early ‘70s tor, through projects such as the Lillian and not long after, served on the Osborne School and association’s board of directors. the Norwood School modernization project, both in Edmonton. Their reputation also precedes them in the healthcare field through projects such as 2004’s Westlock Continuing Care Centre in Westlock, Alberta, among others. Of course, the team does not shy away from projects in other sectors—the New Mormon Temple for the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1999, and 2010’s affordable housing project in Beaumont, as a few examples. Binder Construction’s latest undertaking, the Leduc Gaetz Landing housing project, is a charitable venture the firm undertook alongside the Leduc Foundation and Habitat for Humanity. As such, it’s a project very near and dear to Binder’s heart. “We’re working quite closely with Habitat and we’re having days where staff will spend time at the Habitat factory building walls [for the project],” he adds, citing that the construction company is also a strong supporter of early-education charities. Over the years, Binder Construction has been well-recognized for their valued contribution to industry. Highlights include two awards for the University of Alberta Triffo Hall project—the 2010 National Steel Design Award and the Award of Excellence in the sustainability category—and the Prairie Design Institute Award for the Northgate Transit Centre project. Future plans for Duncan, Colin and their team include more of the same—to keep doing what they’re doing. “We try to maintain a level of work that we can effectively manage and be successful at to ensure repeat clients,” he says. V
Integrity, Service and a Passion for Quality
General Contracting | Construction Manager | Design Build
Binder Construction | 108, 17707 – 105 Avenue, Edmonton, AB T5S 1T1 Phone 780-452-2740 | Email admin@binderconstruction.com www.BinderConstruction.com ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 63
Scaling new heights Since its origins as the Edmonton Builders Exchange, the Edmonton Construction Association has paved the way for the city’s emergence as a construction powerhouse. By Benjamin Freeland
View of the Edmonton Arena district with Stantec Tower. Image courtesy: Edmonton Arena Corp.
I
t appears certain that 2014 will go down in history as yet another edifying year for the city of Edmonton. Ten years ago, Edmontonians elected former property developer turned building champion Stephen Mandel as their mayor, with his blunt yet inspiring call for “no more crap” with regard to urban development. Fast-forward to this year: we now have a new downtown arena on target for its 2016 opening, an awe-inspiring 62-storey tower that will begin serving as Stantec’s new headquarters in 2018 and a raft of other exciting projects on the horizon. A decade after the Mandel era began, Edmonton now stands a city transformed. None of this, of course, would have been possible without the city’s perennially overachieving construction industry. Led by heavy-hitters like PCL, Ledcor, Clark Builders and Graham and underpinned by a dizzying array of smaller companies, Edmonton’s construction sector has long punched above its weight nationally and internationally. From its earliest days, Edmonton has celebrated its leading builders, as evidenced by the number of present-day landmarks named after construction leaders of yesterday—like Richard Foote, Harry Hole and Bob Stollery. What truly sets Edmonton apart from many other jurisdictions is the harmonious relations among the city’s builders. “From the very start, there was an acknowledgment that industry-wide goals can only be achieved through industry-wide measures,” says current ECA executive director John McNicoll. “There was always an understanding that while the association’s members are each other’s competitors, there are some things that can only be achieved as a collective, and that as an industry we have to manage our own common good. From the start the ECA was predicted to be a powerful force in this city, and I truly believe we’ve lived up to that projection.” In its 83-year journey from a 43-firm exchange to Western Canada’s largest municipal construction association with 1,200 members, the Edmonton Construction Association has not only managed to stay relevant in a mercurial business environment, but has also largely mirrored the evolution of the construction industry in Edmonton. While Alberta’s capital has always been a city of builders, the ECA has played an important role in fostering a rare sense of esprit-de-corps among Edmonton’s construction firms, which in turn has added considerable value to the city as a place to build. Plus Ça Change… It was the job nobody wanted. At the first official meeting of the board of directors of the Edmonton Builders Exchange on December 19, 1930, five men received nominations to be president of the fledgling construction industry organization, and all five declined. In the end, the eight men present nominated leading Edmonton contractor Richard Foote in absentia, agreeing that the position should go to a general contractor. Foote was unanimously elected by the board and informed shortly thereafter of his new position. As unorthodox as Richard Foote’s investiture was, it was an auspicious start to the organization that 35 years later would be renamed the Edmonton Construction Association. Foote was one of Edmonton’s earliest construction pioneers; a man who moved to the city as a young bricklayer amid its first building boom in 1903, and later became a leading GC, longtime alderman and one-time mayoral candidate. Foote’s contributions to the city include Edmonton’s Civic Block, St. Mary’s High School and ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 65
Downtown Edmonton looking north, circa 1930s. Edmonton viewed from the North Saskatchewan River, circa 1920s.
Edmonton Public Building under construction May 27th, 1930. The general contractor was Poole Construction.
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Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
Athabasca Hall at the University of Alberta, and his mark on the city lives on courtesy of the University of Alberta’s Foote Field and a handful of other landmarks that bear his name. While Richard Foote would scarcely recognize today’s Edmonton, with a population now 10 times that of 1930, he certainly would recognize the bold, entrepreneurial spirit that continues to define the city’s perennially overachieving construction industry. He would also recognize the core set of values still reflected in the ECA’s Code of Ethics and Association Objectives – to promote excellence in the construction of building, and just and honourable practice in the conduct of business, and to suppress malpractice – values that have contributed mightily to Edmonton’s reputation as a construction business-friendly city. “The ECA has always been an industry melting pot here in Edmonton,” says PCL Construction Management Inc. vice-president and ECA board member Alan Kuysters. “It’s not a general contractors association or a suppliers association, such as you see in many centres. Everybody has an equal voice, and that has made a tremendous difference.” Good Times, Bad Times The Edmonton Construction Association has, since its inception, represented an oasis of stability in an industry typified by dramatic ups and downs – a fact further compounded by a provincial economy characterized by boom and bust cycles. In fact, the ECA has tended to flourish when the industry has been at its lowest ebb. Such was the case in 1930. The Great Depression saw the average family income in Alberta drop by over fifty per cent from $548 to $212 between 1928 and 1933, and construction activity ground to a virtual halt. This adversity, however, was the impetus behind the creation of the Edmonton Builders Exchange. Modeled after the Canadian Construction Association, which was established in 1918, the original 1931 organization consisted of 43 firms. A small handful of the original 43 still remain within the ECA fold, most notably Poole Construction Ltd., known today as PCL Construction Management Inc.
As it happened, the Great Depression was less acute in Edmonton than in many other Canadian cities. Supported in large part by a booming northern aviation sector, the city’s population continued to grow, reaching the 90,000-mark by 1939. And construction activity continued, albeit at a slower rate, with major downtown landmarks like The Bay and the Masonic Temple, as well as a slew of family houses going up during the 1930s. But the prevailing uncertain economic conditions proved to be a great impetus for contractors to join the fledgling Builders Exchange. By June of 1931 the exchange had secured office space in the old Tegler Building, a propitious start to the fledgling organization. While none of the ECA’s current denizens were around during the Great Depression, most have all-too-vivid memories of the early eighties recession, which hit Edmonton’s construction industry like a ton of bricks. Paradoxically, however, the early ’80s saw the sharpest-ever increase in ECA membership, reaching a yet unsurpassed high of 1,230 in 1982. John McNicoll contends that with a scarcity of projects for companies to bid on during this time, access to the ECA planroom became an opportunity companies could no longer afford to forfeit. “Before the crash of 1981, many companies felt they didn’t need us,” he says. “But once the work dried up, our planroom became their only chance to bid on public projects.” The planroom, both the physical and the electronic COOLNet versions, remains the ECA’s primary calling card, as well as its biggest bone of contention. McNicoll notes that in the pre-digital age, there would often be long lineups of contractors wrapped around the association building waiting to access the planroom, particularly during lean times. “There have been times when real tension erupted between contractors over access to the facility,” he notes. “Now, of course, it’s all accessible online via COOLNet, so thankfully we don’t have these sorts of problems anymore.” Whatever tension the ECA’s centralized bidding system may have inadvertently caused in the past, McNicoll contends that the system has been a vital in ensuring fairness in Edmonton’s construction industry. “The planroom is like a treasure map that
“The ECA has always been an industry melting pot here in Edmonton,” says PCL Construction Management Inc. vice-president and ECA board member Alan Kuysters. “It’s not a general contractors association or a suppliers association, such as you see in many centres. Everybody has an equal voice, and that has made a tremendous difference.”
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Winds of Change The ECA’s contributions to the construction industry in Edmonton and yonder extend well-beyond its centralized bidding hub. Amid the economic tumult of the 1980s, a group of open-shop contractors met in the ECA boardroom to form an advocacy group of their own, in response to government policy that, at the time, heavily favoured the unionized portion of the industry. The result of this meeting was the Merit Contractors’ Association, an association that now claims over 1,300 members, including most of Alberta’s large generals and trade contractors, and whose groundbreaking benefit plan now covers over 40,000 people. The ECA is also the progenitor of the Alberta Construction Safety Association (ACSA). Originally overseen by the provincial Alberta Construction Association, the ACSA became an independent, non-profit society in 1988 and has since been the province’s leading construction safety educational body. Other ECA innovations have remained under the auspices of the association. The ECA’s Learning Centre and I-Room is one of Alberta’s leading construction industry classrooms, offering courses on everything from Building Information Modeling (BIM) to Builders’ Lien issues and LEED construction best practices. A new partnership with the Athabasca University allows students in its new online architecture program to use the ECA’s teaching facilities. The association has also served an important role in providing communication between construction and other related industries. “Our industry hasn’t always been very good at talking to others,” asserts Kuysters. “The ECA has been very effective at building bridges with other industries, such as surety
and insurance, and offering opportunities for educational exchange.” It has also successfully negotiated rapid technological change in an industry traditionally known for being averse to change. “One of the real challenges in the electronic age is gathering project information in a concise way,” says Kuysters. “The ECA has done an excellent job at this with their COOLNet system, ensuring efficiency in the procurement process.” A further reality facing construction leaders, in Edmonton and elsewhere, is the dramatic generational shift currently underway. The Young Builders Group, established at the ECA’s 2014 Annual General Meeting, with its stated goal of promoting the growth and development of young construction professionals through education, community activity and networking, is a reflection of this reality. In less than a year, the subgroup has already reached 380 members. ECA’s current rebranding exercise is also a reflection of this generational shift. “Change is good,” says McNicoll. “We’re now talking about the ‘New ECA’. Every organization needs to refresh so as to attract new talent, and seeing as we haven’t rebranded since the 1980s, we think we’re overdue for a change.” What Comes Next? With Edmonton in the midst of an unprecedented building boom, underpinned by robust regional and provincial economic growth, there has scarcely been a better time to be in the construction industry. But does the same truth apply to the ECA, given that the organization’s instances of peak growth have tended to be inversely parallel to the health of the industry as a whole? McNicoll believes the association’s future is indeed bright. “There’s a real vibrancy in the association these days,” he asserts. “We’re looking to grow, which a lot of associations really aren’t. Our biggest need is to continue providing great services to our members, particularly in light of the current generational change. And I believe we’re doing very well on this front.” Kuysters concurs. “Times have changed,” he says. “In the past, people might have joined the association just for access to the planroom; but nowadays, new players are coming on board for a wide range of reasons.
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“The tremendous success of the Young Builders Group in its first year of existence is testimony to the energy and vitality of the association, and for that I truly believe the ECA has an extremely bright future,” Kuysters says. Ladies at the YBG Golf Tournament in 2014.
For new companies coming onto the scene in Edmonton, ECA membership means additional credibility, and this is really transforming the association. The tremendous success of the Young Builders Group in its first year of existence is testimony to the energy and vitality of the association, and for that I truly believe the ECA has an extremely bright future.” Integrity, Leadership, Quality and Value: these have been the ECA’s core pillars since its genesis as the Edmonton Builders Exchange in 1930. And thanks to the association’s second pillar, these four values have come to accurately represent Edmonton’s construction industry as a whole – a lean, mean, highly competitive and innovative force that has won plaudits across Canada and beyond. Here’s to the next 80 years! V
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The Vets family business is growing again—and in more ways than one By Emily Pike
W
ith an expansion into fullservice mechanical contracting and a possible future boss, the Vets family is
expanding, whether by nature or by nurture.
72
fairly uncommon, but he’s confident in the new business’s success, saying that they’re gaining traction with some jobs already that are helping to build the new business. When asked if he worries about what his pre-
2014 saw the founding of Vets Mechanical, a
decessors (Dad, Grandpa and Great-Grandpa)
prime mechanical contractor for the commer-
would think about this bold move, he says sim-
cial marketplace, meaning that Vets Sheet Metal
ply, “There comes a point where it becomes your
now does full mechanical systems including the
business and the family’s legacy, [and] it’s not
plumbing, heating, gas, ground work, ventilation
their business anymore. You need to be able to
and refrigeration all under one roof – an expan-
make decisions and stand behind them.”
sion into a market that they used to sub-contract
2014 has also seen Rayner welcome his first
to. It’s a move that Sean Rayner himself admits is
child, a baby boy named Rhys. While Rhys will
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
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be encouraged to do whatever his little heart desires, Rayner says, “I look forward to the opportunity to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit in my children and my family… I think family business is a part of the Rayner family and our history and our legacy.” With Rayner fourth in the captain’s chair, Vets’ 93-year history is truly a legacy—one that started by happenstance, necessity and a little bit of mischief. Rayner’s great-grandfather, Fred T. Rayner, had a job with a sheet metal company and was living in the same neighbourhood as his work, in a time when telephones were called ‘party lines’ because an entire block of buildings would share the same line. One day on the phone, while lamenting about how slow business was, Fred’s boss mentioned that he thought that Fred would be gone by the end of the week. Little did he know that Fred’s wife Fanny was listening in! She quickly piped up, “Forget that! You call Fred and tell him he quit. Send him home. He doesn’t need your stinkin’ job!” From there, Vets Sheet Metal was formed (thanks to Fanny’s eavesdropping!) so that Fred could put bread on the table. And if Rhys one day wants to know if it was enthusiasm or family pressure that helped Rayner decide to take the helm at Vets nine years ago? “My excitement is about business… To me it was an opportunity to build a business and a business that had some history and
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Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
some momentum, as opposed to starting from scratch.” The company has evolved quite a bit in the time that Rayner has been leading the charge. Traditionally a company that found its work equally in the construction field and in “job shop” custom metal fabrication, Vets sold off the fabrication side of the company and now focuses on the construction market: a booming industry in Edmonton, which Rayner confesses can be difficult to focus in. “When you’re so ‘busy’ bidding projects and building the business and finding employees and trying to find ways to increase your productivity… its hard to decide which fire is burning the brightest and needs your attention.” How have they succeeded in the busy Edmonton market? “We’ve got good people who share the same values and believe in the direction that we’re headed,” Rayner explains. “The success of a company that manages according to its values is infinitely better than the company that has a whole bunch of individuals with their own set of values working on their own agendas.” They don’t go-it alone, though. Vets has been a member of the Edmonton Construction Association (ECA) since 1953. “Every industry needs a voice and to the construction industry in Edmonton, the Edmonton Construction Association is that voice. It’s an extremely good cross-section of the population of contractors in this market, of all different shapes, sizes, industries… They do a good job of being that voice and creating opportunities,” Rayner says. Along with their 61 years of membership with the ECA, both Rayner’s father and grandfather have sat on the board. “I hope that in the near future, I might be able to be involved in the board as well,” he smiles. The future of the Vets family is bright. Rayner excitedly speaks of the “caliber of people and the capability that we have in our mechanical division, which is new, but is going to be a powerhouse, [as well as] our service division.” “The thing that excites me about the service side of our business is that anybody can be our customer… We’re not just a construction company anymore.” V
How have they succeeded in the busy Edmonton market? We’ve got good people who share the same values and believe in the direction that we’re headed.
ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 75
Images courtesy: Chandos Construction Ltd.,
‘LEEDing’ by example: Alberta demonstrates commitment to green building By Melanie Franner
T
he adoption of green building practices and techniques has come a long way over recent years. The Canada Green Building Council has contributed to this phenomenon, as has the growing acceptance of LEED certification. But perhaps lesser known is how the province of Alberta has helped lead the charge. “I think green building is a mainstream component of today’s construction process, whether the buildings are getting certified or not,” states Tanya Doran, Alberta Chapter executive director, Canada Green Building Council. “At this point, the late adopters are being pulled into this con76
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
As a net-zero energy building, the Mosaic Centre will generate as much energy on site as it consumes annually.
versation. The Canada Green Building Council is in its 12th year of operation but here in Alberta, we’ve been having this conversation for 18 years now.” The Numbers Have It According to Doran, Alberta has more LEED-certified square footage per capita than any other province in Canada – and even the U.S. “We’ve certified 3.3 square feet per person in Alberta in 2013,” she explains. “Ontario is hot on our heels and Quebec and British Columbia are right behind. In 2013 in Illinois, which is the leading state in the U.S., the certified square footage per capita is 3.1 square feet.” Many Canadian municipalities have furthered the green building cause by specifying that public buildings be LEED certified. Today, most municipalities require LEED Silver certification. “The City of Calgary was the first city in Canada to put a LEED standard policy in place, which they did in 2004,” states Doran. “In 2008, the City upgraded their policy from LEED Silver to LEED Gold. Today, there are only about a dozen municipalities in the country that have a LEED Gold policy.” A Moving Target The LEED certification standard is cur-
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rently in its third version in Canada, with each version incorporating higher benchmarks over the last. In 2010, LEED certification for existing buildings was introduced in Canada. “In the city of Edmonton alone, we now have 15 projects registered under LEED certification for existing buildings,” explains Doran, who cites a couple examples as the Telus Plaza, the Enbridge Tower, Commerce Place and Manulife Place. “Calgary has 10 existing building projects certified and an additional 11 registered, but Calgary has a larger portion of Class A office space.” The province of Alberta has demonstrated its commitment to green building in a number of ways over the years. And when it comes to the Living Building Alberta has more LEEDChallenge, Alberta once again finds itself at the forefront of green building techcertified square footage per nology and practices. “LEED was designed to go after the top 25 per cent of projects,” states Doran. capita than any other province “The Living Building Challenge is like LEED on steroids. It is designed to go after in Canada – and even the U.S. the top one per cent of buildings.” The Mosaic Centre is a 30,000-square-foot office building currently under construction in the city of Edmonton. Once completed in May 2015, the $10.5-million building will join the prestigious ranks of five other buildings around the globe to receive the prestigious Living Building Challenge certification. “This project will be the most northerly net-zero energy and [Living Building Challenge] Petalcertified building to date,” explains Jennifer Hancock, director of Innovative Construction for Chandos Construction Ltd., and partner on the Mosaic Centre project. “I think this will be a great accomplishment for Alberta, for Canada and for North America.” The Living Building Challenge requires that the project be self-sustaining in a series of categories, including water, energy, materials, place, health, equity and beauty. Projects can achieve three types of certification: full certification, petal recognition or net-zero energy-building certification. As a net-zero energy building, the Mosaic Centre will generate as much energy on site as it consumes annually. 78
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
The companies behind the Mosaic Centre are also being innovative in other ways. “We have a website and are doing all types of presentations,” notes Hancock. “The mentality of the team here is to acknowledge that this building is meant to be an inspiration point, a teaching tool. We want to disseminate the information as far and wide as we can.” Another element of the Mosaic Centre is an unusual business arrangement. “We had to go to the U.S. to get the Integrated Project Delivery contract,” says Hancock, who explains that the project contract calls for all of the profits to be put into one pool, to be shared by team members. “It has created a virtual organization where the team vibe is phenomenal. There is a high level of satisfaction that comes from working together like this.” Another company that is part of this team – and a future tenant of the Mosaic Centre – is EcoAmmo Sustainable Consulting Inc., part of the Mosaic Family of Companies. “This might be the first Living Building Challenge building in this region but it can’t be our last,” explains Brandy Burdeniuk, principal, EcoAmmo Sustainable Consulting. “The fact that an organization like this is putting their ‘money where their mouth is’ and staying true to their vision is a big testament to Edmonton’s and Alberta’s ingenuity. We don’t want it to be a one-off project.” In targeting net-zero energy, LEED Platinum certification and Living Building Challenge Petal certification, the Mosaic Centre will certainly offer up a host of learning experiences in all areas of building construction – from the traditional energy efficiencies and the types of building materials used to the indoor air quality and even the type of building contract used. “We want people to see the Mosaic Centre as a living and breathing educational space where people can learn from our experiences,” states Burdeniuk. And it is this living and breathing space that Canada Green Building Council’s Doran sees as being central to the province’s future in green building. “I think the people cost will eventually outweigh the other costs and it will become a case of where the owner can’t afford not to invest in these types of green building practices,” she says. V
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ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 79
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I
Spotowski reports that the
n Edmonton, there are few names that are as prominent in the concrete-coatings, restoration and protection sector as Desco, and aforementioned third-generation surrounding the name is a history of a successful family business employees of Desco are part of that promises to carry into the future. Founded in 1956 by Nestor and Orest Samycia, Desco has been a the ECA Young Builders Group, family-run business from the start. Currently, it’s owned by three indiwhich is giving new members viduals, all part of the lineage’s second generation, while the third generation is already working within the company, ensuring a bright future of the construction community for the company, whose focus has been in the commercial, institutional the opportunity to interact on and industrial sectors. Throughout its existence, Desco has worked on impressive projects challenges and successes. throughout the Edmonton region. Recent examples of their work include the Art Gallery of Alberta, the Katz Centre for Health Research and the Salville Sports Centre. Throughout the history of Desco, the company has kept close ties to the Edmonton Construction Association. Nestor Samycia was a director with the ECA and today, two second-generation executives with Desco both sit as past presidents of the ECA (company partner Daryl Samycia in 2002, and company partner Michael Spotowski in 2009). “We believe in giving back to the industry,” Samycia says. “The construction industry is what we’re all about and our success directly results from it. We believe in supporting the industry and helping guide future generations with our thoughts as directors and presidents. “We’re also extremely involved in other networking opportunities,” he continues. “Whether it’s the spring barbeque, golf tournament or the AGM (which they sponsor), that’s our way of giving back – getting involved, networking and spreading the good word of the Edmonton Construction Association, what it is all about and having good values.” Michael Spotowski. In particular, the networking aspect has been beneficial to Desco’s business. Look up and down the ECA membership list and you’ll find a variety of contractors that have worked with the company over the years. As Spotowski reflects, the opportunities have helped the company exponentially, especially when compared to the trials and tribulations one would face trying to build up a database on their own. “A big part of the networking is the events that they have. Trying to do it on your own, you’d have to find some sort of platform or group you can network through,” he explains. “The ECA covers a very broad level of contractors and suppliers, so there are a lot of opportunities to meet. It’s a very good mix, which allows for a lot of interaction that would be really difficult to achieve otherwise and would take a lot more time if you were to do it on your own.” 80
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
The value of networking has been passed on to the new generation coming up as well. Spotowski reports that the aforementioned third generation employees of Desco are part of the ECA Young Builders Group, which is giving new members of the construction community the opportunity to interact on challenges and successes. These interactions ultimately have shown success for Desco. Samycia has seen this first-hand, time after time, and it’s a message he truly believes in – that networking is the introduction, but fostering the relationship becomes more important as initial projects look to become continued work. “Our industry is relationship-based. People tend to do business with people they like and have confidence in,” he says. “To develop that relationship, you need to have a foot in the door. When you have strong relationships with your clients, whether end-users or general contractors, you get success, you get more work, and it’s a win-win situation.” It is those relationships that Spotowski has valued most in his time with Desco and the ECA. “What I did enjoy during my presidency was the relationships that developed with leaders of other successful companies and manufacturers,” Spotowski says. “It’s nice to have friends within these companies who you can call when you’re trying to get answers to a challenge you have with a current project or what-have-you, but a lot of these individuals are high-powered within their companies or the industry. It was nice to have that camaraderie when I was with the ECA and maintain it now. That, to me, has proven to be invaluable.” For Samycia, the memorable moments come not as single, isolated events. Instead, it’s the continued ability that Desco has enjoyed; to see an opportunity unfold, and take advantage of it.
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These [ECA] interactions ultimately have shown success for Desco. Samycia has seen this first-hand, time after time, and it’s a message he truly believes in – that networking is the introduction, but fostering the relationship becomes more important as initial projects look to become continued work. “The recurring success for us at Desco has been the ability to face the same questions – what do you do, what’s your core business – and get into that initial conversation. At that point, the guy you’re talking to starts saying, ‘you know what, I have a situation, would you have a solution for me?’ So there’s the opportunity for us to say yes and have a dialogue, have a follow-up that leads to strong potential for work. Almost at every single function we go to, we have a lead or two that we pull out of it.” V ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 81
A FMI “Leadership Insight Lab”, or LIL, in 2012.
FMI Center for Strategic Leadership comes Canada, presents FMI Center forto Strategic Leadership comes to Canada, presents bold bold new leadership lessons new leadership lessons By Michael Mangum, FMI Center for Strategic Leadership
By Michael Mangum, FMI Center for Strategic Leadership
col·lab·o·ra·tion (kəˌlabəˈrāSHən) noun -
The action of working with someone to produce or create something Over the course of the last year or so, the Edmonton Construction Association and FMI have collaborated around a shared belief that all parties benefit when the leadership “horsepower” of vermembership the course of thegrows. last yearWith or so, the Association the ECA thisEdmonton goal in Construction mind, I would like to make you aware of two FMI have collaborated around for a shared all parties benefitteammates. when exciting,andECA-sponsored events youbelief andthat your business
O
the leadership “horsepower” of the ECA membership grows. With this goal in
But first, I can hearlikea tonumber youofsaying, “Wait just a minute, mind, I would make youof aware two exciting, ECA-sponsored eventswho are these FMI guys? I’ve never heard of them before.” Fair enough. Well, FMI is a “soup-to-nuts” consultancy that works for you and your business teammates. solely with the engineering and “Wait construction industry across But first, I can hear a number of you saying, just a minute, who are these FMI the guys?U.S. and Canada. Typical client engagements cover an array of services, from investment banking I’ve never heard of them before.” Fair enough. Well, FMI is a “soup-to-nuts” consultancy that and research to classic management consultingand (i.e., strategic planning, productivity analysis, risk management, etc.) works solely with the engineering construction industry across the U.S. and Canada. andclient leadership development. have from worked with over 85and perre-cent of the Engineering News Typical engagements cover an array We of services, investment banking Record 400 largest contractors in the U.S., as well as many major accounts across Canada. 82
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
Were I back in the States, at this point I’d include a statement along the lines of “…this is not our first rodeo,” underscoring the fact that we’ve been doing this type of work for over 65 years. But
Working closely with ECA’s executive director, John McNicoll, and his leadership team, we have identified two opportunities over the next six to nine months that open the door to accelerated leadership growth and development.
search to classic management consulting (i.e., strategic planning, productivity analysis, risk management, etc.) and leadership
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as many major accounts across Canada. Were I back in the States, at this point I’d include a statement along the lines of “…this is not our first rodeo,” underscoring the fact
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it makes me sound a bit of a keener…sorry! Better get back quickly to the story…) Our first leadership endeavour with the ECA involved the March 27th Kickoff Party
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for the Young Builders Group at MKT. My colleague Ron Magnus, managing director of FMI’s Center for Strategic Leadership, addressed the YBGers on the leadership lessons he learned as an instructor at the U.S. Air Force “Top Gun” advanced warfare tactics school. As usual, Magnus wowed the crowd and left them wanting more. It also planted the seed for how FMI’s broad experience in leadership development could be deployed for the benefit of ECA members. Working closely with ECA’s executive director, John McNicoll, and his leadership team, we have identified two opportunities over the next six to nine months that open the door to accelerated leadership growth
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and development. The first one is a YBGonly event that we call a “Leadership Insight Lab”, or LIL. The dates are February 16-17, 2015, at a location yet to-be-determined in the greater Edmonton area. ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 83
FMI’s first leadership endeavour with the ECA occurred at the March 27th Kickoff Party for the Young Builders Group at MKT.
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Mark your calendars for June 1st to 5th, 2015, as the dates for the inaugural Canadian Leadership Institute to be held in the Banff area.
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eight domains of FMI’s “Peak Leadership” model: a research-based model that identifies habits and behaviours that help build strong leaders (and successful teams!) across your organization. Potential topical foci include: Motivate & Inspire; Set Direction; Align Re-
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Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
sources; and Leading Within. Stay tuned for more information in the coming months as to details of this exciting YBG educational offering. Until then, feel free to check out the FMI website for more details about FMI Peak Leadership Training at the end of this article. The first open registration event is one that really excites us. Mark your calendars for June 1st to 5th, 2015, as the dates for the inaugural Canadian Leadership Institute to be held in the Banff area. It is being modeled on the flagship program of the FMI Center for Strategic Leadership offerings, the Leadership Institute. For almost two decades, FMI has trained literally thousands of leaders across the North
American construction industry from our facilities in Colorado. Its
are waiting, feel free to head to the Leadership Institute website
four days are packed with a blend of classroom learning, hands-on
(link below) for more details and comments from past participants.
construction-focused challenges and one-on-one sessions.
There’s even a video that gives you a taste of what you’ll experi-
Rather than taking my word for the LI’s powerful impact on each
ence in Banff. (Well, not exactly, because the Canadian LI will be
leader who walks in the door, listen to the comments of Cory Jo-
tailoured to the uniqueness that is the Albertan construction mar-
doin, president of Jen-Col Construction in Stony Plain, Alb.: “You
ket!) Here is the URL:
will learn deeply about yourself, why you do the things you do. I en-
Make your plans now to join us for one or both of these upcoming
joyed seeing and experiencing the developing leaders one at a time.”
events. I am confident that you will find that the collaboration be-
Registration for this event will opened during the month of Sep-
tween the ECA and FMI has indeed created something worthwhile
tember, so stay tuned for all the details from the ECA. While you
and transformative for all who attend. I hope to see you there! V
FMI website: http://www.fminet.com/csl/individual-development/peak-leadership-training.html. Leadership Institute website: http://www.fminet.com/csl/individual-development/leadership-institute-training.html.
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Execution:
The biggest challenge for business ECA and Results Canada excited to launch Execution Workshop series First seminar: Execution – the Missing 98% Date: September 24, 2014 Time and location: 8:00-9:30 a.m. in the ECA Learning Centre
E
conomic events and major trend shifts in the competitive forces that shape industries have caused many companies (indeed, whole industries) to completely rethink their business models and strategic plans. To their peril, many firms let their strategic-planning efforts lapse into a meaningless exercise in goal-setting – getting better at doing more of the same – only to find that the assumptions under which they have been operating their businesses are no longer valid. To remedy this, it is crucial to use a disciplined thought process to assess how economic and industry dynamics are likely to play out, and then create an effective strategic plan to confront this reality. Strategic planning should be an ongoing process, ideally updated quarterly – not an annual event. Many business leaders realize the need to make profound changes to their company strategy, but then become incredibly frustrated when they share their vision for the future and don’t achieve the implementation traction they desire. Having the right strategy is only the first step. “Execution is the major job of the business leader,” according to Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan in their book, Execution – The Discipline of Getting Things Done. Suppose, for the purposes of this article, that a company has gone through a rigorous, disciplined strategic-thinking process. They have involved key managers and team members in the process and have obtained buy-in. They have crafted what appears to be an effective strategic plan to set the firm up for future success in the industry. Far too often, this plan fades from view when managers go back to being busy with day-to-day operations and firefighting. Strategic action priorities specified in the plan often get put on the back-burner in favour of the urgent needs of the moment. According to Harvard Business School professor Robert Kaplan, 90 per cent of strategies fail due to poor execution. This is because companies execute their strate86
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
“It’s a privilege for us to deliver meaningful education to the members of the ECA,” says Results Canada director Jeff Tetz.
The secret to effective leadership is being able also to devote sufficient time and attention to implementing the key action priorities that will ensure your longer-term strategic objectives will be achieved.
gies in fits and starts, and few companies are good at aligning their current activities to their long-term strategic priorities. Consider also the following alarming research: • Only 27 per cent of employees have access to their company’s strategic plan (Harvard Business School Press). • Only five per cent of employees understand their company’s strategy (Strategy and Leadership Journal). • Ninety-two per cent of organizations do not measure Key Performance Indicators (Renaissance Solutions). Balancing strategic planning and business execution is easier said than done. Being able to effectively craft, communicate, and then execute a winning strategy is a core competency that can determine who will ultimately dominate an industry category. Yes, you still need to manage your day-to-day operations, sell your products and services, look after your customers, handle problems, and fight fires. That’s called “doing your job,” or just table stakes. The secret to effective leadership is being able also to devote sufficient time and attention to implementing the key action priorities that will ensure your longer-term strategic objectives will be achieved. Interestingly, while we can handily recall seven-digit phone numbers, studies on working memory show that people can only remember, pay attention to, and manipulate three or four pieces of complex information at one time. These findings have implications for effective strategic leadership. Leaders should be able to clearly articulate the top three
things the company is working on. If they can’t, they are not leading well. Ideally, everyone in the company should know the answers to the following questions: • What are the top three strategic moves the company needs to make over the next three to five years in order to position the company for future success in the industry? • What are the top three actions the company must execute in the current quarter? • What are the top three actions each key individual must personally implement in the next quarter? Being able to clearly communicate strategic action priorities to this level of granularity and to align key staff to their achievement is rightly considered a major accomplishment for many firms. It is then usually left up to individual managers to ensure these actions are carried out each quarter. Our studies of highly effective companies and leaders – those who are true masters of business execution – reveal that the execution disciplines are incorporated to drive business excellence. These disciplines are categorized into what Results Canada calls the “Results Execution Framework”: 1. Vision 2. Strategy 3. Talent 4. Leadership Within each of these categories are proven, research-based processes and techniques that separate the good companies from the
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Balancing strategic planning and business execution is easier said than done. Being able to effectively craft, communicate, and then execute a winning strategy is a core competency that can determine who will ultimately dominate an industry category.
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Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
great. For example, great companies are those that: • Have explicitly defined core values, vision and purpose, and have embedded those elements into everything they do, from managing people to expressing their brand in the marketplace. • Defined strategy in a simple format so that all their people can understand the plan and see how their efforts contribute to moving the company towards its vision. • Implement world-class recruiting and performance management processes to ensure they are hiring the very best people available and are leveraging their strengths to the fullest extent. • Are led by ambitious leaders who are forward-looking, authentic, accountable and willing to learn. Running a business will never be challenge-free but in order to achieve sustainably better results – to transform – largely depends on how effectively a company can execute under this framework. How well is your company executing? Business Execution Workshop Series Launching In September 2014 If you’re emphatically nodding yes to the key points of this article but are unsure of where to even start, then you’ll be happy to learn that Results Canada will be delivering a series of interactive workshops beginning on September 24th, 2014. The ongoing series will deliver meaningful education, compel you to critically assess your own company’s strengths and weaknesses, and share ideas with other like-minded business leaders with similar challenges. All with one objective: helping you take steps toward transforming your business with measureable results. “It’s a privilege for us to deliver meaningful education to the members of the ECA,” says Results Canada director Jeff Tetz. “The ECA and Results Canada share a common philosophy of making a meaningful difference for the companies with which we are fortunate to partner. The educational series is one more way for us to continue to live our purpose of making good companies great.” Please visit www.edmca.com to register. V
ECA & Predictable Futures introduce informative new workshop series: A Business Succession Roadmap The pathway to predictability – Drift, drown, or decide First seminar: Introduction to Family Business Succession – Protecting the Species Date: October 15, 2014 Time and location: 8:00-11:45 a.m. in the ECA Learning Centre
S
uccessful successions of private businesses are a process—not an event. Not understanding that process is the reason that 70 per cent of business families do not survive through to the second generation. Successful sessions are as much an art as they are a science. The technical advisors (lawyers, accountants and financial planners) often do not view the process holistically but from a silo perspective. Their technical myopia often leads to unintended results…
Entrepreneurs and business families are searching for an advisor/facilitator who is a “process” professional; someone who gets out of the bookshelf and into the hearts of private owners. Succession is far more than a tax and legal issue; it involves emotions, natural conflicts, sibling rivalry, the purpose of wealth, long-term retirement needs, philanthropy, and inevitably, death discussions. Business families need to attack these and a myriad of other issues—without attacking each other. They need to become more effective at personal communication and at trusting one another.
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Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
That’s why the ECA has partnered with Gordon Wusyk from Predictable Futures, in order to present ECA members with an informative new workshop series that will dive deep into these difficult-to-discuss topics in order to help business families and entrepreneurs navigate through the “soft” and “hard” issues of succession. The ECA’s Business Succession Roadmap workshop series will begin by demystifying the myths, and then outline a business family toolkit that will include the “12 Commandments for Business Owners”, along with a “Checkout Checklist” and the “Ten Deadly Sins” often committed in estate planning. Eight interactive, half-day, fun-filled educational workshops will assist owners in preserving, protecting and perpetuating a productive and profitable business, as well as building a healthy and harmonious family. (These are not mutually exclusive goals.) You have spent a lifetime building your business and your wealth. Protect your valuable investments by attending the ECA’s Business Succession Roadmap workshop series to benefit from Wusyk’s expertise preserving legacies, businesses and families. You will find answers to questions such as: • Fair vs. equal: Is fair, equal; and is equal, fair? • Can the tax be eliminated or reduced? • Historically, what do enduring successful families do? • How can you exit the business on your terms? • Do you need a board, and if so, how do you build one? • Is formal strategic planning really essential? • What do you do with non-business children? • What about compensation, cottages and cash? Some big mistakes owners make. • Solving the challenge of work/life balance. • Where do you go for help? • Will you receive a succession toolkit you can use immediately? If you want to learn how to “pass it on” before passing on in easy-to-understand language, this series is the roadmap for which you have been looking. The ECA looks forward to seeing you at these sessions, beginning in October 2014 through to March 2015. V
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ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 91
The art of succession planning By Gordon D. Wusyk, President and Founder, Predictable Futures Inc. Part 1 of a series of succession planning articles to be published in future editions of ECA Breaking Ground.
W
hat comes to mind when you think of a mess? A spilt-over garbage can? Your 12-year-old daughter’s room? The morning after the New Year’s party… What comes to my mind is the state of my family and my father’s company after his sudden passing at age 59 in 1978. My father had not planned for this. No estate or succession plans had been made and his widow and we four children were left to make the decisions. We were torn between considering what Dad would have wanted, what each of the siblings desired, and what each of the siblings thought the other siblings could handle. Everyone had different opinions, feelings were hurt, and in hindsight, poor decisions were made. All of this could have been avoided with some thoughtful and intentional planning. It wasn’t until years later that I discovered the growing field of family-business succession planning. Over the past 30 years, I have trained and specialized in this area and have developed a deep passion for the uniqueness and complexities of business families. I now know that founders can make decisions and choices to ensure they leave a masterpiece instead of a mess like my father left us kids.
The Art vs. The Science The transition of a family business can often be an emotional undertaking. Studies have confirmed that 85 per cent of the failure of transitions is not because of a lack of very competent technical advisors (see Figure 1). The lawyers, accountants and estate advisers of today are very informed about legal, tax and insurance issues—the “science”. On the contrary, the two major causes of failure in successful transitions are the result of a lack of trust and communication in the family unit and the failure to prepare the heirs to receive the assets—the “art”. The “Pathway to Predictability” process assists the family in clarifying fundamental issues before the professional “mechanics” are brought in. It ensures that the dreams, desires, hopes, aspirations, and fears of each family member are considered and align with the business strategy before decisions about the future are made. Transition planning addresses difficult questions that are critical in developing a masterpiece. Questions that address issues1 such as: • The founder’s retirement (financial stability and timing) • Successor’s preparedness • The purpose of wealth • The viability of keeping the business in the family and how to distribute shares fairly vs. equally 92
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
The Pathway to Predictability Clarifica?on of founders dreams for the future
Clarify each family member’s personal vision
Align the business to the family and founder’s dreams
Prepare the successor
Choosing the new leader
Choosing and training the new owners
Building the legacy – review of the estate plan
Figure 1.
The answers to these kinds of questions involve relationships and dialogue, which should precede the technical work. This is about art as much as it is about science! Getting clear answers and direction requires real conversations, effective communication (active listening) and sympathetic understanding. Technical advising can provide a roadmap, but when you’re lost in the forest, sometimes a compass is a more useful tool that directs you to dreams, feelings, dialogue and values. The key is to attack tough issues without attacking each other.
From a Fad to a Field of Study Over the past 25 years, many family-focused organizations have been building on Leon Danco’s family-business consulting initiative by developing comprehensive fields of study that have been an invaluable resource to business families. Colleges, universities and professional organizations have been paying thoughtful attention to the tragic statistics resulting in the emergence of new organizations that focus specifically on the needs of business families, such as The Family Firm Institute (FFI), Predictable Futures Inc. - The Business Family Center (PFI), the Canadian Association of Family Enterprise (CAFE), the Family Business Network (FBN), and the Business Families Foundation (BFF).2 These organizations focus specifically on a variety of challenges faced by business families in a more holistic way. Succession is a multifaceted challenge and requires a multi-disciplined collaborative team, including legal, tax, wealth, insurance, behavioural
Who Cares if Business Families Succeed? Before further examining the art aspect of family business succession, it is instructive to stop for a moment and examine why we should care. The facts about family business are very illuminating: Ninety per cent of privately owned firms in Canada are owned by families in business; family businesses create 70 per cent of the new jobs, 50 per cent of the GDP, 60 per cent of all tax revenues, and more than 50 per cent of SUCCESSION PLANNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY all charitable gifts. The SMEs (small/medium A “Multi-Dimensional” Process enterprises) are the engine that drives the Canadian economy (Canadian Federation of InFamily/Personal Relationships dependent business statistics). As Leon Danco, PhD, has suggested in Tax Planning/ “Death Tax” Minimization Liabilities his seminal book Beyond Survival: A Guide for Business Owners and Their Families, “If Your Wealth Management Estate family business ceased to exist, it would be “Game Plan” Equalization Family a socio-economic disaster to our way of life.” Your These statistics demand our attention. When Legal Retirement business families fail in their transition proBusiness Documentation Strategies cess, widows, children, employees, suppliers, clients, advisers and the government are sigCreditor Protection From nificantly impacted. The survival statistics are Protection Family Law not encouraging when 70 per cent don’t make Charitable Gifting it to the second-generation and only 10 per cent make to the third.
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ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 93
The Natural Conflict
science and finance specialists. From these groups, a new type of trusted family-business adviser has emerged including “professional”, as well as “process”, advisors. The process advisor is equipped to assemble and lead the team.
The Business
The Art: So What Have We Learned? No. 1: A family business is a “system” A family business, when unraveled or dismantled, is not one organization; it is three distinct organizations wrapped into one – namely the family, the business (management) and the owners.
Profits, revenues, efficiency & Growth
Support Family members
Rules
Written & Formal w/rewards & punishment
Informal expectations
Evaluation Support conditional on performance
Rewards for who you are – unconditional
Succession Retirement, promotion or departure
Caused by death, divorce or illness
Relations
Semi Personal or impersonal, of secondary importance
Deeply personal, of primary importance
Authority
Based on formal position in the organization’s hierarchy
Based on family position of seniority
Understanding boundaries and inevitable natural conflict areas is very helpful in uncovering those communication and trust issues that cause 85 per cent of the failures in the family business success and wealth transfers. Knowing why these conflicts exist is helpful in escaping tragic statistics, moving instead into the light of potential solutions. These solutions are only possible if a logical process is followed where family members, talking from each of the circles, have an opportunity to communicate their specific perspectives in a meaningful and healthy way.
3 Circle Model Systems Family
Business
The Family
Goals
Owners 1
When these three organizations are graphically illustrated by intersecting circles, families can visualize how the intersecting areas create seven distinct possibilities in terms of relationships. The overlap is where conflicting priorities exist. The “boundaries” around each circle do not need to become negative “barriers” to a healthy succession.
No. 2: Succession is a Process and Not an Event You cannot take off a weekend and design a succession plan any more than you can design an instant, winning golf swing. It takes time, tools, and often a “coach,” or outside facilitation with a trained and interested family business advisor, in order to provide a harmonious and successful passing of the baton. Many families have found “the Pathway to Predictability” process as shown above to be a successful method. At the end of this process, a family will have three essential documents that in my experience, always ensure a healthy succession:
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The Voice of the Heavy Civil Construction Industry in Alberta 94
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
Importance of relationship
Conflict Management Styles HIGH
COLLABORATE I win You Win
ACCOMMODATE
I Lose You Win
MEDIUM
LOW
AVOID I Lose You Lose
COMPROMISE We Both Win We Both Lose
LOW
COMPETE I Win You Lose
MEDIUM
HIGH
Importance of Outcome Phone: 780.702.2499 – www.predictablefutures.com - solutions@predictablefutures.com
1. The Family Council 2. A Strategic Plan 3. A Governance Structure (a board of advisers or directors) These tools will be more fully detailed in further articles in this series, but here is an overview of what they look like and how they function.
The Family Council The family meeting is a structured, facilitated gathering of the family, two to four times a year, where family issues that affect the business and business issues that affect the family are thoughtfully and thoroughly discussed. A trained facilitator or family member will initially focus on communication and listening skills at the outset to establish a useful tone.
These family meetings ensure that everyone has a voice, and also that time is scheduled for fun; these meetings often result in a facilitated retreat that drills more deeply into meaningful issues often neglected by most families, including a code of conduct, a statement of family values, training of successors, family philanthropy, and conflict-resolution tools. The Strategic Plan A strategic plan is a dream with a design and a destination. If the business cannot get to where it would like to go, it’s valuable for the founder and the successors to find out now rather than in a few years, when the discovery may be too late and everyone suffers—the founder, the heirs, the exposed assets and the business. A strategic plan
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ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 95
Suggested Reading: • Drift, Down or Decide: Navigational Tools for Business Families – Gordon D. Wusyk • Exit Right: A guided tour of succession planning for families-in-business-together – Mark Voller, Linda Fairburn & Wayne Thompson • Every Family’s Business – Thomas Deans assesses leadership skills, financial needs, personal needs and technological needs to get to the destination. For a family business, strategies cannot just focus on the business, but also on the “unity” of the family or how families should uplift one another, need one another, intimately relate to one another, trust one another and yield to one another. The Board of Advisors/Directors Most successful transitions involve the use of an outside accountability group to assist in asking the right questions of management and taking much of the emotion out of the family-run company. When emotions
are controlled, business decisions improve. I don’t need to tell you that there are gaps between generations about work-life balance, expansion aspirations, compensation, spending money and values. The use of an experienced board of advisers can de-emotionalize a lot of decision-making, ask tough questions and help “steer” the company in a healthy direction while management does the “rowing.” Well-chosen outside advisers are not usually emotionally involved and can bring expertise into a family company where the weakest areas exist. I have seen family companies surge forward in harmony just because of a well-chosen and utilized
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Ph: (780) 484-2876 / Fax: (780) 486-7751 www.jhmckenzie.com 96
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
board. A good board of advisors revitalizes and professionalizes a family-run company and creates a more confident sibling team. Using the ideas presented in this and future articles can assist in building a meaningful legacy and masterpiece and enhance the lives of the next generation. It is wise to have a game plan for the sudden influx of wealth into the hands of untrained heirs. I believe that nothing is as important as caring for the intangible, as well as the tangible, assets of the business families. Poor planning often leads to unintended results, which often cannot be fixed once the founders are no longer here. The planning you facilitate today can affect hundreds, if not thousands, of lives. Legal documents and life insurance policies aren’t enough. Procrastination is the cancer of modern-day society. Everything can’t wait until tomorrow! I am looking forward sharing more with you in this series and to motivating you to take action. Doing so will have a major impact on many future lives. Watch for upcoming articles including topics such as: Building Sibling Teams, Building a Family Business Board, Conflict Resolution Tools for Family Business, and Ten Estate-Planning Sins. If this article has raised questions, please feel free to speak with Gordon at 780-702-2499 or visit his website: www. predictablefutures.com. References: 1 Voeller, Fairburn & Thompson. Exit Right: A guided tour of succession planning for families-in-business-together. 2002. 2 For further information, please visit: FFI: http://www.ffi.org/ PFI: http://www.predictablefutures.com/ CAFE: http://www.cafecanada.ca/ Family Business Network: http://www.fbn-i. org/ BFF: http://www.businessfamilies.org/
About the Author: Gordon Wusyk has been coaching business families for over 30 years and is a graduate of the Family Firm Institute Certificate program. His book Drift, Drown or Decide contains a wealth of knowledge for business families. V
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ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 97
Using Gold Seal certification to showcase construction projects
T
he National Music Centre in Calgary, Alberta, is the latest project to be registered as a Gold Seal Project, providing increased exposure and providing the opportunity to showcase the professionalism and experience of the construction team management staff. Currently under construction, and led by CANA Construction, the project recently celebrated its designation as a Gold Seal Project on August 13th. It is the third Gold Seal Project in Calgary, and the first such project registered by CANA Construction. “The National Music Centre project is a great example of the value that Gold Seal Certification can bring to a construction project,” explains Stephanie Wallace, manager of the Gold Seal program. “The owner of the project is extremely pleased to be working with the CANA Construction team, the project has gained additional exposure as a Gold Seal Project, and CANA employees have used the experience to earn valuable points toward their Gold Seal certification.” With Gold Seal-registered projects, a firm works with their local construction association and the Gold Seal certification program to jointly promote Gold Seal as part of a construction project. The objective is to educate non-certified workers about Gold Seal certification and to honour those who have earned their certification by the end of the project. Any construction company that would like to promote their excellence in the management of construction and would like to promote Gold Seal certification are encouraged to participate in the program. The process is quite simple, whether it is through contacting the local construction association, or filling out the form on the Gold Seal website. “The main goal of the project is to raise the bar. That’s the whole purpose of the Gold Seal program in general—running projects effectively, efficiently, on budget, on
98
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
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ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 99
KEL
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7605-50 Street NW | Edmonton, AB T6B 2W9
Tel: (780) 420-0040 Kehoe Equipment Ltd. (KEL) is the agent / contact for the following product lines: a TACO Canada Ltd. (Pumps, Heat Exchangers & Hydronic Specialties) a Modine MFG Company (Gas Fired, Steam & Hydronic Heating Equipment) a Peerless Boilers (Water / Steam Boilers) a IEC International Environmental (Fan Coils) a DriSteem Corporation (Humidification Systems) a Spirax Sarco Canada Ltd. (Steam Specialties) a Senior Flexonics (HVAC Piping Products) a The Nova Flex Group- Flexmaster (HVAC Venting Systems) a Alladin-Air MFG Ltd. (Humidification Systems) a HVAC Solution/Innovative Windows-Based HVAC Design Tool
100
a Daikin Applied Canada Inc. a Motivair Corporation (Free Cooling Chillers) a Mafna Air Technologies Inc. (Custom AHU) a ClimateCraft (Custom Air Handling Technology) a ClimaCool Corporation (Modular Chillers) a Howden/American Fan Company a Blender Products Inc. (Air Blender) a Acutherm (VAV Diffusers) a Air Monitor Corporation
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
time, and safely,” says Jason North, project director at CANA Management Ltd., speaking with the National Music Centre. “A lot of the Gold Seal program is about changing the culture of construction, and raising the bar. CANA is a big supporter of it for that reason.” There are a number of benefits to registering a Gold Seal Project, including co-branded promotional material, the opportunity to be featured on the Gold Seal certification website, and media exposure through press releases, websites, and social media. At the same time, staff members receive new learning opportunities, including optional on-site workshops for management staff and contractors, and Gold Seal certification ceremonies for those who have earned their Gold Seal certification during the project. The end result—the completion
of a Gold Seal Project—is project certificates for all involved, including general contractors, owners, subcontractors, and all other associated parties. “As construction firms and owners continue to see the value of Gold Seal certification, we are anticipating an increasing number of projects to be registered as Gold Seal projects,” says Barry Brown, chairman of the Gold Seal Committee. “Gold Seal certification continues to be recognized as the industry’s most respected certification and Gold Seal-registered projects are reflective of that fact. They are a great way to promote the work that we do to those in our industry and to those outside of it.” V More information about Gold Seal projects can be found at goldsealcertification.com/projects/.
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ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 101
ECA partners with RAIC Centre for Architecture at Athabasca University to explore the future of education By Barry Johns, Architect AAA, FRAIC (Hon), FAIA, RCA, LEEDAP Barry Johns (Architecture) Limited Chancellor College of Fellows Royal Architectural Institute of Canada
S
ince I began my practice in Edmonton in 1981, I have been fortunate to have worked with many of the member firms of the ECA. Together, we have completed many recognised projects in Alberta through successful collaboration – despite at times difficult sites, programs and budgets. We learned the value of working together long ago, but this basic idea is even more critical today. Our buildings are now more complicated. We design and construct them – and our cities – in record time. With the advent of the “green” agenda, we understand more than ever that our communities MUST become sustainable, healthy and resilient. Architects, engineers, contractors, the material supply chain and all allied professionals each have a significant responsibility here, and we need to continue to improve how we learn from each other and build in the future. This goes to education and leadership. We need to explore the future of learning – to examine the basic underpinnings of a more interdisciplinary education, where full exposure to the industry at large begins at school, and lasts a lifetime.
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Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
Your prospective and current employees, who complete courses within the program, can do so without leaving their place of work. And we can do much of this now, online. By removing the traditional education silos, we can all learn together to build, work harmoniously with other disciplines, provide leadership at every level, restore trust (the subject of a wonderful book on the failures of the commercial development industry entitled The Commercial Real Estate Revolution [Wiley & Sons, 2009]) and contribute meaningfully to the discourse about design, innovation, social and cultural context, practicality, building durability and the environment. PARTNERSHIPS FUEL INNOVATION Athabasca University and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) broke new ground in 2010 by forming a partnership dedicated to offering Canada’s first high-quality, online, integrated architectural studies program. It offers a dual degree program of a BSc(Arch) and the Post Baccalaureate Diploma in Architecture, alongside individual courses that can be taken by anyone, at any time, in any place, online. Outcomes include transferrable pathways into other degree areas, as well, such as the MBA. • Headquartered in Edmonton, the RAIC Centre for Architecture at Athabasca University (AU) is a bold, visionary initiative available to students across Canada and internationally. • There are currently more than 400 students enrolled at various levels in the program from Alberta, across Canada, and as far away as Argentina. • It brings together AU’s proven, global expertise in online, distance education and the RAIC Syllabus — an alternative path to professional licensure as an architect in Canada — to offer an unparalleled next-
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E: info@icscorporation.ca ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 103
The primary strategic goals of the ECA are collaboration, procurement, networking and education.
•
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Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
• •
generation learning opportunity for all who are interested in the built environment. Technical school graduates, allied professionals and/or aspiring architects seeking to improve their skill sets in a variety of fields can do so now, without leaving their place of employment, by simply taking courses on a subject-matter interest basis, or by enrolling in the full program – leading to one or both degree offerings. The RAIC Centre for Architecture at Athabasca University is INCLUSIVE. Courses are available to anyone, including those who do not wish to become an architect, but have a need to learn more about the processes around, and the making of, the built environment. No other program or opportunity of this kind exists anywhere. http://architecture.athabascau.ca
The RAIC Centre for Architecture at Athabasca University represents the future of interdisciplinary learning. Your prospective and current employees, who complete courses within the program, can do so without leaving their place of work. As their skillsets improve, they bring a direct, positive impact to your business. The primary strategic goals of the ECA are collaboration, procurement, networking and education. We are currently working with executive director John McNicoll and Geoff Lilge to meaningfully connect the RAIC Centre for Architecture at Athabasca University with the ECA in addressing three of these four goals. We have committed to exploring the future of education together and expect to be in a position to make some exciting announcements by the end of this year. V
Executive Summaries
Government relations address key issues and concerns of Alberta’s construction industry Lisa Fattori | Page 18 Harmonizing the independence of industry with government legislation can be challenging and is a delicate balance that requires open dialogue, transparency and a willingness to meet on common ground by all stakeholders. In response to industry’s call for updated labour laws, the Alberta Government commissioned a study to review construction labour relations legislation, with input from union, non-union and alternative-union groups and their affiliated contractor organizations. The resulting Sims Report generally concludes that the status quo is preferable to increased competition. However, critics of the report say that the premise of the report is out-dated and doesn’t reflect the open, more collaborative approach of today’s industry and the willingness by all stakeholders to ensure a project’s success. Concerned about how these recommendations will play out, once they are enacted as law, industry has called for amendments to the Alberta Labour Relations Code that will make Alberta’s construction industry operate more effectively and competitively. On the federal front, some industry players are also in favour of Bill C-377, now before Senate, which would enforce financial transparency by unions. The biggest conundrum for industry and government is the lack of skilled workers and the need to groom the next generation of tradespeople to keep up with demand. Alberta’s construction industry is looking to all levels of government to help bolster an interest in the trades among youth, and to support a greater number of high-school shops and vocational schools. V
SPECIALIZING IN
• Tenant Improvements • Building Envelope Upgrades • Institutional Alterations • Commercial Additions
General Contractors / Construction Managers P 780.497.2222 • F 780.487.2063 • E mark@emceeconstruction.com
www.emceeconstruction.com ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 105
Executive Summaries
Putting people first
After nearly 35 years in the business, Chandos Construction continues to exemplify the employee-ownership model Benjamin Freeland | Page 54 The 2009 recession, while mercifully shortlived for Alberta’s builders, brought about significant changes, including stricter quality-control safeguards and a much more pronounced emphasis on safety and training. The result has been an industry considerably more people-focused than before, a focus given further impetus as industry leaders’ worries shifted from lack of projects to the looming threat of labour shortages. For Chandos Construction president and CEO Tom Redl, however, these post-recession moves by the industry as a whole were something of a “told you so” moment. A fixture in Edmonton’s construction scene since 1980, Chandos has, since its inception, stood out from the pack with its then-unprecedented employee ownership model and its emphasis on positive employee relations.
From the beginning, the company was designed as a closed-circuit employeeownership model, with a single class of shares across the company and no stock owned by outsiders. “There are a lot of employee-ownership systems out there that simply amount to token equity for employees,” says Redl. “In our system, it’s only employees who own shares, and they’re required to sell them when they leave. We really believe in it; not just as a financial model, but also as a community-building function. This translates to what we see as an obligation to provide opportunities for our people.” There is no denying that Chandos’s groundbreaking financial and human resource model has yielded impressive results. The company has already emerged as
PROUD MEMBERS OF THE
EDMONTON CONSTRUCTION ASSOCIATION
a force in Edmonton’s highly competitive construction scene, and over the past decade has carved out an impressive niche in Calgary and Red Deer, as well. With major clients including the City of Edmonton, the University of Alberta and Grant MacEwan University, Chandos has been a major contributor to the rejuvenation of Alberta communities and has also established itself as one of the province’s most innovative general contractors. Redl credits his company’s innovative spirit to its founding principle of employee ownership. “We often refer to Chandos as a ‘family business’ and that is exactly how we approach our business,” he says. “Being innovative and attractive to employees are one and the same, and our industry simply can’t afford to lose sight of either.” V
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Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
email : OFFICE@PETROCOMCONSTRUCTION.COM
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Executive Summaries
Focus on Innovation:
CCInnovations to lead industry forward Melanie Franner | Page 28 The Canadian construction industry is leading the charge in changing the industry’s competitive landscape, starting with the 2013 creation of a new entity, Canadian Construction Innovations (CCInnovations). CCInnovations’ two mandates are to disseminate information, to have a conversation around innovation; and secondly, to engage the industry to determine what products, what systems and what processes need to be focused on. “So far, we are getting a great response,” says Stephen Coote, secretary-treasurer of CCInnovations and president of Group 92 Mechanical Inc. “I’ve done a few speaking engagements in Ontario and information about the new organization has been very well-received.” The creation of CCInnovations has met with wide acceptance from industry but perhaps more important – it also has met with financial acceptance. “The Canadian Construction Association provided a very significant grant, on the condition that CCInnovations match it,” states John Bockstael, vice-chair of CCInnovations and president and CEO of Bockstael Construction. “We have already matched – and exceeded – that amount.” “Our productivity and competitiveness in Canada is not on par with other areas of the world,” states Don Whitmore, senior advisor to the Interim Board, CCInnovations, and chairman of Vector Construction Ltd. “We tend to slip more behind every few years when they review the numbers. This is costing us too much. If we want to become more competitive, we need to be more innovative. It’s going to come down to individual firms not doing things the same old way.” CCInnovations needs to become the link between innovation and industry. V
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ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 107
Executive Summaries
New opportunities and applications spur growth in modular construction Lisa Fattori | Page 44 In a booming economy, “better, faster, cheaper” is a mantra that drives greater efficiency, productivity and economic prosperity. Modular construction delivers a competitive advantage on many levels, offering speed to market, quality-controlled building construction and, in some cases, lower operating costs. Modular construction offers many benefits, including the construction of a building’s modular units in a controlled plant environment, without the concerns of harsh weather and working conditions or of potential damage to exposed materials that are stored on-site. A project’s site preparation can occur simultaneously, which reduces construction schedules. Also, on-site activity is minimized, which improves safety and
offers fewer disruptions in populated areas. The construction method is particularly conducive to remote locations, where skilled labour is not readily available or where the cost to transport and provide accommodations for workers is too expensive. Built to the same standards and specifications of traditionally built structures, modular buildings are in fact stronger, so that they can withstand the rigours of transportation and craning onto foundations. With the pre-fabrication of modular units, there is also less construction waste, which is better for the environment. Over the last 60 years, the modular construction industry has matured, improving factory production techniques and incorporating green features for more sustain-
able buildings. Improved processes, an aging skilled workforce, and the demand for tighter construction schedules is expected to drive the industry’s growth in the next 20 years. From workforce camps and school classrooms to office complexes and multiunit residential buildings, the modular construction industry is expanding and becoming more mainstream as an alternative to “stick-built” construction practices. V
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www.castsupply.ca 108
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
Executive Summaries
Driving Edmonton’s ring road straight to completion Emily Pike | Page 58
The Sherwood Drive interchange will open this fall, two years ahead of schedule: a significant feat considering the magnitude of the Northeast Anthony Henday Drive project. Seventeen construction sites are working to bring Edmontonians 27 kilometres of six- and eight-lane divided roadway, nine interchanges, two road flyovers, eight rail crossings, and two bridges across the North Saskatchewan River. The project, which is targeted to be finished right on time in October 2016, is a Public-Private Partnership (P3). This “heavy” project utilized 1,400,000 metric tonnes of asphalt, 4,000,000 cubic metres of excavated earth, 94.2 kilometres of driven-steel H-piling for the bridge and 12,000 metric tonnes of structural steel for the steel girders – just a few of the facts that Franklin shared. As the sole steel supplier for the Northeast Anthony Henday Drive project, LMS is responsible for 6,000 metric tonnes of stainless steel and 6,000 metric tonnes of black rebar, sourced both from North America and from around the world, using a dedicated steel broker on staff. The total cost of this project is $1.81 billion, with $37 million of financing coming from P3 Canada and $878 million from the Government of Alberta over the next three years. The revitalization of the Edmonton ring road will support motorists in the capital region and the economy, both now and into the future. V
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ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 109
Index to
advertisers
A & B Concrete Pumping Ltd.................................................................................. 32 Accent Walls Ltd............................................................................................................ 42 Adler Firestopping Ltd................................................................................................ 52 Advanced Remediation Solutions Inc................................................................. 97 Agra Foundations.............................................................................................................5 Alberta Construction Safety Association............................................................ 57 Alberta Paramedical Services Ltd.......................................................................... 87 Alberta Roadbuilders & Heavy Construction Association......................... 94 Alberta Wilbert Sales...................................................................................................69 All Weather Windows.....................................................................................................3 Alliance Excavating Ltd.............................................................................................. 85 Allspec Asphalt Inc....................................................................................................... 73 An-Mar Concrete Pumping Co. Ltd...................................................................... 59 Arthur J. Gallagher & Co............................................................................................. 45 Associated Engineering.............................................................................................. 59 B & B Demolition Ltd.................................................................................................. 29 BDO Canada LLP..........................................................................................................84 BellComm Inc.................................................................................................................70 Belvedere Roofing......................................................................................................... 97 BHP Mechanical Ltd....................................................................................................112
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Design | Renovations | Construction | Maintenance | Property Management 110
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
Binder Construction Ltd............................................................................................. 63 Black & McDonald........................................................................................................99 Black Diamond................................................................................................................91 Blanchett Neon Limited............................................................................................. 43 BlueLine Rental.............................................................................................................. 59 BOXX Modular, A Division of Black Diamond LP......................................... 111 Brock White Canada.................................................................................................... 79 Builders Floor Centre Ltd............................................................................................ 51 Burnco Rock Products...........................................................................................30 C.W. Carry Ltd................................................................................................................. 32 Cana Construction Ltd................................................................................................ 33 Canadian Wood Council - Wood Works Alberta............................................. 77 CanWest Concrete Cutting & Coring Inc............................................................ 97 Carmacks Enterprises Ltd......................................................................................... 34 Cast Supply Edmonton Inc..................................................................................... 108 Central Mechanical Systems.................................................................................... 36 Challenger Geomatics Ltd.........................................................................................70 Coolnet Alberta.............................................................................................................9 Creative Door.................................................................................................................. 59 Dawson Wallace Construction Ltd........................................................................ 53
Camps and Logistics | Energy Services
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21420-113 Ave. Edmonton, AB T5S 2B3 • Ph: (780)-447-2065 candrews@boxxmodular.com • www.blackdiamondlimited.com ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 111
Desco Coatings of Alberta Ltd..................................................................................81 DGS Construction Ltd.................................................................................................84 Donalco Western Inc................................................................................................... 73 Dwight’s Roofing Ltd.................................................................................................... 43 Edmonton Kubota.......................................................................................................... 71 EFC Developements Ltd........................................................................................... 110 EllisDon Construction Services Inc.................................................................... 109 Elms Weeping Tile Ltd............................................................................................... 101 Emcee Construction & Management................................................................. 105 Empire Mechanical Contractors Inc..................................................................... 27 ESC Automation.......................................................................................................... 102 Ewel.....................................................................................................................................30 Flo Tech Pump................................................................................................................ 36 Gemco Fireplaces & Wholesale Heating Products Ltd................................ 73 GK Mechanical............................................................................................................. 104 Go Nissan North............................................................................................................. 41 Graham..............................................................................................................................99 HUB International Phoenix Insurance Brokers............................................ 107 IC Solutions.................................................................................................................... 103 ICS Group Inc...................................................................................................................11 Interworks Contracting Ltd......................................................................................88 J.H. Mckenzie Electrical Contractors Ltd............................................................96 J.S.L. Mechanical Installations Ltd.........................................................................83 Jayson Global Roofing...............................................................................................IFC Jen-Col Construction Ltd........................................................................................... 39 Jensen Contract Flooring Ltd/................................................................................ 43 Kehoe Equipment Ltd...............................................................................................100 Keystone Excavating Ltd........................................................................................... 49 Klondike Disposal...............................................................................................70 & 90 L & D Distrributors Ltd............................................................................................... 42 Leading Edge Roofing.................................................................................................. 56 Ledcor............................................................................................................................ OBC Leds................................................................................................................................... 97 Lehigh Hanson Materials.......................................................................................... 95 Loadrite.............................................................................................................................. 36 Merit Contractors Association................................................................................. 37 Metalex Metal Buildings Inc.................................................................................... 55
DEL Communications Inc. and you,
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112
Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
Suite 300, 6 Roslyn Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3L 0G5 Toll Free:1.866.831.4744 | Toll Free Fax: 1.866.711.5282 www.delcommunications.com
Midwest Structural Limited.........................................................................................7 Mytec Contracting Inc................................................................................................ 77 NAIT.................................................................................................................................... 23 NCV Industrial Inc..................................................................................................... IBC Nilex Inc............................................................................................................................ 43 NorQuest College........................................................................................................... 21 O’Hanlon Paving........................................................................................................... 32 Osco Mudjacking & Shotcreting Ltd.....................................................................69 Patcher Energy Management Ltd.......................................................................... 73 Petrocom Construction Ltd..................................................................................... 106 PF Custom Countertops.............................................................................................. 31 Predictable Futures Inc............................................................................................... 93 Pro-Western Mechanical...........................................................................................88 Proform Management Inc.............................................................................. 83 & 85 Pumps & Pressure Inc..................................................................................................19 Raiders Site Services Ltd........................................................................................... 73 Rapid Concrete Ltd..................................................................................................... 108 Richardson Electric Ltd...............................................................................................16 Robert B. Somerville Co. Limited........................................................................... 67 Rolling Mix Concrete (Edmonton) Ltd.................................................................. 17 Roterra Screw Piling Ltd............................................................................................. 35 Royal Roofing Ltd..........................................................................................................68 RS Sterling Fire Protection........................................................................................ 74 Splashdown Eaves........................................................................................................ 27 Stahl Peterbilt..................................................................................................................89 Standard General Inc. Edmonton........................................................................... 15 Strathcona Mechanical Limited............................................................................. 43 Structural Panels Inc.....................................................................................................81 Temple Contracting Inc.............................................................................................. 47 Terrateam Equipment Sales & Rentals................................................................ 75 Westcon Precast Inc..................................................................................................... 79 Western Air & Power Ltd........................................................................................... 37 Western Weather Protector Ltd............................................................................... 67 World of Concrete............................................................................................................4
• Plumbing • Heating • HVAC For all your mechanical needs
SERVICE & CONSTRUCTION COR Safety Certified After hours calls answered by a Qualified Technician.
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Phone 780-482-2334 Fax 780-482-2335
info@bhpmechanicalltd.com • www.bhpmechanicalltd.com Service & Installation • 24 Hour Emergency Service ECA Breaking Ground • FALL 2014 113
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Procurement
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Edmonton Construction Association • FALL 2014
Education
NCV Industrial Inc. (NCVI) was incorporated in March 2005 as a sister company to Ryfan Electric Ltd. and has offered multi-discipline Industrial Construction services since its inception. Project management and administrative systems were co-developed and shared between NCVI and Ryfan Electric’s Industrial division (RIE), to the degree that, in 2007, NCVI fully integrated RIE into its own operations. The NCVI management team has, on average, 20 years of multi-discipline Industrial Construction experience encompassing projects all over the globe and in the most extreme conditions.
QUALITY ASSURANCE · NCVI’s Quality System is certified to ASME B31.1 and B31.3 and includes all necessary weld procedures for pipe fabrication / installation. The Quality System and procedures have been approved and registered with: · ABSA (Alberta Boiler Safety Association) · BCSA (British Columbia Safety Authority) · NWT Electrical / Mechanical Safety division of Public Works and Services · CWB Certified to W47.1 - Division 2 · Comprehensive Test and Inspection Plan encompassing all disciplines. SERVICES onsite and offsite pipe fabrication, onsite and offsite structural steel fabrication, onsite mechanical insulation SAFETY NCVI has a COR compliant safety system recognized by the Alberta Construction Safety Association and by the newly formed Northern Construction Safety Association.
Please contact Spruce Grove T: 780 960 1850 F: 780 960 1890 Box 4204, South Ave, Spruce Grove, AB T7X 3B4 Darrell Osmond email: dosmond@ncvindustrial.com Northern Canada Ventures Corp. Parent Company and Shared Services
Ryfan Electric Ltd.
Commercial Electrical Trade Contracting Services
NCV Industrial Inc.
Industrial Construction and Maintenance Services
Nexum Systems Inc.
Structured/Fiber Optic Cabling, Security/Access Control System Services
There is strength in our work
www.ncvindustrial.com
PROVEN. RELIABLE. FOR OVER 65 YEARS, THE LEDCOR GROUP HAS BEEN BUILDING WITH INTEGRITY.
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