TACKLING TOP PRIORITIES

BY CHERYL MAH

Member engagement, advocacy and workforce development are some of the top priorities that Nicole Bryant is focusing on these days.

Since assuming the Northern Regional Construction Association (NRCA) CEO role in June 2022, she has been busy meeting with members and laying the groundwork to move the association forward. “It’s been a very eventful past year. There is a lot to learn in the non-profit world but I have many colleagues that I can draw on for advice when I need it,” she says.

One of her first ideas was to create a conference to bring the region under one roof to network and share knowledge about issues impacting everyone. This was accomplished in March when the association held its inaugural Build the North Conference. The conference tackled important industry topics such as contracts, risk management, leadership, and technology. This year’s theme was creating resiliency.

M“ We’ve seen some very difficult times in the last few years so learning how to create a resilient business has become a part of our everyday language,” says Bryant. “It’s the first conference of its kind in our association as far as I know. It was a fabulous event with panel discussions, breakout sessions and a fantastic keynote speaker. We’ve already set our dates for 2024 on April 3 and 4.”

Another exciting new event will be NRCA’s first annual awards to be held September 23. “I think it’s very important that the construction industry is celebrated for the things they do — they build some amazing projects,” she says.

And projects are just humming along in northern B.C., especially in natural resources. The Coastal GasLink pipeline, the LNG Canada liquified natural gas export terminal in Kitimat, Site C and the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion are four megaprojects driving activity.

“Construction is going strong. There’s so many dollars for projects proposed right now. Even with challenges, large projects are not slowing down,” says Bryant, adding several hospital projects are underway in various phases like the new Dawson Creek Hospital.

A significant project that recently completed was the new $39 million Canfor Leisure pool in Prince George. The city is also seeing strong residential development, which has increased significantly over the last few years. Earlier this year, the city reported 2022 saw record-high building permit values at a little over a quarter of a billion dollars.

“In Prince George, we don’t have as many capital projects but residential is very busy,” says Bryant.

The NRCA represents 211 members including general and trade contracting companies, manufacturers, suppliers and professional service providers. The association covers the largest geographical region in B.C., spanning from Williams Lake to the Yukon border and from the Alberta border to the West Coast.

“ We are a staff of three and being a small team, we have to work twice as hard to pull off what we need to do to serve our members,” says Bryant, who knows the region well.

Born and raised in Prince George, Bryant was exposed to the construction industry at an early age through her grandfather. He had an electrical contracting company called Bryant Electric which he founded in 1960.

“I grew up in the industry and was involved in estimating and project management in both construction and manufacturing,” she says.

Before joining NRCA, Bryant was an account executive at Bell Mobility. She knew many of the NRCA members by offering services and education through an affinity partnership with the association.

When Scott Bone announced his retirement in 2022, he encouraged Bryant to put her hat in the ring. He was at the helm of the association as CEO for seven years.

“Given my combined knowledge of business development and the construction world, I thought the position was a good fit,” says Bryant, who just completed her bachelor’s degree in marketing at UNBC in April and is now working on a post-graduate certificate in non-profit management at SFU.

While Bryant juggles a range of industry priorities, the issue of prompt payment is a major focus for the association.

“One of the top priorities province-wide is prompt payment,” she says. “It’s an important piece of legislation that’s been tabled time and time again. We are working to push that boulder uphill to see if we can get the attention of the provincial government. Construction is one of those industries where it can take up to 120 plus days to get paid. It’s time that changes.”

Procurement practices are another area of concern where the construction industry continues to call for accountability, transparency and fairness.

“Contractors are bidding on prices good for seven days and the tender doesn’t get decided on for nine days so by the time the contract is awarded, those prices are out of date. That’s how volatile it is,” says Bryant.

Of course, labour shortage remains a pressing challenge and will increase in severity as project demand grows. The situation is particularly acute in northern B.C. with the large number of major projects and small population.

Labour reports indicate B.C. will be short 23,000 skilled workers by 2029.

“ Our focus is filling that labour shortage and helping our members become employee of choice so that we can attract more people to the construction industry,” says Bryant.

The association launched its Women in Construction committee last year to address barriers that prevent women from getting into and staying in the construction industry. One of the initiatives was to host a construction camp last summer to provide young women with practical hands-on skills and other training.

“ We conducted a high school youth building program where women came together to build a shed — planning, project management and construction,” says Bryant. “We will auction the shed at the awards gala. It’s an opportunity for them to take pride in the project.”

As the number of industry veterans hang up their hardhats over the next decade, recruitment and retention of skilled tradespeople from all underrepresented groups will be critical.

“ We need to really empower our equityseeking groups, who are actively involved in construction or who want to be involved in construction, to see that it is a career choice. It’s not a boys’ club anymore. We’re looking at an equal and open environment,” says Bryant.