Everyday Heroes: Meet Finning's service ... - Finning Canada

REMEMBER WHEN…Parts service, Peace River dam project, 1964Sureway toSuccessSTORY BY MELODY HEBERTA construction maverick with abigger-is-better attitude celebrates35 years in Alberta, and businessis stronger than everor Alberta-born constructiondynamo Dennis O’Rourke, thesize of your equipment doesmatter. The founder of Sureway Construction,O’Rourke has spent a lifetime acquiringmany of the biggest, baddest scrapers,earth moving and water and sewer equipmentin North America. They’ve also got apretty sizable sandbox for their equipmentto play in – various parcels of land on theedges of Edmonton. To keep it all going,Sureway’s head office features an impressiverepair and rebuild center in southeastEdmonton.Thanks to Alberta’s robust economy,you’d be hard pressed to see much of Sureway’simpressive fleet languishing idle in theyard. Vice president and general managerBruce Hagstrom is also hard at it, along withhis crew, taking advantage of every opportunity.After all, he’s spent 35 years in thisprovince’s construction business, and thelean years of the 1980s are still as fresh in hismind as are the last decade’s opportunities.Still, the future is never a sure thing,but for now Sureway is celebrating goodbusiness.“How about mind-boggling?” Hagstromsays of the privately-held company’s recentgrowth. “I don’t get surprised by much; ourbusiness is very much dictated by the economy.Our company has had to raise the bar tokeep up with the boom.”Translation: A 30% increase in the size ofSureway’s diverse fleet of heavy equipmentin the past three years alone. It has more than400 pieces, including 52 scrapers, Cat 657E and G series, making it the single largestowner of these durable wheel tractor scrapersin North America. The Cat 657s complementits 38-strong fleet of 627 scrapers.That’s quite a lead up to 2008, the yearSureway Construction marks its 35th anniversaryin Alberta. Growth in the last decadehas been nothing short of spectacular,with the company employing more than800 workers during seasonal peak and reportingmore than $315-million dollarsin gross sales in 2007, earning it a place inAlberta Venture magazine’s Top 25 rankingof the fastest growing firms with revenueover $20 million for the past three consecutiveyears. Sureway has accomplished thisgrowth while focusing its efforts solely inAlberta, where it’s known to be a generoussupporter of various charities. It has establisheda foothold recently in Fort McMurraywhere it has pursued residential subdivisionopportunities, which will provide affordablehousing for the community.Not bad for self-proclaimed ditch diggerO’Rourke, who started his career in Calgaryinstalling water and sewer, and later foundedSureway Construction in Edmonton. As fatewould have it, O’Rourke’s first job in 1973was inspected by none other than Hagstrom,then an employee of an engineering firm atwork in Strathcona County.Hagstrom must have made quite an impressionon the headstrong entrepreneur,for it wasn’t long before O’Rourke enticedthe inspector to join him. The year was 1975www.finning.ca Spring 2008 • TRACKS & TREADS 39