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SURE GRIP: Available with a ripper andcounter weight, the D10 is great in the muckAccugrade Laser and GPS systems, in stride,“Anything that improves safety and speedsthings up, anything that enhances our capabilityto do the job, anything innovative,”Hagstrom says, “we want to do it.”Sureway’s track record with employeesisn’t bad either. In an industry known for itstransient workforce, Sureway has more that100 long-term employees. Project managerPat Roth joined the team in 1989 and hasn’tlooked back. He credits Sureway’s managementstyle, one that values input from employees.“We’ve all had different aspirationsat one time or another regarding differentjobs or equipment,” Roth says. “We feelcomfortable putting up our hands and makingsuggestions. We feel a part of this placebecause both Bruce and Dennis value everyonehere. They don’t just talk; they’ll runwith our ideas.”Sureway also encourages senior staff tomentor the junior workers in the field, inhopes of attracting and keeping a new generationinterested in construction. A wisemove, but a tough challenge in Alberta’stight labour market.Still, O’Rourke and Hagstrom have neverbeen afraid of a challenge. From where Gallimoresits, Sureway’s tremendous success canbe summed up in the pair’s willingness tokeep asking, “What else can we do?”That enterprising spirit has resulted in adiversification of talent over the years, intothree other complimentary ventures, fallingunder the umbrella, Sureway Group of Companies:Yellowhead Aggregates, Sil IndustrialMinerals and Sureway Trucking Inc.A juggling act to be sure, keeping so manycompanies moving forward, but slowingdown just isn’t part of the vocabulary. Infact, after closing the books on 2007, its mostsuccessful year yet, the company looks forwardto making the most of opportunities in2008.After all, who wouldn’t be optimisticafter a year that added a mega project withthe Alberta government to their growing listof accomplishments? Sureway was one ofthe key players in a public-private, $493-milliondollar venture, the first of its kind in Alberta.A consortium of local talent was hiredto design, build, finance and maintain an 11-kilometre stretch of the city’s Anthony HendayRing Road. Sureway’s role in the projectinvolved 7,500,000 cubic metres of earthworks,and other drainage and utility works.Hagstrom is quick to credit their overallsuccess to O’Rourke’s intuition. “If we hadn’ttaken some of the leaps we did in 2006 withregard to acquiring equipment we wouldn’thave been able take on the projects we did in2007,” he says.Less-than-rosy predictions for a slowingmarket don’t rattle O’Rourke. He waves onehand. “Bigger, better,” he says with a smile.Nocomplicated economic analysis or GPS necessary,Sureway Construction Group moves inone direction only – and that’s up.OUT OF A SCRAPE: Cat’s 657E, at 500 horsepower,was right for Sureway’s road constructions42 TRACKS & TREADS • Spring 2008 www.finning.ca