Do you remember the daring and confident days of being young and reckless? Jumping off a bridge into a fast-flowing river or walking along a narrow ledge? It was perhaps careless courage and often ended up with bruises, but it taught caution for the next experience. However, sometimes you had to be rescued by your friends. Fifty years of building a team meant taking on many challenges jointly and relying on your friends in the team.

In education, sports, business, and families, we depend on our team members to achieve and to overcome difficulties, because at times we all fail or fall short in good judgment, but jointly we overcome.

Memories of the early years of our company bear the colours of people that supported us and had confidence in our attitude. Sometimes, we landed in a meltdown and restructuring.

In 1967, the first year of our company, we started building components for a sewage treatment plant on lands next to Highway 401, not knowing that the consultant had not obtained provincial approvals. All work stopped and we found ourselves in a tight spot needing the income. However, the mistake by the consultant turned into a bonus because the work had to be redesigned on a cost-plus basis with the confidence of the owner.

Many stories of our company history display that strong team members and open communication are the seeds to build a reputation in values, in taking the high road, in persistence, in fighting for each other, in setting high-performance finish lines, in learning, in creating quality, evaluating effectiveness and sustainability.

As a result, it demanded vision and passion. It meant setting core values, knowing who is driving, real-time coaching, don’t screw up, pay now play later, a bias towards action, leading with all diligence.

– Fred J. Reinders, Chairman