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BUSINESSVANCOUVER November 22–28, 2016
industry veteran Continued from page 21
new changes. “One of the thoughts we have now is to transition ourselves from bricks-and-mortar office buildings to innovation hubs where our associations are components of an innovation hub centre,” he said. Separate from centres of excellence, innovation hubs would incubate new technologies for the construction sector rather than just train people to excel with existing tools. This idea dovetails with the industry’s embrace of lean construction practices – protocols that take a client-oriented approach when it comes to managing and improving construction processes. “We’ve got some people within the BCCA that are interested in that. We’re looking at how we can play a role to foster that in the industry,” said Cooke. The challenge for Cooke and his fellow board members is keeping regional interests in alignment as change occurs. “Provincially, we try to come together around common programs that we share, but that h a sn’t b een t he c a se i n t he past,” he said. “Communication is where it all begins, and where it comes back to as well, to keep things moving forward positively.”
commercial real estate With five years’ experience on the V RCA board and four years with the BCCA (he’s also the provincial representative to the Canadian Construction Association), he’s picked up some tips from veterans like Ross McLean from Houle Electric Ltd. and Anibal Valente, who chaired the BCCA from 2009 to 2011. “I saw them str ugg le w ith getting consensus,” he said. “[Valente] was a good role model on how to behave, how to build consensus.” This helped hone what he considers his own native way of doing things, acquired growing up in Nova Scotia. “Maritimers tend to be a little more work-together, hail-fellowwell-met. So I think it’s a natural part of my character,” said Cooke. “You should be working with your partners and business in a positive way, and looking for win-win outcomes, not win-lose outcomes.” Born in Halifax in 1954, Cooke attended Dartmouth Regional Vocational School a nd t hen Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in Calgary, graduating as an engineering technologist in 1976. He initially worked for consulting engineering firms until shifting to contracting in 1980. He excelled as an estimator and eventua l ly bega n ma nag i ng projects.
Inside information: Bob Cooke
Currently reading:
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
First album bought or music downloaded:
Janis Joplin’s first album, Big Brother and the Holding Company
We’re trying to modernize, as groups always are, and transitioning away from a membership-based to a value-provider organization
[] Bob Cooke chairman, BC Construction Association
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up: Pilot
Profession you would most like to try: Pro tennis player
Toughest business or professional decision:
The decision to strike out on my own to start my first company
Advice you would give the younger you: To listen to my wife’s intuition about people more
What’s left to do:
Explore the world and get to know my grandchildren
During the economic turbulence of the period, he married
and relocated to Halifax, returning to Vancouver in 1989 after a brief stay in Ontario. TEC Mechnical, the firm he had worked for in Calgary, was opening an office in Vancouver and wanted him to lead the charge. Fifteen years later, he launched Division 15 Mechnical Ltd., which now employs 75 people. Its portfolio includes Creekside Community Recreation Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia Institute of Technology’s aerospace campus in Richmond and district energy systems at the University of British Columbia. Having stepped back from dayto-day management of Division 15, Cooke has time to volunteer w ith i ndustry associations. Cooke’s oldest son of three is a project co-ordinator at Division 15, but Cooke remains CEO. Cooke likes immersive activities that take his mind off the challenges of work: whether reading Vanity Fair or fiction, skiing or taking his Mikelson Sportfisher up the coast, exploring the inlets and their history. “That’s one of the wonderful things about boating – once you untie the lines and you leave the dock, you have to focus on … running the boat and being on the boat and not running into rocks,” he said. “I find skiing’s the same thing – you can’t be thinking about work and all that stuff because you’ve got to get down the hill.” •
Audit • Tax • Advisory
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