special news feature | Vancouver regional construction Association
January 12–18, 2016
c11
NEWS
NETWORKING: Building relationships key to building career U40 Network offers connections and industry expertise By Jean Sorensen
F
or Fraser McIntosh, the recipient of the 2015 Vancouver Regional Construction Association award honouring a member within the U40 Network of young professionals, being successful in construction today is all about building trusting relationships through networking. “The construction industry is really a small community,” said McIntosh, a founding member and past chair of the U40 Network. New entrants face the challenge of building a reputation based upon their relationships and their achievements in construction, and the U40 Network plays a key role in helping them do it. “You have to work to earn the trust of others in the industry,” McIntosh said. “A network like the U40 can help build those relationships. These are individuals you may one day be working with or they are individuals who become mentors to you.” At U40 Network events, community projects and mentoring breakfasts, individuals forge friendships and build expertise. Meeting senior executives in the industry and listening to their stories of how they built companies or advanced through the ranks can provide insight for young people into how to build a career or business successfully. The common message heard, McIntosh said, is that successful individuals are good at networking and they value a good relationship with others in the industry. McIntosh came to the construction industry through a natural progression. He grew up on a Fraser Valley potato farm helping run the family’s farm equipment while a next-door neighbour did civil earthwork with backhoes, an excavator and other heavy iron on site. It was through his cousins’ construction company that he
Technology Continued from page 10
here,” he said. The robot now trims the skirts of acrylic tubs. “It [the robot] is deadly accurate,” he said, adding that uniformity is useful when filling multiple orders such as bathroom fixtures required for modular units, multiple-unit residential buildings or hotels. “They [the units] are the same size every time. That makes a big difference for the drains and the overflows, and you are getting a nice flat connection.” Despite a busy production line that can turn out 150 bathtubs per day, the robot breezes through its workday. “It produces in an eighthour shift what would take 11 guys to do on an eight-hour shift. Right now, though, it is barely putting in
Fraser McIntosh, recipient of the 2015 VRCA award honouring a young professional in the construction industry, accepts the award at the VRCA Awards of Excellence | Photo courtesy of the VRCA
landed his first job as a labourer doing in-ground pipe installations. It was tough and dirty work. “I didn’t like being soaked to the bones before my first coffee break,” he said. “One winter I decided I better head to the British Columbia Institute of Technology and take the architectural and building engineering program.” In his second year, he did a coop term with Bird Construction. It was a relationship that stuck. “At the end of the school year [2005], I was hired full-time,” he said, adding that the challenge of working for a major company exposed him to a number of different learning opportunities such as Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s geothermal installation, and construction of the new University of British Columbia ice rink for the 2010 Winter
a five-hour day,” he said. Glass World also uses a computer numerical control (CNC) programmer to convert a design (produced by computer aided design [CA D] software) into numbers. The numbers map to co-ordinates on a graph and they control the movement of a cutting machine. Two CNC-guided machines, made by Biesse in Italy, are being used on the trim line for wood shelving for bathrooms and cupboards. Waddell said the company’s use of CNC programming for trimming aids it in producing custom designs for clients. A CAD computer generates an image of a closet or shelving unit, based on a client’s specifications and needs. Once the client approves the design, the specifications can be programmed into the
Olympics. “My first project was a WalMart in Duncan on Vancouver Island. After that it was Morgan Crossing in South Surrey. That project, a large retail and condo development on 35 acres, presented a lot of learning opportunities such as the building of roads, fire suppression, different construction systems and building finishes, he said. The RCMP E Division headquarters, built to a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold standard, in Surrey followed. “It was a joint venture with a company from France and an opportunity to learn from their team on site,” he said. He travelled to Fort Nelson in northern B.C. to head up a project that was a First Nations community centre with wellness
and dance arbour. “It was one of the neater projects. It was a circular timber frame building and we worked with a great crew out of 100 Mile House.” But it was also an opportunity to learn about the rigours of building in northern climates. “You learn how to schedule work in severe conditions,” he said. He then worked on the Kamloops Royal Inland Hospital clinical services building. It was another LEED Gold structure and another lesson in project management. “There was a tight schedule and quality assurance was a top priority,” he said, adding that the company was tasked with stringent dust control and climate monitoring at the site to mitigate effects on the existing hospital. Each project has been a learning
A robotic trimmer at work in Glass World’s Abbotsford manufacturing facility. Computer-controlled automation helps the company meet tight deadlines with pinpoint accuracy | Glass World
CNC-guided cutting machine and the material trimmed accurately to produce the pieces needed for assembly of the custom unit. Waddell credits the company’s
dynamics and progressive growth to its youthful management that is open to new ideas. “We are all in our mid-40s,” he said, adding the team works smoothly together.
experience with a different challenge. The U40 Network has helped guide him along the way. T he camaraderie of the professional group has provided a sounding board to address problems, whether involving personnel, technology, site challenges or other obstacles. Often others are facing the same difficulty or have dealt with a similar problem successfully. “It can be anything such as a material supply problem,” he said. “Then someone will suggest how to fix it and also how to be proactive to prevent it happening again.” But it’s not all work. The U40 networking events are also fun and include a casino night, a cr u i se, go-k a r t i ng a nd pub nights. The group also serves the community by raising money or providing labour and materials for several local charities. The Zajac Ranch for Children, which hosts summer camps for children affected by chronic, life-threatening or debilitating conditions, is the community support project that McIntosh sees as one of the group’s greatest accomplishments during his time on the U40 Network executive. “The thing I am most proud of is the way the group has participated in helping to build the Zajac Ranch,” he said. Each year, the group of young professionals volunteer, obtain donated materials and spend the day carrying out repairs at the ranch to ready it for the summer influx of kids. The U40 Network has drawn in professionals of all ages and from all aspects of the construction industry and continues to expand its membership. But McIntosh credits much of the success to the strong support of the VRCA board of directors and to VRCA president Fiona Famulak. •
“We all started as kids together.” Waddell started working for the family business at age 13, pushing a broom before climbing through the ranks to the presidency. As well as broadening his market and embracing new technologies, Waddell is also looking to the future. “We do have a succession plan,” he said of the business that now boasts 83 employees. “We have a number of good young people coming up.” Manufacturing plants of the future may use more robotics to raise productivity but will continue to need people to guide and direct them – despite a quip Waddell is familiar with. “They say the plant of the future features a dog, a man, and a robot,” Waddell said. “The man is there to feed the dog and the dog is there to guard the robot.” •