FOOTHILLS ELECTRIC LTD.
A Powerful History Foothills Electric Ltd. Celebrates 40 Years Written and photographed by Camie Leard Muriel and Zygmond Piebiak
F
or as long as he can remember, Zygmond Piebiak has been a tinkerer. The son of Polish immigrants, Piebiak was born and raised in a log cabin on a farm near Eaglesham, Alberta where he rode horses, helped his parents farm wheat, barley and canola and, of course, fixed things. “Mechanical, electrical, it didn’t matter,” he says. “That’s just the kind of person I am. I want to know how things work and how to fix them. And I do.” This fascination with the inner workings of machinery led Piebiak to the commercial radio operator program at SAIT in 1961 and while farming was in his heart (he purchased his own plot of land in 1962) the development of severe allergies meant that under doctor’s orders, he had to move to the city and pursue another passion – the electrical/electronics field.
“I began my apprenticeship August 23, 1965 and have never looked back,” he says. While building knowledge and experience as an electrician, Piebiak met his wife, Muriel, at a dance hall in April of 1965 and they married after a year of courtship. A partnership from the beginning, they started a family. Three sons and seven years later, the two opened their own company, Foothills Electric Ltd. in 1973. “We’ve had 47 years of marriage and 40 years of working together,” says Piebiak. “She does the accounting and I do the electrical work. It’s important to have that division in a partnership – we each bring different things to the business.” It’s a business that was built on exceptional service and decades of expertise in fixing electric motors, pumps, welders and other machinery. Foothills has become known
Transmission Supplies Ltd. Your Bearing & Power Transmission Specialist 503 – 42 Ave SE, Calgary | 403-243-3261 www.transmissionsupplies.ca
Congratulations Foothills Electric on your 40th anniversary! Foothills Electric Ltd. | 40th Anniversary