A Company Built on Core Values By Nerissa McNaughton
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In 1990, Terry Kemp had reached the top of the job ladder at his place of employment. As a tradesman, the next step would be to leave the field and go into the office. “I didn’t think I had a chance of getting into the office,” Terry reminisces about the moment that set his life on a different course. “Dad (Herman Kemp) and I were chatting and he said now was the time to go into business together. I said, ‘Let’s go. Let’s give it a shot.’” That shot, taken 25 years ago, was the start of Kemway Contractors Ltd. A lot of thought went into the name. “We had a few different choices, like Kemson,” remembers Terry. “We thought Kemp Way was logical and then shortened it to Kemway.”
When I started, I was young and inexperienced. When I look at what we created today, it is way more and very different than I thought it could ever be. They started with three full time staff, which was father and son and one additional journeyman. A part-time employee helped to manage the workload. Father and son wore many hats. They were in the field doing hands-on work and supervising projects, in the office working on business development and estimating, and being family men that were active in the community. Hard work, dedication and a growing team saw Kemway thrive. Herman stayed on until 2002 and in preparation for retirement, sold his shares to the current ownership team: Terry Kemp, president and CEO; Lothar Krause, vice president operations and Glen Kemp, vice president project management. Karoline Kemp, Terry’s beautiful wife, is the vice president of finance and human resources. “When I started, I was young and inexperienced,” says Terry. “When I look at what we created today, it is way more and very different than I thought it could ever be. The primary reason for our success is the alignment of great people with similar goals. Those relationships were built not just from a business standpoint, but on transparency, trust and positive attitudes.”
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THERMO DESIGN INSULATION LTD.
Congratulations KEMWAY Contractors on celebrating your quarter century of excellent business. HEAD OFFICE BRANCHES WEB
3520 56th Avenue, Edmonton, AB T6B 3S7 • Phone: 780.468.2077 • Fax: 780.465.2683 Vancouver, Kelowna, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Vaughan www.thermo-design.com
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KEMWAY’S CORE VALUES Excellence and Professionalism Kemway is focused on and committed to their vision, continuous improvement and challenging the performance standards in the industry. Innovative Design
In addition to over 20 staff that are in tune with the company’s objectives and the ethics of trust, transparency and attitude, the owners are adamant about Kemway’s core values. “Kemway is the core values,” stresses Lothar. “The core values are everything that we are and everything that we stand for. That goes right down to working with our sub trades, suppliers, team and representatives. We live these values and we lead by example.” “We didn’t open a book and say ‘I like this core value, and this one, and we will also use this one,” Glen points out. “The core values came from us – the whole team. The trust, the integrity of how you deal with people, the transparency – those all come from us as a team.” Karoline adds, “We finally just put them on paper but we have been living those values for 25 years. For me, that gives us confidence that the company can grow and prosper when we are no longer in the
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Integrity Kemway is committed to honesty and transparency. This commitment builds trust and respect in all of their relationships. Commitment to People Kemway values their business relationships and nurtures them by listening to their clients, investing in their team and learning from each other. Teamwork and Collaboration Kemway fosters accountability within the team by communicating clearly and being consistent in both words and actions. Focused on Results Kemway sets their goals high and delivers quality, measurable results. Successes are recognized and celebrated.
CONGRATULATIONS TO KEMWAY ON 25 YEARS OF SUCCESS - FROM THE TEAM AT ARROW ENGINEERING Edmonton | Calgary | Saskatoon ArrowOnline.ca
MECHANICAL | ELECTRICAL | STRUCTURAL | CIVIL 5
business, because anyone managing Kemway in the future knows what we stand for. Therefore, Kemway will continue to be successful without us at the helm.”
only profitable and successful, but a company that has earned the respect of their peers in the industry, along with the respect of their clients, staff and vendors.
These core values are not catchy buzzwords designed by a PR firm and they are not words tossed together by the management team so they could put them into a brochure. These core values are the lifeblood of Kemway and they take them very seriously. Not a single decision, be it a hiring choice, a project opportunity, or changes to in-house
Kemway is proud of the trust and relationships they have built with their new and long term clients. “What differentiates us is that we have a great team of experts,” explains Terry. “There is no need to shop around for lowest dollar for parts of work. This works because the continuity/consistency on all the projects is there and we work together to get the projects completed. A consistent team is able to dig deeper than you can on the surface with someone you are having a once-in-a-blue-moon relationship with. We build buildings. That is our business. But we build relationships. That is our real business.”
We build buildings. That is our business. But we build relationships. That is our real business. policies, is made without the guidance of these values. By sticking firmly to the core values, Kemway ensures that ethical, profitable, integral decisions are the expected norm. The result of living these values for over 20 years is a company that is not
Servicing Edmonton and the Capital region, Kemway’s recent projects include the laboratory facility at Thurber Engineering Ltd., a testing facility for C-FER and Alberta Innovates Technology Futures, and manufacturing facilities at Gled Hill Steel Products and Volant. Each project comes with an interesting set of challenges, and Kemway loves facing and solving each one. For example, the winter of 2013 gave
Congratulations to the group on “25” great years!
Kemway
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QUALITY • COMPLIANCE • PROFESSIONALISM BEST WISHES OF CONTINUED SUCCESS. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE TEAM AT KEMWAY ON YOUR FIRST QUARTER CENTURY.
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Edmonton record snowfalls and unseasonably low temperatures, but that didn’t stop the company from designing and constructing a two-story professional office with a warehouse and six bays for tenants. The 80,700 square foot facility was heated and boarded so quality work could be completed despite the low temperatures. Fifty major change orders (some of which saw three structural mezzanines added to the design) and tenants with vastly different objectives and requirements didn’t deter Kemway from completing this project and delivering a successful result. The management held regular onsite meetings and was in close collaboration with the tenants. They also created and stuck to a detailed schedule to ensure smooth transitions and interactions among all the sub trades. To keep the project from being held up, they fast tracked items, such as the delivery of elevators, and they were open and honest about limitations while providing solutions and options when original requests could not be accommodated. Another example of how Kemway’s core values brought about a successful project is the design and construction of a two-storey office and machine shop. At a modest 24,280 square feet, things seemed straightforward – at first. A machine shop that sits on poor soil tends to complicate things.
Dramatic Architectural Details
25 Years is a true statement that KEMWAY Contractors is an exemplary leader in the construction industry as a trusted design/build company. Priority Mechanical Ltd. congratulates KEMWAY Contractors on their continued success. We are proud to be part of their team.
9259 -35 Avenue Edmonton, Alberta T6E 5Y1 Phone: 780-435-3636 • Fax: 780-450-3550 www.prioritymechanical.com 8
The soil conditions made for structural design challenges, and this was on top of continuously changing client requirements. Never one to let situations get in the way of quality results, Kemway implemented innovative structural solutions based on a collaboration between the engineering and project teams. These solutions were put forth to the entire team and the ideal solutions were chosen by consensus.
Finished products are always very rewarding to me. When I drive down the street and see a project that we have fully completed, even if was 15 years ago, I’m proud of it.
CONGRATULATIONS TO KEMWAY CONTRACTORS ON 25 SUCCESSFUL YEARS IN BUSINESS. COLLINS STEEL IS PROUD TO PARTNER WITH THE GREAT KEMWAY TEAM! 780.440.1414
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada,T6B 2Z2
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From Left: Glen Kemp, Terry Kemp, Karoline Kemp, Lothar Krause
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2015-03-30 1:31 PM
As you can imagine, this vote-on-it method is not something readily seen in the industry, but Kemway knows that such decisions are contingent upon many factors. If only management makes those decisions, they will overlook something vital that another team, such as logistics or administration, could
It’s been an incredible journey of discovery, challenges, solutions, leadership, values and successes that defined a company so well-respected, you would be hard pressed to find anyone with a negative word to say about the brand. identify. With Kemway’s core values of teamwork and collaboration in full force, the Kemway vs. poor soil challenge saw Kemway emerge with new structural solutions that can be readily applied to future projects.
Sometimes the challenges come from where you least expect them. When an international company needed a one-storey warehouse facility in Edmonton, had decision makers based in Europe, and all communications and negotiations handled through a third-party in Montreal, what did Kemway do? Rely on their core values, of course! They set their focus on results, excellence and professionalism, which allowed the company to create a new process for handling this unique scenario. Honest, rapid responses were given to all requests and scrupulous record keeping kept communication flowing smoothly. Can anything slow Kemway down once they are committed to a project? Not really. If there was any obstacle they couldn’t overcome it would have been when structural steel components of a design were changed after the steel had been ordered and delivered to site. Rather than penalize the client for the late-term changes, Kemway honoured their core value of being committed to people and collaborating. The result was a redesign, re-fabrication and reengineering of the original steel. Erection commenced within three short weeks of the requested changes. The steel frame now supports a two-storey laboratory testing facility that holds multiple tenants.
Congratulations to the team at Kemway Contractors on your outstanding first 25 years. We are proud to play a part in your success and we look forward to the coming years.
4132 - 99 st Edmonton, AB T6E3N5
4132-99 StreetPhone Edmonton, AB (780) 437-5750 www.bfcflooring.com www.bfcflooring.com 11
There have been many projects over the years, all with their own set of defining criteria and Terry fondly remembers them all. One, however, continues to stand out for him. “We had a client that started small and continued on to build a larger business,” he smiles. This small company was one of their first notable contracts. “We went from renovating their little warehouse facility to building them a small manufacturing plant. As they were expanding, they got bought out by a large German firm. The next step for us was to build a much larger, nearly 70,000 square foot facility.” This small company is now the global WIKA Worldwide (WIKA Instruments Canada Ltd.).
The biggest challenge we have as an industry is that there are so many ways and methods that you can construct a building.
Kemway’s commitment to people value extends beyond their beautiful 6,000 square foot office and deep into the community. Each shareholder has pledged 10 per cent of profits for charitable giving. The employees are also very involved in charitable giving, both on their own time and through company-sponsored events. Going from a father and son venture to a multimillion dollar company in 25 years has taught Terry many things. “It is an interesting industry,” smiles Terry. “The biggest challenge we have as an industry is that there are so many ways and methods that you can construct a building. What I find most challenging is educating the client on what the differences are and helping them realize it’s not just the cost, but the quality of construction and the delivery method. There are a lot of different ways to do things.” Challenges, he notes, also come with rewards. “Finished products are always very rewarding to me. When I drive down the street and see a project that we have fully completed, even if was 15 years ago, I’m proud of it. Also, what I’m really proud of lately is the culture we have created. It’s a culture in
We connected. Sparks flew. It was electrifying. Congratulations Kemway Contractors on 25 years.
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Structural Steel – The backbone of a building
which we are very results-oriented and we do it with integrity. It’s a great culture from that standpoint.” He goes on to discuss how his leadership style has evolved. “To me, leadership is not an easy thing. What I’ve learned is that there are a lot of things involved. The biggest is that you need to seek to understand what you are trying to do, not just from the client’s standpoint, but the team as well. That boils down to listening. You have to be clear in your expectations and you have to be transparent. It takes a lot of patience to be a leader because you are dealing with people that have different characters. The coaching and mentoring is huge.” Terry’s career has also taught him a great deal about entrepreneurship. “It’s not for everybody. It takes a special kind of person to risk your finances to create a viable and successful business. It takes discipline and patience at times, but also aggressive decision making at other times. An entrepreneur may think he or she can do it all alone, but collaboration with likeminded people is a must.”
the status quo, and, at the end of the day, keeping Kemway’s core values as the centre for the future. Those values will always be relevant.” Yet, despite the talk of succession, he has to admit he’s not ready to retire. “I’m having fun,” smiles Terry. “I’m enjoying what I’m doing. That makes it more of a passion and that is really what life is about. Retirement is great, but you have to love what you are doing too, and I truly enjoy what I’m doing here.” The president and CEO also recognizes the importance of balance and takes time for golf, hockey and adventurous travel with his family. Terry and the shareholders have a message for their team. “Thank you! Thank you for helping our customers achieve their goals and doing that in a professional business manner. The results speak for themselves.”
The story of Kemway is far from over. Karoline refers to the company as part of the family. “I feel very strongly about this,” she says with a laugh. “I look at Kemway as our first born child that just turned 25 years old. Do you know how many of our family discussion at the dinner table are about Kemway? Terry had to put some rules around that! If you ask my kids, they say Kemway is the older sibling!” She grows thoughtful for a moment. “We put so much heart and soul and sacrifices into it.” When you think of it in terms of something that has been nurtured and grown, 25 is a great age. It’s the age when the company has its own, distinct personality, a solid history, and bright future. “We will continue growing our corporate culture as we transition younger members into leadership roles,” Terry says of Kemway’s future plans. “We will be keeping what made Kemway successful, but always striving to be innovative and challenging of
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They are equally grateful to the clients. “Thanks for placing your trust in our team. I know you have other options. Thank you for choosing us. Our goal has always been to build your goals and make them into something you are proud of and completely satisfied with. That’s the bottom line.” 25 years. Two-and-half decades. It’s been an incredible journey of discovery, challenges, solutions, leadership, values and successes that defined a company so well-respected, you would be hardpressed to find anyone with a negative word to say about the brand.
When you think of it in terms of something that has been nurtured and grown, 25 is a great age. It’s the age when the company has its own, distinct personality, a solid history, and bright future. Just what do you do when you turn 25? When asked this question, Terry breaks into his charismatic grin and lets the secret out: “We’re going to have a big party!” Kemway has so many reasons to celebrate. It’s going to be a great party.
Congratulations to Kemway Contractors for 25 years of successful business
From
Omni-McCann Consultants Ltd.
APPLIED EARTH SCIENCES, ENGINEERING & MATERIALS TESTING
2404 – 96 Street NW | EDMONTON,AB | T6N 1J8
TEL 14
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FAX
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Open House Celebration, June 2014
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PENCIL POINTS DESIGN & DRAFTING LTD.
THE TEAM AT SHARP’S CONSTRUCTION WOULD LIKE TO CONGRATULATE KEMWAY CONTRACTORS ON 25 FANTASTIC YEARS!
17306 - 106 Avenue Edmonton, Alberta T55 1H9
Congratulations on your 25th Anniversary. We are happy to have been a part of Kemway’s successes. Our 20 years of Association also contributed greatly to the growth of our Business. We thank you. We wish you continuing success for the next 25 years and beyond.
3911 82 Ave Leduc, AB Canada PH 780.612.0255 F 780.612.0256
www.sharpsconstruction.com
Carmen P. Naccarato President
Congratulations TH
business!
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Congratulations
KEMWAY CONTRACTORS
on your 25th Anniversary! We are proud to be a part of your team and wish you many more years of continued success!
Since 1956
O’Hanlon Paving Ltd. 16511 116 Avenue Edmonton, AB T5M 3V1
Loric Glass Ltd.
780.434.8555
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Congratulations to KEMWAY CONTRACTORS (2006) LTD. on celebrating 25 Years!
Congratulates KEMWAY Contractors on 25 successful years of business!
3743 98 St NW, Edmonton (780) 469-8899
Congratulations Kemway on Your 25th Business Anniversary!
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We are proud to celebrate the 25th business anniversary of KEMWAY.
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Congratulates
Kemway Contractors Ltd. on th their Anniversary!
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Congratulations KEMWAY on your 25 years of business! www.mcmurrayinteriors.com 11315-154 Street Edmonton, Alberta T5M 1X8 Phone: (780) 451-3476 Fasx: (780) 454-5996
Scona Painting Service Ltd. Proud to be a partner
Congratulations KEMWAY on 25 excellent years of business.
6615 34 Street NW, Edmonton, AB T6B 2V8
THE
PH (780) 466-0397
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Congratulations Kemway Contractors Ltd. on your 25th Anniversary! “Serving the Construction Industry since 1972”
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WESTCON CONSTRUCTION IS PROUD TO CONGRATULATE KEMWAY CONTRACTORS ON 25 YEARS OF GREAT BUSINESS 780.499.4633
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