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COVER: SUNVALLEY TIRE | Keeping the wheels turning for 30 years
Keeping the WheelsTurning for
Cover Photo: Lucas Janzen of Pembina Aerial Story Photos: Angela Peters Photography
Sunvalley TireOnce a simple wooden disk with a hole in the middle for an axle, today’s tires are the stuff of high-technology made of layers of composite materials and even monitored for tire pressure. There are green environmentally friendly tires, tires for every season, agriculture tires, semi-truck tires and regular consumer tires not to mention the many custom options. Not only that but you have magazines like Tire Technology dedicated to the space and industry events like Tire Technology Expo for instance that will showcase 73 different types of trends and technologies affecting tires. There’s even an intelligent tire that comes complete with a premounted sensor that constantly monitors pressure and temperature of the tire and transmits the information in real time. If you are running a fleet of 100 semis the ability to quickly, and easily access critical information about the tires without having to run around to each and every one of them on every vehicle saves an enormous amount of time and what saves time, saves money. It may sound like the stuff of science fiction but it makes sense when you consider that we trust the tire, more than any other component, with the safety of our families, as well as the commercial drivers of semis and agricultural equipment. Clearly the humble wheel has come a long way since it started as a wooden disk on a stick but no matter how simple or complex, one thing has always been needed – people who know how to install and maintain them. All of this means it takes some real experience and know how to navigate a market that some assume We’ve come a long way from the first wheels used more than 5,500 years ago, to what Sunvalley Tire sells and services today. 61lifemag.ca
With 30 years of experience under their belt, owner/founder Ken Hildebrand and his 38 staff will tell you nothing could be further from the truth. Like any good tool you need the right tire for the right job and that’s where Sunvalley Tire comes in.
The business was started originally in Morden on Thornhill Street back in 1992 where a small crew of five worked diligently growing the business and providing the best customer service they could offer.
“I’ve been here about 28 years,” said Harry Fehr. “We were only in the Morden shop for about one or two years before we outgrew it and moved to a larger shop in Winkler.”
Jeremy Hildebrand, Ken’s son and part of the next generation, recollects growing up in the business and the earliest days in Morden.
“I remember playing around the shop as a kid,” said Hildebrand who
noted that some of the tires were big enough for him to climb in and out of. “As a 10 year old, I remember climbing in and out of the tire stacks.”
No longer that kid who spent time playing in tires, Hildebrand has been working full-time at Sunvalley for more than 16 years, not counting These days Hildebrand spends his time working alongside the rest of the crew doing whatever needs to be done, helping the clients and ensuring the business continues to grow in the 16,500 sq. ft. facility they opened in 2014.
“It’s not big enough anymore,” notes Ken’s sister Marion Peters who also commented on the growth of staff. “I’m glad they wear name tags. There was a time when I knew everybody but you cannot keep up, the growth has been so strong.”
Fehr agrees.
“I remember having a discussion with Marion when we were thinking of building the new facility and having to reassure ourselves that this would be good.”
It was a big step up from the older building and a huge investment but one Ken and the team felt was necessary to better serve
customers and continue to grow as the region grew. They were right. Today even at more than 16,000 sq. ft., three times the size of the older location, Sunvalley has multiple storage facilities to manage their ever growing inventory.
Not only does Sunvalley have extensive operations in Winkler, they have also operated a location in Altona with four staff since 2008.
“To me it’s unbelievable,” said Ken’s brother Marvin Hildebrand, voicing what many feel when they have been a part of a successful and thriving business for years.
The larger facility means’ Sunvalley has six bays to service cars, SUVs and pickup trucks, two larger bays for semis and a large area for work on agricultural vehicles whose tires can run as much as $10,000 each –with some tractors needing up to eight. That’s $80,000 in tires. With that kind of investment it’s no wonder so many have relied on Sunvalley to do the work right.
In the older building, it was a struggle just to get a semi into the bay without hitting the building and sometimes the door wouldn’t close which made for some cold work in the middle of winter. At this point, discussion starts lingering on stories from the old days of having to tarp around the back of semis that
didn’t quite fit to keep the cold out and the ingenuity applied by staff to make sure the work was done well.
“The growth was there to warrant a different shop,” said Fehr. “The truck bay was too small and one truck bay was limited.”
Anyone in business knows it takes more than a growing market to make a successful operation. You have to know when to invest to stay ahead of the market and continue to offer the best service. This is an area that all staff agree – Ken has excelled in allowing Sunvalley to move from once cramped quarters to where they are now.
“I don’t miss my little office,” said Peters with a laugh. “The growth of trucking and agriculture in our region definitely grew the business.”
That’s one of the things you notice about Sunvalley Tire. There’s a friendly camaraderie that pervades the environment. It’s as though they managed to maintain that family business mentality even as the business grew to where it is today. Fehr agrees that Sunvalley is family to him. It’s what’s kept him at the business all these years and it’s a trait they share with numerous other businesses in the region that have managed to not simply survive but thrive.
“I didn’t know how long I was going to be working for Sunvalley, but I didn’t think I would still be here 28 years later,” said Fehr. “It’s a good place with good people and I haven’t had any reason to leave.”
Fehr represents a rare breed of employee these days – one who stays and commits over the long term. With staffing becoming an issue for companies not just in the Pembina Valley but across the country, maintaining an environment that keeps them around is more and more a critical part of remaining successful.
“Harry may not be part of the family but he has become part of the family,” said Peters who noted – “I just came to help file and I’m still here too.”
Ken’s wife Glenda Hildebrand, who has also worked for the company, reflected on where the company has grown from its humble beginnings in Morden and the kind of character required to see the success Sunvalley has seen.
“Ken was 18 years old when he started in the business,” said Hildebrand who noted he spent 10 years working for others before striking out on his own. “He liked being able to make his own decisions and you can’t do that in a lot of places so he started his own company.”
When the new location was opened in 2014 Ken Hildebrand reflected on what it took to get to where Sunvalley is now and some of the challenges along the way.
“We made do with what we had,” Hildebrand said. “It was tough but we did it - before when we had two vehicles and a semi in the shop it was
pretty much full. Now we can get six vehicles, two semis and a tractor. We can do a lot more at one time.”
Staff credit the region’s growth and great customer base with Sunvalley’s success and you can see this in the demographics over the years.
In 1992 when Sunvalley started the population of Winkler was just 6,500 people. Now it is closing in on 15,000 – that’s well over double in 30 years, a growth rate a lot of businesses would struggle to serve but Sunvalley’s vision has meant an ability to keep pace and thrive.
“You have to be able to adapt to keep up with the competition,” said Fehr. “You never really 100 percent know what is going to stick in terms of change and new technology so you have to be ready, willing and able to provide what the client is looking for.”
In the early days of Sunvalley, a lot of work was done on passenger vehicles like cars, SUVs and pickup trucks. These days, staff estimate as much as 70 percent of the business is now focused on commercial agriculture and industrial clients with the remaining 30 percent being passenger vehicles.
But no matter how large the shop and no matter how well you keep up with changes in the industry, success comes down to two key factors – great clients and great employees offering the best customer service they can.
“We never say ‘We can’t do that’,” said Jeremy. “We always make it work and that’s something Sunvalley and Ken have become known for. We get calls for advice from people as far away as Ontario and B.C. because Ken is so knowledgeable.”
It’s a sentiment Harry and the others agree with wholeheartedly. You cannot take customers for granted if you still want to be in business 30 years after you start out.
“We care about our customers. Ken and I discussed this just the other day. Sometimes you get a disgruntled customer but we don’t let them go that way – for us it’s important to mend those fences. You do what you have to do so you don’t lose the Ken Hildebrand said it best when Sunvalley opened its current expanded location –
“We are blessed with good customers, good employees and a wonderful shop.”
Over the years Sunvalley Tire has seen thousands of customers come through its doors and they have been able to provide product and service to every one of them.
With the kind of commitment to clients and employees that Hildebrand talks about, Sunvalley will continue to thrive for years to come meeting the needs of the next generation with the best products and the best service.
