Graham Group enjoys “big, tough jobs,” such as the Vancouver Convention Centre expansion, for which it was the concrete contractor.

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With a variety of specialties, Graham Group Ltd. is capable of performing “a broad scope of work for our clients,” President and CEO Tom Baxter says. “If they need it done, we’ll find a way to get it done.”

Based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the employee-owned firm provides general contracting, project management, design/build and construction services to clients in Canada and the United States. The company operates commercial, industrial, masonry and infrastructure divisions.

P.W. Graham and his sons started the company as a building contracting business in 1926. Nearly 60 years later, the company’s employees joined with the Graham family and formed Graham Construction and Engineering. Today, as Graham Group Ltd., employee ownership allows the company to enjoy longevity among its work force, Baxter says. “We’ve got an awful of new staff members, but our core field supervisors and office managers have been with the company on an average of 25 years.”

Approximately 500 are shareholders out of the 700 salaried staff members. “They’ve got a piece of the action,” he says, explaining that its employees have a stake in the company’s success. “When it comes right down to it, it’s the people that make the difference.”

In addition, the Graham family still owns 20 percent of the company, and Ron Graham is the chairman of the board. “[Their involvement] certainly provides some long-term history and stability,” Baxter says.

Taking the Initiatives
Baxter has been with Graham Group since 1972, when he started as a surveyor. Through the years, “We’ve grown from a very small company to a billion-dollar operation,” he says. “It’s been a very quick 35 years. I always tell the young guys, ‘I’ve done every job here.’”

Today, 85 percent of the company’s work is in Canada. “We need to fix that,” he says, noting that the company is taking initiatives to expand its business in the United States. “It’s a long-term strategy to provide timing diversification,” Baxter says, noting that the United States’ economy tends to run two years ahead of Canada’s.

Most recently, the company created its infrastructure division. “It’s always been a core part of our business, but not separate from the industrial and commercial divisions,” he says. “We’ve now placed a higher priority on it, and want it to be a stand-alone division.”

The division is keeping busy. “It’s going crazy up here,” he says. “The infrastructure [division has] a huge backlog of work, both in the Canada and the United states.”

A factor in this surge was the Minnesota bridge collapse this past year, Baxter says. “Those types of things are finally getting through to people that we’ve got to spend money on infrastructure before it all collapses,” he says. “[We have] some joint ventures up here and some very exciting projects.”

Staying Ahead
The company is now working on the northeast portion of the Calgary Ring Road, which is a $600 million joint venture with Flatiron Construction Corp., based in Longmont, Colo. The project is Graham Group’s first public private partnership and is comprised of 24 kilometers, which will be a fourth of the road around Calgary.

The project is 30 percent complete, Baxter reports. “We have to be done [by] about the third quarter of ’09,” he says. “[It’s] starting to look like a road, so that’s exciting.”

Graham Group is also at work on the Deltaport Berth 3 expansion project in Delta, British Columbia, for TSI Terminal Systems. The project will see the construction of a new 430-meter-long container berth. “We’re probably 40 percent into that,” he says, noting that the project will be completed near the end of 2009.

The company is ahead of schedule on the project, due to strong planning. “Industrially, we’re certainly involved with the Alberta tar sands and some major power projects,” Baxter adds. “The United States is just starting to notice the tar sands now, [and] that’s a 30-year-old venture.”

On the ‘Curve’
A challenge for Graham Group, Baxter says, is finding manpower. “Owners can’t get people,” he says. “They’re trying to give us more and more responsibilities.

“Whether it’s design or quality control, the owners want somebody just to get it done,” he says, noting that the company is also feeling the effects of a labor shortage, in finding people to work its jobs.

To cope, Graham Group has not only sought young workers from colleges, but also senior associates from Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States and Asia. “Basically, we’re getting talent wherever we can find it,” he says. “Every bit helps.”

Despite this challenge, Graham Group is planning to move “onward and upward,” Baxter says. “We want to participate in the big, tough jobs, particularly in the infrastructure side.”