A Coffee with John Leder, CEO and Owner of Supreme Steel

Join us for a coffee and chat with John Leder, the CEO and Owner of Supreme Steel! John is set to receive the prestigious 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award at the ABA Gala on September 20th, a well-deserved recognition of his immense impact.

John's incredible journey began in Wassenaar, Netherlands, before his family relocated to Winnipeg when he was five. After meeting his wife, Sally, through their church youth groups, they settled in Edmonton. What was meant to be a temporary job driving trucks quickly turned into a lifelong career. John joined his father as a general labourer at Centennial Steel, planning to attend university. However, a natural talent for the industry emerged as he quickly climbed the ranks in the shop and field, learning to weld and run night shifts. Despite a brief return to university with plans to study law, the call of the steel industry proved irresistible.

His entrepreneurial spirit truly ignited while working for Triangle Steel. After the company declined his innovative proposal to equip a mobile repair truck, they encouraged him to start his own venture. This led to the humble beginnings of Supreme Steel. Starting with small odd jobs and gradually expanding to hire his brother and join the unions in 1974, John steadily grew the company. Supreme Steel built its own shop, continuously expanding, and eventually made strategic acquisitions across Canada, including Saskatoon, to become the industry leader it is today.

In 2005, Supreme Steel moved its operations to Acheson, building their stunning facility complete with a fabulous glass atrium that has become a hub for community events. The building also houses the Bridgespan Cafe and Grill, renowned for its amazing food. John's career, from his early days as a general labourer to leading a national powerhouse, is a true testament to perseverance, vision, and entrepreneurial drive.

Congratulations to John Leder on his Lifetime Achievement Award! We celebrate his tremendous impact on the steel industry, and his enduring contributions to Acheson and beyond. If you're in Acheson, swing by Supreme Steel to experience their fabulous atrium and enjoy an amazing lunch at Bridgespan!

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Transcript

0:13

Well, hello, everybody, and welcome to another edition of the ABA Coffee In The Park. My name is Cam Milliken, and I am here with my co-host extraordinaire, Jennifer Herrick, the Executive Director of the Acheson Business Association. Hello, Jennifer. Hello, Cam, how are you today? Oh, man, if I was any better, the sun is shining. It is a beautiful summer day right here. We're coming to you live from the Wall Coffee Roasters in the heart of beautiful downtown Acheson. That's right. So, hey, everybody, this is going to be a great show today. I'm pretty excited. It's sunny outside and it's summertime. And what more could you ask for? Exactly. Yeah. Anything you need to tell us? Well, we'd like to thank some very important people. Oh, yeah. Our gold corporate sponsors, which include the Myshak group of companies, Genics, Parkland County, and Bow Valley Credit Union. That's right. Without them, we would not be able to do what we do. So thank you very much for sponsoring us. Yes. Yeah, it's good. Anything exciting you want to tell us? Well, Cam, there's lots going on, but you know what? No. I think we just need to get right into it. I'm very excited to get into it because I am very, very, very excited about our guest today. So why don't you introduce our guest? Our guest today is John Leder, who is the recipient of the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award for the Acheson Business Association. So exciting. I know. Welcome, John. Well, thank you. Good to have you. This is fantastic. I love when we do this show because this is a good one for our Lifetime Achievement Award. It is. So let's get started. Okay. We kick it off like we always do. John, tell us where you were born and where did you grow up? Well, you know, my parents told me because, you know, even though I was there, I don't remember. You don't remember? Like most of us. Yes. Yeah, I don't either. Yeah, that's right. So I was born in the Netherlands in a little town called Wassenaar. Wassenaar. Which is a suburb of Den Haag or like English people would say, The Hague. The Hague. Oh, really? The Hague. Okay. So yeah, I was born there and as a family, we immigrated to Winnipeg when I was five. Okay. So do you remember a lot about Dutch land over there, about the Netherlands or? Enough. Yeah. I know where we lived. I've been there a couple of times when we visited. Yeah. Yeah. And I went to a kindergarten there. Okay. So I got a few memories. I'm always curious, why did your family come to Winnipeg? Why of all the places in Canada? Nothing wrong with Winnipeg. Just why Winnipeg? They probably put their finger in the map and ended up in the middle of Canada. That's Winnipeg. I didn't look at the temperature, the average temperature in Winnipeg, but yeah. No, it was because my mother's younger brother, my uncle Peter, lived there. Okay. So he was a bit of a sponsor. My parents, I think they wanted to go to the States at one time. Right. We did have relatives in California, but they were getting old and they said, no, we can't really sponsor you. So we ended up in Winnipeg. Canada, in Winnipeg? Yeah. Wow. So you grew up in Winnipeg? Yeah, essentially. Yeah. Went to school there. I'm still growing up, but yeah. Yeah. Okay. We have your family sitting around the table, so they may chime in from time to time on some of these things. So yeah. So John, what did your parents do when they came to Winnipeg? So yeah, it's a bit of an interesting story. My dad was, I guess you would call it a bookkeeper. But in the Netherlands, he was a wealth manager and that was long before that happened in Canada, in the States. So he managed some family's monies and bought Philip's stock and Shell stock and things like that, right? So when he came to Winnipeg, he ended up working for a company called Leon A Brown, which I think is still in Winnipeg. And I think they had to do some furniture and things like that. But he was basically a bookkeeper there. Really? And he ended up having several jobs like that till well, and he worked for us till basically he died. Right. And your mom, was she just a stay-at-home mom or was she out working? She was a stay-at-home mom and she was a seamstress. And I remember in the early days to make extra money, she would make, sew choir gowns and stuff like that. So she'd be on the sewing machine for a good part of the day. Right. And how many brothers and sisters do you have? Luckily, no sisters. As he says that with daughters sitting around the table. It's all right. Yeah. No, that's good. I've got four brothers, two older and two younger. Okay. So what's that? Six? Four, two, six. Four, two, six. In the middle. In the middle. Stop doing math! I'm terrible at math. I'm just, what I'm trying, the point I'm getting at is that's a lot of kids for your mom to take care of, your mom and dad take care of when you're new to Canada and all that kind of stuff. I'm curious about this. What did you feel about your first winter? In Winnipeg. In Winnipeg. Like. Well, of course, we had never seen snow, right? Oh, okay. So I still remember that the first day it snowed, we ran outside and tried to make snow angels and whatever. We just thought that was great. Yeah. But when it got to like Winnipeg, it gets to like minus 4,025. Like how did you do with that one? Well, in the early years, we had to haul water. So at the corner, there was a standpipe, right? So we take a galvanized metal drum and on the sleigh, and we take it to the corner, and then we pull it back. And just before we got home, it would tip over and we had to go back. We had to go back and refill it. So there were some of those memories. They were kind of neat growing up. That's kids today. Did you hear that? Just saying, because I'm just saying, like now we just go to the tap. They had to go get the water outside. In minus 40. In minus 412. And quite often the standpipe would freeze, so there was a little grocery store right across, and they had a kettle, and so somebody would boil the water and pour it down and thaw it with the pipe so that we could get some water. Wow. Incredible. I love it. I mean, I don't think I'd love it, but yeah, it's just a great story for sure. So are you going to ask them the question that you ask everybody about high school? Well, did you do high school in Winnipeg? And so, okay, what high school did you go to? Transcona Collegiate. Transcona. Okay, do you remember? I know this is a really way out there question. He loves this question folks. I love this question. He does! What was your mascot? What was your high school mascot? Like, a beaver? There was no such thing. There was no mascot. No mascot. You're the first person to ever say that about their high school. Mind you, a lot of our guests never even went to high school. So I'm just saying, that's not true. No, they did. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. All right. So you're done high school. And then what? Did you stay in Winnipeg? Did you? Leave Winnipeg? Yeah. Did you? No. So while I was the last few years of high school, I worked on a farm in the summers. And then my last year of high school is when I met Sally. Oh. And... Tell us about that. So... How did you meet Sally? Well, so I was president of our Young People's in Church. Yeah. And we had a... What would you call it? What do you call it, Sally? A weekend retreat. A kind of a weekend retreat. Right. And we invited Brandon's Young People's. And Sally was from Brandon. Oh. And she was actually the president of her Young People's. Oh. The power couple from the beginning. The power couple. That's right. The two presidents. That's right. Locked eyes. So anyways, a rather interesting story. So, you know, I wasn't really interested in going to the gathering, but I was staying at a house which was right next door to the church because my parents had already moved to Edmonton. Okay. I was staying with friends. And so I walked out and I saw Sally sitting on a curb. Well, I mean, this is the story. Sally sitting on the curb. I mean, she was sitting with a green jacket on, you know, and I said, Oh, yeah, that's a cute girl. And I thought I'd try to approach her. And anyways, I don't want to make the story too long, but we ended up going out with the rest of the young people and we were supposed to go roller skating. Oh, yeah. The good old days of roller skating. Yeah. And Sally says to me, do you think we could go see Romeo and Juliet, the movie. The movie. Right. Oh. Because that was the big movie in those days, right? Yeah. And I hated roller skating. And she hated roller skating. And here we're both the presidents of our respective clubs. And I said, and I already seen Romeo and Juliet with our English class two weeks before. And I thought, oh yeah, but if I can go out with Sally, why not? So we went to see Romeo and Juliet while the rest of the. That's love. Don't you think? I think it is. Ditching the youth groups, because you're the presidents of the youth groups, ditching them. You already seen the Romeo and Juliet. But it's love. And he's sitting through it again. That's right. Yeah. Wow. So that was our first date, so-called. And from there, it just. Yeah. And then, you know, then there was a bit of traveling between Winnipeg and Brandon because, you know, that's what a couple hour drive. So a few weeks after that, my friend also had a girlfriend in Brandon and he said, why don't you come along? And so I showed up in Brandon and for the rest of the summer, I did, I don't know how many trips to Brandon. Wow. Every weekend. Yeah. Yeah. And how long before you decided she, or did you know she was the one when you saw her sitting on the curb or pretty much? Well, I can't remember, but I probably did. Yeah. Okay. So how long before you became like an official thingamadooie couple? Like married? No, no, no. Like when did you decide to get engaged? Did you do the engagement thing or was it just like straight to the altar? No, we did the engagement thing. A year and a half later, I think, or something like that. Okay. Yeah. And then you were married? I was in grade 11. He moved to Edmonton. Oh, right. I had to wait another year before I could go to Edmonton. Right. So if you're not hearing that, Sally was in grade 11. And John was robbing the cradle and going after the younger women. Still in high school. That's actually illegal. No, I'm just kidding. Totally kidding. All of 11 months. All of 11 months. All right. So then did you get married in Manitoba? Yeah. Yeah. Our wedding was in Manitoba. Okay. Right. Okay. But by that time, Sally was already living in Edmonton. Right. Oh, okay. So we just went home for the wedding, essentially. Right. And so you moved here then. And what brought you to Edmonton? What brought your parents to Edmonton? So like I said earlier, my dad was a bit of an accountant, bookkeeper. And we had relatives in Edmonton. There was another uncle in Edmonton. And they would keep sending Edmonton Journal, wanted ads, for my dad, hoping to get some family in Edmonton. And I guess either they were very persuasive or whatever. I don't remember all the details, but dad and mom went to Edmonton and he got a job here. And in January of 69, they moved here. Wow. It's like moving from the frying pan into the fire in the middle of January. Yes but you're moving from Winnipeg to Edmonton, so it's not like a huge temperature shock. What should I say from the deep freeze into the... Yeah, that's true. Yeah, it's like only minus 35 here instead of minus 50. Right. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so they moved then and, of course, then I had to stay with friends, family. And so I basically room and boarded there. And it was a little further from the school where we used to live was two blocks. This became ten blocks. But yeah, I just finished high school. And then I had no compulsion to go to Edmonton because by that time I met Sally. Yeah. And so I worked all summer in Winnipeg yet. Right. And then in the fall, I drove out to Edmonton in my $50 Ford. All you young kids out there. That's real. He ain't making that up. Not that you get a Ford today for $50. Yeah. I'm just sayin'. Anyhow. Yeah. So you drove to Edmonton. Sally was already in Edmonton. No, no. She wasn't here yet. Okay. She was still in school. Right. Oh, that's right. Hello. I'm sorry. I keep forgetting you robbed the cradle. But anyways, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I know. So you came to Edmonton. Yeah. What was your first job in Edmonton, John? So like I said, my dad got a job in Edmonton, and that job happened to be with a company called Centennial Steel. Yeah. It's a story twist. Yeah. So I was looking for a job as a truck driver because I'd been driving trucks and stuff in Winnipeg. They said, all the guys that I approached in Edmonton said, well, you got to be 25. We're not going to hire a truck driver unless you're 25 for insurance purposes. So my dad says, well, why don't you just come to the shop? So I ended up as a bit of a laborer in a steel shop. That was my first job. The intention was to work for a year and then go to university. So I worked that year and started as a helper, and then they got me to do a bunch of work out in the field. Then there was a bit of a fight between the shop superintendent and the field superintendent because they both wanted me. Wow, fighting over you. Nobody has ever fought over me, I'll tell you that. They fought to get rid of me, but they never fought over me. Okay, so. So during that time, I ended up getting a lot of experience in the field, installing rails and stairs and things like that. And at the same time, getting a lot of experience in the shop, fitting and never knew how to weld. So I had some of the old guys show me a little bit how to tack, things like that. And then the manager approached me, I think it was in May. They had a job that they had to work a night shift and they asked me if I'd run the night shift. Wow. So I ran the night shift for about four months and I was the youngest of the crew. Yeah. And then September came along and said, well, I'm quitting. I'm going to university. And they didn't like that too much, but I went anyways. Yeah. And I went to university and... U of A? U of A. Yeah, yeah. He was going to be a lawyer. Oh. That was his plan. Wow. A lawyer. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Because we had a family friend that he kind of said, yeah, you should try that. Yeah. But because I came out of Manitoba and I dropped French in grade 12, because in Manitoba, they said you don't need it anymore for matriculation. But when you moved to Alberta, you still needed French for arts. But you could get into the science. Okay. So I went into the science program. Totally bored again. And four months later, quit. But you're still an alumni. That's all that matters. Four months makes you an alum. I don't know. It does. I'm not sure if I qualify for that. As long as you paid the tuition, you're in. Yeah, I know. You're in, yeah. Okay. So you quit and went back to work in steel or? Yeah. Then I thought, hey, I got some steel experience, so I should be able to find a job. And I ended up getting a job with Triangle Steel on 99th Street. And the superintendent there said, well, can you build this? And he showed me a drawing and I said, oh yeah, I can build that. Yeah. And he says, well, I'll hire you as a second class fitter. I said, oh, that's pretty good. I went from a grinder to a second class fitter, just like that. So that's a big deal. Yeah, that was a big deal for me anyways. Yeah, well, for anybody, that's a big deal, yeah. And so I ended up working there for a while and they did the same thing. They sent me out in the field and I'd be fixing up things. And the union would get on the same site and they'd send me back to the shop. They said, Jack Somerville knows better. Yeah, you're not a union guy. Yeah, I'm not a union guy. Yeah, so in those days that shop was non-union but their field was union. Right, right, right. And so that happened I don't know how many times and they kept sending me out. And then one day I said to them, I said, why don't we buy a truck that's got a welder on a toolbox, oxy-acetylene, everything. Yeah, because it'd be a lot more efficient than me hauling around oxy-acetylene bottles in my trunk and you renting a welder and me always asking you to send other stuff because we're not equipped. And they said, oh, good idea, why don't you put a budget together? So I put a budget together for them, all of 1750 bucks. 1750? And I approached the manager and said, here it is. And he says, OK, I'll talk to the boss. And a couple of weeks later, he says to me, well, Jack, who was the owner, says, no, I don't want to do it. But why doesn't John do it? OK. Yeah. So I said, OK. And so I went out and got a little pickup truck and got an oxygen and acetylene set and some tools. And here I said, yeah, I'm ready. And they gave me a job to quote on. And I didn't get it. Oh, and so a little deflated. So I ended up going back to the steel company I worked for before. Right. So the Centennial Steel. And they gave me my first job, little job. One hundred and twenty five bucks. And of that, I think seventy five dollars was for the crane. Right. I love these stories. I just love them. Okay. So yeah. Wow. All right. So that's that was the beginnings of me being in the steel business. Right. But I was just basically on my own. And then a lawyer, a friend of ours, I met with him and he said, John, he says, you know, we're starting this business and for two thousand bucks, you could have a third of it. And he says, we'll give you five hundred bucks for your truck. So fifteen hundred bucks, essentially. Right. And so, Sally, by that time, we were. Yeah. So were you married? We were married by that time. Oh, OK. So you're married. Yeah. And we had to borrow some money from the credit union. Right. And so we put in our fifteen hundred bucks. And I ended up working for that company and basically doing most of the field work. There was three people. So you were a part owner of the company? A part owner. There was the lawyer, and this other partner and myself. And yourself. Three-way partnership. OK. And it didn't take me long to find out that the one guy doesn't know too much. Right. And I didn't know much either. So then the bar was pretty low. Right. But I found out within, I think, two months he was pocketing some of the accounts receivable. And so, called the lawyer partner. Lawyer partner said, well, John, he said, my wife's trying to get me out of this business. She doesn't like it. Yeah. I think we should just shut it down and we'll pay all our suppliers and divvy up what's left. So I think it started in March and this is the end of June and we're shutting it down. Wow. How did you feel about that? Like that must have been, wow. I can't remember. Yeah. Well, all I guess you know is that, yeah, the future wasn't with this other guy. Right. Yeah. I know he was taking money from you. Yeah. Yeah. So anyways, so we were sitting around a table and the lawyers basically chair the meeting and he says, okay, we've paid all our suppliers, blah, blah, blah. There's a welder left. The partner said, okay, he'll take that. I said, I want my truck back. He said, you can have your truck back. He got a calculator. The lawyer got a calculator. He's a lawyer. He didn't need more. He needs a calculator to calculate. In those days, the calculators were big. Yeah, that's right. They were as big as a suitcase. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then he said, and there's one asset left. And he said, that's the company. And the other guy said, well, I'd like that. The company name and the corporation and everything. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And the other guy wanted it, but my lawyer friend said, no, if John wants it, John gets it. Wow. And so I said, yeah, I'll take it. Yeah. And that was Supreme Steel. Wow. So that's the start of it right there. That's the start of Supreme Steel. Yeah. So the other guy tried to take it from you, but you, that's great. Wow. I think that's fantastic. I know. What a story. It is a great story of how it started. So, now you own a company. Now. Yeah. A little bit of debt. Yeah. A little bit of debt, yeah. And where to from there? Now, you started in Edmonton though, correct? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I started and just did a little job for this company and that company, just steel installation and minor things. Did you have a shop? No. No. Just working out of your truck. Yeah. Wow. In my dad's basement. In your dad's basement. Yeah. That's incredible. That's amazing. So, our office was my dad's basement. Right. Right. Yeah. That's incredible. And how did it grow? How did you, what like? Well, so my younger brother, Henry, he was basically the first employee because he just finished graduating high school when I started. Yeah. Yeah. And so he worked part-time when I had work. But within four or five months, I think it was full-time. And yeah. So for the first two years, I think we did a lot of work out of town. Sally keeps complaining about that. That I was out of town. You were gone. Well, because. Did you have children by then? Well, we had Charlene. Yeah. That's a handful. Just saying. Yeah, not quite, I think. Well, yeah, whatever. Anyways, we worked out of town and I ended up working for several companies. And it was easy to work out of town because then the Union wouldn't bother you. Right. Right. But then we got a little braver in 74, which was two years. Well, we started in 72. So 74. Yeah. Two years later, we got a little braver and started doing work in town. And Union came around again. And then we became Union. We became Union in 1974. Right. Because you had to basically to survive, I guess, right? Yeah. Well. In town anyways. Yeah. No. But then, of course, we became Union all over. Yeah. And it was a fairly big job. That it was a huge rainstorm in July of 74 that roof collapsed. Okay. And we ended up fixing the whole thing. Wow. So we ended up getting a lot of people from the Union. No problem. And then so in a big part, I don't think we could have grown as fast without the Union. Right. Yeah. And so what was the year when you decided to move from your dad's basement to a physical location and having a shop? Well, in 1974, we actually bought some property. And that's another story. In Edmonton? Yeah. On 184th Street. And we bought three acres. And we were hoping to build a plant. But it was agricultural. It was zoned agricultural . And the city didn't look kindly on a building permit or a development permit. And about the same time, we had a crew working in Yellowknife erecting a school. And they'd been working for two or three weeks. And these were all union guys. In fact, I didn't even want to go to Yellowknife. The way the story went is they kept bugging me to go up there. And I said, no, no, no, I don't want to go. The general finally came to visit me on a job site in Edmonton. And said, John, have you made a deal yet? No, I don't want to go. He says, could you at least phone them and try to make a deal? So I went in the job site shack and I phoned up the company. And I said, okay, I'll go, but it's going to be cost plus. You're going to pay for all the crane, you're going to pay for all the board and room, you're going to do this, you're going to do that. And I didn't think they'd go for it. And they said, yeah, okay, here's your PO. I love it. So I hung up and I phoned up the union. I said, I need five guys to go. I had superintendent and four guys. Yeah. Can you get a crew together? Yeah. They said we could. So I took the drawings and I brought them over to the superintendent that they already recommended to me. He went up there and they worked there before about three or four weeks. One of the guys quit and my superintendent hired a local guy. Anyways, long story short, one day he's helping on the ground and a beam tips over and falls on his leg, breaks his leg. It's a bad break. Yeah. And it's so bad that they got to fly him to Edmonton. Again, long story short, Gangrene sets in, they have to amputate. Oh my goodness. I get sued for $70 million.$70 million? Oh no, $70,000. Okay. That sounds like a million. Yeah, well at that time, at that time it was like a million. It probably was like a million.$70 million, yeah. Yeah. And of course then I didn't get paid for that job either. Right. And so I'm getting sued for $70,000. I'm not getting paid for $50,000 on that job and $20,000 on another for the same. The city that's not looking kindly on my... Right. And, you know, all these things are coming down on me. And I remember laying in bed and praying and saying, God, it sounds like you don't want me in this business. Yeah. Yeah. And you may think I'm a little weird, and I am, but I heard him say, John, don't worry about it. Yeah. And I fell asleep. Never worried about it in the same fashion. Did it disappear? No. It took 12 years to resolve. 12 years, really? That's amazing. 12 years. But in all those years, I believe God provided, because we never were short of money and it all worked out. Wow. That's incredible. And then from there, you just kept growing? You kept... Yeah. So, like I said, we bought that property and I think a year later, we started building on it, which was another little story, because it was a mechanical engineer, friend of ours, that said, John, have you ever fleeced the Lord? And I said, what do you mean? He says, well, you know, like the Bible story. And I said, okay. Yeah. He says, what I'll do is, I'll draw up a development permit drawing on the property we bought, show the shop size and everything, and we'll present it to the city. And if they approve that, it's a go. Okay. So that's what we did. And yeah, they approved the development permit, and we ended up building the shop and we built it all by ourselves, essentially. In Refab, we did the brick laying, we did the pouring of the concrete. Sally even tied rebar. Were you union? Was Sally union? Yeah, she got a welding flash when, I was 7 months pregnant. Which child? Which child? Because that could explain a lot in some cases, but I'm just saying. I'm just saying. Okay. I'm just saying. Anyways. All right. So. So many years later, we're wanting to expand it, and the building inspector comes by and he says, well, how did you get the permit in the first place? You should never have gotten that permit. Sounds, yeah, okay. We've got to heard that story anyway. Anyways. Yeah. So we expanded that place, I don't know how many times, and over the years. And yeah, we just grew and grew. Yeah. And then later on in the 90s, the people would come to me and say, John, we'd like you to buy our shop. Like I never looked for one of them. Right. So we bought the first acquisition. What was it, Sal? The bridge, wasn't it? No. Or it would be Saskatoon. Yeah, it would be Saskatoon. Oh, okay. And just someone that I met during the years in the industry, and he visited me and said, John, I'm in trouble. Can you come over to Saskatoon? Yeah. And so I went over there and he had five banks. Boy. He was in debt and past in debt on all of them. And so we visited, I think, two or three of them seeing if they'd be a little lenient and probably was too late. They said, no, the auctions set up and that's it. Right. So I said, well, if I can buy the plant, you know, because that's all it would be, land and plant. Right. Wouldn't be any equipment because that was another bank. Yeah. And so on and so forth. Right. So it was First City, I think, in Edmonton that held the building and land. And so we negotiated a deal with them. We bought the land and then we ended up buying some equipment from the auction. We ended up buying some equipment from another bank. Right. And that's how we kind of put Saskatoon together. It's incredible. And that was 1989 and basically opened it up in 1990. And that was when the Husky Lloydminster project was going. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so we ended up doing a lot of work for that project. And they wanted us or they wanted to sign a contract with us in Saskatoon because they needed some Saskatoon or Saskatchewan capacity. And so, yeah, that one went in, like I said, 1990. And then 94 was the Bridge Division. The owners there said "we want to get out of that type of business." They were just in rebar. Yeah. And we made a deal with them. And I said, well, I don't got no money. So they financed it. Incredible. And so, we bought that one in 94. And then in 2000, quality, that guy wanted to retire. And he'd known me for a while. And he said, John, I want you to buy my business. And so we bought his business. And then in 2003, a manager or ex-manager from Canron, who I'd known as a bit of an acquaintance and met him through industry. We met in Saskatoon at a convention. He said, John, I think you should buy Canron. I said, come on. Canron's three times the size of us. Why would I even think of that? He said, no, you should buy it. And he says, you can buy Canron West. You don't want Canron East. And I said, OK. I says, no, I don't think so. Anyways, he phones me later in the summer. And I said, OK, I'll come. So I came to visit him in September. That's the first time I was there. And he said, I think I can buy the business for such and such. I said, OK. They were in receivership. Yeah, well, they were essentially owned by a bank. Yeah. And I said, well, I ain't got no money if they'll finance it. So I said, if you can make the deal, I'll go for it. So I let him make the deal. And the bank, the bank, that existing bank would finance it. And so doing, he ended up with an equity stake in it. And so we ended up buying Canron Western. And so I said, I let him go. I basically said, here, you go ahead. I haven't got time to do this stuff. You do it. And by October, all the papers were signed and we owned it. And I'd never even seen the other facility. And you owned it. Yeah. Yeah. My goodness. That's incredible. What an incredible story. You know, the growth. Yeah, the growth. And this is fascinating to me. So in all of that, your family's growing, your business is growing. How many employees now? You probably, it's a lot of employees anyway. One, two, three. Well, when we bought both Canrons, they had laid off everybody. Okay. So we had to basically start from scratch. But within a year, we probably had 600. Wow. In a year. Yeah. My goodness. Okay. So for sake of, because we're the ABA Coffee In The Park, when did you come to Acheson? When did you decide this was? That's another cute story. So Quentin, Charlene's husband, he was already looking after some of our real estate by then. And this is about 2005, I think it is, right around that time anyways. And he brings this deal to me. He says, look, we can buy two quarters in Acheson. Yeah. From, I believe it was the Miller family. Okay. Yeah. And so, we met with their lawyer and they wanted $10,000 an acre. And I said, well, you know, we're not using a real estate guy. It says, can we settle at $9750 an acre? Yeah. Lawyer says, yeah, I think so. I'm going to recommend this to the family. So, yeah. Then we didn't hear back from him. And about three weeks later, Quentin said, we better phone him and find out what's going on. And we phoned him and he said, oh, we sold it. Out from under you. Yeah. You didn't know. Not to you, they didn't sell it. They sold it to somebody else. They sold it to somebody else. And forgot to tell you. Yeah. Yeah. So anyways, of course, we were a little disappointed to say the least. Yeah. And so a year goes by and then Quinton comes to me again and says, John, I think we should buy it. But they want $25,000 an acre now. I said, you got to be kidding. I could have bought it for $10,000. All the developers who are listening to this right now are salivating. We won't even say what land's worth in Acheson right now, I can tell you. But anyway, like still, $25,000 in today was a deal. But anyways. So I said, you got to be kidding. There's no way. I said, last year we could have bought it for $10,000. Yeah. And this guy wants $25,000. Wow. Quentin says, yeah, but I still think it's a good deal. Yeah. And of course, I'm arguing with him. But anyways, long story short, we ended up buying it for $25,000 an acre. And so we bought those two quarters. And I think a year later, I think we bought another quarter. Right. Wow. And the idea was to so-called develop both of them, but to use one more or less for the steel business and the rest into smaller lots, which is now all fully developed. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. And for anybody listening that has been to that facility, what a facility it is. It's stunning. Yeah, it is stunning. I mean, it's not just a shop. It's not just a massive warehouse or a shop. You decided to do something different and build part of that as a very beautiful, I think it is a very spectacular meeting center area. Why? Like, there has to, I mean, what gave you the idea to do that, the impetus to want to, in the middle of Acheson, this industrial area, this beautiful meeting area, glass and steel, that's just, it's incredible. So, I had been to some buildings, office buildings in Calgary, and one of them had this really neat atrium. Yeah, that's the word there, yeah, atrium. And they had basically town halls in there. So, their employees, you know, you could update the employees and everything. And I thought, if I ever build a building, I would like something like that. So, that was, I think, the impetus. And then my brother Peter, he's older than me, he's the one that was managing the construction and he did a lot of the design, and we did the design together. So, yeah, we said, well, if we make a block here and a block here. Now, at that time, that was before the downturn in the oil. Right, right, yeah, yeah. And we already had a partnership with Fleur Daniel. Right. And we were going to be really busy. And just when we were building that office, I think we had about 1600 employees. Wow. And then the oil market tanked, and the module business tanked. Yeah, and then COVID. So it hasn't been what we thought it would be. No. I mean, the office space obviously isn't full, but the atrium area is used. Well, I know we use it with the ABA, and we've used it for other events, for some political events and things like that. And it's just spectacular. Can I tell you, the first time I walked in there, the first time I ever saw it, what it first reminded me of, I know this sounds kind of silly, it reminded me of the Crystal Cathedral in California, in Anaheim. And I just walked in and went, this is like a mini Crystal Cathedral. This is pretty cool. Like, this is really awesome. And so, I know it hasn't been at capacity in terms of your office, but the space itself is unbelievable. And I call it this little hidden gem in the heart of industrial Acheson. Nobody ever believes when you tell them about it. It's pretty incredible. So we've had some university events, King's University, we had the Acheson Business Association, we've had some weddings in there, and we've had some Christmas parties and things like that. Yeah. Our company did our Christmas party there last year. It was great. Wow. Fantastic. I think what is so amazing to me though, is the not-for-profits that you support. And in fact, you have one in your building. Yeah. Tell us a little bit about that. Yeah. So Sally and I, we've been big supporters of Rehoboth Christian Ministries for probably most of our married life. Yeah. And when they needed some space a few years ago, we said, well, we got some space. You can basically use that. Yeah. And so they've been in there for a few years. And then they approached us, I think it was two years ago. They said, we'd like to manage the restaurant. Right. Yeah, a restaurant in the building. When we built the building, we actually did build a kitchen because at that time the steel or the oil industry was still going up. Yeah. And we thought, well, if we've got 1600 employees in that area, we might be a good idea to have a cafe because there's nothing close. Well, when it kind of tanked and then we just kind of halted the restaurant part. But then when Rehoboth moved into the building, they said, well, you know, that would be neat for our clients to participate. So we said, yeah. So we ended up basically finishing the kitchen and the restaurant. Who does Rehoboth work with? Tell us who they, I know they do a number of things, but they work with special needs clients. So they got a couple of hundred group homes in Alberta. And so that's where a lot of their effort goes to. They have day programs. And so we have a bunch of the special needs. Sometimes I call them kids, but sometimes they're older than me. But some of them are cleaning the office, and then some of them are in the restaurant. And it's kind of neat because it takes a little longer to maybe to put your order in. But yeah, I think it's really good for them. It's great. I agree. You and I go there. We love going there. I do love going there. I love just because they're amazing people. Yeah. The little restaurant is called Bridgespan, and they picked the name. We had nothing to do with it. And you go there, and they just take care of you. And they may want to make sure you're OK, and you're doing all right, and how's your food? I love it. I absolutely love it. It's incredible. It's fantastic. Yeah, it's absolutely incredible. Yeah. Well, amazing. Yeah, it's an amazing story. John, honestly, I could listen to this all day long, because this is incredible, and you guys, your family is incredible. And it is. It's an amazing story. It is. And we're going to ask John the final question. The final question. We ask everybody. Everybody. This question. Yes. John, what is the best piece of advice you've been given, either personally or professionally, that you carry with you to this day? Well, when we were kind of building our business on 184th Street, we had a neighbor, and his name was Keith Struggs, and he owned a company called Brock Construction. And he had done a lot of work in the north, in the oil field. And he was kind of a mentor. And so the amount of times we had lunch together, I can't even count. But when I didn't have anything to do, I'd walk over and we'd sit and chat. And one day, one of his cat skinners, you know, the cat skinner, well, they call them cat skinners. They're cat operators, right? Okay, good. Yeah. No, I was a little worried. Cam's got a look on his face. SPCA is calling, like, how many cats did you actually skin? Not real cats. Yeah. Anyways, and I could smell the alcohol in his breath. He was coming in to pick up a paycheck and he just wanted to say hi to Keith. And then I said to Keith, I said, why would you keep a guy like that on your payroll? He says, John, you got to remember, there's good and bad in everybody. And as long as the good outweighs the bad, you keep them around. Wow. That's great. That really is great. And we've been talking about this a little bit, especially in today's society. I think that's fabulous. I think that's absolutely fabulous. Yeah. Incredible. Absolutely. John, and thank you. You've become a friend to us and a friend to me and I appreciate that. I do. I don't take that lightly. Sally, you have an amazing family. We get to work with some of your family in different areas. And that's an exciting thing. That's another podcast. We'll do that podcast later. He's saying this as. Some of them are sitting here staring at him. That's right. And, and. So, as Charlene and Teresa. That's right. We won't mention any names. Charlene and Teresa are sitting here. You have a great wife. Sally is absolutely amazing. And so thank you for doing this. We really appreciate it. Thank you for all your support. Absolutely. And we are thrilled that you are the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient. I think it's so well deserved. So thank you. We really appreciate it. Thanks for doing this with us today. Well, thank you. Thank you very much. Yeah. Wow. What a great story. John's so phenomenal. And so is Sally. In fact, the whole family is amazing. And what a story. Yeah. We've been fortunate enough to get to know a lot of the family. And just amazing. Great story. Great people. Great people. Yeah. And I think it's so great that John is this year's recipient. You know, after we've had Mike Myshak Sr., Darlene Whittaker and Wes Wall. Yeah. And he's so well deserving of this. And he's been such a big part of Acheson. Huge. Yeah. And just again, his story is just one of perseverance and resilience and just gonna make it happen and work through it. And he's just one of the most humble, unassuming guys. And I really appreciate that. So we hope you all enjoyed this episode. Yeah. Thanks for listening. A little bit longer than usual, but that's okay because it's a great story. So hey, make sure you tell everybody about the podcast. Tell your friends, tell your neighbors, tell your coworkers, tell your enemies. If you don't have any friends, make one so you can tell them about the podcast. Wherever you get your podcast or at www.achesonbusiness.com. That's right. That's it. So thanks everybody. Bye bye.