Mechanical contractor grows with Alberta
In 1963, when Arpi Berdin started his one-man sheet metal shop servicing residential customers out of his Calgary garage, Alberta had a population of a little less than 1.4 million people. The City of Calgary was still Cowtown, with only around 270,000 calling it home. Edmonton was also a small prairie city, with around 300,000 inhabitants.
Fast forward 45 years. Alberta's population has more than doubled to over three million. The Calgary skyline is layered with skyscrapers and a population pushing one million is bursting past the city limits. Edmonton has also seen its fortunes rise, with almost 700,000 calling the capital city home. And the little sheet metal company Arpi Berdin started with his trusted German Shepard Chief at his side has become one of the largest mechanical contracting outfits in Western Canada, providing the full range of mechanical work to customers in all facets of the construction industry.
The rise of Arpi Berdin is a classic Alberta success story of hard work, clear thinking, and a little good luck. A Yugoslavian immigrant with Hungarian roots, he arrived in Canada with a high school education and some oilfield experience as a tool push. After working a year in the Alberta drilling industry he decided there was no future on the rigs. Instead, he ventured into tinsmithing, learning the trade while working for a number of sheet metal companies in Calgary. After gaining experience installing heating and air conditioning systems in both residential and commercial settings, he went on his own. His modest residential business running out of the double garage behind his house grew with his customers' needs.
"It was a natural progression," says Julie Berdin, Arpi's daughter and current President and General Manager of Arpi's Industries. "Over the years we grew as Alberta expanded, first moving into commercial work, and then adding plumbing in the 1970s."
Flush with oil wealth, the 1970s and early 1980s were boom times in Alberta. The suburbs of Calgary and Edmonton spread ever further outward into the countryside, while cranes building new skyscrapers crisscrossed the cityscape of both major centres. Arpi's grew rapidly with the boom. It opened a branch office in Edmonton, and had branches in Vancouver, Saskatchewan and through-out Alberta. At one point the company had over 500 employees.
"Dad had been working with Richfield Building and Design and Trizec Developments and all of them grew up at the same time," says Julie Berdin. "Those relationships fostered and fed growth. They were a honourable group of men that did business on a handshake."
Arpi also fostered relationships with first-rate suppliers, engineering firms, and contractors during the boom years. Engineered Air, Westburne and Crane Supply began their rise to prominence during the boom years and Arpi's grew along with them. Lennox has worked with Arpi's from the beginning.
"Arpi's was in the same neighbourhood, we grew up with a lot of the engineering firms," says Julie. "We probably worked with all of them a few times with all the projects we've done."
Another key relationship the company fostered was with its employees. Arpi's put a big effort into treating them fairly, and put an emphasis on giving them the opportunity to succeed. They have returned the sentiment by building careers within the company.
"We have people here that Arpi started with, lots of 15 and 20 year employees," says Barry Cousins, Vice President of Arpi's Industries. "And it's not only people in the office, but people in the shop and out in the field. We have a lot of foremen and superintendents that have been here a long time. These guys are the backbone of the company. They have been a key asset in completion of every project we have done. They are entrusted to be accountable and responsible to get the job done from a field standpoint."
The boom years saw Arpi's have a hand in building many of the province's landmark buildings, including Canada Place, Eaton's Centre and West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, along with Bankers Hall, Western Canada Place and the Eaton's Centre in Calgary to name a few.
Arpi's piping and sheet metal fabrication facility is the largest combined mechanical contracting shop in Western Canada. The company moved into the 100,000 sq.ft. facility 25 years ago, and has been continually upgrading its machinery ever since.
"We've spent upwards of $4 million on technology and equipment, its state-of-the-art," says Barry Cousins.
As technology has changed, so has the human element at Arpi's. Arpi Berdin began handing over the reigns of the company in 2004 to daughter Julie and VP Barry Cousins. While still serving as Chairman, Arpi is consciously taking a step back from the day to day operations of the company to allow a new generation of leaders to take charge.
"He's still consulted on major decisions," says Julie, adding that, "he built the company and he obviously wants it to go to 50 or 60 years. He wants us to succeed."
"The whole business is at a point of generational change," agrees Cousins. "We're trying to adjust to new technologies and business systems, but keeping our feet on the roots of the company. We want to maintain the principles Arpi built this business on."
Cousins says the entire mechanical contracting industry is in a state of change as the relationships between building owners, general contractors and sub-contractors are reordered in a quest for greater efficiency and lower costs. Construction management, design build and other contractual arrangements have come to the fore.
"Our bread and butter used to be lump sum contracts," he explains. "Now it's more construction management. There's more emphasis on the structure of contracts and that requires specialized expertise."
Internally, the new leadership at Arpi's is facing the challenges of managing a diverse and growing company, adds Cousins. The broad scope of work Arpi's does, everything from residential services to huge commercial projects, means information management is imperative.
"We're at an important juncture," he says. "The younger generation is coming up to take the company to the next level. It's becoming so large. We're building the infrastructure to support this growth using technology to do things more effectively and efficiently. We're now re-shaping and building our organizational structures to foster this growth."
The past few years in Alberta have been reminiscent of the 1970s, with construction racing at a record pace across the province. The Alberta economy has been strong, and once again Arpi's has been at the forefront of the building boom. In Calgary, the mechanical contractor played key roles in the building of the revolutionary Calgary Centre for Innovative Technologies and the Information and Communications Technology buildings at the University of Calgary. It also finished the one-of-a-kind Destination: Africa at the Calgary Zoo.
Julie Berdin says Arpi's current success reflects the values the company has relied on in the past.
"We've had a lot of good years," she says. "Going forward, we have to continue to focus on doing what we can do well. We have to maintain the principles Arpi built this business on."
Originally printed in Alberta Construction Magazine - May/June 2003
Updated 2007
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