Rick, personally, has been a mainstay of the Cranbrook community for over 40 years. Since coming to the city, he has contributed to its economic developments as a builder and developer, as an owner of the local Dairy Queen franchise, and as president of the Panorama Mountain Village ski resort – and he even served as Mayor for three terms, from 1983 to 1990. Over the years, however, Rick has continually returned to his first passion, which is building. In his previous home of Thompson, Manitoba, he co-owned a company called Woodland Builders for four years. After moving to Cranbrook, he quickly got into development. He first managed a company called Koocanusa Developments before founding New Dawn in 1978. New Dawn’s first projects were a couple joint venture townhouse projects with two other builders. Soon after, the company extended their reach, developing land throughout the East Kootenay. During the recession of the early 1980s, the construction and development industry went through a downturn – which is when Rick purchased the Dairy Queen franchise in Cranbrook – but since the economic recovery, New Dawn has continued to grow and evolve at a steady rate. Chad Jensen, for his part, grew up around the family business, and officially joined in 1996 after graduating from university. Leanne Jensen has also had long term involvement including taking over New Dawn’s sister renovation company in 2012. Since then, Rick has passed on the reins of the development business to his children, but he APRIL 2022
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