Furthermore, the company’s goal is to work more with insulated concrete forms (ICFs). ICFs are a system of formwork for reinforced concrete wherein the cast-in-place concrete walls are sandwiched between two layers of insulation material – which results in a stronger and more energy efficient product. ICFs have become popular in bigger towns and cities, but yet remain a novelty in Edmundston. Fondations Henri Godin intends to be the first contractor in the city to make it their specialty. In terms of the size company they want to be, Sylvain and Annie aren’t interested in getting too big. Adding excavation to the company’s service offering will necessarily mean adding staff – including operators, labourers, truck drivers and surveyors – and likely doubling in size. They anticipate being satisfied with that. From there, they will keep getting better but not necessarily bigger. Lastly, Sylvain and Annie are interested in purchasing some land and doing some residential developments of their own, most likely in joint ventures with local contractors. Those developments could be single family homes or even apartment buildings. The idea is that Fondations Henri Godin would do the excavating and the foundation work, with the contractor taking over from there. “That’s a direction I would love to go in,” Sylvain says. “First we need to add the excavation, but after that I think it’s a strong possibility. We already have a few contractors who we work really well with and I think we could do some really great developments together.” APRIL 2024
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