For the first two or three years of the company’s life, Tri-Tec mainly worked mostly for Oxford, but eventually they started diversifying. They built relationships with different property managers around town, as well as with a number of municipalities just outside of town. Then about 10 years ago they started doing “quite a bit of work” with school boards and select architectural firms. They later formed a repeat relationship with the RCMP. That diversification spurred the company’s growth. In 2012, Steve joined the business when Bruce Marr retired. That meant he was able to work alongside his father and benefit first-hand from his experience, as Rick had been in the general contracting industry for over 30 years. About four years later, Gary retired as well, making TriTec a true family-owned-and-operated business. Unfortunately, in early 2018, Rick was diagnosed with a terminal illness to which he passed away in early 2019. Just before the diagnosis, however, they brought on Steve’s brother-in-law, Jim Dettling, as an estimator and project manager. Steve’s sister, Tracy, later joined the business during the pandemic as office manager. So Tri-Tec Project Management remains family-powered. These days, Tri-Tec mainly works in Edmonton and surrounding areas – though they have ventured further within Alberta for certain clients, such as the RCMP. In terms of project size, Steve says their projects can range in value from $20,000 on the low-end to $5 million on the highend, with most jobs averaging out somewhere between $300,000 and $800,000. Over the last couple years, he also says they have developed “a kind of unofficial service department” – though DECEMBER 2024
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