government procurement opportunities, and Caribou Mountain Construction is wellpositioned to take advantage of those opportunities. In addition, Jon says Caribou Mountain Construction can sometimes be more competitive when bidding on certain projects “because we have relationships with other First Nations.” “For instance, if you’re building a pipeline through Alberta, you’re very often going through First Nation-owned land,” he explains. “We have a market advantage on those projects because we can integrate with other First Nations, because we’re owned by a First Nation ourselves. It’s easier for us to work with those local communities than it is for a lot of other companies.” Another big point of difference is the in-house experience they now have, Jon says. Even minus Gareth, the company’s management team includes leaders with many years’ experience working for national industry leaders including Ledcor and AECON. At the same time, unlike those companies, Caribou Mountain Construction is a small and nimble business. That means they can offer the best of both worlds – they can leverage the knowledge and expertise that comes from working with larger companies, but they can act a lot faster and be a lot more responsive than those companies, because they are not burdened by the same bureaucracy. “We can be more efficient,” Jon says, “because we have lower overheads and less of the red tape that gets in the way. We can act fast and be agile in the way we manage a project. I think that’s one of the main things clients like about us.” FEBRUARY 2024
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