add team members and they want to add a third location, most likely in the Southern Interior of BC, but they don’t want to lose their “small company feel.” James is confident they can balance those objectives – largely because of his confidence in his colleagues and what they bring to the table. “Bruce Fillmore was promoted to Chief Operating Officer. He’s out of our Whitehorse office and oversees all the construction operations,” he says. “We have a strong leadership group with myself, Brett Kelly, Andrea Forbes, Matt Whiffin and Bruce, and we rely on each other. We’re trying to build a company I can pass on and it can be part of my legacy. I want to see this company stay in and be strong well past my retirement date.” Though James still foresees having many years left in charge, Johnston Builders has also started looking at succession planning this year. “I’m not an old guy,” says James. “I still have 15-to-20 years in this business, but we’re thinking ahead and making sure that the group we have has opportunity and we’re assessing all our players and hoping they’re all ‘A’-players at the end of the day.” Ultimately, James concludes, the most important thing to him is the company’s reputation. Whatever size the company grows to, and whoever’s in charge, he wants Johnston Builders to be known as the “favourite contractor” of clients, subcontractors, and employees. “We want to be a strong company where clients look at Johnston Builders as their favourite builders to work with, and we want the trades to think the same – that we’re their favorite, they know they’re on a job that’s well run and it’s going to be clean and safe and it’s going to be a lot of fun.” JULY 2024
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