Sunik Roofing Continues Legacy of Leadership
25
th
at Anniversary By Shelly Brimble
C
algary-based Sunik Roofing has been building a business based on introducing innovations and becoming a leader in the slope-roofing sector which is a formula for success as they celebrate their 25th anniversary. Founder and president, Nick Sims, began roofing in the 1970s in the United States where he learned and developed innovations that were years ahead of practices used in Calgary. There he built his skill foundation by running roofing crews and learning the operational tools for success. Upon returning to Calgary, Nick envisioned a new career path, but his background soon drew him back to roofing. So in 1987 he opened Sunik Enterprises with his wife, Sue Sims, creating a name that combined theirs. Together they subcontracted work from other contractors until they changed the name to Sunik Construction Incorporated in 1989.
Above: the team at Sunik Roofing. Below: the company fleet and office in Calgary.
Sunik Roofing | 25th Anniversary | 1
A founding principle of Sunik is to build the team from the ground up. They look for young ambitious candidates and spend the time to train them and develop their career. This philosophy led to the addition of co-owner Lowell McNichol, who came on board in 1990 as a labourer and later a partner in 1996. Since then, Nick’s sons (Nicholas Sims and Nathan Sims) have also joined the Sunik team and become an integral part of the company. “We have created a legacy that will continue to grow through the next generation,” adds Nick. Sue has taken the reins in the office, implementing innovative operational solutions while Nick and Lowell manage the crews, introducing groundbreaking practices that continue to impact the slope-roofing industry. Throughout the last 25 years, Sunik has serviced almost 15,000 customers throughout Calgary and surrounding
areas. The company now operates a fleet of vehicles from a 10,000-square-foot combined office and shop on a half acre with a fenced yard. A majority of their business is reroofing through customer referral. “We pride ourselves on providing exceptional customer service,” Nick says. This focus on customer satisfaction is reflected in the fact that they are a four-time recipient of the Consumer Choice Awards. Sunik ensures each job, sending qualified journeymen to inspect the final product. This double-checking continues to reduce leak ratios year over year while further enhancing the customer satisfaction. “Anybody can do a great job, but when there is a screw up, that is when you find out how great a company is,” adds Nick. Sunik goes the extra mile with their warranties ensuring that when they are at fault, the customer’s house is put back
403.291.1013 | www.shoemakerdrywall.com
Congratulations to Sunik Roofing on their
403.560.4024 | tritonext@shaw.ca
25th
Congratulations to Sunik on 25 great years of business! Wishing you many great years to come.
Anniversary!
~ from all of us at Triton Exteriors Inc.
F rst in qualit Fi lity... lit ity...
25lations
Residential & Commercial
g gratu Con ik Roofin ! Sun 5 years on 2
concrete seal ceiling texturing spantex knock down hand design resprays Residential & Commercial
Wishing Sunik Roofing many more years of success!
www.bigalstexturing.ca | 403-210-1352
concrete seal ceiling texturing spantex knock down hand design resprays
www.bigalstexturing.ca | 403-210-1352
At Malarkey Roofing Products®, we manufacture reliable and durable products to provide the highest quality with the most security for all weather conditions.
WWW.MALARKEYROOFING.COM
Sunik Roofing | 25th Anniversary | 2
Malarkey’s quality roofing products are located at Sunik Roofing locations
to its original condition. Most roofing contractors will only repair the roof, but Sunik repairs all of the damage, including replacing damaged personal belongings.
Innovations
When they began their partnership they had a unified vision of becoming a leader in the slope-roofing industry. Throughout the years, they continued to strive to not only enhance their business, but also volunteer in positions that would also impact their entire sector. “When I started here, I introduced pneumatic nailers into roofing installations that significantly impacted the workflow of roofing crews,” says Nick. At that time, crews were manually nailing each shingle, so it would take them several days to complete each house. This technique has
Sunik Roofing is four-time recipient of the Consumer Choice Awards
COLOR TEC’S LTD. STUCCO, REPAIRS, PARGING, STONEWORK, STUCCO PAINTING 403.714.5867 | EMAIL: JON.GRAHAM@ME.COM COLORTECSTUCCO.COM
Color Tec’s would like to congratulate Lowell and the entire team at Sunik Roofing for their great accomplishments!! Always a pleasure working together!
Sunik Roofing | 25th Anniversary | 3
www.sunik.com | 403.280.2803 optimized roofing crews that can now complete up to 1.5 to two houses per day. Lowell also developed a specialized spreadsheet program to simplify the estimate process. “This enabled us to become one of the first companies to be able to provide a professional bid with a wide product selection printed in the trucks on site,” says Lowell. Throughout the years Sunik has specialized in residential roofing, however, they have done many commercial projects with slope-roofing architecture. In addition, Sunik has become a preferred cedar shingle roofer and are an active member of the Cedar Shake and Shingle Bureau ensuring they keep pace with industry innovations and practices.
Leadership
Throughout the years, the Sunik partners have also become leaders in training, safety and education throughout the industry. Nick served three years as president of the Alberta Allied Roofing Association (AARA). He then served six years on the provincial apprenticeship committee (PAC) where he played an important role in the development and implementation of slope-roofing content for the apprenticeship program for roofers. Lowell continued the tradition serving on the PAC for six years and as a director for the AARA for three years. Nicholas Jr. is starting his first term on the PAC. Nick has also served as a Better Business Bureau (BBB) executive director for more than 13 years and in his role encourages other roofing companies to join the BBB. “I welcome new members because I also believe it makes our industries better as BBB members must adhere to a strict code of ethics,” Nick adds. Sunik has also been a recipient of the 2000 BBB Ethics Award for small business.
Safety
Sunik has always had a focus on safety. Nick has served on several government safety committees, they have implemented a formal safety program and are members of the Alberta Construction Safety Association. Lowell says, “This means that all of our crews must comply to strict safety practices.” Each crew must have at least one member of their roofing crew certified with St. John’s first aid training and all must have fall protection certification. But they also take this one step further making sure any subtrades are properly trained and have a safety officer. “We have even coordinated this training for others because we believe in making this a safer industry,” adds Lowell.
Expanding
Sunik continues to broaden its service zone around Calgary and now serves from as far north to Airdrie, east to Strathmore, west to Banff and south to High River. Their service region expanded further south in 2013, when Sunik began their goal of expanding throughout Alberta by opening their first regional office in Lethbridge where they also service Pincher Creek and Fort Macleod. The new location, headed by co-owner Ruben Guimond, is growing rapidly serving surrounding areas that are in an area prone to strong wind and hailstorms. This led to the use of new innovations such as asphalt-based shingles that have rubber content to help them stand up to hail and wind. “They can also be installed in cold weather and actually last in Alberta’s unique weather system,” says Lowell. “This is our first move into another market outside Calgary and it will not be our last,” adds Nick. •
Congratulations Sunik on 25 Years!
Specializing in Fleet Maintenance | Licensed Mechanics Use premium Chevron Delo products | Check & top off all fluids | Oil analysis available Inspection & change all engine filters | Visual vehicle inspections | Environmentally friendly Fully insured | WCB compliant | Warranty approved | References available
COMMERCIAL OIL SERVICES INC. 403.836.3946 | k-patrick@shaw.ca
Sunik Roofing | 25th Anniversary | 4