Photo by Dotun_og
McElhanney Celebrates 50-Year Alberta Legacy
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Written by Rennay Craats | Published by Courtney Lovgren
he West is a land of dreamers and entrepreneurs that was built by the hardworking trailblazers who shaped Canada’s industries and communities. William McElhanney set up shop in Vancouver in 1910 and went out armed with little more than determination and a compass to survey lands for new settlements and railroads for forestry operations. Now 113 years later, McElhanney Ltd. has become the oldest employee-owned engineering and geomatics firm in Canada, with more than 30 branches across Western Canada and with offices in Newfoundland and Labrador and Florida. In 1972, McElhanney expanded into Alberta with its acquisition of Dabbs Control Surveys. The Calgary branch hit the ground running, completing survey work for seismic programs and mineral exploration, pipeline and well surveys and navigation positioning for offshore rigs using what was cutting-edge Doppler satellite technology. Revenues soared and McElhanney grew exponentially to meet the demands of this booming industry.
After the heyday of the 1970s, the 1980s popped the oil & gas bubble. McElhanney’s dedicated team weathered the turbulence of the National Energy Program and continued to grow the business throughout the 1990s and 2000s under the leadership of Bernie McKenna and Craig Hughes. “One of the unique aspects about McElhanney is that we are employee owned,” says Dr. Robert Radovanovic, McElhanney’s regional vice president for Prairies South and St. Johns. “We are all partners, so we push through when times are tough. When you have that mentality, you can weather the downturns because you can make decisions based on ‘how do we keep the lights on?’ And people dig in and they figure out how to make those times good.” Through the multiple downturns and challenges Alberta has faced over the past 50 years, McElhanney has succeeded in making those good times great. The company is perched among the top in the industry, with its 1,400+ employees across the organization bringing
McElhanney | Celebrating 50 Years
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