President John Jurcik tells Construction Digital how this Ontario company has continued to thrive by adapting to changing times
Written by Kevin Doyle & Produced by Chris Kargel
John Jurcik, President of Venshore Mechanical Ltd., thinks back 22 years to when his father, Mike, founded the business and marvels at how much has changed in little more than two decades.
“My father never really had to travel outside of northwestern Ontario for work. Now it’s a totally different time. Travel is required now more than it was before. We used to say we’d drive three hours to work – now we’re driving three days. We’re going further and further away,” says the younger Jurcik, who took the company reins when his dad retired in 2002.
The company is based in Thunder Bay, Ontario. “Although we’re in Ontario, we’re removed from Toronto, about 1,000 miles away. We’re more related to Manitoba and closer to Winnipeg,” says Jurcik.
Venshore offers customers full optical and laser alignment capabilities, a complete inventory of welding machines, rigging equipment, power tools and threading roll groving machines, and a fleet of cranes, boom trucks, forklifts, portable diesel welders, compressors and storage containers. As a union shop, Venshore employs approximately 100 workers in a wide variety of trades.
NECESSARY DIVERSIFICATION
Where once there were seven thriving pulp and paper producers in Northwest Ontario there are now only three and Venshore has had to diversify.
“So, we’re swinging more into pipe fabrication and module construction. And we’re going further throughout Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta. This is in essence why we opened the pipe fabrication facility. We want to utilize our local tradesmen and showcase our ability to do quality work. We felt it was necessary to keep our people working who don’t want to relocate elsewhere,” Jurcik says.
A 26,000sf pipe shop opened in 2008 provides the company with high-quality pipe spooling and module manufacturing capabilities on four acres of secure space. Dependent upon the scope of the job, Venshore can fabricate complete systems or partial structures and either ship directly to a job site or store them for future use.
“We’d rather use the experience of our Thunder Bay staff, fabricate something here and ship it down the road. I’m a steamfitter by trade and my father, brother and brother-in-law are all plumbers. The whole family is involved in the business and our knowledge of the industry is what has made us successful,” Jurcik points out.
THUNDER BAY OIL SANDS CONSORTIUM
Jurcik is President and Venshore Mechanical is a key member of the Thunder Bay Oil Sands Consortium. Formed in 2007, the TBOSC is a group of 22 Thunder Bay companies offering significant capability and capacity relating to the design, manufacture, repair, and installation of a broad range of products fabricated from metal.
This past July, the TBOSC put its combined expertise on display when it showcased an impressive module fabrication for a client in Saskatchewan. Venshore Mechanical won the contract as lead contractor to fabricate two 30,000-pound fuel off-loading modules. The units (16 feet wide) traveled west with police escort along the Trans-Canada Highway.
DAY TO DAY
These days the company works primarily in power generation as well as water and sewage treatment facility upgrades. “One sector will fall off and another will pick up. Co-generation and sustainable power projects are the larger parts of the business now along with municipal water and sewage plant upgrades,” Jurcik says.
Venshore is collaborating with Algoma Energy on a co-generation plant in Sault Ste Marie. The company completed the mechanical, piping and instrumentation installation for the city of Thunder Bay’s Bare Point Water Treatment Upgrade, increasing capacity by 25 million gallons per day; and previously worked on Thunder Bay’s sewage treatment plant.
A primary example of the company’s fabricating skill was displayed in a project completed for Praxair Canada, a producer of processed oxygen and nitrogen gases.
“We fabricated the complete project in module form with piping, pumps, electrical and insulation in our Thunder Bay facility. It was a plug-in style and was totally ready to go. We are their preferred fabricator and complete projects for them throughout Canada. They have very explicit procedures that we have to follow to meet their strict quality control guidelines,” Jurcik explains.
Venshore has also fabricated locomotive fueling modules, performed fuel yard upgrades, and worked on the Jackknife Bridge refurbishment for the Canadian Pacific Railway; and has worked on a bulk fuel storage facility for Can-op Fuels.
SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT
Job safety and environmental awareness are constant topics of conversation. “We’re not going to get a job if we’re not safe and if we’re not thinking about the environment,” Jurcik says.
The company holds technical standards and Safety Authority certification for: Power Piping in accordance with ASME B31.1, Process Piping in Accordance with ASME B31.3, repair and alterations to boilers and pressure vessels, and fabrication and installation of medical gas systems.The company also holds the National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors “R” Stamp Certificate of Authorization.
“We employ a full-time safety officer and development into our safety manual is an ongoing task. Our environmental policies are equally as important; you cannot not be environmentally concerned in Northwest Ontario,” Jurcik says, adding that LEED building standards, though not nearly as prevalent as they are in Toronto, are making their way north. “You have to be safe and you have to be environmentally friendly,” Jurcik says.
LONGEVITY A PLUS
Jurcik says a management hierarchy with deep-rooted experience has helped the company navigate to its present standing. He notes that “everyone in management has been here 15-plus years.”
“We’ve been lucky – we built a core and they stayed. The only people we’ve had to replace are the people who retired. I’ve not had anyone leave the company because they wanted to go somewhere else,” Jurcik says.
(This is an update of an article that first appeared in Construction Digital February of 2009)
FACTS AT A GLANCE
COMPANY: Venshore Mechanical
PRESIDENT: John Jurcik
OPERATIONS: Venshore Mechanical is Northwestern Ontario’s largest piping fabricator and industrial contractor
ESTABLISHED: 1987
EMPLOYEES: 100
www.venshore.com
View Digital Corporate Profile of VenshoreMechanical in Construction Digital December 2009