challenges right now is not sticking to the
plan, not being very careful with who you
partner and what work you take on be-
cause as there is less work you may be-
come more desperate to take on contracts
that may be riskier and a little bit more out-
side of what you do,” Smith said.
But it is acceptable to stray a bit in some
cases. Apart from the electrical and instru-
mentation side of the business, Stratus
has created a lucrative niche by helping
other companies through peaks in their
production. In this world, Stratus takes on
the role of labour broker. Although these
businesses are already equipped with per-
sonnel, they look to Stratus for assistance
for all kinds of reasons, like tight deadlines
and holiday backfill. It is much more fea-
sible for industry partners to call on Stra-
tus’s labour supply rather than hire a sup-
plementary crew for a short duration only
to let them go soon after, Smith said.
FROM SALARIED EMPLOYEE
TO PRESIDENT
After completing his electrical apprentice-
ship in Calgary, Smith became a journey-
man in 1998, worked in the commercial
world, got his Masters designation and
then moved up into several managerial
positions. Entering the industrial electrical
instrumentation business opened up an
exciting, new chapter and success in this
venture paved the path for something a bit
riskier: entrepreneurship.
“I’ve spent a lot of time building relation-
“We come in with the horsepower to get the job done and let the technically-
trained people do what they’re good at. We all work together to help each other
be successful.”
Generator retrofit project,
Northeastern B.C.
SEPTEMBER 2016
H
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