Contractors are – and aren’t – under pressure due to extensive agricultural construction, says a spokes-person for the industry.
Rod Jacobson is senior vice-president of J-Sons Inc. of North Dakota, the main contractor on Saskatchewan Wheat Pool’s $235 million grain terminal construction project.
“Yes and no,” he said. “When you look at a project of that size you have to adjust. There could be some time frame problems. We normally build five or six (concrete terminals) a year anyway. It doesn’t really tax us to any great extent but it certainly taxes other services, like mechanical equipment, for example.”
Read Also
Stock dogs show off herding skills at Ag in Motion
Stock dogs draw a crowd at Ag in Motion. Border collies and other herding breeds are well known for the work they do on the farm.
Jacobson said subcontractors may have to deal with labor shortages in certain areas. For example, construction in the Alberta oil industry could limit availability of workers for other projects.
Create jobs
Massive expansion in the hog industry in all three prairie provinces will also snap up a significant number of workers.
“We’re not running into problems yet,” said Louise Neveu, vice-president of the pool’s country services division. “We’re hoping to secure people who want to be in this for the next 18 to 24 months.”
Rob Schappert, project manager, told a Regina meeting of about 350 potential subcontractors, “we want you locked up.”
“The phrase we use is ‘Number one on your shop floor’,” added Neveu.
The project is expected to create between 900 and 1,000 years of employment over three years. Those jobs will be local.
“We will have in the neighborhood of, over the next six to eight months, 300 people on the payroll, 99.9 percent of them Canadian,” Jacobson said, adding his American company will only have a supervisor at each site.
Jacobson said being tied up with one grain company means J-Sons forgoes contracts with other customers, but he’s not worried about losing market share.
“Our reputation will be as good down the road as it was previously,” he said.
