Empire Industries is best known for its high-quality steel fabrication of structural, pipe and plate steel.

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Western Canadian-based steel fabricator has made it a corporate mission to consolidate Empire Industries selected, like-minded companies in the western Canadian non-residential construction market.

The company focuses on structuring “win-win” partnerships by ensuring each company’s resources and expertise can be combined with the other companies in the Empire Industries group to meet the growth in capital spending and the increasingly demanding requirements of the industry, CEO Guy Nelson says.

Nelson was the largest shareholder of Empire Iron since 1996, but in 2006, he decided to change his strategy and use Empire Iron as a platform to embark on a “selective consolidation” strategy in the industry, he says.  

The first step was to raise $6 million of equity and sell Empire Iron to Empire Industries, a public company with $1 million of capitalization and no business.

This “reverse takeover” of Empire Iron occurred in July 2006. Since that time, other managers and owners have sold their companies to Empire and stayed on board to execute the growth strategy as an integral part of the Empire leadership team.  

Strategic Advantage
The officers and directors of Empire still own approximately 40 percent of the company. “The commitment to succeed and alignment of financial interests between management and shareholders is a huge strategic advantage for us,” Nelson says.

Today, Empire Industries says it has a wide range of expertise in the industry, and is best known for its high-quality steel fabrication for structural, pipe and plate steel, according to the company. “No one knows more about steel fabrication in Canada than Empire Industries,” Nelson declares.

“The steel fabrication industry in western Canada is highly fragmented, which tends to keep pricing competitive,” he adds. “Nobody understands this better than Empire, which now owns three of the oldest steel fabricators in western Canada.”

Innovative Approach
“Innovation occurs every day in our business,” Empire Industries founder and CEO Guy Nelson declares. “We constantly invest in innovative initiatives because we know from past experience that it is innovation that drives productivity and that is what keeps us competitive.

“Empire Industries plans to grow by consolidating targeted competitors in the industry – those with a similar corporate vision and commitment to operational excellence,” he says. “For example, our largest acquisition to date was Tornado Technologies Inc. which has an excellent innovative and patented product line, geared to the process and oil and gas sector.”

Extensive Experience
The company owns a variety of additional organizations, many with extensive experience in their respective markets. These firms include:

• Empire Iron Works, founded in 1958
• George Third & Son, founded in 1910
• Dynamic Structures, founded in 1926
• Ward Industrial Equipment, founded in 1966
• Hopkins Steel Works, founded in 1968
• Parr Metal Fabricators, founded in 1976
• Somerset Engineering, founded in 1981
• Tornado Technologies, founded in 1985
• Empire Construction Services, founded in 1988
• KWH Constructors, founded in 1989
• Sorge’s Welding Ltd., founded in 1989

Increasing Complexity
In the past two years, the industry has been fabricating for increasingly complex industrial, commercial and infrastructure projects.

To meet this demand, the company has “consciously expanded and improved” its core competencies, Nelson says. Empire’s services now include:

• Project management
• Quality assurance
• Safety competency
• Value engineering

The firm has invested heavily in these areas and works to stay ahead of trends. The company ensures its staff is up to the challenge, as well. For instance, Empire has increased its technical staff of engineers, draftsmen and project managers from 25 to more than 100 in less than two years the company explains.

“Empire Industries also has “world-class” expertise in constructing bridges and engineering bridge installations through two of its divisions, KWH Constructors and Somerset Engineering,” Nelson adds.

“We are seeing a significant increase in bridge infrastructure projects, and we feel we are very well positioned to erect them through KWH and fabricate them if they are destined for western Canada.”

In addition, design/build projects are gaining momentum in the region. Empire has been asked to work in collaboration with owners and engineers “to use our considerable fabrication and construction experience to build increasingly complicated projects in a timely manner and within the budget allotments that were used to justify the project’s economics in the first place,” Nelson explains.

“We are positioned very well to capitalize on this emerging trend. I avoid contracting relationships that are one-sided,” Nelson adds. “It is not good for the industry and it is typically not good for the project.”

Future Outlook
The company is gearing up for a boom in non-residential construction projects in western Canada.

“The project pipeline in infrastructure, commercial and industrial projects is approaching $400 billion; roughly one-third of which are oil sands projects and we do not expect these capital expenditures to abate,” Nelson asserts.

“Empire now has the capacity, both in terms of fabrication and field installation, to secure a meaningful portion of this work in its area of focus,” Nelson continues.

Responding to Market Needs
The company plans to continue to acquire firms that operate with similar corporate values. “We are creating a company that will be able to respond to the massive infrastructure build-out challenges that are facing private and public-sector organizations in western Canada,” according to Nelson.

“We will be applying our solid expertise in steel fabrication, construction services and industrial equipment manufacturing to ensure these projects get built in a timely, high-quality and cost-effective manner.

“We will also continue to invest wisely in innovative initiatives because we know from past experience, that it is our commitment to innovation that drives productivity,” Nelson continues. “Empire’s operating subsidiaries have survived and thrived over decades in the business, because we have always had a firm commitment to innovation and customer service.”
    
Vision for the Future
Empire Industries plans to continue to stay focused on its vision for the future, which is to respond to the needs of its customers and the market in general, according to the company.

“The strategic vision of Empire Industries was formulated in direct response to massive capital projects proposed for Western Canada, and a noticeable lack of industrial fabrication and skilled trades personnel capacity,” the company explains.

“Empire Iron Works has a rich tradition of performing value-added fabrication and construction services in Western Canada dating back to the 1950s,” it adds.

“Therefore, the launching of Empire’s strategic vision can gain momentum and scale much more quickly by using Empire Iron as the platform to commence growth from.”