One can't drive around Squamish without running into at least one yellow truck emblazoned with "Kiewit and Sons" on the side. It seems the huge U.S. owned company not only makes a huge impact on our roadways, but on our local economy.
Since the start of the Sea to Sky highway project, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of Kiewit paychecks being mailed to Squamish mailboxes.
Seventy-six Squamish residents took jobs at Kiewit and there are a total of 450 workers employed on the project in the corridor.Many rent rooms or homes while they work here.
Project Manager, Chris Dundarand currently manages Segment 3 (Furry Creek to Depot Road) and has 130 staff under him. He says the Kiewit philosophy is to hire and train locals for construction jobs, and a few of those locals came from the forestry sector.
Managers like Dundarand are often brought in to supervise.
Dundarand plans to be here in 2009 and beyond, when the project completes.
"I enjoy the amenities that Squamish has to offer," he said.
"The outdoor activities and the proximity to Whistler are great. If I can manage to stay here after, I will. A lot of my staff feel the same way."
Dundarand goes on to explain that Kiewit integrates with the communities they work in.
"We are a gold level supporter of Squamish Days this year and sponsored Wild at Art. Last week I was flipping burgers at McHappy Day," said Dundarand.
Remax Sea to Sky Realtor, Denise Salmon is seeing the "Kiewit effect" on her business. "All of us have sold or shown homes to someone connected to Kiewit," she said.
"Equipment operators, engineers and environmental consultants have all looked at houses with me in Squamish.
"One example is a client who resided on the island and decided that he was going to be here long enough to sell his house and bring his wife and two sons here."
Vancouver transplants Kyle Coulter and Laurel Terlesky are typical of what you would call the Squamish newcomer and Kiewit literally paved the way for them to move here.
The young couple was looking to escape the city and buy their first house. Aged 31 and 30, they moved here in 2006.Kyle operates equipment for Kiewit on the night shift and enjoys the amazing mountain bike trails that surround the area and then he takes up snowboarding in the winter.
They chose Squamish over Revelstoke when Kyle got the job last July.
Laurel, a former CBC employee is an artist and operates a graphic design and illustration business from their home.
Chances are they will stay long after the highway is finished, which is slated for completion in 2009.
Other businesses are making the yellow of Kiewit turn into the green of money.
Stop in at the Ocean Port hotel any night of the week and chances are you'll find a few Kiewit co-workers unwinding after a long day. "I've seen an increase in sales. They rent rooms here and they are really good customers." Says OP manager Scott McQuade.
McQuade says that Kiewit has not brought in the customer base that the forest industry did, but things are definitely looking up.
So what happens when the highway contract is completed? Chances are a portion of those staff might leave and pursue the next Kiewit project.
However, 12-year employee Dandarand feels that there is a chance that we might be feeling the Kiewit effect for some time.
"We are bidding on a lot of work in the Lower Mainland post 2009. It's not unusual to for people to follow us to the next project."
Have a story idea? Send your comments, ideas or suggestions to [email protected] or check out past stories on the blog site www.ultipromo.com/blog/index.htm.
