Family Business Beats Odds to Celebrate 100th Anniversary
Business founded by WWI Veteran builds legacy with an Employee Share Ownership Plan
EDMONTON, AB, Oct. 19, 2021 /CNW/ - When WWI veteran and VETS founder Fred Rayner installed his first furnace in Edmonton in 1921, he likely did not expect his company to celebrate its 100th anniversary with his great grandson at the helm.
"This company has seen a world war, countless cycles of boom and bust and now a pandemic. There is a theory that only .5% of businesses survive to celebrate their centennial anniversary and I'm not sure how many of those, especially in Canada, are family-owned," says 4th generation President Sean Rayner.
In the early days, Fred Rayner travelled to jobsites on his bicycle or in a streetcar carrying a roll of sheet metal and his tools to install his patented VETS Supreme gravity furnaces in post-war homes. Fred's son Alan became president in 1945 and moved away from residential construction into the commercial and industrial Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) markets. VETS fabricated and installed ductwork at flagship sites such as the University of Alberta Hospital and Edmonton Police Headquarters/ Remand Centre. Alan's son David led the business through the 80's, pivoting the company's focus from higher-risk construction jobs to specialty fabrication. After a serious health scare, David retired in 2005 and Sean became president, expanding the business and rebranding as the VETS Group.
"After having a single shareholder per generation for 100 years VETS is excited to celebrate this milestone by launching an employee share ownership plan," says Rayner. "Many people on the VETS team have worked here for decades. Sharing this legacy is part of our celebration, but thanks to the pandemic, the in-person party will have to wait a bit longer."
Today, the VETS Group is made up of VETS Sheet Metal and VETS Facility Services. VETS Sheet Metal services the Western Canadian industrial HVAC market from offices in Edmonton, AB and Surrey, B.C. A team of over 100 tradespeople complete complex work in the wood fiber, oil and gas, power generation, mining, institutional and water treatment industries from Vancouver Island to the Yukon and as far east as Manitoba. VETS Facility Services offers proactive maintenance for building owners, property managers and multi-unit residential throughout central Alberta.
SOURCE VETS Group
News published on and distributed by:
