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“We identified a need and decided it was
time,” said Jonas. ”It was either take that
step or get left behind. All of our compet-itors
had them. There was starting to be
more activity with people coming in from
out of town and out of province, and they
were bringing in asphalt plants. In order to
be competitive, it made sense for us to do
it and honestly, if we didn’t, we may not be
around today.”
Jim was part of the major decision to add
the asphalt plant and the family is grateful
that he was able to see it set up and produc-ing
before he passed.
BLS is now involved in major commer-cial/
industrial asphalt paving construction
and large commercial landscape projects.
With a workforce of over 70 employees, the
company has tackled projects across the
province and into eastern Alberta.
Jonas says that the company’s pav-ing
division has the ability to handle jobs
from base construction to finished paving.
Some of these projects include commercial
parking lots, housing divisions, park path-ways,
retail and manufacturing plants and
school parking lots.
BLS also handles excavating work – do-ing
site preparation for retail stores, malls,
manufacturing plants and environmental
cleanup – and offers snow removal services.
Over the years, BLS has built up an
impressive client list that includes the
City of Regina, several Government of
Saskatchewan ministries, the University of
Regina, Wascana Centre Authority and var-ious
private contractors and developers
throughout the province.
One memorable job that stands out for
Jonas is the reclamation of Gardiner Park.
The project involved building streets for
what’s now a fully developed residential
community behind Victoria Square Mall
in Regina. In the Glencairn neighbourhood
in Regina, BLS was involved in the reten-tion
pond project, which involved excavat-ing
and hauling out around 80,000 cubic
metres of dirt in a short time frame. The
company also worked on the Terra Grain
Ethanol plant.
In all of BLS’ projects, Jonas says that
safety is a priority.
“We give 110 per cent effort to try and
avoid accidents,” said Jonas. “It’s impos-sible
to prevent accidents from ever hap-pening
in the industry, but when they do
happen, it’s about how you move forward
from there.”
Outside of running a business, the
Shorts have also focused on best indus-try
practices. The company is a long-time
member of the Saskatchewan Heavy
Construction Association (SHCA). Jim pre-viously
served on the board of directors and
was the chairman in 2006. He also chaired
the Western Canada Roadbuilders and
Heavy Construction Association and rep-resented
Saskatchewan on the Canadian
Construction Association.
Jonas, who currently sits on the SHCA
board, says the association does valuable
work.
“The association is a powerful voice be-hind
any company,” said Jonas. “If you’ve
got issues with the City of Regina or the
Ministry of Highways, you’re not fighting
all by yourself because you’ve got an asso-ciation
with you. If we’re running into prob-lems
with the way things are being done,
and we have the backing of the association,
not only does it help us, but it also helps the
rest of the members move forward.”
MEMBER PROFILE
A paving project in progress at
Brandt Industries in Regina
36 Think BIG | Quarter 1 2018 | saskheavy.ca