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When Ron Graham joined his family’s company full-time in 1962, its yearly revenues were $3 million and it had only one office located in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. By 2007, Graham Construction earned revenues of $1.2 billion with seven offices in Canada and four in the United States.

“As the company expanded geographically, it created a whole different dynamic,” explains Graham, who today is the chairman of the company.  

For example, the company mainly provided services for the local power company when it performed projects only in Saskatchewan.  

“Because it was a small area, the company’s focus was narrow,” he says. But, after it expanded to other regions, it added new services, as well as entered new markets. “We build whatever is needed, such as schools, hospitals, ice rinks, churches, bridges, treatment plants – a variety of things,” he says.

Today, the company performs projects in the commercial, oil and gas, mining, institutional, residential, recreational and retail industries. It offers services such as general contracting, design/build, construction management, pre-construction, earthworks, masonry, concrete and industrial mechanical.  

Graham says the company’s growth, most of which took place over the last five years, was achieved in a controlled, well-managed manner. “We’re employee-owned, so we are careful to grow the company under control,” he notes.

With 3,000 employees, “we’re considered to be a significant size for our industry,” he acknowledges. “As we started as a family-owned company, the feeling of family is still felt by people who join the company.”

University of Saskatchewan
One of the company’s biggest clients is the University of Saskatchewan, in Saskatoon. It is where Graham, his father, his wife, his oldest son and his daughter-in-law all received degrees. Also, many of the company’s engineers are products of the university’s renowned engineering program. “We’re well-connected to the university,” Graham says. “We have done a number of things on campus.”

The university acknowledges Graham’s contributions. “[They have] helped take the university over the $100 million milestone in the Thinking the World of Our Future campaign,” it says.

Two-and-a-half years ago, Graham and his wife donated $1.2 million for a new 6,200-square-foot clubhouse for the university’s football team.

The facility included change rooms for the players, as well as a classroom, coaches’ offices, training room, ticket offices and a state-of-the-art video system to review each game.

They also donated $250,000 to renovate the visitor’s locker rooms. Graham Construction completed both projects in the last couple of years.

The project was special for Graham because he played quarterback for the team in 1959 and 1961. “We felt it was time to give back”, he says. “I feel a close connection to the team.”