The Next Step
Anchor Shoring Group is acquired by GFL Excavating Corporation
– Offering demolition, excavation and shoring services together
By Barb Feldman
“ There’s a lot of big news in our world!” said Dawn
Tattle, the president of Anchor Shoring & Caissons
Ltd. After six months of discussions and just a few
weeks into the New Year, the Anchor Shoring Group
was bought by GFL Excavating Corporation, a division of
Green for Life Environmental (GFL). Tattle and Anchor vicepresident
Derrick Speakman have become shareholders in
GFL and will continue their current roles at Anchor.
Anchor Shoring and Caissons was founded in 1968 by
Dawn’s father, Gord Demetrick, and Gord Stack, and the two
partners were soon joined by her uncle, Al Demetrick. The
company expanded over the years, and by 1975 it included
Banner Piling and Excavating, which specializes in pile driving,
sheet piling and continuous flight auger projects, and
Crown Drilling, formed to drill tiebacks.
“Anchor’s first office was in the basement of our house,” said
Tattle, who began at Anchor as a site clerk when she was still
in high school. “I loved the way we created and built things.
COMPANY PROFILE
In construction, you create something tangible, something
of value you can point to and say, ‘We had a part of that.’ This
early exposure to the industry influenced by decision to go into
engineering.”
After working for a structural consultant, she went back to
Anchor and has been there since 1986. Stack’s son, Tom, who
joined the company in 1970, became its vice president of operations.
Speakman, who began to work for Anchor in 1987 as
an estimator and project manager, became a partner and vicepresident
in 1995. In 1997, Tattle became president of Anchor
Shoring.
Women in construction
On the subject of being a woman running a construction
business, Tattle said, “I wasn’t one of the pioneers – there
PHOTOS COURTESY OF ANCHOR SHORING & CAISSONS LTD.
GFL and Anchor working on
the Yorkdale expansion project
Ten Years of Piling Canada 49