Active Auger Services Ltd. from 2001 to 2007, growing it to a
multi-million dollar company with just 12 employees.
“I remember watching dad work hard and work long
hours,” he said. “Back then, they had the black and white
screens on the Blackberry and the headsets that went with
them. For the first two years of the business, I could never
figure out if dad was talking to me or to one of his clients!”
Rob, a civil engineering technologist, put Active Auger
Services on the map when he became the first person to bring
helical steel screwpiles to the province. But life and business
took its toll when Rob’s health began to decline. With
expressed interest from a national construction company
to acquire the business compounding the news of his failing
health, Rob and Brenda made the life-changing decision to
sell Active Auger Services and leave the piling business for
good – or so they thought.
Back in the game
At the time of the sale, Banain Cote was heading off to university
with dreams of becoming a teacher. It didn’t take long
for him to realize that teaching wasn’t his dream after all, so
he decided to take some time off and travel abroad. Upon
returning to the prairies, Cote ventured to Alberta for work in
the piling industry in the oilfield. It was this experience that
spurred him to return home and start his own piling company.
Finally, Cote was excited about what he was doing for
a living.
“Upon starting Innovative Piling Solutions, I thought to
myself that if I was going to do something for the rest of my
life, I wanted it to be cool,” he said. “I wanted to get excited
about the work I was doing. I feel that way every day now
when I come to work.”
Cote started Innovative Piling Solutions Limited (IPS) in
May 2012 in conjunction with Rob and Brenda. After completing
the civil engineering technology program at the
Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology
(SCIAST, now referred to as Saskatchewan Polytechnic), he
returned to the company as VP, with Rob sitting as president
and Brenda operating the administrative side of the business.
“My parents and I work flawlessly together,” said Cote.
“Our different experiences in piling and business create a nice
juxtaposition between forward-thinking and traditional business.
Very rarely do we have differing opinions on something.
We have a great set-up, a great division of responsibilities.”
The go-to expertise
Throughout the piling industry, IPS is known as the go-to
company.
“We’re the guys that deal with the projects that no one else
wants to do, the ones that other companies say are impossible,”
said Cote. For example, engineering firms in Saskatoon
called IPS for an outside consult on a newly constructed complex
that was in structural distress. To resolve the issue, IPS,
in conjunction with their consultant, designed and installed
COMPANY PROFILE
IPS prides itself on knowing that no job is too small to take on
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56 Q1 2016 www.pilingcanada.ca
/www.pilingcanada.ca
