Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1526133
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 4 | 49 Reinforcing Steel P H OTO G R A P H Y CO U RT E S Y H ER I TAG E S T EEL amount of condo wood frame projects, so the impact of inflation and interest rates has not been fully seen yet, in my opinion," he says. "With the interest rate drop, time will tell what happens with inflation. I was quite surprised to see that the market did not drop as quickly as I had suspected it would going back to last fall, when we were securing most of our work." Unfortunately, one issue that remains persistent is the recruitment and retention challenge. "With inflation and daily living costs continuing to be at the forefront of everybody's mind, wages are the driving factor on the decisions as to where our workforce wants to work," Selig says. "This obviously presents significant challenges as construction costs continue to rise, putting addi- tional pressure on the market. "Here at Heritage, we do our best to promote and train from within while trying to retain our employees through various means, such as flexible work hours, bonus structures, and excellent collaboration between the teams to help everybody grow individually within their respective departments. As our workforce gains experience and their performance improves, it's a win-win for the workforce; their wages are reflective of this, and they feel a sense of accom- plishment and self worth." Matthys van Emmenis, VP of operations for A&H Steel in Vancouver, says activity for his jurisdiction is somewhat slower due to persistent inflation, "But our tender estimation department is extremely busy, so there's definitely pent-up demand that will hopefully lead to a tidal wave of work in the foresee- able future." A&H Steel Vancouver is a partnership between A&H Steel Edmonton, Whitewater Concrete, and Syber Concrete; Whitewater and Syber are leaders in the formwork concrete industry, each having 25 years of experience operating residential and commercial projects across the Lower Mainland. Van Emmenis says, "Our Edmonton facility is busy with industrial work, but Vancouver is quieter for new work, which we had anticipated due to the economic circumstances. However, we've started detailing and are anticipating starting to ship products in August on behalf of the new Woodfibre LNG plant in Squamish, which is an 18-month-long project and the world's first net zero liquefied natural gas export facility. Core installation at Latimer Heights. Core walls installation at Latimer Heights, Langley, B.C. Kits Steel.indd 1 Kits Steel.indd 1 2024-08-12 9:47 AM 2024-08-12 9:47 AM