BCBusiness

12 Illu s t r a t i o n s : i S t o c k / n a q i e w e i /s m a r t b o y 10 / f ili z b b r B C B U S I N E S S . C A O C T O B E R 2 0 24 ON THE RADAR the renovation contract for BC Place in preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. "We beat out the big guys; it's a huge win," he says, smiling. "All the credit goes to the team. They told them how the job was going to be built down to every nut and bolt. No one else did that. Everyone else came in to sell their companies. We said, 'You've given us two weeks to prep for the interview, so we spent hundreds of hours putting together models and visualizations. Let us show you how we can deliver.'" That project will involve 12 jobs in total, including field- side clubs, VIP lounges and a bridge between Parq Casino and BC Place. For Maierle, who now has four young boys and lines their teams' baseball fields in his spare time, this is all much closer to the begin- ning of something than the end. "Most people in my spot, their lens and horizon thinking is five or seven years," he says. "I have 25 years of horizon. And I love coming to work, love what we're doing and love investing in new things and trying stuff." time knocking on doors and calling people up trying to get work. First, there was a tenant improvement project for $500,000. Then a three- unit heritage renovation. Then 10-unit projects. Then 20, 50, 200, 500 and 1,000. And then the commercial stuff started rolling in. Even for Maierle, who envi- sioned big things when he left Ledcor, the growth has been staggering. "I've got this little sheet in my office from the first month, when I set my revenue projections. I projected in our 10th year we'd do $40 million," he says. Some would call that very optimistic. Turns out, he undershot it. Currently in its ninth year, the Burnaby-based company now has some 140 employ- ees and an office it is rapidly outgrowing. It will do around $200 million in revenue this year and plans to move into a new space in Vancouver's east side. The scope of the work ETRO is doing has grown along- side the company. Remember the Bahamas airport he steered for Led- cor? Maierle kept in contact with the company he worked with on it—"I'm a relation- ships guy"—and now ETRO is building a US$350 million Four Seasons Resort in the Bahamas. There was Aritzia's second Vancouver office, a 62,000-square-foot archi- tectural marvel in Railtown. And First West Credit Union's 130,000-square-foot new Langley headquarters. Smaller, trendy ones, too, like House of Funk Brewing's North Vancou- ver space. "We're builders, technical experts in what we do," says the 41-year-old Maierle when asked how the company has been able to grow so quickly. "And we're fantastic commu- nicators. With the way we run our pre-construction business, we're open and honest. We've been told by multiple clients that we provide a service that others just can't match. And we've spent and have invested a ton of energy and time into that process." There has been a litany of huge projects in ETRO's portfolio, but it's fair to say none have put the company on the public radar like winning GO FIGURE by Michael McCullough SOURCE: SPRING 2024 BC CONSTRUCTION ASSOCIATION (BCCA) CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY STAT PACK, 2024 BCCA BC CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY SURVEY REPORT Number of construction companies in B.C.: 28,014, an increase of over 1,750 since fall 2023 ACCORDING TO THE BRITISH COLUMBIA CONSTRUCTION ASSOCIATION: 10 percent of the province's GDP B.C.'s construction industry accounts for around Estimated value of current major construction projects in B.C.: $160 billion, which is a $3 billion increase since fall 2023, and a five- year trend increase of 39 percent Number of WOMEN in construction trades: 9,536, an increase of over 2,100 since fall 2023 and a five-year trend increase of 24 percent Number of workers in trades jobs: 167,300, an increase of 3,400 since fall 2023 but still a five-year trend decrease of 7 percent ELECTION SEASON British Columbia goes to the polls for the first time in four years on October 19 to elect a new provincial government. Are you registered? Here we provide some statistical context for this exercise in democracy. 51% of BCers surveyed in a March 2024 Angus Reid Institute poll said it was time for a change of government. 40.5% of eligible voters polled in a 2010 Elections BC survey described themselves as "consistent voters." 16.1% considered themselves "consistent non-voters."

• Cover