Building alongside the energy industry

When 30-year-old Geoffrey Grimsdick started his MBA, his plan was to work in the U.S. or China, but by the time he graduated from the University of Washington in 2009, the global recession had wiped out many of those opportunities.

“It was definitely one of the worst years ever to finish business school and start looking for work,” says Grimsdick. The Vancouver native came home to Canada, assessed the lay of the land and decided to move to Fort McMurray to become the marketing manger for a building and construction company, Casman Group.

“Usually most of the graduating class would have multiple job offers long before graduation but plenty of my classmates didn’t have any. Fortunately for me, Casman was a good opportunity to learn with a good company, in a growing industry.”

The six Casman Group companies employ hundreds of people and have literally helped build Fort McMurray; a community of more than 105,000 people. Since 1982, Casman companies have been constructing condos and townhouses, and helping build restaurants, strip malls and oil sands sites. They’ve created millwork and provided mechanical and electrical services. 

“Our business is the same as any business in Fort Mac. Our city is dependent on the oil industry and if the oil companies were to ever leave, we’re extinct. We’re done,” says Grimsdick. “That’s 99 per cent of what goes on here.”

When the credit crunch hit and many oil companies put their projects on hold, Casman, along with thousands of other businesses that rely on the energy industry, took a hit. 

“Our single family housing company, along with pretty much all of our competitors didn’t sell a single house for six months,” says Grimsdick. “But business today is back to normal. It’s a lot more stable which is a positive thing. We have growth right now, but it’s not crazy growth,” he says.

When Grimsdick arrived in Fort McMurray in the fall of 2009 to start his job, he was pleasantly surprised with the lifestyle waiting for him and his wife.

“I love that I can throw on cross country skis and go out for hours in my back yard and in the summer you can bike through those same trails,” says Grimsdick. Employers are also more willing to accommodate flexible shifts. “By working extra hours, I was able to take a week off to go to watch the Olympics. You can’t get that in most big cities,” he says.

Grimsdick and other Casman Group employees also enjoy the sense of community in Fort McMurray. “They know the town and they know what it’s like to live here,” says Grimsdick, one of the group’s newest employees. “Fifty per cent of our staff have been here for five, ten years or more,” he says.

That’s why one of Casman’s taglines is “we don’t just work here, we live here.” 

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