Serving the energy sector

Marco Abdi met his wife, Filomena, on the Number 9 bus riding through downtown Calgary. It was 1981, and Abdi had just moved to the city from Somalia by way of the United Arab Emirates and Italy. 

He arrived with just a few dollars in his pocket and promptly got a job as a caretaker in a medical building in inner city Bridgeland. He pulled in $800 a month and lived across the street from the medical building in a little house his employers happened to own.

Thirty years later, that little house is La Brezza Italian Restaurant, Abdi’s mother-in-law, Angela, is the chef, and their customers flock to the restaurant for the home-cooked minestrone, cannelloni and other excellent Italian fare.

 “When you really care, people can feel it. They know that we serve them the very best and they appreciate it. That’s what I love about being in Calgary. There are very good people here,” says Abdi.

As a young man in Dubai, working and setting up menus for the employees of a housing developer, Abdi wanted to move to Canada and start a restaurant; but he wasn’t sure where to go.

“The people in the energy industry in the U.A.E. told me the place to be in Canada was Alberta. They said, ‘Marco, go to Calgary,’ and I am glad I did, so many years ago,” he says. “I love it here.”

Abdi has kept up his contacts in the U.A.E. with both the business community and the Royal Family. A friend of Abdi’s went to school with the Sheikh's brother and that relationship has led to Abdi becoming the exclusive North American Business Development Representative for the United Arab Emirates. He travels back to Dubai several times a year, connecting business people in Alberta to opportunities in the U.A.E.

Back at La Brezza, Abdi connects with each of his customers as they come through the door. Most of them he knows by name, and many of them work in the oil and gas industry. 

“When they do well, we do well. They have a tough time, we have a tough time,” he says of his restaurant’s reliance on a strong oil and gas sector for business.  

Abdi has weathered plenty of ups and downs in the energy sector since opening La Brezza in 1985. The downturns translate into empty tables at his restaurant and “a lot less economic activity for businesses across the province,” says Abdi.   

“Competition is healthy,” he says. “It puts you in a better position and it’s good for everyone – for all Albertans.” Along with a healthy oil and gas sector, Abdi has learned that the other key to success is having the right people.

“How did we all get here?” he asks. “Working hard and looking after one another, and never forget that. If you don’t have good people, you have nothing.” 

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