Back in 1963, Peter and Irene Nemanishen started a family
business that has grown to become a major player
in heavy construction projects around Saskatchewan.
When Peter, who just turned 90 years old, started out with his first
International TD14 bulldozer over 55 years ago, his vision was to
create a company that could continue for generations to come. In
fact, today’s Nemanishen Contracting Ltd. is known for its capability,
tenacity and professionalism that has been the result of slow,
measured growth. When they say, “No job too big, or too small,” they
mean it.
“We have the experience and the equipment to take on just about
anything thrown at us,” said Nemanishen Contracting Ltd. president
Rick Nemanishen. He reports the company has a solid inventory of
heavy equipment, from graders to dozers to scrapers to packers and
just about everything in between. “We have what it takes. It’s rare
that we have to rent equipment. This means we are able to respond
quickly and completely. When we bid on a job, principals know we
have the complete ability to undertake the work.”
According to Rick, they like to keep things local when they
can. Based in Langham, a community about 20 minutes north of
Saskatoon, he comments that they typically take on about 85 to 90
per cent of jobs within 100 miles of their shop and yard site. Their
workforce consists of about 45 personnel, of whom many are longterm
employees. In fact, Nemanishen’s core group of employees has
been with them for 10 to 31 years.
“One of the reasons we have been able to hold onto to our experienced
staff is that they can be home for dinner after a day’s work.
We like to keep our activities close to home if we can and our crews
appreciate that,” said Rick, noting that the family aspect of the enterprise
extends beyond the brothers and cousins in the business.
The company is known for its earthmoving capabilities and, according
to Rick, has handled projects with more than one million
cubic metres of material. Currently, they are hard at work on the
Langham town lagoon. This involves 400,000 cubic metres of soil.
Rick regards it as just another day at the office. Indeed, key activities
include lake and lagoon projects, highway construction, subdivisions
and mine expansion.
MEMBER PROFILE
PHOTOS COURTESY OF NEMANISHEN CONTRACTING
This Langham contractor
has built its business with
the right equipment, the
right personnel and the
right attitude
By Kelly Gray
thinkbigmagazine.ca | Quarter 3 2018 | Think BIG 27
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