TAKING OWNERSHIP
On June 27, 1977, George and John Poole executed the documents that transferred ownership of Poole Construction to the hands of the 25 employees who became the first shareholders in a new employee-ownership model. George and John Poole and then-CEO Bob Stollery created the employee ownership model to encourage loyalty, entrepreneurial spirit, and stability in a difficult industry. Now, 40 years later, over 90 percent of PCL’s nearly 4,000 full-time, salaried staff are employee shareholders. PCL set the bar for other construction companies that adopted a similar model after seeing the rewards that come with putting the success of a company into the hands of its hardworking employees.
WORKING FOR ALL
Our employee ownership model fuels an entrepreneurial spirit. The company’s successes have been the direct product of each generation of employee owners rising to the challenge of making the company they leave behind, for future generations of employee owners, even stronger.
PCL is more than a place to work. We are owners and, like business owners, have the opportunity and responsibility to apply our entrepreneurial spirit and effort towards confronting the challenges that face the company, capitalizing on opportunities ahead, and realizing rewards for all stakeholders.
CROSSING BORDERS
At the time that PCL embarked on a new ownership model, the company was also crossing borders and expanding operations into the United States. In 1975, PCL set up a temporary office in Denver, and work began on the first US projects—a 14-floor office building and the famous Denver Square project for Oxford Development Group Ltd. The company surged forward on both sides of the border in the 1980s and ‘90s, opening offices in Seattle, Orlando, Los Angeles, Toronto, and Ottawa. By 2014, PCL had grown to include 31 districts in North America and operations in Australia.
We are celebrating 40 years of PCL employee ownership and everyone who has worked to make PCL a company with a proud past. Those thousands of owners on jobsites and in the office are continuing to help shape a bright future.
SOURCE: PCL
