The art of running a good business

Art Stavenjord has been doing business in Grand Forks for more than 50 years

Unifab Industries specializes in structural steel fabrication. — Photo courtesy Unifab Industries Ltd.

When Art Stavenjord, now the CFO of Unifab Industries Ltd., first moved to Grand Forks, he initially found employment at Boundary Electric. As luck would have it, he was needed in the Boundary Electric office one weekend to fill in for someone—44 years later he was still there.

“I obtained my certified general accountant (CGA) designation,” said Stavenjord, “and was the financial officer for Boundary (Electric) for many years.”

Over the years, Boundary Electric acquired ownership of other companies, with Stavenjord as the major shareholder. In 1992, Stavenjord sold his shares of the company and retired.

Not long after, Stavenjord was asked to offer assistance and information about retraining programs to industrial workers who had been laid off. One business that Stavenjord was asked to help was Interior Mill Equipment—a company he knew well from his years at Boundary Electric.

“I used to work with these guys,” said Stavenjord. “They were good buddies of mine. I went out there and said, ‘What do you want to do?’ And they said . . . ‘Why don’t we just start up the company and run it right?’ So I said, ‘Does anyone have any money?’ And they did . . . and we started Unifab Industries Ltd. It has been running very successfully ever since 1999.”

Unifab Industries Ltd. focuses on structural steel fabrication and builds conveyors, tanks and refuge burners for Teck and the potash industry in Saskatchewan, among others.

Stavenjord said there are three keys to business success.

“Ninety per cent of our business is repeat customers,” said Stavenjord. “We survive because we produce for our clients. You need three things to be successful in our business: good suppliers, good customers and a good banker—and we have all three of those things.”