Second in a series
Herve Faucher is a serial entrepreneur who grew up in small-town Alberta, a background that has convinced him of the value of one-on-one communication.
Faucher is president and majority shareholder of GMS Aggregates Inc., which owns the Big Rock pit/quarry 112 kilometres northeast of Fort McMurray. Located near oilsands plants owned by Imperial Oil Ltd. (TSX:IMO), Suncor Energy (TSX:SU) and Husky Energy (TSX:HSE), Big Rock contains 10 million tonnes of aggregate.
To Faucher, developing a personal relationship is a necessary precursor to developing a business relationship – something he learned running an office supply store and a real estate agency in his hometown of St. Paul in northeastern Alberta.
It’s why the businessman, who has also been an investor in a condominium project in San Diego, California, and assisted living projects in Calgary, has involved his firm in the Alberta Enterprise Group (AEG) for five years. It’s also why he has sat on its board for the last three years and is a strong proponent of AEG’s Canada Connects missions.
“[AEG] is a great networking group,” Faucher said, adding that he has gone on past missions to Washington, Quebec and elsewhere with the organization. “You make great contacts.”
By making those contacts, he said, one can alter people’s thinking about resource development in Canada, which he sees as a critical part of the country’s future.
Faucher, who is fluent in French, played an important role during AEG’s mission to Quebec two years ago. There is opposition in the province to TransCanada Corp.’s (TSX:TRP) Energy East pipeline, which would move more than one million barrels daily of western crude to Eastern Canada.
After he and others on the trip presented the business case for Quebecers supporting the project, he said Quebec business people were “very positive” about the pipeline project and the relationship between Alberta and Quebec.
AEG pointed out that trade between the provinces is worth more than $8 billion a year.
He believes the mission to B.C., taking place November 5-7 in Vancouver, will produce the same positive results.
B.C. First Nations are a prime example of those who would benefit from the construction of new pipelines, liquefied natural gas and other energy infrastructure.
Faucher sits on the board of Goodfish Lake Business Corp., which is headquartered on the land of the northeastern Alberta First Nation of the same name and which has become a multimillion-dollar enterprise, specializing in areas such as industrial garment manufacturing and laundry and dry-cleaning services.
The Goodfish Lake dry-cleaning operation, with many oilsands industry clients, is the largest of its kind in the world.
While discussions about pipeline access and resource development might dominate the trip, Faucher said the business leaders will also deal with market access issues. Agricultural, mining and other products need to get to foreign markets through Port Metro Vancouver, so Prairie provinces and B.C. need to work together.
Faucher pointed out that his involvement in the mission will lead to no direct benefits for his aggregates company.
“We don’t sell gravel to B.C.,” he said. “This is just something we should do as business people.”
When he went on the Quebec mission he toured the Port of Montreal along with other business people from Alberta and was impressed with how busy it was and how efficiently it was operated. AEG will also be touring Port Metro Vancouver in November.
While he is dedicated to the big picture of promoting Alberta business interests through his involvement in AEG, Faucher continues to stick to his own knitting by concentrating on the management of GMS Aggregates, which employs seven people full-time and dozens of contractors during busy periods.
He’s considering an expansion of the business to include a quarry near Edmonton and another in the Peace River area, a strategy aimed at diversification beyond a reliance on the oilsands sector.
But he added that doesn’t mean he’s pessimistic about the sector’s growth prospects. The move to Peace River is aimed at servicing that region’s growing oilsands sector, as well as forestry and other development. •
Business in Vancouver is profiling Alberta-based companies participating in the Lower Mainland’s November 5-7 Canada Connects: British Columbia trade mission. The mission is a partnership between the Alberta Enterprise Group and the Vancouver Board of Trade, who are inviting B.C. business leaders to join them at a luncheon with oilsands pioneer and MEG Energy CEO Bill McCaffrey on November 5 at Vancouver’s Terminal City Club. To buy tickets, go to www.boardoftrade.com
