AMEC: Diversifying for stability and strength


Can a small branch of a huge engineering company practice innovation and entrepreneurship?

 

Years ago Cominco had its own engineering department. This was spun off as Cominco Engineering Services, which sold to Simons, then Agra, and finally AMEC, a global engineering construction corporation with 45,000 employees.

 

When manager Rick Lewin took over the Trail office in 1995, over 90% of the business was with Teck Cominco. Lewin was determined to change that. Diversifying across a broader customer base would help to stabilize the workforce, and also strengthen the engineering resources available for all customers, including Teck Cominco. The technical expertise honed through years of modernizing the Trail plants provided unique skills that could benefit a wider range of customers while continuing to service this important local customer. It was a winning strategy, but expanding into new markets is never easy.

 

Ten years later, employment has increased to 85 people with projects all over the world and revenue around $15 million. “Teck Cominco now provides just one half of our workload,” Lewin said.

 

Lewin has also targeted the East Kootenay coalmines, and AMEC is now becoming a major player in that rapidly growing industry. They are also into a zinc refinery expansion in Peru, copper smelter upgrades in Utah and supporting potash projects in Saskatchewan and diamond mines in the north; even a unique nuclear waste cleanup project at the Hanford site.

 

Diversification has been successful. Now the challenge is to sustain their engineering capacity with a wider array of work and increasing competition for skilled people. Lewin believes the Kootenay lifestyle will be a major factor in attracting those new people.

 

AMEC contact information, -Rick Lewin

 

Build new customers through persistence and being there when needed with a quality product.

 
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