About Us
A Wee Bit 'O History...
After several months of research into the relocatable accommodations industry, Modern Industrial Structures Inc. came into existence on May 1, 2006 when we built our first structure at a farmer's quonset in a small town just east of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
The founding partners were the first employees and each accepted their role in the birth of our first unit. Marty, Rick, Terry, and Ray were all on the wall (working on the structure) while Barry worked in the office building our company which would occur only if we could sell unit number one - The Maiden Saskatchewan!
Time line in a Nutshell:
May 2006 - MISI corporate set up, production on unit #1 started at farmer's quonset.
Sept 2006 - First unit sold, building on 59th St. secured, production started on 59th st 10,000 sq ft of
production space
June 2007 - 50th unit delivered, secured 67,000 sq ft building on 33rd st. Now producing from both
Saskatoon locations - over 77,000 sq ft of production space.
June 2007 - 28,000 sq ft. plant set up in Brandon - first divisional location - now producing in 3
locations - 105,000 total sq ft of production space.
Aug 2007 - First profitable month for MISI, we earned $35,000 in operating profit.
Sept 2007 - Added night shift to our 33rd St plant - 100 employees in total now
Oct 2007 - Surpassed 30 units produced this month, 120 people on staff. First month with over $1.5
million in revenue
Nov 2007 - 140 employees now, eliminated 59th St. plant (10,000 sq ft) and consolidated our business
in our 33rd St. plant. Hired a consultant to assist us with ramping up our production to 3 units per day.
This quonset seemed big to us - we likely could have fit 2 structures in here. This first unit took us 31/2 months to build because we didn't have a clue what we were doing... (we do now ;-)
After several months of research into the relocatable accommodations industry, Modern Industrial Structures Inc. came into existence on May 1, 2006 when we built our first structure at a farmer's quonset in a small town just east of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
The founding partners were the first employees and each accepted their role in the birth of our first unit. Marty, Rick, Terry, and Ray were all on the wall (working on the structure) while Barry worked in the office building our company which would occur only if we could sell unit number one - The Maiden Saskatchewan!
Time line in a Nutshell:
May 2006 - MISI corporate set up, production on unit #1 started at farmer's quonset.
Sept 2006 - First unit sold, building on 59th St. secured, production started on 59th st 10,000 sq ft of
production space
June 2007 - 50th unit delivered, secured 67,000 sq ft building on 33rd st. Now producing from both
Saskatoon locations - over 77,000 sq ft of production space.
June 2007 - 28,000 sq ft. plant set up in Brandon - first divisional location - now producing in 3
locations - 105,000 total sq ft of production space.
Aug 2007 - First profitable month for MISI, we earned $35,000 in operating profit.
Sept 2007 - Added night shift to our 33rd St plant - 100 employees in total now
Oct 2007 - Surpassed 30 units produced this month, 120 people on staff. First month with over $1.5
million in revenue
Nov 2007 - 140 employees now, eliminated 59th St. plant (10,000 sq ft) and consolidated our business
in our 33rd St. plant. Hired a consultant to assist us with ramping up our production to 3 units per day.
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This farmer's quonset was our first manufacturing location.
This quonset seemed big to us - we likely could have fit 2 structures in here. This first unit took us 31/2 months to build because we didn't have a clue what we were doing... (we do now ;-)
The "Maiden Saskatchewan" was finally pulled out of her birth canal in August 2006. Our first "official" quality inspection occurred when our father - Garry - came to see what the hail was taking us so long!
Oct '06 - we start building a camp from our new 59th St. plant. We could build four units at a time here.
Front and Rear view of our new plant. We installed 18' high doors in the building.
June '07 - we lease a 67,000 sq ft facility and begin production / configuring building at same time.
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First up is Terry Williams, MISI's president and fearless leader:
MISI's Founder & General Manager - Terry Williams
Terry's Background:
- Graduated as apprentice electrician, Brandon Assiniboine College, 1983
- Accepted a job in residential construction which demanded he perform drywall duties as well as some electrical work. Terry worked in this job for 3 years.
- Started T. Williams Drywall and operated as a subcontractor for 15 years in Brandon, Calgary and eventually Saskatoon.
- Conceived and opened a company called Trade Pro Contracting Ltd. which supplied 75 independent trades people to the residential home building industry in Saskatoon.
- Conceived and opened Modern Industrial Structures Inc. in May, 2006 in Saskatoon.
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MISI's Operations Manager - Ray Brassard
Ray's Background:
- 9 years as owner of Quantum Contracting Ltd., a commercial construction company which supplies 15 - 20 trades people to the steel stud, drywall and T-Bar installation industry.
- 12 years as a site superintendent for a large construction company in Saskatoon. During this time, Ray was responsible for some large commercial projects like the multi year construction of Saskatoon's new City Hospital.
- Ray continues to operate his construction company and has managed it into one of the premier contracting companies in Saskatoon.
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MISI's Quality Assurance Manager - Pat BradleyPat's Background:
- This guy is crazy! He worked for a local steel supplier for 30 years!
- During that time he started and operated a successful yard care and rototilling business where he was able to atttract and retain almost 200 loyal customers. (no, we don't allow him to grind gardens anymore...)
- This fellow is the owner of the infamous idea incubator known far and wide as "Pat's Garage"
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MISI's Business Manager - Barry WilliamsBarry's Background:
- 25 years of experience in hospitality property management
- Renovated and marketed several hotels to record sales
- Participated in the production of "Putting Humour to Work" training video by Mike Kerr
- Became known for using humor in marketing - see on line interview with "The Laugh Doctor" here.
- Author of several online articles
This is a photo of Barry playing the trumpet when he was 12 years old. While its fun and
entertaining to play the trumpet, it does have its disadvantages. For example, Barry often had
to puff his cheeks out in order to properly play the trumpet and eventually his face maintained
the "swollen" look and that same problem began to affect his neck. Now Barry appears like he's
overweight because his neck and stomach stick out so much - all because of that
damn trumpet!
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MISI's Service Manager - Rick Lange
Rick's Background:
- Rick owned and operated his own highway tractor for 8 years
- Invested 5 years of his life as Shipper / Receiver for Rosenau Transport in Saskatoon
- 3 years as a professional driver for Jay's Transport in Saskatoon
- Owned and operated his own stucco crew for 2 years prior to joining Terry at Trade Pro Contracting.
Stay Right There...
This is a picture of Rick when he was a little gaffer. It's kind of interesting
to note that even way back then his parents thought that tying him up was
a good thing. The only sinful aspect about "getting hitched" like this as a kid
is that it creates an unconscious desire to wear some nice thong underwear.
This might explain why Rick constantly acts like his turds are in a knot.
to note that even way back then his parents thought that tying him up was
a good thing. The only sinful aspect about "getting hitched" like this as a kid
is that it creates an unconscious desire to wear some nice thong underwear.
This might explain why Rick constantly acts like his turds are in a knot.
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MISI's Safety Officer - Marty Williams
MISI's Safety Officer - Marty Williams- Certified Safety Officer - trained through Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association
- 2 years experience as Safety Officer for Trade Pro Contracting Ltd. Saskatoon
- 15 years experience as owner / operator of a Hot Rod customizing shop in Edmonton, Alberta
Mud is good, Mud is great - Hey...there's some you haven't ate!
When Mart was a little beggar, he enjoyed wallowing in freshly watered soil ponds and he wasn't adverse to eating a dirt sandwich or two. Look at that grin - it doesn't matter what befalls this dude - he's always at the top of his game. This behavior had a huge upside - it hid any evidence of his pants being self crapped. Way to Go Mart!