Construction Company Captures Building & Trades Category In Its 10th Year
Sean Smith is the owner and founder of Island Red Cedar Construction Ltd.
NANAIMO – Island Red Cedar Construction Ltd. has been building quality homes for 10 years, and the company’s recent building block was a step into the spotlight – winning the Building & Trades category in the Nanaimo Business Awards.
Owner and founder Sean Smith says winning was a big honour, although the firm was a finalist the previous year.
“We were nominated by our clients, so it’s always nice to be recognized,” Smith states. “We produce a good product and look after our clients, so in a roundabout way it’s recognition that we’re doing what we said we’d do, and that we set our standards very high.”
An example of the detail that Island Red Cedar Construction Ltd. puts into its buildings
Smith started Island Red Cedar in Victoria in 2011 after starting his carpentry apprenticeship while at home on Saltspring Island. They decided to move to Nanaimo, his wife Katie’s home town, and they’ve never looked back.
“There was more opportunity here,” Smith notes. “It’s a similar in size to Kelowna but it still feels very much like a small town. It’s very community oriented and the builders in Nanaimo have been very welcoming and helpful. There’s a ton of potential for growth in Nanaimo in the years to come.”
Smith is a part-time substitute instructor at Vancouver Island University, which keeps him connected to potential employees as Island Red Cedar continues growing at 10-15 percent each year. They now have six employees.
“I’m not taking on more work than we can handle,” he adds. “It’s all about finding balance along with providing the standard that clients expect from us. As a boutique, service-oriented construction company, we specialize in bespoke solutions that get to the heart of our clients’ needs. “Through in-depth collaboration with our customers that lasts throughout the project, we are able to deliver high quality, thoughtfully designed, and expertly planned buildings. We also prioritize sustainability, resulting in structures that last longer and perform better over the long term thanks to both new technology and locally-sourced, natural wood products from a family-run sawmill, built using traditional joinery methods.”
Some of the fine work of Island Red Cedar Construction
Smith notes that the pandemic spurred the company to adopt a two-pronged approach to ensure that the business and community stays healthy now and in the future.
“While embracing government health and safety regulations, we expanded on them in consideration of the time we spend in people’s homes, constructing our own mobile, on-site hand wash stations,” he states.
Island Red Cedar is also proud of the many contributions it makes to local non-profit organizations, including taking over organizing a charity golf tournament, and managing to raise even more money than the event had previously.
“We’re also furthering our sustainability efforts—though we are already ahead of the curve, new materials and technologies become available every day,” Smith says. “We are incorporating them as fast as possible, and we are also integrating the BC Energy Step Code, implementing new efficiency standards more than a decade ahead of the required timeline.”
CONTENT SPONSORED BY:
SILVER: Windsor Plywood, Phoenix Siding
BRONZE: Budget Glass