Comox Valley Firm Building Single Family Homes, Developments And Commercial Projects
574 Cumberland Road
COMOX VALLEY – Simba Investments is building relationships from the ground up, outside and within the company.
Arguably the fastest growing construction firm in the Comox Valley, Simba has over 600 residential units either being built, in the planning stages, or awaiting approval.
CEO Shawn Vincent
Any business doesn’t get to that level of activity without strong relationships with clients, but also on the team created by well-known local businessman and former junior hockey star Shawn Vincent. Prior to starting as a homebuilder, Vincent owned the Courtenay Nissan car dealership.
“Sean has a long history in the Valley, and he’s demonstrated how important it is to treat the people that work here and build the company around in terms of the culture we have here, and how that can really create a different and dynamic work atmosphere,” says Senior Project Manager Patrick Davis.
Senior Project Manager Patrick Davis
“I have 450-plus units on my desk right now,” he states, adding that when he joined the company two years ago there were 8 employees. Today there are 27. “We’ve gone from being a small to medium-sized company to the point where we could be the biggest builder in town by the end of this year, and I’m expecting that we’ll double again in size in the next two years.”
Simba Investments builds custom residential homes, multi-family and commercial units, and also offers road access and planning services.
The company has a Single Family Home division run by Project Manager Brice Purden.
“We have projects managers for the two different groups within the company,” Davis notes. “Dealing with contracts and tenders and consultants, and how to get things out of the ground and permits is what I do. Bryce works with all of the projects being built, and he’s extremely good that that.”
Davis notes that Simba’s current “to do” list includes England Oaks, a high-end townhouse development with personal elevators in the finishing phases in downtown Courtenay. Other projects include a 12 unit apartment complex, 24 unit mixed-use development, a 6-storey, 30 unit complex, another that includes 200 apartments, a 12 unit rental building, an 11 duplex development, and 3 single family home developments as well as other complex high-end duplexes around the Valley.
“We’re covering all the bases in the market,” says Davis. “Some of our projects are rentals, some condos, some single family homes and some townhouse developments,” he states.
One of Simba’s upcoming projects includes 65 units, including micro-units.
The England Oaks project under construction by Simba Investments
“We’re marketing to first-time homeowners as best we can,” he notes. “We feel the problem in the Valley for some people is that the jump from rental to ownership has become almost unattainable. So we’re trying to go after that market and supply housing that these people can get mortgages for.”
Davis enjoys the opportunity and mentorship that Vincent is providing him within the company.
“When Sean took me on he saw my potential, and he finds people that have potential and brings that out of them,” he observes. “He helps works on things that are holding them back in their own lives. For me, I was always a hardworking guy, and he caught onto that and realized I’d probably work myself to death. Sean recognized that and kept that in mind, and built a team of people that could be a lot like me, where, if unchecked they wouldn’t reach their true potential.
“I probably have more work than I’ve ever had, but my boss knows when he needs to check in and take whatever he can off my desk,” he adds. “Because of that, we get people to join our team that are able to do what they’re good at, at the best level they can. It makes for a healthy work environment, where we never feel like you’re out on an island alone, or that the whole world is weighing on you.”
That environment has been key to attracting and retaining talent.
“As a team, there is a general consensus that we all have each other’s backs and instead of just pointing out mistakes, we try to fix them for each other. That is probably the best thing about the attitude we have here. We don’t care about personal gain, but how do we make this company work? And out of this, somehow we can produce more projects and success than a company five times our size can do.”
Mission Ridge
Simba Investments also makes significant contributions to the community. One of the main beneficiaries is a non-profit organization run by Davis’ mother, Charlene Davis, that assists homeless people.
“On the weekends my mother and I and quite a few other people run a project that is 100% by donations, and we build tiny homes for homeless people,” he notes. “We build these homes out of shipping containers, and they’re built at the Simba yard. We’ve built five of them already and we’re working on six, seven and eight as we speak.”
Davis lauds the generosity of the entire community, particularly the local Rotary clubs and businesses like 40 Knots Winery and Relay Event Rentals in helping it come together. They’re currently working on a community of container homes at a local campground that cost $20,000 each.
“We’ve seen some pretty major successes,” he states. “For example, one woman unfortunately passed away, but within five days and putting in $1,100 in materials, we had another person living there. Some people have moved from living in these units to getting apartments and getting jobs.
“It’s all about building a better Comox Valley, which is what we do at Simba Investments,” Davis states.
Content was sponsored by:
SILVER SPONSOR: ACME CONCRETE PUMPING, QUICK AND EASY GRANITE, CUMBERLAND READY MIX LTD
BRONZE SPONSOR: VALLEY KITCHEN, D & D SERVICES, TRAVELERS WARRANTY, ELCOR HOLDINGS, MARINER DOORS