The Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-02-10, Page 3Wednesday, February 10, 2016 • Lucknow Sentinel 3
Britespan looks to grow by 30% in 2016 on US expansion
Darryl Coote
Reporter
On May 2, 2009, the practice
facility of NFL team the Dallas
Cowboys collapsed under the
beating of a rather common
thunderstorm.
Twelve people were injured, two
severely.
The resulting lawsuits and drop
in demand for products by Cover -
All Building Systems Inc., the Sas-
katoon -based company that built
the US$4-million stadium, caused
it to file for bankruptcy in March
2010.
"We knew that they were in a
lawsuit with the Dallas Cowboys'
collapsed stadium in the States,"
said former Cover -All Ontario dis-
tributor and current president of
Lucknow's Britespan, Ben Hoger-
vorst. "We didn't realize it was
going to take them down. We
heard on the radio and were as
shocked as anyone else."
For 15 years Ben and his wife,
Jenny Hogervorst, operated out of
Lucknow as the Ontario distribu-
tor for Cover -All, which sold steel -
beamed fabric -roofed buildings.
And when their parent company
shuttered its doors in April 2010,
the Hogervorsts "were left with
nothing," he said.
With no supplier, the Hoger-
vorsts had few options.
They searched both Canada and
the US for another supplier, but
none met the high-quality they
wanted to attach their names to.
The only option left to the
Hogervorsts if they wanted to con-
tinue in this business was to go
into manufacturing the tent -like
buildings for themselves.
"We went hard at it for 15 years
and it took a lot of dedication, a lot
of hours a week. It just took a lot.
And to restart -- I was 50 years old
at that point -- not only restart a
business, but restart with huge
investments at that stage in our
lives was a big decision," he said.
However, the deciding factor
came down to their customers, he
said.
At that time they had amassed
about 4,000 customers in Ontario
that relied upon them.
"Right or wrong we felt an obli-
gation to them to do something so
we could take care of them," he
said.
They then approached Rob Stute
of Wignham's Maitland Welding to
join the venture as a partner.
It was Jenny who christened the
company Britespan Building Sys-
tems Inc. to highlight how
bright and spacious their pre-
engineered fabric buildings are.
And in less than three months,
Britespan was up and running.
"July 1 we shipped our first build-
ing," he said.
Since then the company has
grown to over 45 employees. Last
year Britespan sold 370 buildings.
And it's looking to continue grow-
ing, now outside of Canada's
borders.
According to Ben, 45 per cent of
Britespan's sales are in the US. He
currently has dealers in 10 States,
but he sees there is more opportu-
nity there.
"Our goal would be to cover at
least 30 States by the end of this year
with strong dealers," he said.
Britespan also ships to the United
Kingdom and they plan to expand
further into Europe in the next 24
months.
However, right now the focus is
the United States.
"The whole world is a market-
place," he said. "We could be ship-
ping to South America and every-
where, and eventually we'll get
there. But it's a matter of focus"
Ben said he expects this push will
propel the company to grow
between 20 and 30 per cent before
year's end.
And with that growth will come
jobs -- between five and 10, Ben
believes.
Employment, more than any-
thing else, Ben said, is what busi-
nesses stretching internationally
give back to the local community.
"The net is jobs, If we only
reached locally, we wouldn't be
employing 45 people, we'd be
employing 10. It is really the inter-
national or even the national pres-
ence that creates jobs because that
creates volume."
All of his employees come from a
local pool, he said, which runs deep
with skill.
"I think it's being that it's a rural
community. We have employees
that have a good work ethic."
It's companies such as Britespan,
Helm Welding and Smyth Welding
& Machine Shop (local companies
with international reach) that speak
to bigger things Lucknow has to
offer, Ben said.
"We are proud of the fact that we
live here and employ local people.
People contribute different things to
their local towns in different ways,"
he said. "And I guess when you sit
down and think about it what we're
contributing is jobs"
When asked if there are any dis-
advantages of running a business
from Lucknow, he unequivocally
said no.
"Every disadvantage has an off-
setting advantage," he said. "Would
we trade this to be anywhere else?
No. I travel 40 per cent of the year,
and I'm always thrilled to come
home to Lucknow. Huron County,
really. And I've seen a lot of places
in the world, and I think this is the
greatest place to live. I wouldn't
wish to be anywhere else."
This is the third article in a six -
part series on Lucknow businesses
with international reach.
Darryl Coote/Reporter
Britespan President Ben Hogervorst is looking to
grow his company by up to 30 per cent by year's
end by expanding his business from 10 to 30 States
in the US.
Britespan sold 370 such buildings in 2015. Submitted.
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