A young Sicamous entrepreneur is quickly building a solid reputation as a consummate craftsman in the Shuswap. In five years time, Brad Gibbard has progressed from an award-winning carpentry student at Eagle River Secondary, to a red seal carpenter and owner of Rigid Construction. He was also named Young Entrepreneur of the year in the Sicamous Chamber of Commerce’s 2012 Business Excellence Awards. Gibbard started Rigid Construction in 2009. He had been working with Classic Builders when the economy went sour and work slowed down. “I decided to go out on my own and try it, so I started this company up,” says the 23-year-old Gibbard, who decided to stay in Sicamous because there weren’t a lot of builders in the area. “It was hard to do but now that we’ve built it up here it doesn’t make sense to leave. That was kind of my plan, to stay in the Sicamous area and work around the Shuswap.” While work fluctuates with the season, Gibbard says his company has kept busy. Rigid’s focus is renovation and new construction, and projects to date have included everything from kitchen renos to the construction of three houses from the ground up. Gibbard has also ventured into tendered projects with the Interior Health Authority and Columbia Shuswap Regional District. “That was a good tender to go through,” says Gibbard of the latter, noting how he had to each himself how to submit a business proposal for a government bidding process. While being his own boss means a lot of work and long hours, Gibbard says it’s worth it. Asked what the greatest challenge has been in starting his own business, Gibbard says it has been his age. “It would kind of throw them off, especially when I was first starting out, it was really challenging,” says Gibbard. “But now, I’ve made a name for myself and kind of built up a rapport.” Ken Spohr, maintenance supervisor with the Interior Health Authority, is one of those who was initially surprised by Gibbard’s youthful appearance after Rigid had been contracted to build a bus garage for Bastion Place care facility in Salmon Arm. “My initial reaction when I saw him was, ‘Is this guy old enough to be out of school?’” laughs Spohr. “He did look very young, but as he proceeded, he was very professional, very courteous and he did a great job… we wanted it to be a building that could be use for more than just parking the bus, and it turned out really well.” Hamish Kassa’s initial reaction to meeting Gibbard was similar to that of Spohr’s, but the CSRD environmental services co-ordinator was soon impressed with the young contractor. “I’d say he’s done everything that was in the tender and did a great job. We came in on the project on budget and we’ve got a very good building…,” says Kassa of Gibbard, who was hired by the regional district to build a storage facility. “He was really easy to work with and open to any changes and looking at the scheduling, and that was a real benefit.” Gibbard’s knack for carpentry was evident in Grade 8, and by high school he was apprenticing with Custom Builders. During that time he won a silver medal in a BC Skills Competition for constructing a saw horse. Gibbard’s commitment to the trade was evident to then Eagle River Secondary woodwork and joinery instructor Phil Lepine. “Not only did (Gibbard) take carpentry here at Eagle River Secondary, he also took it upon himself to take a residential house construction program…,” said Lepine at that time. “So he’s actually had a more focused program than what a regular high school student would have, and that’s one of the things that’s led him to his success.” Gibbard says his experience at Eagle River was a positive influence for him and where he’s ended up. Looking to the future, Gibbard hopes to do more commercial work. For more information about Rigid Construction, visit the company’s website at http://rigidconstruction.ca.

Eagle Valley News