The Early Years
It began with a simple idea, and two engineers who believed they could offer something different – creative, innovative solutions that met the needs of their clients.
Sounds straightforward, but in 1973, it was a unique approach to engineering consulting. And so, from a small office above a welding shop in Edmonton, Colt Engineering came into being.
Naturally, it started small – a project for Imperial Oil. Yet that first project would set the tone for what Colt was to become.
The early years, as with any company, consisted of the typical challenges of seeking to become established, looking to prove our abilities and trying to define our role in the marketplace.
At Colt we took what seemed at the time to be small steps. We approached every project – no matter what the size or the industry – as an opportunity.
It was our chance to listen to our clients, understand what they needed, seek a cost-effective solution and then follow through with quality work. It was our chance to begin building relationships.
From the start, those basic principles of innovation and commitment to the client were at the heart of Colt. We wanted to offer solutions from all of the engineering disciplines. Each person we hired at that time helped to round out our areas of expertise. And as we grew, we quickly learned that our company was only as good as our people; and so in 1976, we restructured into a partnership, giving the company greater strength and diversity.
We wanted to work in multiple industries, so we took on work in heavy oil, in conventional oil and gas, in refineries, in oil sands, in petrochemicals, in niche industrials, in pipelines, in construction and fabrication. We expanded our offices, moving staff to the industry.
Calgary, in 1974, became the second home of Colt. As our projects became more complex, we expanded our services to include all aspects of the individual project, from engineering design, to procurement, to construction.
And we learned. From the construction business, we learned how to be better engineers and how to be more effective at procurement. And overall project management became a key component of our business.
Middle Years
As relationships developed and projects expanded, Colt sought to solidify its foothold in the industry. Important steps made that possible. Cord, now an essential part of the Colt Companies, was created in that first decade.
And yet it was a downturn in the economy that truly offered Colt the opportunity to fulfil its dream. Throughout the different industries, companies sought ways to deal with the changing work environment. This gave Colt the chance to step up to the plate with strategies that we have been implementing from the beginning.
Cost efficiency became key to doing business. We also knew that this was not enough. As in any business relationship, being inexpensive often gets you that first job, but it is the quality of work that ensures the client will come back again.
For Colt, our clients needed and deserved the best we could offer, in the most cost-effective manner. Again, we relied on those basic principles of innovative solutions and commitment to our clients' needs. And we grew, adding offices across Canada, first in Toronto, and then soon after in Sarnia.
In the most recent years as Colt reached toward its goal of being the engineering contractor of choice throughout Canada, we also entered a new phase in our relationships with many of our clients, strategic alliances. For us at Colt, it was a logical step forward; many of our long-term relationships became formalized. Team effort on both sides of the alliances were the essential components. An atmosphere where common goals could be established and achieved in an efficient environment.
Today
We look out today and we know that we have achieved our initial dream. We see what makes Colt the company it is today. We are proud to be employee owned and operated. We look at the faces of our employees and our clients, we look at the relationships we have built and worked to earn over the years, and we know that Colt is where it should be today. And what means even more to us is that the companies we worked with in those early years are still our clients now.
From the beginning, Colt has been built on basic principles. We believe that the employees are Colt. It is their image and creativity that make the difference in the end. We believe that the right people make it the right job. We believe that our clients and the trust they put in us are as important as our ability to get the job done.
And we know that everyone we work with on every job, no matter what the size, is the foundation of our company.
The Future
As we look to the future, we see a bigger dream. Colt seeks to expand in North America and into the international market. We seek to achieve the success we’ve reached in Canada and to do it, we need to keep
doing what we believe in – here and throughout the world. So that when we look back, we know that we have offered our best.