Partner Profile - Paice Construction

It all started in 1964 when Jack Paice started the business and, 58 years later, Moose Jaw's Paice Construction is going strong.  So strong, in fact, they have a number of employment opportunities for people right now.  More on that in a moment.

It was in 1973 when Jack's son, Terry, took over the family business.  It's a time he remembers well.

"My mother and father were business partners.  My mother pushed my father into starting his own business.  I was still in high school then so that's where I worked in the summers.  I'd come back from university and go to work.  Dad was a house builder back then - custom homes," Terry said.

Nowadays, the focus for Paice Construction is steel buildings.  They custom design them to meet the customer's needs.

"When we were building a home for a farmer, he was really wanting us to put up a Quonset that he bought from Fairford Industries and that was our first go at it," Terry said.

"So, by the time I had graduated from university I did a couple of other things.  I was hired by the government but I wasn't well suited for that.  I decided to try teaching and found I wasn't very well suited for that either," Terry laughed.

"So then, my father phoned me and asked me if I wanted to come back to Moose Jaw to take over the business and I said that'd be fine but I didn't want to build houses, I'd rather build farm buildings.  I had worked part-time for a couple of pre-engineered builders down east and that got me pretty interested in those buildings.  So, when I came back to Moose Jaw, we had two divisions.  I took the steel end, the farm building end of it and my father continued with custom built homes," Terry explained.

Terry's brothers Gord and Howie were also a part of the family business for many years.  Both of them have passed away.

These days, Paice Construction is owned and operated by Bob Nelson, who started working for the company when he was just 15 years old.

"We knew we had a catch back then," Terry smiled.  "He worked for us for several years and went out on his own and did a tremendous job with Nelson Construction...in my last 20 years, one of my main sub-contractors was Nelson Construction, the premier concrete guy in Saskatchewan as far as I'm concerned.  So, we had this good working relationship for years and then as I was getting ready to quit, I was thinking about selling out but Bob wanted to continue on so we sat down over lunch and made the deal.  I suggested that he change the name to Nelson but Bob wanted to continue on with the family name.  It's wonderful to see where it is today."

"That was a no-brainer for me," Bob said.  "I've got all the respect in the world for Terry and his family.  I worked with Jack when I was younger.  There was just no way I was going to name it anything different.  It just had to be Paice Construction like it always has been."

"We still do steel buildings, mainly, and we'll do it anywhere within an hour or an hour-and-a-half of Moose Jaw.  We love putting up buildings and we're coming to a farm near you," Bob laughed.

And that's where the need for new employees comes in.  Paice Construction is very busy these days and they need people.

"We've got a lot on our plate and It'd sure be nice to have some experienced guys helping us.  We've got a pretty good corps of guys but we'd like to add a few more to our up and coming, established business," Bob said.

And what sort of experience do you need to join the team at Paice Constuction?

"Well, journeymen carpenters are great and experienced steel workers and even labourers, we've always got open arms for young guys who want to learn...anybody that's got a good work ethic.  We work hard.  We work long hours and we love what we do," Bob explained.

And, Bob says, employees at Paice Construction are paid well with an option to participate in the in-house benefits package.

"We need people to join our team and right now.  We could easily add 5 to 8 staff immediately," Bob said.

If you or someone you know would like to go to work at Paice Construction, it's as easy as dropping off a resume at the office -  600 Fairford Street West.

And, if you'd like to learn more about Paice Construction, check out their website:  paiceconsruction.com