April 2020
We are delighted to announce our selection as a finalist for the 2020 Alberta Business Awards of Distinction in the Global Growth Award category. Finalists were announced Friday, April 17th, 2020.
This recognition by the Alberta Chambers of Commerce is a great honour for us. Along with being a finalist for the Global Growth Award, we are also eligible for the prestigious “Alberta’s Best of Business Award of Distinction.”
Because of the unique time we’re in, our President, Richard Hansen, wanted to share a story:
“I understand that there is lots of bad news floating around and that there are many uncertainties in the world right now. It seems odd to share this award nomination at a time like this. However, I am immensely proud of what our team has created, and our story – like many businesses – hasn’t always been easy or certain.
In the 15 years that Sky Eye has been in business, we’ve been through a couple of serious downturns in our industry. 2009 and 2015 were not as unprecedented as what we face today. However, when I look back at the financial collapse of 2008/2009, I can tell you that at that time, I didn’t know how Sky Eye would be able to recover.
We had grown to four people building and setting up a fleet of 15 portable measurement solutions packages, which were mostly rented and generating revenue. On January 21st, 2009 I remember getting a call from one of our long-standing customers to come out and pick up the last of the four units we had working. It was a devastating feeling! We went from being the busiest we had ever been in the Fall of 2008, to no work, no income, and zero projects on the horizon. This glut lasted two months. Zero work, and I seriously didn’t understand how we’d recover from the massive economic slowdown and $30 oil.
Sky Eye retracted to a staff of just one – me. Then, finally, we received a call for a job in April 2009. I got a call from Talisman Energy a few weeks before Easter saying that they needed a portable liquid meter testing unit. It took the better part of the week to get this unit built and tested. And yes, myself and Al Caron did all the piping, electrical, painting and testing (see the picture above). Al Caron and I finished testing the unit late in the evening on Good Friday, just before the Easter weekend. Once the unit was ready, Talisman needed their wells tested ASAP – Easter weekend! At the time, my two daughters were four and six, and it doesn’t get better than Easter mornings with toddlers.
This was one of those sacrifices – although I was torn, I was so happy to get this job! It was not easy spending Easter morning away from my kids, but I was so grateful to be working. After this job, things started to look up after months of zero work. Slowly, in the months to follow, jobs began to trickle in, one at a time, and through the summer months, projects started to pile up. In the next 6-18 months, I got to a point where I couldn’t keep up by myself. This was when I began to build the amazing team we have today.
I tell this story with this message in mind: stay the course. Do what you do, and do it well, control what you can control, and always make sure you are helping others – the people you work with, your neighbours, and your community. By doing this, whatever the outcome, you can be proud that you did your best in the situation you were in.”
For more information and updates on the event, please go to the Alberta Business Awards of Distinction website at www.abbusinessawards.com.
2009 Talisman project shown below.
