PROFORM CONCRETE SERVICES INC. Alberta's largest slip-form concrete contractor Canadian Design and Construction Report special feature Proform Concrete Services Inc., Alberta's largest slip- form concrete contractor, has grown in its scope since its inception in 1975. The business, originally known as HEB Developers, has expanded to include Proform Pre- cast Products and Western Construction Products. President and CEO Curtis Bouteiller says the separa- tion of the divisions into two operational companies Pro- form Concrete Services Inc. and Proform Precast Products Inc. under one parent company Proform Man- agement Inc. provides independence and focus to each of the enterprises. Proform Concrete Services Inc. tack- les projects including curbs, gutters and sidewalks, beautification and streetscapes with much concrete paving. Bouteiller says concrete pavements can last 15 to 50 years. This durability means it is often sensible to replace asphalt with concrete. He works with the ARMCA (Al- berta Ready-Mixed Concrete Association) transportation committee to promote concrete pavement. “We do a lot of concrete paving in Alberta and West- ern Canada and we’re working on a project in British Co- lumbia now,” he says. “We’re also the only western company to be able to handle slipformed airport paving services.” Some recent full-depth concrete pavement projects have included the Highway 43 bypass in Grande Prairie, work on Highway 16 near Lloydminster and roads around Medicine Hat. The company’s inventory includes a large fleet of Go- maco concrete curb, gutter and sidewalk extruders, and two concrete pavers including a new two-track concrete paver, and a concrete placer, texture cure machine and a four-track barrier machine. Bouteiller says Proform has been Yellowknife's main concrete service provider for 23 years, maintaining an of- fice and its own staff living quarters in the northern com- munity. Bouteiller says the concrete industry has seen a few good years and has a few good years projected ahead of it but that new legislation is making it harder to main- tain the seasonal employees the industry demands. “There is definitely a seasonal nature to our work,” he said. “We maintain about 60 per cent local labour, 10 per cent foreign worker content and 30 per cent out-of- province typically,” he says. “The people who aren’t local then go back home over the winter.” Bouteiller says new federal unemployment insurance regulations are making it harder on seasonal labour be- cause instead of waiting out the winter so they can re- turn to what they were doing, workers are now being required to find winter jobs and some simply don’t come back. Locally, Proform supports the United Way. In 2011 the company received a Community Builder Award for its contributions, which have continued to increase. “We have a very popular program in which we get do- nations and prizes from our partners and suppliers and provide a trip ourselves,” he said. “Staff donates and get ballots to enter into draws to win the prizes and then we match their donations.” Over the past nine years the company has raised $123,000, with more than $24,000 contributed in the past year alone. For more information about Proform Concrete, visit proformconcrete.com. The Canadian Design and Construction Report — Spring 2014 – 35