Birmingham native Ian Steer, director and general manager of Aluma Systems Inc., is the new chair for the Toronto Construction Association for 2012. He succeeds lawyer Glenn Ackerley, a partner with WeirFoulds. He launched his career as an apprentice formwork and scaffolding design engineer in Britain. He was just 16.
“It was a tough program,” recalls Steer, now a director and general manager at Concord-based Aluma Systems Inc.
“I was sent to school to study construction technology and structural design one day a week and two nights weekly. By the time I was 20, I was a trained designer.”
Now responsible for central and eastern Canada and the United States Midwest, Steer has parlayed his technical training and subsequent university studies in strategic marketing and product management into a career that has spanned 45 years.
His resume includes stints in sales, marketing and business development on several continents.
“Every day is different,” says Steer, whose company is a division of Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services and is a global leader in concrete formwork, shoring and industrial services with operations in more than 50 countries.
Steer joined Aluma Systems in June 1982 while still in Britain. He had previously been involved in product and sales management for a firm that ultimately became the United Kingdom dealer for Aluma Systems.
“I came to Canada in 1978 to evaluate the Aluma Systems products,” he recalls.
“I stepped off the plane at Pearson (airport) and immediately felt at home. “
After joining Aluma Systems, Steer played a pivotal role in the company’s drive into the Middle East market, successfully introducing new Canadian formwork technology.
As sales manager for the “near” Middle East, Steer’s territory included Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. At one juncture, in the early 1980s, he found himself selling equipment in Lebanon while a multinational peacekeeping force was there.
“If I went in, I could come out with an order,” he says.
Steer emigrated to Canada in 1986. He subsequently became involved in a wide variety of Aluma Systems’ North American initiatives. At one point, he set up distribution agreements for a recently acquired construction products firm.
“I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of different things,” he says.
He is now responsible for the company’s concrete forming and shoring business in a wide swatch of territory.
“We’ve got a great team here,” he says. “We’ve been very successful.”
Steer also was part of the team that inked a strategic alliance with Ulma Construccion of Spain for the North American market. The deal was announced in July 2010.
Steer says the alliance offers customers “the best of both worlds” in terms of formwork and shoring innovations from North America and Europe.
“The alliance is going exceptionally well,” he says. “We are now a force to be reckoned with.”
For the past six years, Steer has represented the Toronto Construction Association on the board of the Canadian Construction Association (CCA). In 2010, he received the CCA’s manufacturers, suppliers and services award of recognition for his contributions to that sector.
That same year, Aluma Systems itself won the CCA’s international business award for its innovative approach to international market development. The company also has been the recipient of the CCA’s national safety award.
As a newcomer to Canada, Steer found membership in the TCA afforded him an excellent opportunity for both networking and getting up to speed on the local construction market.
“It was a great way of meeting the local construction industry,” he says, looking back.
Currently TCA’s vice-chair of finance, Steer has served for a number of years on the manufacturer, supply and service committee.
“The industry has been good to me,” he says. “I wanted to give something back.”
One of his priorities as the TCA chair is overseeing implementation of the association’s new five-year strategic plan, now in draft form.
“This is a typical strategic plan that you continue to revisit and update,” says Steer, who takes office at the association’s 144th annual general meeting Feb. 2.
He succeeds Glenn Ackerley as chair of the association which represents close to 2,200 companies.
Recent Comments
comments for this post are closed