JL Richards president discusses company’s legacy of success

Ottawa-based engineering, architectural and project management firm JL Richards (JLR) may be celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, but it was 30 years ago that the major decision was made that really set it apart from the pack.

Current president Guy Cormier remembers it well — he was aged 27, a Northern Ontario lad from Earlton just starting his career, working on-site at the Ottawa airport when a colleague in management came up to him with a proposition.

"I was a brand new kid right out of university," said Cormier recently. "The engineer who was working with me said, ‘Want to buy some shares? We are buying the firm.’"

More than any single factor — beyond the integral role its architecture division plays, beyond the unique status many of its people hold as quasi staff engineers for a small number of Ontario towns, beyond its long established expertise working in the Northern Ontario resource sector — employee ownership of the firm drives the JLR reputation for entrepreneurship.

The decision to invite employees to be shareholders came after JLR had successfully established itself undertaking water-supply and sewage projects for small towns in Eastern Ontario. The three founders were Les Richard, Noel Kirby and Art Fee, Queen’s University engineering grads. The three began an expansion that took JLR into Kingston and Sudbury, but as they approached retirement age in the 1970s, they had a choice to make. They could have sold to a large corporate suitor, but instead opted to pursue employee ownership.

And JLR has never looked back. Dale Craig was the first "new-era" president and he was in charge in 1979 when the architecture component was added, said Cormier, a move that has given JLR a niche skills advantage ever since.

Today, besides the Ottawa headquarters and those first two regional offices, JLR has outposts throughout the province, with additional offices in North Bay, Timmins, Hawkesbury and Guelph. JLR and its 250 employees serve clients throughout Canada and is active in 27 countries worldwide.

While it is much more than a regional firm, it is able to point to landmark projects in Ottawa as signature works — it handled the Canadian Tire Centre, home of the NHL Ottawa Senators, and the most recent Ottawa airport expansion.

JLR has won several recent awards and Cormier speaks with a chuckle as he talks about the application process for one major 2013 competition it would go on to win, recognized as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies. It was cited for its adaptability and support of staff initiatives — traits that stem from the employee ownership model. When they presented their case to the judges, "We told people what we did and they were floored."

The way it works, JLR is a holding company in which its employees own all the shares. "It gives everyone a sense of ownership, a sense of performance," said Cormier.

The plan encourages innovation and rewards it through not only offers of shares but also annual bonuses. "If you came up with an idea as an individual," said Cormier, "and you convinced a bunch of people to work towards it and they achieve success, they know that an evaluation of your performance is coming."

Innovations tend to come from the grassroots, says Cormier. Their specialization in seismic design developed this way.

Then there is team spirit, an all for one mentality that breeds loyalty. When sectors take a downturn, JLR often retrains employees to seize opportunities in related fields. After the Nortel and tech collapse, some staff moved to isotope construction; when pulp and paper faltered, JLR strengthened itself in mining. "A senior guy can take another senior guy and integrate him, there are enough relevant skills. It is better than being restructured," said Cormier.

Cormier says JLR’s style is to identify opportunities and build relationships they can trust. For example, JLR developed ties with Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) and, with their seismic expertise, landed a Standing Offer Agreement to do seismic evaluations for Canadian government properties around the world.

And so when the earthquake hit Haiti in January 2010, DFAIT knew who to call. "There was no need for clarifications of involvement," said Cormier. "They knew us, they knew what had to get done and they said get on the plane, and literally four days later our guys were on the plane sitting with relief cargo."