Story Construction is a well-established name on Vancouver Island. For nearly 30 years, the name has been synonymous with hard work, conscientiousness, and customer service and on-time-on-budget delivery. Originally started in 1983, the company ran successfully under Bruce Story. In 2002, his son Stewart joined the business after having worked for Deloitte Consulting in Calgary, Vancouver and the Western United States. Wanting to focus on something over which he had more influence, Stewart joined his father’s business for about a year, after which he founded Green Light Construction, and headed that for nine years. In 2010, the two joined hands again, and have been successfully completing projects over the last three years. Stewart’s wife Jen also joined the same year, and handles the business development side of the business. Bruce’s wife Lynn has worked as the company bookkeeper and interior designer since 1983. This company is truly a family business that is growing …again …from the ground up.
EXPERTISE IN DIVERSE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
Story Construction has built a solid reputation as a trusted general contractor, and is involved with several different types of projects in the design and construction domains. New commercial construction and commercial renovations, custom private residences and government facilities are all within their sphere of expertise. In each category, they have many projects that they can showcase with pride to new and potential clients. But their impressive foundation is not built on mere experience: rather, it has been carefully nurtured over the years and propagated by dozens of clients who highly recommend their services. In fact, it is this commitment to customer satisfaction excellence that has kept them in business for three decades in a highly competitive arena.
PROVIDING SUPERB CUSTOMER SERVICE IS AN ART
Speaking of customer service, Story knows their customers, and the endeavor to maintain absolute transparency in all their transactions – from estimate to invoicing – has served them well. But what really sets them apart from the run-of-the-mill construction company is the level of control that they give to their clients. Their web-based costing application allows clients to see exactly what they’re paying for, and how much. This belief in keeping things transparent comes from their core philosophy of “we don’t make decisions with someone else’s money. We are facilitators.” In a business where companies try to “play mentor” to their clients, Story’s unique practice of keeping the reins in the client’s hands leads to satisfied customers who know that they directly control the cost of the project. This can only come through respect for the customers they work with, and by giving them a final product that they themselves have made the majority of decisions on. All the project and site managers are constantly coached on these principles, and Bruce and Stewart strive to communicate these core values with them at every opportunity.
MEMBERSHIPS AND AWARDS
Bruce and Stewart Story are active participants in the Victoria community, and serve with several organizations. Stewart is an alumnus of Leadership Victoria, an organization that helps foster leaders by involving them in social projects; he is a volunteer counselor with the Greater Victoria Citizen’s Counseling Centre, and he also sits on the Board of Directors of the Victoria Chapter of the Canadian Association of Family Enterprise (CAFÉ), a resource group for family-run businesses. The company is a member of the Vancouver Island Construction Association (VICA), a registered builder with the BC Home Protection Office (HPO) and protects clients with new home warranty through Travelers Canada. As for awards, their most recent recognition is winning the top Commercial-Retail Building Award through the Victoria Real Estate Board 2012 Commercial Building Awards for Bruce’s work on Kirby’s Source for Sports, a brand new 13,000 SF, 2-storey sporting goods retail building they completed aggressively in 7 months . This project sports stunning 23-foot windows, a hockey arena themed interior and an outdoor sports court. Throughout the construction, they managed to work around the existing retail shop on the same site to enable the business to function normally with no interruption to regular business.
THE STORY CONTINUES
The future of Story holds some exciting times ahead. Having just finished major projects that include a nightclub lounge, a high security monitoring centre, a high tech office and a military housing project, they are now focused on completing a high-end modern custom home for the respected DHK Architects. On the cards are mixes of medium and larger commercial projects that are expected to take up a bulk of next year’s schedule. With at least three crews each handling 2-3 projects simultaneously, they are well-positioned to handle the growth they expect will happen in the near future. Their new direction of taking on bigger projects will require them to reposition their brand and begin active promotion of their company. Up until now, Story’s client base has been built entirely on word of mouth and repeat clients – the best indicator of a truly successful contractor. However, in today’s competitive world where even small firms have robust marketing campaigns, Story recognizes the need to find new ways to spread the word on their long standing quality reputation.
When their business has been stripped down to bare bones, the only assessment one can make of this company is that the integrity, experience and dedication that they bring to the equation will take them from this to subsequent peaks of success with ease – despite the stiff competition from reputed peer companies. At a glance, all you can see is strength; a deeper look reveals exactly the same quality. This consistency is sure to take Story Construction to greater heights than they have already achieved to date.