manager Al Smith has a similar amount of
experience on that side of the business.
The primary focus of the company is
new construction and retrofits. It currently
employs a dozen full-time people and is
looking to increase that number over the
next two years as it grows its commercial
services division.
The bulk of MNK Mechanical’s clients
are located in Brandon and southwest
Manitoba. The company is currently carrying
out a series of ventilation upgrades
to several buildings at Canadian Forces
Base Shilo worth more than $1 million. It
recently wrapped up work at Goose Lake
High School in Roblin, Man., where the
company installed two large new boilers
and conducted a series of retrofits as part of
a $600,000 upgrade.
It is also overseeing a $590,000
improvement project at a personal care
home in Winnipegosis, Man., where it is
installing a boiler replacement and replacing
the domestic hot water lines and
recirculation lines for the building.
The personal care home project has
been made more challenging, Kaluzniak
says, by the fact that workers have had to
contend with health restrictions introduced
as a result of the COVID-19
pandemic. Fortunately, the bulk of the
required work that has to be performed
is in a mechanical room and crawlspace
located quite a distance away from any
residential living spaces; although workers
have had to access suites at times to install
mixing valves in all of the washrooms in
the building.
Kaluzniak sees plenty of room for
growth for MNK Mechanical as it enters its
second year of operation.
“I felt we had a pretty good first year
considering we just got started,” he said.
“Normally, it would take you about five
years to get to where we are. But I think
the fact is that Smith is very well-known
in the area by school boards and Manitoba
Infrastructure and groups like that has
helped. Generally, if you’re building a half
million dollar project, they’ll want a
resumé of jobs you’ve done in the past that
were similar. If you’re starting from scratch,
it can be difficult to provide that. But
because Smith and I have both worked
for over 20 years with a lot of these people
that are project managers, they’ll accept
tenders on the basis that we’ve done a lot of
comparable work.”
One of the first decisions made by
MNK Mechanical ownership and management
upon founding the company was
to join the Construction Association of
Rural Manitoba (CARM). Kaluzniak says
it only made sense since R & M Homes
and All Fired Up were already members of
the organization.
One of the benefits of being a CARM
member, he says, is access to information
on all of the latest projects that have been
put up for tender.
“CARM’s (PlanPoint) tender platform
is probably the best website there is
for tendering. It’s got up-to-the-minute
information and it focuses on southwest
Manitoba and southeast Saskatchewan,”
he said.
Another benefit of CARM membership,
according to Kaluzniak, is the wealth
of learning opportunities it provides
to members.
“We get a notice every couple of weeks
about the programs and training they’re
putting on,” he said. “We like to get involved
in that stuff because otherwise you are
searching for it when you need someone
trained in a little bit of contract administration
or whatever. It’s handy to have access
to some of those educational opportunities
through CARM.” n
A boiler replacement project in Winnipegosis, Man.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MNK MECHANICAL
MEMBER PROFILE
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