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Meggitt
nearly doubles
its workforce
Amanda Stephenson
astephenson@medicinehatnews.com

Jumping from 25 full-time employees last year to 42 this year, Meggitt Training
Our History
Systems Medicine Hat continues to expand — bringing high-tech research,
technology, and manufacturing jobs to southeast Alberta.
In 2008, the company — which specializes in live-fire and virtual training systems
for military and law enforcement agencies — launched several new products and
broke into a number of new markets, most notably South Africa. International
customers from Japan and Germany travelled to southeast Alberta to train with
Our history began on June 8, 1908 when Charles Johnson opened a funeral home on the corner
Meggitt products at CFB Suffield.
of Maple Avenue and 2nd St. S.E. During the 1920’s he purchased the Bridgeman Funeral Home
located at 535-3rd St. S.E. In 1931 Charles Pattison and his brother-in-law, Carman Wilson,
“It’s been a very successful year,” says general manager Spencer Fraser, adding
Meggitt was voted one of the top 10 defence firms in Canada in 2008 by Canadian
responded to an ad in the Canadian Funeral Director Magazine and moved from Ontario with a
Defence Review Magazine.
1928 Studebaker hearse to purchase the funeral business and attached residence. One year later,
Charles assumed sole ownership of the firm and shortened the name to The Pattison Funeral
“The big success for us last year was as a subcontractor to MDA (MacDonald,
Home. The Leonard home on the corner of 2nd Street and 5th Avenue was acquired in 1936, and
Dettweiler and Associates), we won the $100 million NOCTUA program,” Fraser
says.
after renovations this became both the Pattison home as well as the funeral home. During 1946
Gordon Anderson moved from Edmonton to complete his apprenticeship with Charlie Pattison. On
This Department of National Defence contract will provide Heron UAVs (unmanned
July 1, 1957 Gordon became the new owner but retained the longstanding good name.After several
aerial vehicles) to be based at Kandahar Airfield. As subcontractor, Meggitt will be
renovations, and the acquisition of three adjancent lots, Gordon built a new funeral home behind
training people to go to Afghanistan and do the maintenance on the vehicles.
the old one before demolishing the old building. On the firm’s 65th Anniversary in 1972, the
Fraser says he is also proud of the fact that Meggitt employees have been qualified as
building at 480-2nd St. S.E. was opened. On May 1, 1976, Derek and Leslee Martin purchased the
internal pilots for the Heron aircraft — the first Canadians to get that qualification.
Pattison Funeral Home, and 10 years later, Gregg and Derek Martin Jr. bought their father’s shares. “This was quite an achievement for our employees who qualified,” Fraser says.
Our latest chapter began on November 30, 1994 when fire completely destroyed the funeral home.
All the good news doesn’t mean Meggitt isn’t facing challenges, however. Fraser says
After as much planning and dreaming as was possible, this building at 540 South Railway Street
he would like to see more investment in research and development in Alberta, as
S.E. was opened on September 17, 1995.With 101 years behind us, we designed this building to
he says the province is falling behind other jurisdictions like Quebec, Ontario, and
serve the needs of the people in this area well into the future. Nova Scotia.
“The federal government has quite a significant role in research and development
at Suffield through DRDC (Defence Research and Development Canada), but
we’re not seeing — notwithstanding the best efforts of our MLAs — a huge effort
on a provincial level to round out the research and development initiatives that the
federal government is doing,” Fraser says.
Fraser would like to see some other access issues improved if Meggitt is to continue to
grow. He is working with the city, the Economic Development Alliance of Southeast
Alberta, and other regional partners to lobby for a 24-hour border crossing at Wild
Horse — as it is, much of Meggitt’s products have to be shipped through Coutts,
adding time and expense. Fraser also wants to see more flights out of the Medicine
Hat Airport, as so much of Meggitt’s business is international.
He adds most cities the size of Medicine Hat have their own local industrial
A proud past...and a proud future.
technology advisor, working for the federal government’s Industrial Research
Pattison Funeral Home
Assistance Program (IRAP) to support knowledge-based businesses. However,
Medicine Hat is serviced out of Lethbridge and Calgary, something Fraser says is
& Crematorium
not the ideal situation.
“Making it easier for those you love ....... friends helping friends”
“If you were to look across Canada at cities of 60,000, we don’t necessarily have the
same level of federal service access that we should,” he says.
540 South Railway Street S.E. Medicine Hat, Alberta (403)526-2214
40261716•03/24/09
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