Jason Melhoff
Former electrician, successful entrepreneur, about to become chair of the Chamber of Commerce for the second time, multiple business award winner, Community Foundation board member, husband and father.
These are just a few of the monikers one could give 33-year-old Jason Melhoff, owner of Medicine Hat’s Melhoff Security & Technologies, but maybe those could all just be summed up into one: all around good guy.
He started modestly enough, simply following in four generations of footsteps and working at his family’s Melhoff Electric in Swift Current. But an opportunity in 2006 to explore a newfound interest brought him to Medicine Hat, where Melhoff has become a very active member of the community.
Working as an electrician introduced Melhoff into the world of security and he found the entire
33
industry to be very intriguing. When a chance to purchase All-Nite Security became available — a company that had serviced both Medicine Hat and Swift Current for more than 20 years — he decided he needed to break away from the family mould.
“I worked there for a number of years, just trying to build up a team,” Melhoff says. “Through the years we were pretty lucky and built up a bit of rapport (in the community); in 2007 we won the community volunteer award, which is a national award that SecurTek (a division of SaskTel) gives out.”
That’s when Melhoff first became involved with the Chamber of Commerce and by 2008 he was serving a
28 | TOP 40 UNDER FORTY
term as its chair. During his year as chair, the Medicine Hat Chamber of Commerce won Chamber of the Year in Alberta.
“I learned a lot (with the Chamber) and met so many great people,” Melhoff says. “I’ve always found that with volunteering is how you find the true heartbeat of a community and that’s when you truly become part of it.”
After coming off the chamber board in 2009, Melhoff began to get involved in the community in other ways, notably as a trustee of the Medicine Hat and District Health Foundation and board member with the Community Foundation.
Meanwhile, his company — now under its new name Melhoff Security and Technologies — continued to grow and win awards. In 2009, it was SecurTek’s national growth award for sales and in 2010 it was the chamber’s small business award. Also in 2009 Melhoff Security branched out, buying into an account base in Calgary and sharing about 10,000 accounts with another company.
“We got things going there and things have been really cooking along,” Melhoff says. “We’ve had some really neat successes; we were nominated for a provincial marketing award… and just recently we have bought into Pro Comm (Solutions) and now we are partners moving ahead.”
Melhoff attributes the company’s ability to succeed on so many levels to having a strong team, which he worked hard to put into place. He says even though he and his group are a relatively young team, dedication and integrity helps them turn shortcomings into opportunities.
“Sometimes it take swallowing a bit of pride; we can’t expect people to pay for our mistakes. We have to take responsibility for those and look for an opportunity to make it right.
“I think that’s all any young entrepreneur or business needs, is an opportunity. They’re not always home runs but it’s what you do when you fall short that defines you as a company.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44