Hranco
taking care of business
Cody Millington, operations manager at Hranco Industries Ltd., stands in a paint bay in the Brier Park shop. The 26-year-old operations manager oversees a wide variety of services offered by Hranco Industries.
O By TIM KALINOWSKI
n the Hranco Industries shop floor the sounds of chop saws fill the air, the darkened surfaces of heavy steel beams sit on long platforms awaiting final welding and assembly, and showers of sparks
fly up into the face shields of the welders creating an eerie glow against the otherwise featureless masks. The ash of the steel from years of welding and grinding has worked its ways into the walls, the floors and into the very skin of the men who work there. For 26-year-old Cody Millington, Operations Manager at Hranco, one could just as easily say it has worked its way into his blood.
Cody’s father Larry Millington started Hranco as a two-man welding operation in 1992. Twenty years later Hranco has grown from a small scale gas and oil service operation into a multi-faceted
enterprise employing 35 people and looking to grow. Hranco now does specialty welding, fabrication, structural steel, pressure piping, plant maintenance, heavy duty mechanical work and industrial painting.
“What we have ended up with,” Cody explains, “is a complete turn-key operation where a customer can bring something to us, an idea or whatever it may be, and we can fabricate it, we can wire it, we can plumb it and we can paint it. So that when it leaves our facility it can go right to work.”
Hranco now carries major industry certifications in various trade-works which enhance their core welding business. Because of the slowdown in the local oil and gas industry, Cody says it’s important for a small, independent operator like Hranco to be as diversified as possible. It’s what the big companies want, and, in the end, what they demand to keep their business.
“It can be really intimidating sitting on our side of the street,” Cody explains. “You know, we’re a small drop in the bucket for these larger corporations and organizations. So it’s intimidating sitting in
there and trying to convince them that you have all the services, and you have all the capabilities to do what the larger companies are offering us. So we’ve taken the stance over the last few years here to be the most certified company out there.”
Out on the shop floor, Cody moves with the ease of a kid who grew up around the tough- nosed world of career tradesmen. As Operations Manager his job is to oversee the floor and make sure the job is getting done on time and according to spec. It’s traditionally a role which has demanded the general disposition of a Rottweiler, but Cody does not project that air.
As a small business competing against much larger companies, Hranco knows how hard it is to retain good employees. With the general shortage of skilled tradespeople in Canada an experienced welder, pipefitter or heavy duty mechanic is in great demand everywhere. Cody says Hranco has to go that little extra mile to provide a good work atmosphere for its skilled employees to keep them happy and retain them long term. Hranco now offers paid recreational
OUR COMMUNITIES ■ OUR REGION ■ OUR PEOPLE | 23
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 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116