CR Metal Fabricators

Metal market

CR Metal Fabricators manufactures structural steel components, hoppers, cones, blowpipes, tanks, platforms and walkways—essentially anything made of steel, aluminum or stainless steel. “General metal fabrication is our specialty,” said Rob Beetstra, company president. “We are CWB certified to 47.1 and 47.2 for structural steel and aluminum, and this is important for our customers.”

In forestry and mining, CR Metal Fabricators has made a name for itself with, among other things, its CR Metal liners, which drop into the box of a pick-up truck for the duration of a lease, leaving the bed spotless and increasing the vehicle’s trade-in allowance.

“At the end of the lease, you take it out, put the tailgate back on, and inside the box is good as new,” said Beetstra. “It’s obviously superior to having the bed all smashed up, and you can also just drop the liner into the new truck.”

Natural Resources Canada invited CR Metal Fabricators to the International Society of Explosives Engineers (ISEE) tradeshow in 2013, which helped bring attention to the company from mining and other industries.

Family founded

CR Metal Fabricators has marched fearlessly through two major recessions, largely because it has never had an owner who failed to innovate.

Victor and Dorothy Gallop started the company in the early 1960s and later sold it to their daughter, Donna Wilson, and her husband, Barry. In 2007, current owners Rob and Darcy Beetstra purchased the company, keeping it family-owned and run for five decades and counting.

It might be the secure family foundation that has kept the business running strong, or it might be each owner’s dedication to well-trained, happy employees.

More than 35 employees have gone through the company’s apprenticeship program, which turns out highly skilled individuals with a strong work ethic and company loyalty. The current employee group has been with the company an average of 15 years, and it is rare that anyone leaves.

“We take them on as floor sweepers, evaluate and assess them, and help them through the apprenticeship program,” said Beetstra. “I watch them grow, get married, have babies. They show me their new cars, and I become a part of their lives.”