Think inside the box

Shipping containers converted into office and living space by a Saskatchewan company have the attention of the resource sector

Channing McCorriston, Evan Willouhby and Bryan McCrea appeared on the set of CBC's Dragons' Den with their custom built Sea-Can container. — photo courtesy Bryan McCrea

Entrepreneurs usually build up their success by thinking outside the box; however, a company in Saskatchewan is making a name for itself by doing just the opposite.

Targeting a resource sector set to explode, 3twenty Solutions has created a viable process for refurbishing shipping containers into living and office space for use in remote mining camps.

From idea to reality

The brainchild of Bryan McCrea, Evan Willoughby and Channing McCorriston, 3twenty Solutions was created as part of a business competition put on by the W. Brett Wilson Centre for Entrepreneurial Excellence at the University of Saskatchewan.

3twenty walked away with first place and $30,000 due to their innovative strategy and process to refurbish shipping containers.

Naming the company based on the total square footage of a normal 40-foot by eight-foot container—320 square feet—seemed appropriate and the business took off from there.

The ability to stack containers, combined with the durability and transportability of each one, makes their product a unique application to resource- and industrial-based industries.

The containers are spray-foam insulated to provide a continuous vapour barrier and are designed to connect together to form larger structures.

“We pride ourselves on being fun and easy to work with,” said McCrea. “We call ourselves professional brainstormers and we work with our clients to develop a 3twenty solution that works best for them.”

Into the lair

The trio was encouraged to pitch their product on the popular CBC show Dragons' Den by none other than W. Brett Wilson, who is one of the investor panellists, or dragons.

The program invites entrepreneurs to pitch their product or service to a panel of established business people, who make the decision on-air to invest or pass.

In the case of 3twenty Solutions, its primary product—a refurbished eight-foot by 40-foot shipping container—wasn’t able to fit in the downtown Toronto recording studio, so the three entrepreneurs purpose-built a custom 10-foot Sea-Can into a small sitting area complete with a mini-fridge and bar.

But it wasn’t just the product that impressed the panellists—it was the confidence and preparation displayed by McCrea, Willoughby and McCorriston.

“We went in and did our pitch just like we would do to any investment banker or venture capitalist or investment firm in town and we gave it our all,” said McCrea.

All of the dragons—Kevin O’Leary, Arlene Dickinson, W. Brett Wilson, Robert Herjavec and Jim Treliving—expressed interest in investing with 3twenty, but it was Wilson who closed the deal by offering $120,000 in exchange for a 25 per cent stake in the company.

Decent exposure

The company had been garnering attention before landing the spot on Dragons' Den but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to reach an audience of a few million people.

And mining operations have taken notice; Claude Resources Inc., a gold mining and exploration company in Saskatchewan, purchased the first container camp in North America from 3twenty at the end of 2010.

“Our biggest sales tool is bringing someone into our shop and getting them into one of these containers,” said McCrea. “One of the guys we had in the other day said, ‘I’m never going back to a typical trailer because this is the only way to do it.’ ”