Jon Hoch, COO of NRS Profile

Garett Wall
President & CEO
Centra Construction Group


Jon Hoch, COO of NRS Certificate

“Keep a happy, engaged, Employee Owned workforce and they’ll do well by your customers, and then your customers will do well by you.”

Garett Wall, President & CEO, Centra Construction Group, says, “We not only make windows; we install them, promote them, and have a tremendous sales team that coordinates with a delivery team to make sure they reach our customers on time.” In today's world, there can be a lot of finger-pointing, but at Centra everything is kept in-house, and the company owns every success as well as any failures. This ‘OWN IT!’ ethos has worked well, built a good reputation, and helped encourage company growth. According to Garett, “When I became CEO, we had 70 people. Now we have 380, with a goal of 1,000 in the future.”

“As leaders we are responsible for finding and hiring smarter, quicker, and faster people to teach, mentor, and develop.” Garett is a firm believer in employee ownership, which empowers everyone in the company to be their best for both their customers and their own families and futures. Garett's major goal is to have the best team, offer specialists autonomy over their duties, and assist them in both their professional and personal lives. He's establishing an environment with enthusiastic people who embrace Centra’s FERST principles of family, entrepreneurial spirit, respect, safety, and Teamwork.

“Externally, being a member of the MacKay CEO Forums influences my leadership ability and helps me encourage budding entrepreneurs to realize the importance of balancing their personal, family, and professional lives as they themselves strive to be leaders. I had a unique childhood filled with adversity, which really shaped my perspective and gave me a great appreciation for people in jobs like manufacturing, so I’m definitely working in the right sector.”

Garett says, “We should always try and keep perspective. We have to take things like the pandemic, a trauma we all went through, and reflect and ask how it shaped us. The great leaders will see how it moved our thought patterns forward on technology and what we learned about the different ways in which you can run a company. We're putting together an in-house programming team, as well as the skills, tools, and programs we'll need to run a fast-growing company effectively and efficiently.”

“Centra's engineering and technical departments are playing a crucial role in our growth and in positioning us as a technological leader in the industry. By ensuring that we properly invest in our teams, we ensure we have the expertise to always be at the forefront. You also have to work hard to address ever-tightening performance requirements through regulatory, provincial, and building codes, and this investment in people and experts is how we do it.”

Imperial Tower in Vancouver is an excellent illustration of Centra’s innovation. They became the first window retrofit firm in British Columbia to complete a high-rise project with vinyl windows, providing residents with an exceptionally energy-efficient product at the best possible price. They’re also working with a great builder called Nexii to construct a new modular Marriott hotel with a high-performance building envelope. “We recently won Treetops, a multi-unit project in Port Moody that is one of the largest projects in Centra’s history. One of the reasons we win projects like this is because, being a one-stop-shop, we can offer a truly fantastic warranty and peace of mind.”

“We're also fortunate to have customers who help us thrive, and we want to show all our communities that we're committed to making the world a better place. We’ve given over $1 million to charities that help with mental health, the elderly, food banks, flood assistance, fire relief, and international aid, among other things.”

“Centra is comprised of devoted, enthusiastic, and hard-working Employee Owners who provide exceptional service to our communities,” says Garett. “Our strategy is to keep things simple while working toward a common goal. Great, long-lasting companies are built on business models that are straightforward, focused, and have unwavering execution standards. I'm here to serve as a listening tool, ensuring that we pay attention to our people and customers. My belief in the importance of each individual's contribution to a team provides me with the daily desire to provide opportunities for others. I consider myself ‘extremely fortunate to be part of Centra’ as ‘Centra Family’. We're a growing company, so we're excited to announce that clients from a variety of additional areas and territories will be able to join the Centra Family in the not-too-distant future.”


Company

Centra Construction Group

Management

Garett Wall
President & CEO
Centra Construction Group

Description

Centra Windows started as a small local firm in 1984 and has since grown to become the top window manufacturer, building envelope, energy retrofit, and restoration specialist in BC. In 2022 we acquired Supreme Windows of Alberta, fueling growth further and making us the number one window manufacturer in all of Western Canada.


Inspiring Leaders Magazine 2022