August 15, 2012

Electrical contractor expands with an eye to the future

RICHARD GILBERT

Mott is moving more than 220 employees into the Commonwealth Building, which is located at 4599 Tillicum in Burnaby. The building was originally designed by Fred Hollingsworth, who worked with Vancouver architect Arthur Erickson.

RICHARD GILBERT

staff writer

One of the oldest electrical contracting companies in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia is implementing an ambitious growth plan, which is based on a youth recruitment strategy and a move into a new corporate headquarters in Burnaby, B.C.

“The new headquarters will double our size from what we previously had,” said Dan Mott president of Mott Electric.

“What this move has done is allow us to do more training and meet our succession planning goals, by bringing more young people into the company to train under the older employees and sustain the viability of the company.”

Mott Electric GP celebrated the grand opening of its new Burnaby location at 4599 Tillicum with a ribbon cutting ceremony and picnic for its employees late last month.

The move to the former Commonwealth Building is part of an plan by Mott to expand the 82-year old business.

“We are focused on the long-term skill sets of our employees,” he said.

“We have a lot of very good people in the office involved in project management and estimating. If we don’t replace them, we will have missed the boat.”

For this reason, Mott is moving more than 250 employees into the Commonwealth Building, which was originally designed by Fred Hollingsworth, who worked with Vancouver architect Arthur Erickson.

According to Mott, the building was built in 1978 at a cost of $30 million as the head office of Commonwealth Construction, which was the largest industrial contractor in Canada.

An extensive renovation of the building is being undertaken by the company, which includes upgrading all the lighting, ventilation and a $350,000 installation of new windows to make the building more energy efficient.

The building has 260 parking spots, which is far more than the 60 spots that are required under the current building code.

Mott is also installing four electric vehicle charging stations that can be used for free by neighbouring businesses.

The main objective of the move is to allow the company to consolidate its position in established markets and venture into new opportunities as they arise.

Mott is the third generation of his family to run the electrical contracting business, which was established by William Mott in 1930 and was passed to Dan’s father Don.

This is the third major move for Mott Electric. In 1948, they moved to 1111 Royal Avenue in New Westminster and then in 1969, they built a new facility on 14th Avenue in Burnaby.

One of the company’s first major contracts was the installation of lighting on the Pattullo Bridge in New Westminster, which was built in 1936 and 1937.

Today, Mott Electric is involved in all aspects of electrical contracting and provides services to clients in the industrial, commercial, institutional and residential highrise construction markets.

Currently, the company is working on the Ruskin Dam and Generating Station, the Telus Garden and Salt residential developments, Metrotower III office tower, and the Marine Gateway commercial/residential facility.

Mott has a downtown office, which houses about 30 per cent of the company’s employees, with the rest based out of the new Burnaby headquarters.

RICHARD GILBERT

Ribbon Cutting: Danny Mott, president of Mott Electric kisses his mother Arleen Mott during a ribbon cutting at the opening of Mott Electric in South Burnaby.

RICHARD GILBERT

Children of Mott employees enjoyed sliding down the inflatable slide.

RICHARD GILBERT

A future Mott employee demonstrates her skills on the mobile climbing wall.

RICHARD GILBERT

A young man has a refreshing dip in the dunk tank.

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