Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/489028
plan and we stuck to it." The Tollestrup Group, which Tollestrup manages with his sister Mattie Murphy, also includes a de- velopment division, some property management and several Wendy's and Tim Horton's franchises. Al- though he's up to 80 employees in just his construction division alone, he keeps a close eye on things. "He's absolutely hands-on with respect to the construction side," says Brent McDowell of Finning Cat. "He's grown up doing that; he's been exposed to it his whole life. He's very conscious of what it takes to be good at what you do." McDowell says Tollestrup is as committed to the Lethbridge com- munity as he is to his company. "They don't bring attention to themselves – they often sponsor things anonymously, but they help out immensely," he says. McDowell recalls a brush fi re that broke out in the area in 2012. "This area has a lot of wind turbine projects and is very windy," he says. "A fi re started and just took off. It was threatening the city. Jim's machines were there right away – no question." Most of Tollestrup's work is con- centrated in the city of Lethbridge, where the company handles a lot of municipal work, in addition to construction projects including retail centers, offi ces, apartment com- plexes and subdivisions. Projects include work for Home Depot, Comfort Inn, Walmart, the Univer- sity of Lethbridge, and numerous area schools and churches. As the company has diversifi ed, it's become increasingly important for Tollestrup to surround him- self with talented, knowledgeable people, and he's been willing to go the extra mile to ensure he has the best personnel possible. He's paid for training or school for several employees, including his senior project manager, Jonathan Ham- ilton, and his safety coordinator, Trevor Carroll. As a result, he ends up with long-term, loyal employees. "We like to promote from within when we see people who have potential," he says. April 2015 | EquipmentWorld.com 82 contractor of the year | continued Although the Tollestrup Group has diversifi ed far beyond construc- tion, the company maintains several paving crews to perform asphalt paving jobs in the Lethbridge area.