Entrepreneur of the Year 2025: How Andrew Hansen built a $15M company by telling the stories of blue-collar Canada

The construction industry built the foundation for Andrew Hansen’s entrepreneurial career. He started in HR, then worked as a health and safety manager, then moved to operations. He wasn’t involved in marketing. That is, until he was tasked with making a short video for his company (as younger, media-literate employees—in any industry—often are). “That put a light bulb in my head,” he recalls. “The construction, manufacturing, industrial space… the ‘dirty’ blue collar sector… this industry has an awesome story to share.”

Inspired to create a marketing company solely devoted to the industrial sector, Hansen founded Site in 2017. The founder explains that, in industries like construction, manufacturing and resource management, there are immense purchasing choices to be made—hiring a contractor for a new skyscraper or selecting a company to construct an airplane engine is a monumental decision. Communication, marketing and brand trust are essential. Through Site, Hansen and his team uplift local businesses and set them apart from the rest, making those monumental decisions a little easier for clients.

“Younger generations are told to do well in school so they don’t end up on a job site; there’s a stigma around the industrial sector,” Hansen acknowledges. “But it’s filled with creative, talented, exceptional, smart people.” The founder was recognized in BCBusiness’s 30 Under 30 in 2019 for the firm’s early success. In 2021, he began to expand beyond marketing, and soon launched Site’s recruitment agency, technology company and media company (including a movie studio). A recent project for the Vancouver-based Glotman Simpson Group includes an emotional video honouring the family business’s 60th anniversary and three generations of leaders. “We built our own set,” Hansen says, recalling how much the project meant to the clients. “What we get to do is special.”

This year, the company hosted the first Site Summit, a two-day conference in Vancouver that brought 320 people in the industrial sector together to connect, learn and listen to speakers from across the country. Next year’s Site Summit (in Toronto) expects double the audience. Across all entities, Site employs 100 staff and has made $15 million in revenue—plus, the business designed a blueprint for celebrating the blue-collar world.

What’s the best leadership advice you’ve ever received?

Success always comes down to the talent in your organization and the culture you create.

An odd job you’ve had?

Ranch hand (a.k.a.,  junior cowboy).

After work, we can find you…

Either exercising or with my kids.