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2011 Real Estate and Construction EOY: John Tilstra

Congratulations to John Tilstra, CEO of Centra Construction Group Ltd., the 2011 Pacific Region Entrepreneur of the Year in Real Estate and Construction. You might say that John Tilstra saw a window of opportunity open up when BC Hydro launched its PowerSmart program back in 1989. Running a small construction firm specializing in exterior cladding at the time, Tilstra knew there was money to be made in the energy retrofit work being created by Hydro’s new program of power-saving incentives.

By Brennan Clarke /

John Tilstra, Centra Construction Group | BCBusiness
Return to: B.C. Entrepreneur of the Year 2011

Congratulations to John Tilstra, CEO of Centra Construction Group Ltd., the 2011 Pacific Region Entrepreneur of the Year in Real Estate and Construction.

You might say that John Tilstra saw a window of opportunity open up when BC Hydro launched its PowerSmart program back in 1989. Running a small construction firm specializing in exterior cladding at the time, Tilstra knew there was money to be made in the energy retrofit work being created by Hydro’s new program of power-saving incentives.

But when he started having problems with the quality and availability of energy-efficient windows on the market, he decided the time was right to start manufacturing his own product.

“I wanted a fully integrated system where there are no delivery or supply issues and everything comes on time, all the time,” Tilstra says. “It was just as windows were shifting from aluminum to vinyl, and we started out with four people.”
 

Four Questions

What was your first real job?
Working in the warehouse at Bick’s Pickles in Dunnville, Ontario.

What was your first big break in your current business?
Our decision to start working the BC Hydro PowerSmart program.

What’s the secret to success?
Great family, great staff, open communication, consistency and quality assurance for the consumer.

If you were a TV or movie character, who would you be?
Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School because he was smart enough to realize he wasn’t that smart and hired guys smarter than him to do all the work.

The company expanded to 14 employees in 1996 and has since emerged as a leader in energy-conservation retro­fits and home renovations in the province, with six retail locations, close to 150 employees and annual revenues of more than $18 million.

Tilstra, now 50, is known for his “anything and everything” approach to the business, a work ethic he learned growing up on his father’s dairy farm in southern Ontario. “Without a doubt, that gave me the basics of everything,” he says. “I learned that you have to make a big investment to make a living and create value, that you’ve got to build a barn before you can milk the cows.”

When he was 18, Tilstra “finished high school on Friday, left home on Monday,” drove across Canada and landed a construction job in Fort Langley. “I married a Fort Langley girl and I’ve been here ever since,” he says.

An employee-owned company, Centra’s 102 “shareholders” play a direct role in the decision-making process, a dynamic that encourages quality and dedication, but also comes with its share of headaches. “The good part is they don’t quit as easy. The bad part is they’ll nag the hell out of you to make changes,” Tilstra says. “But you have to let them make decisions because it’s up to them to see that the company works.”