Blue Water Concepts Ltd.

We believe Blue Water should receive this award for a few reasons. Receiving the “Living wage employer certification" this year shows that the company is focused on ensuring it's employees are paid a fair wage and compensated for the work they put in. With more than 40 full time employees on both hourly and salary positions, all of them are entitled to a full benefits package if they choose to take part. We have a volunteer “social committee” each quarter whos job it is to plan and execute our staff appreciation event for that quarter. This year we went sailing locally as a team, had a team and families BBQ with activities for the little ones, we rented sumo wrestling suits and blow up arena and sumo wrestled as a team along with a company BBQ afterwards. We have two beer fridges, a pool table a foosball table, darts and a plethora of cold bubbly drinks for staff to enjoy as a team after work hours which helps build the company culture which we feel is strong and very positive.

With quite a few apprentices being sponsored to complete their red seal, Blue Water is doing what it can to help promote the trades and professionalism in the industry. We encourage and will pay for further education and professional development courses. We pay for our team members to become Passive House Certified Trades people, which is a big investment but means they are learning from the best at BCIT and are ahead of the curve in the industry.

Our company org chart and growth plan shows current team members what their possible ascension plan is within the company. With continuous growth as a business, it's easy for team members to see the possibility of growth within the business. Many of our management team started as carpenters or on the tools and are now project managers, estimators, designers or production managers. Promotion within the business is a core piece of our growth strategy.

In 2022 Blue Water moved into a new space and invested considerable funds to create an office and shop space that is conducive to delivering the service and efficiency we expect from our team. With a company kitchen, showers for those that bike to work, stocked fridges, office dogs, pool table, darts and other games the office is a fun place to be. It was also important for us to ensure the field/production staff and the office/management staff were spending time in the same space. Office and shop in one building was important.