Waggs Petroleum Equipment Ltd. is celebrating 50 years of operation in North Bay this year.
Located at 145 Ferris Drive in North Bay, the company has changed ownership several times since it was founding in 1963. Terry and Marilyn Ablett have owned the company since 2003.
"Most of the early history is related to the construction and maintenance of retail gas stations and it's evolved to continue that work as well as the design and construction of industrial fuel systems," says Terry Ablett.
“When we took over 10 years ago, Waggs was established as the leading supplier of fuel equipment and maintenance services in the north to the retail sector. We’ve tried to take that position and gradually expand it out into the industrial sector.”
There were two reasons for diversifying: the evolution of the retail sector and Ablett's professional experience.
“The retail sector has been consolidating. There was a trend to fewer larger gas stations and to keep our strength and our workers, we looked at other parts of the fuel handling world that made sense as well as my background as a mining engineer. I was familiar with the mining sector across Northern Ontario,” says Ablett.
Waggs grew its staff to 25 employees and invest more than $800,000 in new equipment such as back truck services, excavators, water treatment and processing equipment. The company also updated employee training to ensure they knew the regulations of the industrial sector.
“Anytime you go into a new field, even if it’s applying the same thing to a different environment, there are always different issues to contend with,” he says.
“The industrial fuel sector can be regulated by different codes than the retail gasoline sector, so it’s familiarizing our people with those codes and making sure we are current with them and comply with them.”
The investment in staff, equipment and training has been worth it.
“It rounds us out, it gives us the ability to go after different types of work, and to try to be a year-round employer as a contractor which is a tough thing to do in Northern Ontario. There’s a downturn up north in the winter-time. This gives us more fields to find work in and keep our people busy throughout the year.”
Waggs' primary goal is to ensure it has the versatility and broad knowledge to be able to accommodate the customers and find the best solutions for them based on that wide knowledge.
After half a century in North Bay, Waggs Petroleum Equipment Ltd. has reached a point where Ablett feels the last 10 years making that stride into the industrial sector have absolutely been successful and sees the company continuously evolving in the coming years to meet the needs of design, construction, maintenance and decommissioning of fuel facilities.
“It’s a never-ending journey. The customers’ needs continually evolve, so we have to continually evolve to grow with them and I think that applies to all of our customers.”
Wagg's Petroleum Equipment
145 Ferris Drive, RR #5
North Bay
P1B 8Z4
1-800-363-5308, 705-472-2500
705-472-4650
info@waggspetroleum.on.ca
