Since 1992 Calhoun Super Structures has been a family-owned business specializing in engineering and manufacturing the best steel and fabric building structures across North America.
Their mission is simple: to provide excellence in all aspects of product design, manufacturing and supply with an emphasis on innovation and people. In return, Calhoun Super Structures is becoming the leader in the fabric building industry.
The proof is in the name
Although Calhoun Super Structures was founded by Leonard Calhoun in 1992, his two sons (Jeremy and Sean) have helped drive the business where it is today. For the Calhoun brothers, the name of the game is longevity. It encompasses everything they do - from the products they engineer and manufacture to the culture they employ within their company.
“We’re a long standing, second generation family business. We’ve been doing this for 20 years and we plan on being here for another 20,” says President Jeremy Calhoun.
As a family-owned business, Calhoun knows a thing or two about building structures. They built the first Calhoun Super Structure on their family farm in Ontario and continue to take pride in ownership on every building they manufacture and sell today.
“When one of our customers or vendors calls they can still talk to one of the original founders – someone with Calhoun in their last name,” says Calhoun. “I think that means a lot to them and when our customers and vendors want to discuss something, they know they can always talk directly to one of the owners.”
The driving force of the company
One of the biggest driving forces for the Calhoun company is their employees and their dealers.
According to Calhoun, they pride themselves on not only being a family owned business but treating and developing employees like family.
“I pride myself as being a coach. I build my company just like I would a hockey team or baseball team. Employees are integral part of our company. Each one needs to fill a niche where one person is weak or I’m weak. I need strong people and I hire people based on where I’m weak at to make our business strong.”
Along with developing their dealers and employees, the company is committed to treating them with fairness and respect.
“The biggest thing is we respect our employees and in return, they respect us. That’s the way it needs to be,” says Calhoun.
The company doesn’t stop there. Along with respect the company strives to promote from within. By doing so, the company is maintaining a low turnover rate while providing employees ample opportunity to grow from within.
According to Calhoun, promoting from within is paramount for the company. “I think it’s critical for the basis of any company. If we don’t promote from within we don’t give our employees any incentive to become better. In fact, I present opportunities to people within the company before I go externally. Even if I know they don’t want the position, I always give them the opportunity to say yes or no.”
Cornerstone of the business
Providing great service is one thing but what makes Calhoun great is their experienced engineering team.
“One of the cornerstones of what Calhoun does is engineering. We’ve spent a lot of time dissecting the different building codes across North America as well as a lot of researching different engineering techniques,” says Calhoun. “We want to be the best at what we do and our engineering team exemplifies that.
“In fact, I’m putting the company through a self-evaluation course to become better. We’re constantly evaluating ourselves and we’re always looking at new changes to code and making sure we can maintain our level of excellence.”
By having great people in place, Calhoun Super Structures is providing great products. The company has recently unveiled a new sealant they plan to showcase in the upcoming months.
“It’s a rubberized coating that looks like galvanizing. It’s silver and goes over and extends the life cycle of the product,” says Calhoun. “If galvanizing is in constant contact with sand, salt and fertilizer, this sealant actually has more resistance to the corrosive materials.”
“We’re unveiling it as we speak. We’ve shown it at a couple of shows but the big roll out will be at the Public Works Congress at the end of August.”
With an emphasis on customer service, quality craftsmanship and client satisfaction, Calhoun Super Structures is becoming the premier manufacturer in its industry.
“Although we’ve been in the business for 20 years, we’re young, we’re new and we strive to demonstrate we’re here for the long haul,” says Calhoun.
