Happy Retirement to Gary Hussey
On January 25, 2008, Associated Engineering staff and guests
gathered at the Grand Okanagan Hotel in Kelowna, BC to wish Gary
Hussey a happy retirement and to celebrate his long and successful
career with Associated Engineering.
Gary joined Associated Engineering in 1975 after completing his
degree in civil engineering at the University of British Columbia. He
started his career in the company’s Prince George office. There, he
worked on the design and construction management of infrastructure
projects. Early projects included design of stormwater and sanitary
sewers, wastewater treatment facilities, and subdivisions.
In 1980, Gary moved to AE’s Vancouver office. Shortly thereafter,
Gary left Associated Engineering to start his own consulting
engineering firm, Western Land Consultants Ltd., in Kelowna.
Gary’s firm specialized in planning and engineering for development
projects. Recognizing Gary’s entrepreneurial and business development acumen, Vince Borch, the company’s president at the time,
persuaded Gary to re-join Associated Engineering and manage the
new Kelowna office. As a result, Associated Engineering purchased
Western Land Consultants in 1983 and created AE’s Kelowna office.
This was a landmark decision as Associated Engineering, like many
other engineering firms at the time, had been downsizing and had
closed offices in Kamloops, Prince George, Victoria, Nanaimo, and
Courtenay. Opening the Kelowna office was a strategic move that
marked a turning point in Associated Engineering’s history.
Gary managed the Kelowna office for the next five years. During this
period, the office grew, taking on many municipal, commercial and
residential development projects.
In 1988, Vince again approached Gary, this time to move to Calgary
to manage the new Calgary office. Gary agreed, and transferred to
Calgary. At the time, we had four staff in Calgary. Under Gary’s
leadership, the office grew and today we have more than 100
multi-discipline staff in Calgary. Gary was instrumental in fostering
relationships with key clients such as the City of Calgary Waterworks
and working with staff such as Ian Wright and Barry Vallance to
develop the Calgary office as a Centre of Excellence for water treatment
engineering. Past President Alistair Black reflects, “In developing
the office, it was Gary’s strength as a strategic thinker, ability to
engender loyalty, and innate common sense that were instrumental
to the success of the Calgary office.”
Gary also led the development of the infrastructure and transportation
groups in the Calgary and Lethbridge offices. Under Gary’s
leadership and direction, the company obtained key infrastructure
and transportation projects from Alberta Transportation, Calgary
Airport Authority, City of Calgary, City of Lethbridge, and Town of
Taber that helped the company become recognized as a leading
consultant in the infrastructure and transportation sectors.
In recognition of his leadership, in 2003, Gary was promoted to Vice
President and General Manager of Southern Alberta operations.
In 2005, Gary and his wife Margaret returned to the Okanagan. Gary
re-joined our Kelowna office as Area Manager. The last three years
have seen the continued growth of our Kelowna office as a multidiscipline
office with expertise in the infrastructure, transportation,
and water sectors.
Speakers at Gary’s retirement celebration included Past Presidents
Vince Borch and Alistair Black, President Kerry Rudd, Dale Loewen,
who succeeded Gary in Calgary as General Manager, and Alan
Emery who succeeded
Gary as Area Manager of
our Kelowna office.
Dale Loewen states, “Gary
has been a large part of
our company’s growth and
prosperity for many years.
He will be missed by all
who had the pleasure of
working with him.”
The company and staff in
the Kelowna office presented
Gary with a GPS unit
for his boat and a Tony
Moser print of the
Okanagan. All Associated
Engineering staff wish Gary
and Margaret many happy days traveling, golfing, and just relaxing in
the sunny Okanagan.
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