Price is right

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This article was published 11/10/2018 (2778 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On Thursday evening, Gerry Price, the CEO of Price Industries, became the first Winnipeg recipient of the Fraser Institute Founders’ Award.

The Fraser Institute has presented its Founders’ Awards to more than 40 worthy winners since their inception in 2001 and up until now every single one of them has come from Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver or Calgary.

While there are some pretty well-known names in that group — including Brian Mulroney, Peter Munk and Conrad Black — many made significant marks on the community while remaining low-key.

The award winners are recognized for their exceptional entrepreneurial achievements, generous philanthropic endeavours and dedication to competitive markets. On those terms and conditions, Gerry Price could be the archetypal Founders’ Award winner.

He said he has no particular connection to the Fraser Institute. “It was not on my radar. I don’t know how they found me.”

But Niels Veldhuis, president of the Fraser Institute, said that successful, humble, community-minded leaders who don’t seek the limelight are the typical winners.

“That is the kind of person that we recognize,” Veldhuis said. “People like Gerry Price, who go about their business, sink their lives into creating wonderful businesses that generate so much opportunity and so much wealth for all the people associated with them — their employees, their customers, their suppliers.”

After earning a PhD in mechanical engineering, Price worked as a research scientist in the Canadian defence sector until he joined the company his father founded. He became CEO in 1986 and grew it from about $30 million in annual sales to more than $600 million today.

With 13 factories in North America, Price Industries is now the leading North American manufacturer of air-distribution, critical controls and noise-control products with about 50 per cent of the Canadian and 39 per cent of the U.S. non-residential construction market for its core HVAC products. Price Industries is now the go-to supplier of HVAC technologies for the most sophisticated buildings in North America, including Apple Inc.’s new $5-billion Apple Park headquarters.

Price is more dedicated to research and development than the average Canadian company and boasts an impressive research lab at its East Kildonan headquarters. The company relies on its own internal innovations to generate growth through new product categories, as opposed to taking the more conventional route to growth via mergers and acquisitions.

Although the company primarily relies on the U.S. market for sales, its production capacity is split evenly between the two countries. An avid free trader, Price is adamantly loyal to his hometown. He’s about to build another $25-million production facility in Winnipeg, and about 1,100 of the 3,200 employees are based in the city.

At the same time he is effusive about the acceptance he and his company has received in the U.S.

“Americans have been so open and accommodating to us about our products whether we build them in Winnipeg, Atlanta or Phoenix or any other location,” he said. “It has never been an issue. We place the business where it makes sense to supply all of North America.”

Likely one of the largest consumers of aluminum in the region, Price’s business has been hurt by the tit-for-tat tariff spat between the U.S. and Canada, but he remains optimistic about his ability to continue to operate an integrated cross-border business.

“Our business absolutely depends on American goodwill,” he said. “In no way would opportunities in the rest of the world ever manifest themselves to be of the scale of the American opportunities. Ever.”

Despite his efforts to stay below the radar, Price has received plenty of awards befitting his stature in the community. He and his wife Barb have become significant charitable donors, placing their focus on the most needy and doing it as quietly as possible. (Price refused to disclose a major upcoming donation allowing the organization to manage that announcement.)

“My approach is that if we have a successful business, which thankfully we do, it allows Barb and I to have the privilege of giving away to those in need,” he said. “That is how we see it. Those we like to support are those who do not have champions — children, single mothers, families in distress.”

Kevin Chief, a former provincial NDP cabinet minister, was the master of ceremonies at the Fraser Institute Founders’ Award event at the Fort Garry Hotel. He first met Price when he was working running an Indigenous youth sports organization.

“When I met him our worlds could not have been further apart,” Chief said. “He was running a big company and I was working with Indigenous children.”

The two have stayed friends and Chief said he has been moved by Price’s commitment and dedication to Indigenous children in the province.

“He and Barb have always been contributors and supporters,” Chief said. “Not just in terms of financial resources but also helping us champion the work we were doing.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca