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SMALL BUSINESS MONTH - Supplement to The WInnipeg Free Press - Wednesday, October 21, 2015
King of the Road Polar Industries connects communities
“This is helping communities — you’re battling elements; you’re going through no man’s land to reach them.”
“Nothing interests me in moving freight between Toronto and Vancouver — to me that’s not exciting,” Kohaykewych says. “This is helping communities — you’re battling elements; you’re going through no man’s land to reach them.” There’s a lot of juice flowing in that company right now. The question is, where does it come from? “I’ve got a lot of drive,” says Kohaykewych. “What motivates me is seeing what my grandparents did on their small farm down in the Sundown-Vita area, how they basically had nothing, and yet they were able to provide for their family. “If my grandfather could do this, then there is no excuse for me!” Kohaykewych was born in East St. Paul and did a stint studying business at university. “During university days, a buddy and myself would travel along the winter roads and hit some of these remote, pristine lakes in Manitoba,” he says. “You would see the trucks driving and it always intrigued me, wondering what these trucks were doing.” Later, working in construction on a project
in St. Theresa Point, he decided to buy his own truck, hire a driver and move his own freight. “I tested the market and saw that there was a very viable business opportunity here.” He ran the business part-time for about two years, and then left his contracting business. The first year, the company moved 19 loads, and last year they were just shy of 700. That kind of growth comes from being clear on what you do and who your clients are, and Kohaykewych says communication is key, especially in the North, where people want to talk face to face. “It’s one thing to sit behind a desk in Winnipeg and it’s another to go up to Thompson or Lynn Lake or South Indian Lake to go and talk to your clients to just visit or buy them lunch and say, ‘Thanks for your business,’ ” he says. “We’re doing a lot right now with the construction companies that are doing work for Manitoba Hydro, and communication is what’s really solidified a lot of the contracts.” Polar Industries has about 26 people on the payroll, with 14 drivers. With the potential for even more work, the company is working with the provincial government on expansion plans. “We want to continue our growth and expand our service to the communities in the Kivalliq
By Wendy King for the Free Press P olar Industries Ltd. was recently ranked 31st in the PROFIT 500 fastest-growing companies in Canada. And that looks pretty darn good when you factor in a staggering five-year revenue growth of 2,416%. Based in Winnipeg with a newly established office in Thompson, Polar Industries moves freight, including lumber, concrete, fuel tanks, pre-manufactured homes and pre-fab oversized commercial buildings and more. “Our business is based on remote northern logistics, so construction companies, mining companies, even the fishing lodges, and the First Nations communities themselves are relying on us to transport goods there in a timely, safe, cost-effective manner,” says founder Mark Kohaykewych, 38. For the fifth year in a row, Polar Industries will be featured on History Channel’s Ice Road Truckers, a show which features truckers as they move vital cargo to remote communities over some of the most dangerous routes in the world.
region,” he says. “I did a presentation on how we want to make an attempt to make a run from Churchill to Arviat this year,” he says. “We would be the first trucks on Hudson Bay in history — ever. I like a challenge, I want to try and expand further to these remote regions and connect them,” he adds. “Connecting communities — that’s what I want to do.” ❚
Polar Industries founder Mark Kohaykewych says it’s more challenging — and more rewarding — to service northern communities that rely on timely, safe and cost-efficient delivery.
Winnipeg: 220 Transport Road | 204.224.0430
Thompson: 11 Knife Crescent | 204.778.7626 polarindustries.ca
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