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• Electrical, automation & calibration of asphalt plants
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780-962-5702 | Optiprime.ca
116, 11362-255 Street, Acheson, AB T7X 6C9
The next step in Robert’s journey,
however, involved him following a
childhood dream of becoming a rancher.
In the late ‘90s, he sold his commercial
landscaping business, purchased a
farm in Sturgeon County and started a
bison ranch.
“I spent all of my teenage years
working on a bison ranch,” Jan said. “I
spent a good chunk of my time cutting
and baling hay, working with animals,
feeding the animals – before and after
school. We didn’t have a ton of money
and were figuring it all out.”
He added, “I remember one summer
my dad had bought two used balers. He
said, ‘This will be great, son. The one
baler is what you’re going to use and
you’re going to use the other baler for
parts.’ I learned pretty early on how to
solve problems and work with what
you have.”
Like many other ranchers, the family
was affected by the 2003 mad cow
crisis, when the U.S. closed the border
for red meat exports. Since the family’s
primary market was the U.S., Robert
decided to get back into landscaping.
Jan said it was a trying time for the
family, who was also trying to get rid
of its large supply of bison meat at
farmer’s markets.
A New Business Opportunity
Around this time, Robert received a
call from Eric, who was retiring and
interested in finding out if Robert’s old
offer still stood. Robert was eager to
pursue the opportunity and purchased
the business. All that was left to do was
transfer the assets.
“We went over with a couple trailers,
picked up the double garage full of
P R O F I L E
“If you don’t have access to the
equipment, it’s hard to get the job done
so we created an in-house process for
providing that equipment to contractors.”
– Jan van Bruggen, CEO, Barricades and Signs
38 ALBERTA HEAVY 2 2019
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/Optiprime.ca
