52 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 10 McKenna informs that the company has cut back on staff this year, going from about seven to three. Yet it’s a family company, so being smaller just makes sense. Subcontractors fill up any holes, and it all comes together, par for the course in the homebuilding industry. Beattie extols the late Mr. Kehler. “A lot of my expertise comes from working closely with Paul over the last 16 or so years,” he says, revealing that he started in the banking industry as an underwriter before transitioning into the homebuilding profession. McKenna spoke of his duties, including work as a framer. Framers are construction industry professionals, responsible for building and repairing the wooden frames (the walls, floors, and roofs) of structures. They help construct residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. Framers also put doors, windows, and fixtures into place. McKenna says it’s his responsibility to keep jobs moving forward and focus on paying attention to the details. “That’s a big part of it, actually,” he says, “and the rest of it is scheduling and quality control.” “Pat’s a problem-solver,” says Beattie. “You run into challenges along the way, he’s in there, getting things back on track. There are no real problems; only solutions.” Recovering from COVID The Canadian housing industry was pretty hard hit by the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thankfully, Homes by Managen and its fellow construction companies are now in the long process of recovery, as Beattie notes. “The construction industry’s history was deemed a necessary entity that kept moving during COVID,” he says, “and we did suffer from plants being shut down, just like other small businesses that we deal with.” He adds that COVID-19 presented its challenges. It slowed down the housing construction
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