Road to Rail also seeks to foster loyalty inhouse among their employees, especially their employees in the field. Tarren believes that makes a huge difference: “The construction industry is usually very transient with operators, especially field staff,” he explains. “We’re trying to do something different. We put a lot into employee retention. That way, when we send those people to a site, we have a good idea of how they are going to perform.” “When you have high turnover and you don’t have the same employees going out every time, they don’t know your expectations, they don’t know your goals, and that leads to a substandard product at the end of the day,” he adds. “But if you have people who’ve been there a long time, the opposite is true. They understand your expectations. They understand your goals. That leads to a better product.” When it comes to retaining employees, Tarren says a lot goes into it. The most obvious thing is paying a good wage: “Everybody goes to work to make money,” he says. “Every position has a market value, and we try to be at the top end for pretty much all of them.” “But with that comes high expectations,” he adds. “We make sure our people are taken care of, they also have to take care of us. That means delivering good quality and really buying in to our mission and our core values.” “At the end of the day, our team members in the field are probably our most effective salespeople, and our best form of marketing is doing good quality work,” Tarren continues. “If our people are winning at the field level, the company will succeed at the end of the day. We recognize that and we treat our people accordingly.” In addition to clients and employees, Road to Rail Construction has also formed close-knit and longstanding relationships with suppliers and vendors. According to Tarren, some of those relationships go all the way back to the company’s inception. Essex Lease – a Calgary-based equipment financing company – is one example of a closeknit partner. They are a business that offers companies in Alberta flexible leasing, asset-based lending, and truck financing solutions, with each solution tailored to the client’s specific needs. Being an independent lender, as opposed to a traditional bank, enables them to think creatively to remove obstacles for clients and come up with custom solutions. The team at Road to Rail highly appreciates the personal service that Essex Lease provides, as well as the genuine pride they take in helping clients like them succeed. AUGUST 2025
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