leonard traub: follow the leader · 2018-10-11 · a startled look comes over his face. “i’m...

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EDMONTON’SMAJOR CONSTRUCTION

PROJECT IS AS COOL AS ICE

MARCH 2016 | $3.50BUSINESSINEDMONTON.COM

BOMA EDMONTON NEWSLETTER PAGE 51 | EDMONTON CHAMBER SECTION PAGE 39

LEONARD TRAUB:

Follow the LeaderTHOSE THAT FOLLOW LEONARD TRAUB INTO BUSINESS, PARTNERSHIPS AND FRIENDSHIPS ARE REWARDED WITH A DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE, HIS INDUSTRY SAVVY AND HIS INFINITE KINDNESS.

LEONARD TRAUB: FOLLOW THE LEADER // COVER

ABOVE: LEONARD TRAUB, OWNER, ALBERTA WILBERT SALES.

PHOTO SOURCE: EPIC PHOTOGRAPHY INC.

26 MARCH 2016 // BUSINESS IN EDMONTON // BUSINESSINEDMONTON.COM


BY NERISSA MCNAUGHTON

LEONARD TRAUB:

BUSINESSINEDMONTON.COM // BUSINESS IN EDMONTON // MARCH 2016 27

Nearly 50 years ago, Leonard Traub left North Dakota to launch Alberta Wilbert Sales. Starting from scratch as the new kid on the block, and facing competition

from two established concrete companies, the driven young man rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

“I only made burial vaults. During that first year, 1968, my sales were $35,000 and I lost $7,800. I could see things were going nowhere. It was necessary to get into something else. We [Monarch Concrete & Wilbert Vault] had done septic tanks in North Dakota, so I decided to go into septic tanks here.”

The rest, as they say, is history. Today Alberta Wilbert Sales holds the largest Canadian territory in the Wilbert franchise with three locations, Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton.

Traub continues to lead the charge as the head of the company, and while the last 49 years may not have been

all smooth sailing, Traub still has that sparkle in his eye that betrays how much he’s enjoyed – and is still enjoying – the ride.

Having strong sales wasn’t good enough for Traub. The company was intent on innovating and providing superior customer service, a practice the company still continues today.

Traub explains, “I would attend our district Wilbert meetings. One was held in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where I saw a circular tank that Clarence Josten was making. This circular tank boosted our business by 30 per cent. We also produced tanks for multi-lot subdivisions, and later on manufactured lift stations. There was a large project in Grande Prairie for which we decided to do the interior plumbing on the septic tanks in-house. We supplied an all-in package that included the pump, the pipe and fittings, and

Follow the Leader

THOSE THAT FOLLOW LEONARD TRAUB INTO BUSINESS, PARTNERSHIPS AND FRIENDSHIPS ARE REWARDED WITH A DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE, HIS INDUSTRY SAVVY AND HIS INFINITE KINDNESS.



the electrical components. When the tank arrived on site it was literally plug and play for the contractor, resulting in greatly reduced field times. With over 500 units and counting, it was well worth the effort.”

Another innovation - Alberta Wilbert’s rink top tanks. “It’s like a hockey rink,” Traub explains. “We found the weakest portions of a square tank are its corners, so we simply eliminated that problem.”

The company is even improving on the way they are made. “The weather certainly affects the quality of the product, and that is why we do not manufacture anything outside. You can’t control the weather, but you can control the quality of your concrete by pouring it indoors.”

Traub doesn’t just sell product. He sells an entire customer experience. “What I’ve found by starting from scratch on

our tank business is that a tank is not just a tank and a company is not simply a company,” the president explains. “If someone wants a septic tank at 10 a.m. on a Thursday, it will be there 10 a.m. on that Thursday. We take our service very seriously. No matter what, we are going to service the customer as best we can.”

This commitment to excellence is demonstrated as well in their burial vault sales. Traub remains committed to servicing funeral directors with Wilbert Burial Vaults throughout Western Canada.

“Even today, after 48 years, our burial vaults are 20 per cent of our volume,” he confides. “I don’t think we will ever divorce ourselves from the burial vaults. I have a real affection for funeral directors because of what they do for families in their time of need.” He credits the company’s strong culture and work ethic to their early, and continuing,

ABOVE: LEONARD TRAUB, OWNER, ALBERTA WILBERT SALES.

PHOTO SOURCE: EPIC PHOTOGRAPHY INC.

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work in burial vaults. “You can’t be late for a funeral,” he says with his dry sense of humor. “If a funeral director needs a vault at 2 p.m. in a cemetery, you are there.”

His dedication to the funeral industry is deeply appreciated in Western Canada. In 2012 Traub was awarded the REMCO Lifetime Achievement Award, becoming the first non-funeral director to be given the honour. “To get that award was really special because your customers are giving you an award for looking after them,” says Traub with emotion. “It was the highlight of my life. I don’t know if I will achieve anything higher than that. It is very, very dear to me.”

Also dear to Traub are the many relationships he’s built over the course of half a century within the funeral and concrete industries, with his staff and with his customers. “We produce year-round and carry approximately $5 million inventory to meet our customer’s needs. We are fortunate that we can give the best service to them. The fact that we retain our customers is because of relationships, being a one-stop shop for all their needs, consistent quality and service. Retired customers still drop by. I see them and we keep in touch. It’s been just wonderful having these relationships.”

He continues, “We have excellent employees. I would estimate our average employee today has 10 years’ service, with some employees being second generation. Some have been with the company for over 30 years. My first accountant, Otto Laiss, still comes in daily, and he retired over 20 years ago.”

One of the team’s members created their AWSum Pro tool; a computer program that allows users to design systems to meet the standards of Alberta Private Sewage Systems’ regulations. AWSum Pro uses inputted data to recommend the ideal tank, the size and configuration of the applicable disposal system and the size of pump required for a project. Alberta Wilbert provides this program free of charge to their clients.

He relies on his team’s enterprising ways to keep the company moving forward. “Today there are five people charged with running the company. This management group consists of Bob Demco, CPA and general manager who has been with the company for 30 years; Dave Dallaire, sales manager, five years; Paula Ierullo, manager of the Calgary branch, five years; my son Kevin, operations manager, 20 years and Frank Boisso, manager of our Winnipeg operation since 1999.”

How does he know this team is the optimal way to keep Alberta Wilbert Sales going strong? “I first went to France for three weeks. They did well. Two years ago I lived in Italy for two months. I came back and everything was fine. So I went on a world cruise for four months. Contact was relatively non-existent. I came back and found the company was better than when I left! I have to thank these people and the other employees for my ability to slow down a bit today.”

Well, slowing down is a relative term. While there is no denying the company patriarch deserves a rich and rewarding retirement, the mere thought of leaving what’s he’s built up makes him laugh.

“I’m still working and one day I know I have to retire, but I’m fortunate that nobody is going to make me retire,” he chuckles. “That’s the nice part about being an entrepreneur. I will retire when I’m ready.”

He won’t be ready anytime soon.

“I downhill ski in the winter,” he says but then pauses and a startled look comes over his face. “I’m 76! I guess I’m probably going to have to quit doing that soon!”

The years mean little, though. They have not aged him. Instead, they have given him a lifetime of rich and rewarding experiences – and he takes full advantage of his young spirit. “I fish. I ride a motorcycle. I’ve ridden in every state in the U.S. and every province in Canada. I started in 1988 with a Honda Gold Wing and now ride a BMW 1600. Unless you ride a motorcycle, there are no words to describe the feeling. I can have the worst day, and I get on the bike and the world is right.”

With age comes wisdom, which is why he can clearly see a path through Alberta’s recent economic woes. “I lived through the early ’80s with Trudeau Sr.” He admits, “I think I had more confidence in the government back then; can’t say I feel the same about it today. We will survive this one with the attitude of all the people we have. This downturn, we are financially much stronger than in the 1980s.”

Leading by example, Traub has also made personal and professional sacrifices to ensure the wellbeing of the company and staff. It’s noble, but to the leader, it’s just good business. “Don’t hurt the mother ship,” he advises. “That’s what finances everything.”

BUSINESSINEDMONTON.COM // BUSINESS IN EDMONTON // MARCH 2016 31


Traub has also learned the value of community and giving back. He was president of the Northgate Lions Club with a small membership and they were instrumental in the building of the Northgate Lions Seniors Recreation Center. He was on the board of Thermoform Plastics, (a subsidiary of Wilbert Inc.) in St. Paul, Minnesota for 15 years and on the board of Wilbert Inc. for 11 years. Other charitable initiatives include supporting Little Warriors, donating to the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation, and being involved with Wilbert Inc.’s program which helps individuals through the bereavement process.

He takes the time to share a little more about what he’s learned over the years. “If I had to change anything, I would probably have – if I could have in those early years – taken a little more time off. Starting the business got to be seven days a week. It caused me some issues in private life.”

He seems to have worked out the winning formula. “You have to be happy. I’m just very fortunate, I always look forward to going to work and look forward to going home. In the early years, it wasn’t the same. If you are going to be an entrepreneur you have to remember…what is that old saying? ‘Don’t forget to stop and smell the roses.’”

As the company’s 50th anniversary looms, Traub reflects on the journey.

“During the four years of high school, I was president of the class twice. It was the same with college. I just seem to be fortunate to give a feeling that people can depend on me. That feeling made me independent. I left home at 17 for a short stay in the United States military before going to college. That gave me confidence to move to a foreign country.”

Alberta Wilbert Sales has had, and continues to have, a tremendous impact on Western Canada’s funeral industry and septic services, all along ensuring the employees are taken care of. It takes a great man to lead such a company to this level of success, but as far as Traub is concerned, 50 years is just the warm-up phase.

“We are going to continue and expand. If you are not growing, you are going backwards.”

Traub has one direction – forward; he and Alberta Wilbert Sales will keep moving in that direction for a very long time.

ABOVE: LENOARD TRAUB STANDS WITH WIFE JANET AFTER RECEIVING THE

REMCO MEMORIALS LIFETIME FUNERAL SERVICE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD.

PHOTO SOURCE: LEONARD AND JANET TRAUB

leonard traub: follow the leader · 2018-10-11 · a startled look comes over his face. “i’m...

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