{"id":73590,"date":"2026-03-12T07:06:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T07:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trainanddevelop.ca\/?page_id=73590"},"modified":"2026-05-20T12:10:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T12:10:34","slug":"astec-safety-success-story","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/trainanddevelop.ca\/fr\/astec-safety-success-story\/","title":{"rendered":"ASTEC Safety Inc."},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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ASTEC Safety Brushes Against a Financial Cliff on the Way to Becoming an Industry Leader<\/h1>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Proving that company culture, integrity, and strategy can make the difference<\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Alberta-based\u00a0ASTEC Safety, Inc<\/a>., well known for their\u00a0Ground Disturbance Course<\/a>, provides safety training, equipment, and services to the oil & gas and construction industries in Western Canada. By 2015, ASTEC had a strong reputation, loyal customer base, but shouldered a serious cash flow problem.<\/p>

Investor, Jeff Mulligan, offered the company financial support in exchange for a new company culture and business model. But old habits are hard to change. So later that year, Mulligan began the process of changing the leadership strategy by adding discipline to corporate spending and adjusting the ideas around how to be efficient with company time and money.<\/p>

By 2016, Mulligan brought on fellow investors, Grant Klippenstein and Vern Fallscheer, to help restructure the company and save it from potential bankruptcy. This new trio, together with a member of the previous management team, transitioned in as the executives of the organization, taking a hands-on approach to leadership. Employees saw Vern Fallscheer & Grant Klippenstein plow snow before sunrise in sub-zero temperatures and Jeff Mulligan perform spur-of-the-moment maintenance on bathrooms. The new owners felt it was important to prove that they were all-in. Vern Fallscheer, ASTEC\u2019s Vice President, Service & Safety Rentals, added, \u201cWe did whatever it took. Even this morning you wouldn\u2019t have been able to get a hold of me because I was out painting handicap lines on the parking lot with one of our staff\u2026 I went and bought some paint and got a stencil and we actually just finished that task as a team. So we get our hands dirty just like the rest of the [team]. We stay late, come in early, work on weekends if we have to\u2026 If things [need] to get done, we just get in there and do our thing.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Jeff Mulligan, Chief Operating Officer - ASTEC Safety Inc.<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Amanda Unrau, ASTEC\u2019s Manager of Finance, who has been with the team since 2007, says the biggest change she has noticed since the new leadership team came on board \u201chas been the hands on approach to all of the owners. They\u2019re here daily. They\u2019re working on the business every day. They\u2019re here when I get here in the morning, so that for me has been the biggest change.\u201d<\/p>

The cultural shift that came with the new leadership has also been felt by their customers. Reg Bayko, the Safety Manager at Precision Contractors said that ASTEC Safety has transitioned \u201cto a very friendly\u2026 almost a family orientation. [For example], you can talk to Jeff, you can talk to Vern, you can talk to anybody, and they\u2019re all friendly, and it\u2019s first name basis, which is really nice.\u201d Precision Contractors have been working with ASTEC Safety for the past eleven to twelve years, and, according to Reg, their relationship is only getting better.<\/p>

But even with the culture beginning to change, the new leadership team knew that they could not execute their plans alone.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\u201cYou can\u2019t have the owners go into a room and act like the only smart people, and then come out and tell the world how we are going to do things,\u201d said Jeff Mulligan.\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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A Positive Shift in Company Culture Requires Everyone at the Table<\/h2>

The most important part of improving a company\u2019s culture is to go from a \u201ctell from the top\u201d atmosphere to one of \u201cask and inclusion.\u201d To achieve this, the new owners facilitated idea sharing and strategic planning at large meetings. Employees at every level had input on how the company prioritized its plans.<\/p>

This type of inclusion did not happen only once after the ownership change. Mulligan, Fallscheer, and Klippenstein regularly led the employees through \u201cgap maps,\u201d which are created by identifying an external company that does something great, evaluating how ASTEC performs in that same area, and then creating a plan to fill the gap. This gap could be in customer service, product quality, etc. No matter which part of the company is identified, the point of the exercise is to solicit feedback from anyone willing to share their ideas in a comfortable setting. Taking input from all employees provided a boost to morale: \u201cBeing able to be included and working towards a solution that\u2019s not just driven by the ownership team, but by having a hand in it, you become part of the solution, which fixes the whole morale situation in itself,\u201d said Amanda Unrau.<\/p>

It was also important to the owners that employees know the company\u2019s plan and reference it often.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\u201cIf you are a plan-driven organization, the plan should be in front of your team all the time, not just three days before the next planning session,\u201d said Jeff Mulligan.\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhen employees felt heard, valued, and part of ASTEC\u2019s success, they bought into the plan and were more motivated.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Add Value to Your Customers Experience, Increase Profits for Your Company<\/h2>

The first thing the new owners did to address the financial troubles was cut unnecessary expenses. For example, they reduced the number of company vehicles they owned and automated tasks that were repetitive and time-consuming so employees could work on more profitable activities.<\/p>

The new owners also placed an emphasis on improving ASTEC\u2019s customer service to current clients. The company already had a solid reputation and loyal list of clients, and the leadership team recognized one way to add value to clients and be more profitable was with e-Learning. Chris Richards, an ASTEC employee who comes from the shop floor, and is now an Instructor, took on more responsibility and built e-Learning packages for ASTEC\u2019s growing suite of products. E-Learning was so successful, Chris was able to start building the second phase of product releases for ASTEC and come alongside clients to put together custom safety training solutions.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\u201c[Chris] has really pulled our organization to the forefront of e-Learning and course development,\u201d said Jeff Mulligan.\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tASTEC client, Reg Bayko from Precision Contractors, mentioned how helpful the staff are when it comes to advanced e-Learning courses, \u201cH2S and Ground Disturbance aren\u2019t exactly straight forward anymore. They\u2019re getting more complicated, and there\u2019s more things being added to them, and for our guys, when we go through the courses, there\u2019s definitely that personal touch [and support] from ASTEC.\u201d\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Getting Out of the Red<\/h2>

ASTEC shifted how it allocated its revenue, too. The owners made it a rule to pay all bills within 13 days of receipt and to pay employees first. Only then would they pay themselves if there was money left over. As Mulligan put it, ASTEC was \u201cfinally able to pay today\u2019s bills with today\u2019s money.\u201d Finance Manager, Amanda Unrau added, \u201ceven if [a vendor] gives us terms of 30 days, we\u2019ll try and [pay] it before, because we don\u2019t want to have things carry on.\u201d<\/p>

Investing in their people was extremely important to the new owners, and to prove it, they implemented incentive-based salary structures and matched retirement contributions as part of a new Retirement Savings Program.<\/p>

As a result of consistent execution of the new business model, ASTEC Safety, Inc. went from money troubles in 2015 to financial growth by August of 2017.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\u201cWe now have a company that could take quite a few hits, quite a few bruises, but would still keep moving forward,\u201d said Jeff Mulligan.\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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When asked what the future holds for ASTEC Safety, Inc., Amanda Unrau said, \u201cThis is new ground for me\u2026 I\u2019ve spent so much time focused on just getting through the day and getting through the month and getting through the week, to be able to actually spend time and focus on the future and \u201cwhere do we want to go\u201d and \u201cwhat do we want to do\u201d and \u201cwhat are the missions that we want to accomplish\u201d? Having those talks is huge\u2026 I can definitely see us moving towards more blended learning models where we have more practical hands on training in a classroom [in combination with] more of the learning online, bringing virtual reality, maybe, into the classroom and being able to go in those new directions. But really, at this moment, anything is possible in my books.\u201d<\/p>

Vern Fallscheer mentioned that the team at ASTEC is focused on future trends and responding to customer input, \u201cpretty much on a daily basis. When we interact with our customers, we\u2019re asking if there\u2019s anything else we can do for them, what they need, what [they\u2019re] looking for, what should we be providing [them]. So we\u2019re trying to be engaged with our customers. We\u2019re looking at our top customers on a constant basis and trying to have a discussion with them [to] see what else we can do for them. Basically, whatever you need, we can get it for you, or we can do it for you\u2026 Anything safety wise, just give us a shout, and if we can\u2019t do it for you, we\u2019ll definitely find somebody that will.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Key Learnings from ASTEC Safety, Inc.<\/h2>\nJeff Mulligan has witnessed many business leaders rejecting new ideas and approaches because they think they have \u201cbeen there, done that.\u201d If you find yourself doing the same, reflect on whether the idea in front of you is bad or if the idea was just poorly executed in the past. When working at ASTEC, Mulligan asked himself that same question and realized that the vision of the previous owners was good, but they needed different execution, a change to the culture, and more efficient financial and human resource allocation.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDuring the transition, the new ASTEC owners asked the staff, \u201cWhat would make you proud to wear the ASTEC logo on your sleeve?\u201d Employees answered: getting ASTEC to a world-class position. So they have included all of their staff on the journey to become a world-class organization.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\u201cOnce you have people saying, \u2018I can make a difference when I get up in the morning,\u2019 that\u2019s different than \u2018coming to work,\u2019\u201d said Jeff Mulligan.\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMaybe the biggest reason for ASTEC\u2019s successful turnaround was the creation of an environment where everybody felt empowered to share ideas, were recognized for successes achieved, and took an active part in strategic planning. When your staff is part of the solution, \u201cchange\u201d feels more like \u201cinnovation\u201d, and everyone feels like part of something bigger than themselves.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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ASTEC Safety Brushes Against a Financial Cliff on the Way to Becoming an Industry Leader Proving that company culture, integrity, and strategy can make the difference Alberta-based\u00a0ASTEC Safety, Inc., well known for their\u00a0Ground Disturbance Course, provides safety training, equipment, and services to the oil & gas and construction industries in Western Canada. By 2015, ASTEC […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":73592,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-73590","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t