ESTEVAN - The latest inductee into the Nick and Verna Morsky Estevan Business Hall of Fame has been a big part of the city's business community for over 65 years.
Bert Baxter Transport was enshrined into the hall during the Estevan Chamber of Commerce's Estevan Business Excellence Awards Friday night at the Southeast College. The crowd of 160 people gave a lengthy standing ovation as the company's owners, the Shirley family, made their way to the stage to accept the honour.
In his acceptance speech, Darryl Shirley, who is one of the owners of the business, noted that Baxter, who was the original owner of the company, arrived in Estevan in the early 1950s after working on the construction of the Alaska Highway.
"He showed up in Estevan with a truck and no fuel," Darryl Shirley told the crowd.
Bert Baxter Transport was incorporated in 1957. Graham Shirley moved to Estevan in 1964 to work for Baxter, and in 1977, Graham and Nancy Shirley, along with Elmer Vicary, purchased the business. Vicary eventually left to become a member of the Estevan Police Service, and he sold his shares to the Shirleys.
The company has grown to 70 trucks and 66 employees. At one time, before the slowdown in the oilpatch in 2014, they had over 110 employees and 150 pieces of equipment. The company's head office is still on Kensington Avenue, just north of Fourth Street. A maintenance shed is on Devonian Street in the industrial area, and they have a pipe yard on the Highway 39 truck bypass north of the city. A branch office is located in Leduc, Alta.
The business provides specialized transportation services to the oilpatch in Western Canada, as well as open-deck transportation of goods and equipment on a contract basis in Canada and the U.S. Specialized equipment includes pickers, winch trucks, bed trucks and trailers to haul all oilfield equipment and materials.
"It's been a rocky road, a long road. We couldn't have gotten there without the support of the community, without the support of our wonderful customers, and most importantly our employees. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be here," said Darryl.
The company does its best to let their employees do their job, he said. It's not easy driving long haul, because employees face long hours, hard work and days away from home.
Bert Baxter Transport takes an active role in the community through supporting recreational and cultural organizations.
Numerous members of the Shirley family were there for the award presentation. Darryl remembers his father driving truck in his younger days and being gone for days at a time while travelling back and forth to Edmonton. Darryl and his brothers got into the company and they helped build it up.
"We all became truck drivers. We all became picker operators, forklift operators. We used to get up … at 5 in the morning and worked until midnight. It's been a good run," said Darryl who added they're not done yet.
Darryl described the induction as "very humbling", and they never expected anything like this.
"We're not in here for awards. We're here to provide a service, but it is nice to be recognized," said Darryl.
Earlier in the night, he looked at all of the businesses that were nominated for the EBEX Awards, and he said he couldn't imagine how the selection committee made its decision. It had to be very hard because they are all great businesses with great people.
"They all deserve to win," said Darryl.
The Hall of Fame was introduced in 2011 during the first edition of the resurrected biennial EBEX Awards. The Morskys were among the inaugural inductees, and their names were attached to the Hall of Fame thanks to their ownership of a number of businesses in Estevan. Verna and her daughter Pam Dechief were among those in attendance.
Bert Baxter Transport is the 10th company, family or individual to be inducted into the Business Hall of Fame.
