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As the Alberta economy continues to chug along recovering from the perils of (yet again) another economic downturn, out of the turmoil rises some of Alberta’s entrepreneurs: those that dare to challenge old paradigms, those that see an opportunity and those with the courage to try again.
Gordon Leaf is the owner and President of Calgary based, Sunset Memorial & Stone and he is no stranger to the ups and downs of economic uncertainty in the province. An Albertan born and raised, Leaf entered the workforce with an Engineering degree during a downturn in the oil industry in 1983. After working as a consulting engineer for a couple of years he earned an MBA degree in 1987, and then became a Product Manager for Nortel Networks in Calgary. Over his 21-year career at Nortel, Leaf’s position required him to be forward looking to develop new and innovative products for a quickly evolving high-tech marketplace. He is most proud of working with strong teams (many of which consisted of Alberta based employees) that together achieved the #1 global market share for their business communications products. Despite this success, the 130-year-old multi-national company fell into bankruptcy 6 years ago and Leaf was then faced with the most challenging situation he ever faced – how to apply 24 years of “non oil industry based” business skills, into a role that allows him to remain in Alberta.
Leaf said that during this tough time, his father’s support and advice to him was very helpful. His most memorable guidance was two statements, “It’s not what you do, but how you do it, and who you do it with.” and “The most enjoyment in life is when you create something out of your own inspiration and then watch it flourish.” With this perspective, Leaf investigated a number of business investment options and through a good family friend was able to acquire a small company that manufactures monuments and columbaria for local cemeteries throughout central and southern Alberta.
Today, Sunset Memorial and Stone is vying for a piece of a 4 billion dollar North American cemetery market. What makes the purchase of Sunset Memorial & Stone so appealing (to a guy with a hankering for building things) is that Sunset excels at manufacturing a product that most people have never even heard of before, “a columbarium”.
The “columbarium” or plural form “columbaria” are large freestanding granite cemetery structures that are compartmentalized by niches and designed to hold cremated remains. The first North American structures were originally built as pretty standard concrete “boxes” that lacked in style, quality construction materials or suffered from design or structural failure.
According to The Cremation Association of North America’s 2016 Annual Statistics Report, Canada is experiencing a cremation rate of 68.8%, which for years has surpassed the rate of in-ground burial. For decades, the outlier has been the province of British Columbia, which has had cremation rates up to 90%. The United States is currently experiencing rates of 48.6%, highlighting a slower yet constant growth trend. Many American Cemeteries are just beginning to experience this shift and recognize the need to provide above ground interment options for their families. Faced with a low Canadian dollar (primarily as a result of depressed oil prices), and with the huge opportunity for growth in the US cremation rates, Leaf has pivoted Sunset towards the American market.
Leaf says that Sunset is positioned to capitalize on this opportunity, as it is already a recognized leader in the industry. It was the first company to develop a key locked inner security door, providing extra security to the interred cremains. They were the first to employ Nylene as an interior core material. Nylene was first created by the US Military and is now used in the M1 Abrams tank and in the underbelly of the Predator drones because of its strength and performance in extreme temperatures, not to mention its cost advantages.
Sunset has also established itself as the “go-to company” to design and build some of the most complex structures in the industry. They were first in North America to create reliquary ledges for an award winning “Lees + Associates” project in the City of Vancouver’s Mountain View Cemetery. Sunset also created one of the most technically challenging columbarium projects ever built, “Hillside Landings” is a series of uniquely distinct, yet complementary curved granite rooflines with angled niche bases that cascade down a hillside at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Edmonton. In close collaboration with “Hilton Landmarks” (an Ontario based Landscape Architectural firm) Hillside Landings is one of Sunset’s greatest achievements. For more information visit http://www.sunsetstone.com/
In an attempt to present Sunset’s columbaria to the larger American Cemetery market, the company created a new website http://www.columbariumusa.com/. Today, Sunset is reaping the rewards of years of hard work, innovation and expertise that the US market has never seen before. Featured in the American Cemetery Magazine in 2014 and 2015 and with 2016 sales in Jefferson City, Missouri, Bangor, Maine and Dallas, Texas, Sunset has hit its stride.
Leaf says “it’s easy to talk yourself out of venturing into the US with all of the protectionist sentiments that seem to be gaining traction. Dealing with cross boarder trade may not be for everyone”. “However, its been my experience that Americans recognize value when they see it, and an Alberta based business can actually leverage the fact that Canadians are generally well regarded down south”.
Despite Alberta’s soft business environment, the offshore migration of Canadian manufacturing and the huge global political upheavals that have occurred in 2016, Sunset Memorial & Stone demonstrates that growth is still possible by leveraging one of the best employee bases in the world with a creative and flexible business approach.
Release ID: 146528