Joneljim Concrete Construction (1994) Ltd.

If you could build a company anywhere in the world, why would you choose Sydney, Nova Scotia? Jim Kehoe, president and founder of Joneljim Concrete Construction, says he did so because of the people. “Our company is one of the most successful contractors in Nova Scotia because of the people who work for us,” he said. 

“We have a very strong workforce and very loyal. They’re very knowledgeable of the type of work they do. They take a lot of pride in what they do and that’s so important,” Kehoe said. “You know, if you want to do a good job, you have to take pride in it.”
 
“And we have some of the best tradespeople in the world here” he said, adding that some of the supervisors in his company began as trades people straight out of school. Kehoe said his company employs 200 people “and you know they’re there when you need them.”
 
With such fabulous employees Kehoe said “We could go anywhere in the world and compete,” but added that he chooses not to because of the lifestyle he and his employees enjoy on Cape Breton Island.
 
Kehoe’s employees work a 40-hour week and always have their weekends off. “They have lots of time for their families and enjoying what we have here to enjoy which is a lot,” he said.
 
Kehoe said Cape Breton is a great place for outdoor enthusiasts. “If you enjoy golf, we have some real nice golf courses. If you like going out and hiking, we have great hiking trails. We have all kinds of great fishing locations, if you like fishing.” He added that the region is also a paradise for seafood lovers. “We have an abundance of fresh fish and shellfish, lobsters and crab.”
 
Kehoe spends his free time fishing, hunting small game and “using the Bras d’Or Lakes as a playground.”
 
Another advantage to living in Cape Breton is its affordability, Kehoe said. “You can get a nice house here for $100,000. Most people own their own homes. The mortgages are small. So it’s a pretty good lifestyle.”
 
This affordable lifestyle is good for Kehoe’s business. As a general contractor he relies not only on well-trained, loyal staff but he also needs to build to stay in business and there has been no shortage of major construction projects for Joneljim.
 
Kehoe founded the company in 1971 and business has been growing every year. The company is currently working on 24 projects including a cancer wing at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital, the Sydney YMCA, and the Pottles Lake Water Treatment Plant.
 
Kehoe says his company’s old style of general contracting allows it to deliver large projects on time and on budget.
 
He said most general contracting companies today act as brokers employing only a few management people and sub-contracting all the labour. Joneljim, in contrast, still has in-house staff working in trades such as framing, millwork, excavation, and concrete work. In fact, he said, the only things they sub-contract are electrical and mechanical work, and structural steel.
 
“We are our own subs but we also find ways of doing things and doing it better by using our own forces. We can control the quality. We can control the timeline. And that’s all money,” he said. “We can offer a good quality product at the right price and the right timeline so that (the client) can get their business up and running on the timeline that they have in their schedule,”
 
Another thing that makes Joneljim stand out from other general contractors is that “we don’t go outside the province. It’s strictly the province where we work and most of our people are from Nova Scotia.”
 
Joneljim partners with Nova Scotian architectural and engineering firms and uses a lot of local products. In fact, Kehoe said, the only time the company uses products from outside Nova Scotia is when it is not available in the province.
 
Joneljim stays on the leading edge of the general contracting business by keeping up with the latest technology. “As soon as new technology becomes available, we try to get it as soon as possible,” Kehoe said. He agreed it gets expensive but “it pays off in the end because you know you’re on the leading edge all the time so that’s good for business.”
 
Kehoe also runs several companies related to Joneljim including: RONA Stephens Home Centres, Sydney Millwork, North Air Windows and Door Ltd., Elegant Homes Inc., Joneljim Realty Ltd., Parkside Developments Ltd.,  East Coast Rope and Polysteel Atlantic Ltd., and City Printers. All of the companies operate in Nova Scotia.
 
Because Kehoe has a passion for his business, he wants to see others succeed too. In 2002 he received the Order of Nova Scotia for his work investing in struggling companies, giving them the capital they needed to survive and create employment.
 
One of the ways he does this is through BCA Investment Co-operative. The first of its kind in Nova Scotia, BCA operates like an RRSP except that all the investment money goes into local businesses. With 400 investors, BCA has been directly responsible for creating and saving more than 200 jobs in Cape Breton.
 
Kehoe has also been involved in New Dawn Enterprises, a not-for-profit umbrella organization that seeks to answer the needs of the Cape Breton Community. New Dawn has overseen projects in health care, affordable housing, mental health services, and wind energy.
 
Kehoe even turned his passion for hockey into a going concern by partnering with other Sydney businessmen to build the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles hockey franchise. “We all do it because we want a team here and the team has been successful which was a real bonus. We do it for the community.”
 
The icing on the cake came when Kehoe got to see Marc-André Fleury, the former Screaming Eagles goaltender,  help the Pittsburgh Penguins win the 2009 Stanley Cup.