The History of The Langley Concrete Group of Companies: A Strong Foundation
Langley Concrete and Tile Ltd. was incorporated in 1960, fifteen years after being started in 1945 when Jacob Omelaniec began making well linings (tile) for his neighbours and other farmers in Aldergrove.
As his business grew he made a decision to move to Langley Prairie (now Langley City) in 1947 to continue expanding his production capabilities and to expand his market. With Jacob making the product and Nettie, his wife, helping and doing the books, business continued on with their two sons Mike and Sam helping out after school and on the weekends.
Over time the old ‘wet cast’ methodology could not keep up with demand so machinery was purchased to begin the 'dry casting' of the same well tile products and culvert pipe, beginning the expansion into a broader range of products. Mike and Sam finished university and both eventually came back to the business working either in the business end, in the plant, or both.
Over the next 17 years business grew and the Omelaniec’s concentrated on giving customers what they wanted and expanding the plant facilities to include ‘new’ gasketed bell and spigot pipe, manholes and catch basins. Unfortunately in 1983 Jacob Omelaniec passed away. The two sons retained controlling interest in the company and made the tough decision to expand to a new facility on Logan Avenue during the slow economic times of the early 1980's.
An Ongoing Legacy
In 1989 Langley Concrete and Tile Ltd. purchased the assets of Pre-Con Products of Abbotsford and Lombard Pre-Cast in Victoria making the group of small companies the second largest precast products manufacturer in British Columbia.
The results of these business decisions over the past 60 plus years, combined with the efforts of employees and management alike, is the basis of what the company is now.
In July of 1992 Mike purchased the shares of Sam Omelaniec and became the sole owner of the company. All four of his sons, Michael, Mark, Kevin and Jason were actively working in the business at this time and Mike felt it would be better to grow the business rather than find a way out.
The plant in Langley, currently the site of the companies head office and a distribution yard for local customers, was expanded four times over the next ten years.
The Precon operation in Abbotsford was expanded and additional equipment added, as well as a significant re-investment was made in Lombard. It became evident that with the growth of the customer base, the size and scope of the products needed for a growing infrastructure and a need for modernization a decision was made to build a new state of the art production facility in Chilliwack.
The untimely death of Mike in 2003 due to complications while being treated for lung cancer slowed the building process but in 2006 the highly productive and efficient ‘Superplant’ was commissioned.
The company has passed to the four sons; Mark as President, Kevin as VP of Manufacturing, Michael as Human Resources Manager and Jason as Technical Sales.
Today and Tomorrow
The strength of The Langley Concrete Group lies in it’s employees. We currently employ 95 people at the Chilliwack plant and another 25 in Victoria at Lombard Precast. The company closed the Abbotsford and Langley production facilities but retained a distribution yard in Langley on the site of the Logan Ave. plant.
Current management has a philosophy of increasing market share by reducing costs and increasing production capabilities while investing in new forms and equipment to expand product capabilities. Investments made to protect position in the market, stream line production, and further product lines match a desire to be the most efficient concrete products manufacturer in B.C. and the Pacific Northwest.
Through the cooperation of our employees and the constant reinvestment of the shareholders the company is continuing to grow and progress with a culture of safety, enabling of employees and responding to the direct needs of customers.
The future of Pre-cast concrete products is strong and Langley Concrete Group is confident that through perseverance and hard work it will be able to satisfy the needs of both their customers and their employees.
Mission Statement & Recognition
We are dedicated to providing our customers in B.C. and the Pacific Northwest the highest quality Pre-cast concrete solutions for their use in constructing the civil underground infrastructure in this region.
Our strength is the value we add through high quality service, practical knowledge and experience-based advice in how to design and utilize our products to meet the needs and expectations of the end user.
Our ability to respond to customer requests, supplying high quality products and implementing product or service improvements that come from listening to our customers is the gauge of our success.
We measure our performance in terms of satisfied customers.
"We are dedicated to providing our customers in B.C. and the Pacific Northwest the highest quality Precast concrete solutions for their use in constructing the infrastructure in the region. Our strength is the value we add through high quality service, practical knowledge and experience based advice in how to design and use our products to meet the needs and expectations of the end user. We measure our performance in terms of satisfied customers. The gauge of our success is our ability to respond to customer requests, supplying high quality products and implementing product or serviceimprovements that come from listening to our customers is."
The management, staff and employees of The Langley Concrete Group of Companies have a mission to provide the best quality precast concrete products to our customers at the best possible price. We strive to work with our customers at solving the problems they encounter in the field in an effort to create new business opportunities for our company.
Our mission is to provide exemplary service and strive to go to the next level for our customers.
Management realizes that we are responsible to keep our customers and employees happy. We have a commitment to keep a safe, well-maintained facility with the goal of finding ways of making our products better, faster and safer than we have ever before. Our goal is to provide a good place to work, treat people as we would be expected to be treated and pay a fair wage for a fair day's work. We recognize that we are going to be only as successful as our employee's cooperation will allow. We appreciate our employees and do the best we can to extend our companies' success in a way that affects a tangible reward to each employee.
Our employees are part of a team that must work together to do the best job we can for our ultimate owners; our customers. Without the customer's satisfaction with our product, price, and service we would not be able to exist. We ask of our employees the recognition that we as employers have the ultimate task of running our business the best we know how. To plan, schedule, and manage our facility with the best interest of the owners, employees and customers at heart.
A key part of our attitude towards our employees, customers and suppliers is one of respect. We respect the rights of our employees and their privacy and we ask that in return there exists a respect of our investment in machinery, tools, equipment and facilities. We ask our employees to treat our company as a place of employment where the success of the company results in all employees and staff sharing in that success.
