Keeping construction sites moving
Written by Peter Assaff, September 10th 2019
Doucet's Landscaping has been a Bathurst fixture for 50 years
For more than 50 years now, Doucet’s Landscaping has been a fixture in the Bathurst area.
Located on King Avenue, just inside the City Limits, the company is situated right across the street from the farm the family grew up on.
“When the bypass went through, we moved across over here,” said Alvin Doucet, who was just a teenager when he and his brothers Ronnie and Howard got their start in the 1960s.
“It was Howard and I at first,” he said. “Then Ronnie graduated from university, St. FX, with a bachelor of commerce.”
Doucet brothers all had their roles
Ronnie took care of the finances while “Howard looked after the men and I looked after the jobs and the equipment,” said Alvin. “We started pretty much at Brunswick (Mine). I was operating a backhoe myself over there and we bought a single axle truck after that.”
Eventually a fourth brother, Cletus, came on board.
“Cletus was managing the office,” said Alvin. “He’s retired now.”
Like so many companies that got their start in the 1960s and 70s in the Bathurst area, Doucet Landscaping found a lot of their early business by landing contracts with, what was then, one of the largest Zinc Producing Mines in the world. (Brunswick Mine opened in 1964 and closed in 2013 after exhausting its ore supply.)
“We were contracting for the mines,” said Alvin. “We just kept building. Then we got into excavation.”
Alvin Doucet
Mining boom of the late 60s and early 70s fueled growth
With so many workers moving to the area in the late 60s and early 70s to work at Brunswick Mine, subdivisions started popping up throughout the region. That provided the Doucet brothers with a chance to grow.
“In the 70s, when they opened subdivisions in East Bathurst and Parkwood Heights there was nobody local bidding on those jobs, so we hopped on board,” said Alvin. “That is when we started to really really expand. We just couldn’t keep enough equipment in the yard.”
Over the years, Doucet’s Landscaping has worked on jobs throughout the region including Heath Steel Mines and the Belledune Smelter.
This photo that hangs in the offices of Doucet Landscaping is of a damn at Heath Steel Mine and is one of the many projects the company has worked on over the years.
“In the late 80s, early 90s, we went heavy into Caribou Mines,” said Alvin. “We were doing all the work out there, from the crushing to the concentrate right to the hauling
of it. We were busy out there. We had a lot of men, we were probably running about 80 men then. We took the ore right from the portal up to the crusher. The whole works. They contracted that out. We’d run there 24 hours a day.”
A devastating family loss
Ronnie took care of the finances while “Howard looked after the men and I looked after the jobs and the equipment,” said Alvin. “We started pretty much at Brunswick (Mine). I was operating a backhoe myself over there and we bought a single axle truck after that.”
Eventually a fourth brother, Cletus, came on board.
“Cletus was managing the office,” said Alvin. “He’s retired now.”
Like so many companies that got their start in the 1960s and 70s in the Bathurst area, Doucet Landscaping found a lot of their early business by landing contracts with, what was then, one of the largest Zinc Producing Mines in the world. (Brunswick Mine opened in 1964 and closed in 2013 after exhausting its ore supply.)
“We were contracting for the mines,” said Alvin. “We just kept building. Then we got into excavation.”
Giving back to the community
Unfortunately, Howard didn’t get to see the ongoing success of the company after passing away unexpectedly nearly 30 years ago from heart disease.
“It was a huge loss,” said Alvin. “He was so smart. He could see the future – he’d say ‘we’re going to need this, we’re going to need that’.”
The family pays tribute to Howard every September by holding a golf tournament in his honour at Gowan Brae Golf and Country Club.
Today, Doucet’s Landscaping employs about 25 workers, providing a variety of services ranging from excavation to demolition, and have been keeping construction sites moving in the region for half a century. They also rent equipment.
“I was in high school (when we started),” said Alvin. “I’m going to be 72 in October. Ronnie is going to be 80 in January, and he is still in here every morning. You can’t stop. It’s in your blood.
“I come in every morning. We’re steady. There is always something.”
Taking Care of Business with Contendo
By Peter Assaff
Contendo is a leading software solutions company based in Belledune, NB. Originally focused on safety training solutions for some of the largest companies in Canada’s Oil and Gas Industry, Contendo has taken the lessons they’ve learned and adapted their offerings to uniquely serve small and medium sized businesses on the East Coast. Contendo offers proprietary web-based software products, such as a Training Management System (TMS), online Safety Training courses, custom Client-Specific Online Training and company or site Employee Orientation Packages. Contendo has also developed an in demand, state of the art Labour, Equipment and Materials Summary tool (LEMS) to help businesses control invoicing, project tracking and payroll.
Peter Assaff is Contendo’s Business Development Lead. Peter is also an award-winning journalist, with over 30 years of experience in radio, newspaper and television. Reach out to Peter at peter@contendo.ca if you have an idea for a story on a successful business, or for any information on the products and services Contendo has to offer.
