David Gantar, '10 EMBA

BAA: You have an intriguing background as a former FIFA referee. Could you tell us more about that part of your life?

I was a FIFA Referee from 2011 until my retirement in 2021 and had many amazing experiences of traveling to different places in the world and running around on the field with some of the most amazing players on the planet.

BAA: Building on your experience in sports, what valuable life and work lessons did you gain from being involved in refereeing?

I find it interesting to reflect back on this as many of the skillsets I used in the boardroom are the same as I used on the field of play just in a higher pressure situation – the only major difference is that there is absolutely nothing someone can now say in a meeting to insult/rattle me I have heard it all on the field of play.

BAA: Could you describe your role at Stanley Constructions, where you serve as VP of Finance and Operations, and what a typical day at work looks like for you?

As an owner of a company, there is no one else to blame but yourself. There may be a few repeat tasks in my month but on the whole, at Stanley, we all roll up our sleeves, work as a team and get whatever needs to be done, done.

BAA: Given that Stanley Constructions is a family-founded and operated business, what is your vision for the company's future as one of the co-founders? How do you plan to carry forward the legacy?

There is one thing Paul and I shook on prior to starting Stanley: “We would only hire people we believed to be awesome and we would only keep people that are either awesome or working towards it.” That is the way that we believe we will be able to deliver our Vision of Delivering Worry Free Construction. A lot of the construction industry still seems to be stuck in a time where customer satisfaction was not the most important measure of success – we are changing that one experience at a time.

BAA: How do you foster innovation and continuous improvement within Stanley Constructions?

One of our core values focuses our teams on continuously improving and further to this every single employee has objectives in achieving this. Hundred's of process improvements are implemented each year on all of our job sites and we expect that that trend will continue. This is not a fad to us, it is the way we do business.

BAA: Can you mention any sustainability or community initiatives that Stanley Constructions is involved in or plans to undertake?

From a sustainability perspective, at the time, Stanley constructed the largest multi-family Net Zero structure in North America in Morinville. It was a great collaboration between the architect, engineers and trades and we designed and built it in a way that we are proud of.

On a smaller scale, we love to avoid putting things into a dumpster and take extra effort to ensure things are recycled but more importantly re-used – in 2023 alone, we estimate that we diverted 30 tonnes of waste from landfills.

Stanley believes that we need to be a part of the community that we operate in and it is also ingrained in our values. Yearly, we contribute to various organizations but more importantly, we (and our team) enjoy working for community organizations in construction projects – in 2023 Stanley donated nearly 400 hours of employee time (employees were paid but the community organizations did not have to pay anything).

BAA: Could you share any rewarding project or achievement you’ve experienced while working at Stanley Constructions?

There are so many things I look back at with pride including: hitting our 100th completed project, seeing members of our team start as laborers – become Journeyman Carpenters and now developing into site supervisors to creating a way of operating that would be the envy of any construction company BUT what stands out the most is the pride people have in being a member of the Stanley Team. The company is named after our Father, Stanley Gantar, who passed away but embodied the values of a company we wanted to emulate.

BAA: Lastly, as an alumnus, what advice would you offer to aspiring professionals aiming to enter the construction industry, particularly in finance and operations roles?

Research companies that share your values and start early to build a relationship with them. For example, at Stanley, we are always hiring summer students to work on construction sites, that experience and relationship building is invaluable for those looking for a career in the construction industry.