bout de papier, Vol. 4, No. 4 (1986) — Winter 1986 // Hiver 1986, p. 35
The Interimco companies acknowledged their 13th birthday on ’April Fool’s’ day this year. It has done so many things in such a broad range of commercial activities over the year, that those who ask – what is Interimco? (in spite of its longevity) may be excused.
The fact is that, as with the major consulting engineering firms today, in order to grow, the Interimco companies have had to cast their net wide while at the same time striving to maintain their basic directions. The severity of competition abroad coupled with diminishing cash and commercial markets and general economic limitations in the third world have forced hard realism and overt opportunism onto those who survive in the international arena. In their growth and performance over the years involving the completion of many projects and the sale of large quantities of Canadian goods and services, the companies have watched operating costs explode as much as tenfold. It has not been possible to adjust profit margins at anywhere near the same rate during the same period.
Fortunately, the companies’ varied and extensive experience has permitted them to succeed and to survive. Evolving from the original consultancy status, through marketing of equipment, to “packaging” and finally to project management and turnkey project implementation, has endowed the companies with a unique and progressive character and with a staff of highly qualified professionals.
Interimco companies have had a continuing close and beneficial relationship with EDC and have been able to relate a considerable portion of their success to EDC financing and to follow on business from participation in Trade Missions. The company has utilized successfully PEMD programs and has “paid back” on several programs. Over 98 per cent of its business over the past 13 years has been on a purely commercial (non aid related) basis.
Today there are in fact two major operating “Interimcos”: Interimco Projects Engineering Corporation and its subsidiaries and associate companies owned 100 per cent by C.R.D. Kelly and operating essentially in the agriculture sector; and Interimco Machinery Corporation and its subsidiaries and associate companies owned by J.T. Morris and operating essentially in the mining, heavy equipment and electronics and communications sectors.
Through their respective sectors the individual companies primarily implement projects but also continue to export products as in the case of ongoing road construction equipment to Algeria or agricultural equipment to Sudan.
Their major activities today are in:
• specifying, financing and supplying equipment in “packages” such as their 1985 five million dollar mining equipment sales to Brazil.
• project implementation including the design, engineering, equipment supply, installation, training and operation of complete projects such as large scale farms in Saudi Arabia, grain handling systems to China or the materials handling segment of the three billion dollar Cerrejon coal project in Colombia. Their major geographic areas of concentration in the mining and equipment sectors are in South America, the Far East and Algeria.
Grain handling and storage is concentrated on the Far East and Central America.
Major projects in grain crops and livestock production are centered in China, Sudan and Saudi Arabia.
The Interimco companies do provide consulting services but, almost without exception, only as an integral part of projects which they aspire to implement.
Interimco has been devoted exclusively to doing business overseas. The value of projects successfully completed and of the supply of goods and services to 57 countries around the world exceeds $550,000,000.
Today there are subsidiaries or branches in Ottawa, Alberta, Hong Kong, Singapore, Cyprus, Brazil, Colombia and Algeria.
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 4, No. 4 (1986) — Winter 1986 // Hiver 1986, p. 35. Read the rest of this issue →
