Ackard Contractors Ltd.

Aquilino Naccarato and Richard Plamondon, owners of Ackard Contractors, are practically family. They met more than 30 years ago through their wives, Maryanne and Valerie, who went to high school together. Fast friends, Richard and Aquilino had similar backgrounds and common interests: Both were hard workers, both came from construction families and both were carpenters themselves – they even did their apprenticeship training together. “We’re very fortunate,” says Richard. “We both trust each other, and we both honour each other’s choices or decisions.”

In the 1980s, Richard and Aquilino were new journeymen with young families in the middle of Alberta’s toughest recession. Because both Richard and Aquilino have entrepreneurial spirits, they began taking on side jobs, and quickly rose the ranks to running their own crews. During the economic downturn, they were both offered out-of-town work, but because family is their priority, they chose to start up Ackard Contractors instead.

Initially, Richard and Aquilino would split up and do jobs separately to keep busy. “Those first couple of years were pretty hard,” Aquilino says, “because you did all your estimating in the evening and then you did all of the work during the day.” Back then, they only had a couple of employees, but now, more than 30 years later, Ackard Contractors has grown to over 35 employees and is a full-service builder providing exceptional, award-winning, custom builds and renovations.