In 1974, Barry Henry’s father, Ralph, saw a truck-mounted auger, and purchased it with his 16-year-old son in mind. By 1979, Barry was putting the truck to use often; building pole barns and augering holes for construction companies under the name D&B Auger Services Inc. Throughout the 1980’s, Barry along with his wife/business partner Bonnie, expanded the business to utility pole sales, delivery and installation. Despite having three young kids to raise, and being in their early 20’s.
Barry and Bonnie ventured into the drilling market, buying the third largest truck-mounted drilling machine in Canada in the early 1990’s. In 1998, Don Henry joined his father, and together they and Bonnie expanded the business further. Don brought new aggressive ideas to the company, and in the early 2000’s he and Barry noticed a void in the marketplace for a company that specialized in drilling. In response, they purchased a 1988 track-mounted Spiradrill rig, and put it to work immediately on a project in Burnaby that required pre-drilling for a 2,000-pile job.
Like his father had done 20 year’s earlier, Don learned how to use this new piece of equipment, manage the project, and repair the drill when necessary. The hours were long, and the work often difficult, but the payoff for Don was the creation of a new company: