Hive CEO Credits Community Connections For Business Award
MONCTON – Andrea Kalafut says her integration into New Brunswick’s business community was a major factor that led to her walking across the stage on October 18 to receive the Excellence in Business Award for Small and Medium Enterprises.
Kalafut is the CEO of Hive Engineering. She remembers that moment as emotional and overwhelming and told Huddle she has steadily worked since landing in New Brunswick in 2007 to build a strong professional network.
“I know a lot of people and made it a priority of mine to know people in the business world of Moncton,” Kalafut said.
“I think a lot of people know me and I’m proud to have done that. I’m originally from the United States and I moved here with my partner. I started my business only five years ago and it’s overwhelming to think that we could win the award having only been here for such a short period of time, and also not being from New Brunswick.”
Kalafut was quick to credit Hive’s wine to the clients she and her staff have amassed since the firm launched in 2017.
“I run into clients that that sometimes I feel are more excited about my business than I am. Everybody in New Brunswick has been so amazing to me and my company that I can’t have enough gratitude,” she said.
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The Iowa transplant was one of 12 winners announced at the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Moncton’s Business Excellence Awards last month.
Hive provides environmental engineering consulting services in predominantly commercial and multi-unit residential real estate transactions.
With no shortage of work, Hive has seen steady growth in demand for its services. In fact, that demand grew to the point where Hive moved to a new, larger home in downtown Moncton at 29 Victoria Street.
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Kalafut said that in spite of labour shortages she plans to hire between six and ten new staff in the next six months to help accommodate Hive’s growth. She also plans to expand in neighbouring Nova Scotia, where Hive has a burgeoning market.
“One of the people I work with said, ‘it’s like nobody knows about our company, or knows that Hive Engineering is a place that you can go work.’ I took that to heart and started thinking about it and she was right on the mark,” said Kalafut.
“I think the award will elevate our profile a little bit so we can hire more people and put them in seats and expand.”
However, Kalafut stressed that she plans to keep her firm independent at a time when a lot of larger firms are buying up the competition.
“The big firms are gobbling up the small firms, so there’s less and less options to choose from,” she said.
“There’s the same number of people but fewer options. I love the idea that I can have a personal relationship with my clients and give them a solution, one-on-one, without having to get permission from anybody else in an organization.”
Kalafut holds a bachelor of engineering and civil engineering and a master’s degree in engineering and environmental engineering from University of Iowa. She believes her firm has an advantage – and earned the award it won in October – because of its focus on the technical side of things and how it leans into the work itself.
“It’s my opinion that the consulting engineering business has gotten a little overrun by accountants and lawyers and not the engineers who actually know about the engineering,” she said.
“Our business model is trying to evolve and say ‘okay, we are the engineers, we are in charge.’ I think a lot of my clients appreciate the fact that I come at it from a technically responsible and common-sense approach to solving their problems.”
Kalafut is also a member of the board of directors for the Moncton SPCA and is a past president of the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies.
“We do a lot of work with the Tim Hortons food drive that happens around Christmastime, every year,” she said. “We are, in my opinion, doing our part to give back and make sure we’re involved.”
Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].