Why CGC’s Sid Tetz thinks in decades, not quarters

Key Takeaways:

• Sid Tetz chose a manufacturing career over the oil and gas sector. He focuses on long-term market cycles and generational planning.
• CGC is investing heavily in a new $210M wallboard plant in Alberta to be closer to customers, reduce lead times, and support growth in Western Canada. The company is also pursuing acquisitions (like Imperial Building Products) to diversify offerings and improve operational efficiency across multiple products.
• CGC is developing lighter, more durable, and fire-resistant products to support modular construction and panelization. The company sees industrialized building methods as a future trend and is positioning itself to meet rising Canadian construction demand with flexible and nimble manufacturing.

The Whole Story:

When Sid Tetz was wrapping up studying business at the University of Alberta and looking to start his career, oil and gas was the obvious choice.

“It’s the natural place to go,” he said.

But Tetz was looking at the longterm, trying to see where markets were going. He grew up not far from a fibreglass manufacturing plant and instead threw himself into building materials manufacturing. 

“Manufacturing was being outsourced and pushed overseas. My thesis was that it can’t persist to be true,” he said. “The investment will come back. There will always need to be places for people to live and work. So I thought it was a great industry to get involved in and it was diversified from oil and gas.”

He’s never looked back. Today he’s the vice president and general manager of CGC, a major Canadian manufacturer and distributor of wallboard, interior finishing materials, and suspended acoustical ceilings.

His instincts to stay focused on long cycles that play out over years rather than what is happening this quarter have served him well in a business that requires careful strategic planning. 

“We are always being challenged to think generationally,” said Tetz. “We look out at least a decade minimum. That’s because there is a high level of investment required and the longevity of investments going into the ground.” 

CGC’s latest big move is wrapping up work on a new wallboard manufacturing plant in Wheatland County, Alberta, with an investment of more than $210 million. The 220,000-square-foot facility is expected to boost Sheetrock wallboard supply in Western Canada and generate over 200 construction jobs and about 100 permanent manufacturing positions. Tetz said it will start producing sometime next year.

“For wallboard there are two choices: be close to the rock source or the customer. You don’t always get that unicorn with both,” said Tetz. “This is an investment in being close to the customer, reducing lead times, not shipping long distances, greater flexibility to deal with moments in time where there is peak demand.”

This is big in a business where you are largely selling products that are heavy and don’t travel long distances well. They are durable but fragile. And Canada is particularly challenging as its major population centres are spread out thousands of kilometres from each other. 

“How do you make sure you can cover that radius but have the plant utilization to justify the investment?” said Tetz.

While some are anxious about investing during such a tumultuous time, Tetz isn’t fazed. Tariffs have hit Western Canada hard and the global politics of trade have been thrown into chaos. But CGC sees the future demand going up and wants to be there when it does.

“From a builder’s perspective, it’s a cyclical business, sometimes you have to ride out the lows, this makes it difficult to make that investment decision for a market, but we’re confident in the Western Canadian market,” said Tetz.

Additionally it will allow CGC to grow their product line and boost production elsewhere as it takes pressure off other assets. This means CGC can invest holistically and free up resources to improve their entire platform. 

CGC has also been expanding through acquisition, completing its purchase of steel manufacturing company Imperial Building Products earlier this year. CGC says by combining its expertise in wall and ceiling solutions with IBP’s leadership in steel framing, they can create a more complete, reliable offering.

“If we can put these businesses together, we have the capability of operating multi-product plants,” said Tetz. 

It’s a big challenge but would provide even more efficiency when it comes to shipping. 

Another trend CGC has its eye on is the industrialization of the construction process through modular construction methods and panelization. They are already working to develop products that support these efforts. 

“The challenge in Canada, for fully modular construction methods, is the distance and density. It puts limits on it,” said Tetz. “The investments of today are helping fund that modular shift in the future, but the challenge is the duration and staying power of these modular businesses.”

CGC has been developing lighter, more durable products that have increased fire resistance. This brings down the weight of assembled units and makes modules easier to move around. 

“It’s difficult to make a rock-based product light, protective against fires and not brittle,” said Tetz. It’s about trying to find that magical formula.” 

When it comes to the Canadian construction market as a whole, Tetz is bullish about demand rising. And building manufacturers need to make investments today to supply tomorrow’s projects. 

“From our perspective, we need to make sure we’ve got as strong an asset base as possible and continue to invest in our core foundation, which is mining and processing wallboard,” said Tetz. “At the end of the day, everyone is looking to get things done on time and on budget. If you fast-forward into the future, and there is increased demand and tighter timelines, manufacturing must be more flexible and nimble.”