Top 10 businessmen

Times Contributor   

 

When it comes to business know how, Rocking Horse Energy Services is standing toe-to-toe with its big business competitors.

The company placed second in the Alberta Venture magazine’s ranking of Top 50 Fast Growth companies in Alberta (www.albertaventure.com) for 2012 and placed in the Top Ten again in 2013.

“It’s always exciting, we’re two years in a row in the top ten,” said Steve Marshman, Company President.

Companies large and small compete for the right to be recognized by Alberta Venture and must supply three years of financial records for evaluation. The books are evaluated by KPMG, an independent tax, audit and business advisor. The ratings are based on revenue growth, capital expenditures, marketing and research and development budgets, as well as employee growth. 

Rocking Horse Energy Services has an impressive growth record, moving from just over $800,000 in revenue to over $8.5 million in revenue in the last three years. It increased its assets by 90 per cent and expanded the employee base by 75 per cent.

Company President Steve Marshman worked from the rig floor up, as a rig roughneck with Cora Lynn Drilling. From there, he climbed the ladder of skill and experience, until he formed Rocking Horse Energy Services in 1998.  He branched out as an independent consultant to Cora Lynn and offered services to other companies, like Terracore. He developed a reputation for superior work which led to new and larger contracts in the industry. He expanded his business by bringing Curtis and Greg Evans in as co-owners in 2008. The group purchased their own drill coring equipment, and jump-started the business into a full drill core supply service.  

“We focus mostly on the coring. We can pull up to any drilling rig and supply the coring fluid system,” said Marshman.“We cut a reservoir sample from any kind of formation. Salts, potash, oil or gas, any kind of reservoir where they are looking to prove the reserves.”

Marshman said one reason his business succeeds is that it gives a higher quality service that others don’t.

“It’s first class. Instead of a Sea-Can we provide a Freightliner truck and a full core shack with wire line winches. We provide three guys for crew, where a lot of the competition only provides one guy,” said Marshman.

The company also develops innovations to meet their consumer needs. For example, Rocking Horse Energy Services re-engineered and built a bigger wire line system to maximize the size of core that can be taken from any well site. Marshman said the system is proprietary to the company and is very popular. 

Last year, the company moved their shop from outside of town, into Strathmore’s Spruce Park Industrial District. Many of the employees at Rocking Horse Energy have roots the Strathmore area.

“We were very fortunate, because we worked with other drilling companies and we had a lot of friends and coworkers in the industry that wanted to work with us. We were able to grow that way quite easily,” said Marshman.

He said the company usually hires by employee referral. To train someone in the field can cost up to $70,000 or $80,000. If someone comes in with the skills, experience or mindset to learn, it can save the company a great deal of money. 

Safety is a priority for the company. Marshman finds that trying to cut costs by taking short cuts or making do with broken equipment just doesn’t cut it. He said having experienced supervisors also keeps employees safe. He stresses that working safely is working smart. The company has also won a Conoco Phillips Contractor Safety Award. 

Along with safety, the company pays attention to environmental concerns. The company uses biodegradable oils in the sampling process and recaptures the fluid as it surfaces, reintroducing it into the mud system. Disposal is done according to industry and environmental standards. 

“Our goal is to put out the best tools we can, the best equipment we can and the best people we can,” said Marshman.

The owners all agree that communication with each other and holding to values of integrity, independence, hard work, honesty, planning and adapting to change led to achieving a top ten business.

Attention to those qualities has paid off. Word of mouth in the industry has gained the company a positive reputation. They have done drilling all over Alberta, including the Oilsands, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec and even expanded overseas to Australia. They recently purchased a company called Sebco Coring Ltd. and added it to the company structure. 

Canadian oil and gas fields present a development frontier. Companies from other countries are coming to Alberta to cash in on its rich resources. Marshman said the Oilsands constitute about 70 percent of their business and the Alberta owned company will continue to focus their skills here. However, the future may lead to tapping in to overseas opportunities.

“We are hoping to get into markets outside our borders. There are opportunities in every continent and country. When you are looking to expand and go into the different mineral markets, there is lots of opportunity all over the world,” said VP of Sales and Marketing and Co-owner, Scott Erickson. Erickson joined the company as a co-owner in 2012.