Merkley Supply CEO Robert Merkley to receive 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award

October 31, 2024

The head of one of the National Capital Region’s best-known building supply companies is the recipient of the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award presented by OBJ and the Ottawa Board of Trade.

Merkley Supply president and CEO Robert Merkley, who has spent more than four decades at the helm of the masonry supplier that bears his family name, will receive the honour during the Best Ottawa Business Awards on Friday, Nov. 29 at The Westin Ottawa.

For Merkley, who turned 70 earlier this year, it’s the culmination of a career that has seen the Ottawa native become one of the most respected leaders in the local construction industry.

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The company’s origins can be traced back to the early 1900s, when the business was founded in Casselman by Merkley’s family. The firm soon became a major supplier of bricks for some of the capital’s most prominent buildings, including hospitals, schools and other municipal landmarks.

Its growth accelerated under the leadership of Merkley’s father Cameron, who took over the company in the early 1960s and guided an expansion that saw the company evolve into the region’s largest supplier of bricks and masonry products.

When the senior Merkley retired in 1982, Robert took the helm and proceeded to modernize the company while launching industry initiatives such as a trade show that hosted educational seminars and promoted careers in the trades.

Today, Merkley Supply employs more than 40 people and provides materials for an estimated 80 per cent of all residential, commercial and industrial construction projects in the Ottawa area. But its CEO’s impact on the company and his industry extends beyond the bottom line.

A tireless advocate for a host of industry and community causes, Merkley was recently nominated for the Order of Ottawa for his many contributions to his hometown.

Merkley has held a number of leadership positions in major industry associations. He spent a combined total of 35 years on the boards of the Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association and the Ottawa Construction Association, including three years as president of the GOHBA and another year as chair of the OCA.

However, it’s his philanthropic contributions that many would consider to be Merkley’s greatest legacy. Over the years, he has led efforts to raise millions of dollars for local charities.

In the early 2000s, for example, he spearheaded a campaign that saw the building trades industry contribute $100 million to The Ottawa Hospital’s Legacy Campaign. Later, he helped raise nearly $8 million for the Algonquin Centre for Construction Excellence, a facility designed to train the next generation of industry professionals.

In 2010, Merkley joined forces with two other Ottawa construction industry leaders, Minto’s Roger Greenberg and Claude DesRosiers of Boone Plumbing and Heating Supply, to create The Ottawa Hospital’s Ride for Research, a cycling event that has since raised more than $11 million for cancer research. Merkley’s company team, the Merkley Supply Brick Peddlers, has contributed nearly $1.5 million to that total.

In recognition of his philanthropic achievements, in 2014 the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Ottawa chapter named Merkley its Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser of the Year.