Ziebarth Electrical Contractors (ZEC), an Ottawa-based, family business, prides itself on several achievements over the course of its 47-year history in the city. These include staff members who have been with the company since its inception, its involvement in the community, and currently, its essential role in the city’s explosive growth.
These achievements fuel the company’s progression, says Johannes Ziebarth, President and CEO of ZEC.
“We have worked hard over the past 47 years to build a strong reputation centered around quality, culture, and collaboration. This has helped us develop great partnerships that enable us to be sustainable as a company. It’s something I’m very proud of, and again, it comes down to the great work and dedication from all our staff. We are one big family,” he says.
The family vibe is tangible, adds Spencer Warren, vice-president with ZEC. “We treat everyone as family and because of that, we have a very low attrition rate.” A lot of ZEC’s employees have been with the company for decades.
Started by Paul Ziebarth in 1977 as a small commercial electrical company, ZEC is now a full-service electrical and maintenance provider in the National Capital Region. Paul’s son, Johannes, worked his way up the ranks over the years, immersing himself in every aspect of the business, and now owns and operates the company. ZEC employs over 130 electricians, who are currently working on dozens of projects around the region, in addition to 40 other full-time staff.
Family-oriented culture
The family-oriented culture has extended to ZEC’s involvement in the community. Finding himself requiring support in relation to a family member dealing with substance abuse, Ziebarth reached out to the Royal Ottawa Hospital. It was there he found what he needed in the way of regular meetings, and since then, Ziebarth helped establish the Royal’s Family and Client Resource Hub. “I believe all businesses that are fortunate enough should find a community-based organization to support,” Ziebarth says.
It is this family and community-oriented mindset that inform ZEC’s approach to all projects on the books now.
These include 11 of the City of Ottawa’s Light Rail Rapid Transit stations, and many of the residential apartments popping up across the city’s suburbs. Ziebarth says current projections for work on the books show substantial growth year over year with some really exciting projects and partnerships on the horizon.
ZEC is also partnered in a joint venture for the renovations taking place at the Parliament Centre Block, which is estimated to take another 10 years to complete.
In addition to the family values that infuse the company, decades of technical expertise inform the workmanship that goes into every project. Ziebarth says the process starts not with the actual work, but through listening to clients and what they require.
ZEC provides design-build and value-engineering; electrical demolitions and retrofits; telecommunications and systems installations; fire alarm, security, video and sound system installations; and building maintenance and repair. The company’s current slate of projects is definitely in line with the city’s transformation. For example, light rail, the many large apartments, and the company installed over 500 electrical vehicle charging stations across the city.
Growth Opportunities
“For us, light rail has been a great project because it’s a growth opportunity for us. We’ve really stepped up and worked hard on that and all our other different projects, even during Covid,” he says, explaining that those were the hardest years because material costs skyrocketed. Nevertheless, ZEC is still able to be sustainable and make it affordable for the city and for ourselves to carry on, Ziebarth adds.
“Our team is growing substantially with the additions of more project managers, field staff and engineering support, so we’re continuing to grow and we want to continue to grow even further.” Warren is also excited about the prospect of the city’s trajectory. “Ottawa is continuing to grow at a rapid speed, definitely in some different areas of the city like Barrhaven,” Warren says, explaining that post-Covid, there is a shift to more apartment builds, which are more affordable.
There is no doubt that ZEC will continue to expand alongside the City of Ottawa, with a continued focus on its family-oriented values. “Our greatest asset is our employees, and therefore we believe that it’s important to have core values that we are willing to commit to. This helps foster a great work culture, which really is the backbone of our company,” says Ziebarth.
This article first appeared in the September 2024 special “City Building” issue of the Ottawa Business Journal. That publication is available in its digital edition below.
