Metal, it’s one of the core building blocks of our society, economy and life as we know it. The companies that produce it in all of its various forms are often large in comparison to their surroundings and are often key building blocks of the communities and local economies they support.

When every decision and move your company makes has the potential to have major ripple effects in the local community, environment and the lives of thousands of people, making sure you have got a good leader at the helm is critical.

In the commodities world, much of your businesses success is can be dictated by global prices. Everything else that you can control has to be executed well with a constant eye to changing and shifting forces, as the small town company competes on the global market. At Teck Trail, the new leadership has been putting in place the key building blocks to set the company up for growth over it’s next 100 years.

The week before Christmas, we had the chance to sit down with Thompson Hickey, the GM of the largest private employer in the West Kootenay. Having been in the role for two years, we looked back at his own past, what he has been able to accomplish so far, and where he hopes to drive the local business behemoth that is Teck Trail Operations.

Move to a small town, while taking over the reigns of the biggest company in the region shortly after exiting the big industry world to launch your own small consulting firm, introduce a new leadership style, and drive a century old business into the future? You Can Do That Here!

You Can Do That Here! is created and produced by Andrew Zwicker of AZcre8ive, a digital storytelling company.