Tundra Process Solutions: An Entrepreneurial Journey in the Energy Industry

“Alberta's future is more optimistic now than ever”, says notable business leader Iggy Domagalski, CEO of Calgary-based Tundra Process Solutions. Iggy has established Tundra Solutions as a trusted supplier of a diverse range of industrial process equipment, maintenance, and technical services in western Canada. His company specializes in oil & gas, oil sands, forestry, petrochemical, mining and municipal sectors.

Tundra currently operates four facilities in Alberta with locations in Calgary, Edmonton and Grande Prairie. They also have a local sales presence in Fort McMurray, Red Deer, southern Saskatchewan, Fort St. John and Vancouver, British Columbia. Tundra has established itself as an expert amongst other industrial parts businesses in Canada and is known for manufacturing valves, actuators, motors, drives, control buildings, boilers, water treatment solutions, and much more!

Iggy sat down with Rachel Gregory, Digital Host at The Global Energy Show, to discuss his entrepreneurial journey in the energy industry and how he and his company have been offering environmentally friendly products for the last 22 years.

Iggy Domagalski, CEO, Tundra Process Solutions

The Creation of Tundra Process Solutions

Rachel: You are a recognized Top 40 Under 40 and Top 50 Most Inspirational Canadian Entrepreneurs. Can you tell us about your entrepreneurial journey and how this led to the eventual creation of Tundra Process Solutions?

Iggy: The words are just fun, little things along the journey. They're just little moments in time. The real fun is the whole journey. I've loved business ever since I was a little kid. I had my first small business when I was 12 years old. I went to business school and have had a chance to work with some great people and be a part of some pretty cool companies along the way.

Tundra is a pretty cool story. I did not start Tundra, a partner and I bought it 15 years ago. It was a pretty small company back then, and over the last 15 years, we just spent a lot of time and effort organically growing the company, making a couple of small acquisitions along the way. We're a company that sells and is a services provider of industrial process equipment. And to sell great equipment, you have to have great manufacturing partners. We were lucky along the way to partner up with just some of the absolute best in the industry like Toshiba, ABB, Ferris, MSA and Cleaver-Brooks. Those partners have been incredibly valuable in our growth history. The other part is the actual people inside of Tundra; they are just absolutely incredible.

The Dynamic Corporate Culture at Tundra

Rachel: You mentioned the people, and it's no secret that you built an incredible corporate culture. Can you tell us more about how you are personally involved in guiding the dynamic corporate culture at Tundra? And is it true that even your employee’s pets get recognized and receive yummy treats over the holidays?

Iggy: That is true. I think it's just important to bring, not just the people in your company into your culture, but also their families. The people in our company are the most important thing that we have. If they all chose not to come back tomorrow, there would be no Tundra.

Ultimately I think for us, it starts with communication and trust, especially during the last year. And then I think part of culture is built on transparency, sharing where we're going and why we're going there. And then, of course, we like fun too, so we like to have fun things.

The Tundra Acquisition

Rachel: Earlier this year, Wajax acquired Tundra Solutions. Congratulations. That's very exciting. How will this change things over at Tundra in the next year, and what can Tundra customers and Wajax customers expect?

Iggy: I got a call from Mark Foote, who is the CEO of Wajax Corporation. He said, “We've been looking at you guys from afar for a long time. It's a very interesting time right now — and you know, sometimes interesting things can happen during interesting times. Would you be open to starting a dialogue around a potential acquisition?”

Tundra’s operations and Wajax’s strategy and business were a hundred percent complimentary when we looked into it. I've never met the leadership team from Wajax in person. As a precautionary safety measure due to Covid-19 activity levels, the entire transaction was done over zoom. The message that Wajax gave to Tundra and me was, “We're buying you because we like you, we're buying you because we think you're a good company, and we believe that you do things in a good way, and we don't want to wreck that, we don't want to change that. For the most part, we're just going to leave you alone. We’ll have to integrate a few things: Wajax has just a phenomenal safety program and a few other I.T Programs that are far more advanced than Tundras. The way you do business, your customer relationships, supplier relationships, operations, service, all of those things — nothing's changing there, and your products aren't changing. It's all the same, and we want to leave that as is and establish meaningful growth for both companies.”

This acquisition will ultimately allow both companies to benefit on a meaningful scale and expedite Tundra’s goals to become a leading ERS provider in Canada.

Tundra’s Part in Achieving Net-Zero by 2050

Rachel: There's a lot of talk about reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving net-zero by 2050, including here in Canada. What are your thoughts on this?

Iggy: I am more optimistic about Alberta's future now than I've ever been in my entire career. I think Canada is positioned quite well in the world energy forum. The story that we have to tell about the fossil fuels that we create is that they are made to the highest standards of anywhere in the world, is a story that we're starting to get better at telling. And natural gas, I believe, will be just a massive player for the next 20-30 years. I think that any time the world produces fewer emissions, it's a good thing. Tundra is 22 years old, and really since the beginning of Tundra's life, we've been offering industrial products that do that.

Future Projections of Tundra’s Market Leadership

Rachel: I have to ask, what's next in the future for you and Tundra? I know our viewers would be excited to hear that.

Iggy: I love my job. I feel privileged to lead a pretty neat company with a great team of dedicated professionals. I like coming to work every day, even if it’s in my home office with the murphy bed behind me. Our consistent vision drives us to continue to grow Tundra’s technical capabilities. Over the last 12 years, we've grown an average of 28% every year. Now, we just have a bigger partner behind us, so we'll be able to do even more.

Rachel: Great to hear about Tundra and your culture and just how you are putting it all together and navigating through this crazy year. Thank you again for taking the time to sit down with me today.

Learn More About Key Players in the Energy Industry

Now, more than ever, energy companies are required to take greater initiative to embrace new opportunities and innovate their processes and technologies to establish carbon footprints smaller than their competitors. Iggy Domalgski is an excellent example of how industry leaders are focusing on environmentally-friendly initiatives, regardless of their geographic footprint.

If you’re interested in learning more about topics such as the role of Canadian energy companies in achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, from the key players in the industry, register for the next Global Energy Show today.