By Ted McIntyre
Founded: 1953 Members: 119
OHB: You folks were hit rather hard by the March 30 ice storm.
Sandy Tuckey: “The region is still reeling from the damage. Personally, we lost at least 20 trees, and our gazebo, part of our deck, roof and fence were badly damaged. Parts of the region were under a state of emergency for quite a while. A few of our roofers and trades stepped up and offered to look after any local residents who needed help. And I put tons of homeowners in touch with members.”
I see you spent 26 and a half years at the Barrie Examiner before joining SCHBA as the EO.
“I worked my way up at the Examiner from age 19 to become director of advertising and publisher. I left the paper in 2016 and Metroland closed it down a year later. In my role there I sold to several builders and had also sat on the SCHBA board from 2011 until I left the Examiner. So when the EO opportunity came up in 2017, I interviewed for the position—actually several interviews. It was a four-month process.”
What makes SCHBA special?
“Our region has around 360,000 residents, but our members are a very close-knit family. Any member can call me and know I’ll immediately address their needs. There’s never a time when a new member comes through the door at a dinner meeting that I don’t reach out to make sure they feel welcomed. I love getting to know them—their kids, pets’ names. It’s about building relationships. And once you get involved, you’ll probably never leave. Our retention has always been over 90%.”
SCHBA has taken great strides in working with the City of Barrie.
“We’ve been actively working to get a seat at the table when their planning department is looking at new zoning bylaws and other decisions that affect our industry members. Our current president, Heljar Hansen, has been huge in this regard. He helped set up a meeting with the City in May and a second in June, and there will be quarterly meetings after that. That’s a first for us. We’re taking baby steps, but there’s a sense that the City is here to work with us now and not just be a regulator. And we’ve seen new members stepping up to be part of our advocacy committee, which is wonderful.”
As community projects go, you’re in the midst of something very special with Youth Haven.
“Youth Haven is a shelter for at-risk youth aged 16-24 who have left home for multiple reasons, such as fleeing sexually abusive or drug-ridden environments. Executive Director Lucy Gowers reached out in the summer of 2022 and asked if I could get any trades members to come in and make some cosmetic repairs since their facility was in disrepair—broken tiles, holes in walls, etc. One of our board members at the time, Mark Mulder, toured the building with me. I was in tears over the condition these kids were living in. I shared our experience with our board, and they asked, ‘What more can we do?’ One of our engineer members did a structural walkaround and said it was unsafe. So we unanimously decided to do a community rebuild. It was something our association had often done in the past—builds for the local hospital, Gilda’s Club, etc. And we ran charity ice fishing tournaments for years, always giving back to the community. So we developed a committee.
“It took a while to get everything approved, but we’re taking it from a 16- to 31-bed facility. The footprint is increasing considerably. It will be two beds per room instead of four, so the kids will have more privacy. There will be a physician room, working space for the kids to study, a rec room, and more. It’s a $2 million build. I can’t tell you how much of our community, like the Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs, have provided substantial monetary donations. Many members have supplied extensive materials and labour for free, while others have offered highly discounted rates. Groundbreaking was in October 2024. I can’t wait for the grand opening—likely in September
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