Piling Canada

Meet a Piling Professional

Mario Roussel, Selix Equipment
Written by Piling Canada
July 2016

Describe your current job.

My day-to-day job is to organize everything with suppliers and manufactures for all the equipment brands we represent and make sure all financial aspects of the company are in order.

What are your areas of responsibility?
Sales would be my major responsibility, but I oversee almost everything to be sure we do the best possible jobs for our customers in a timely fashion.

How did you get to where you are now?
I started renting and selling heavy equipment back in 1985 for McIntosh Equipment of Ottawa, then I represented Holder of North America, a German municipal tractor company covering all of Canada and approximately 23 states. I was working with a dealer network, and then I started developing a liking to the rock breaking and drilling industry. In 1992, I helped develop and introduce a new Japanese hydraulic rock drill brand, called Furukawa, to our country for almost 20 years. In the summer of 2011, I took the opportunity to start my own distributorship, and Selix was born.

What do you love about your job?
Every day, there are new challenges to fix and problems to help solve.

What does a typical day look like for you?
The first thing I do is help my wife with our twin seven-year-old girls. Then I answer messages that came in overnight on my cell and open my email to reply back to any inquiries, and I help the sales and parts department in the day-to-day company operation.

What are the challenges you experience in your job?
One of the largest challenges is dealing with overseas suppliers with the time differences.

What are your future goals?
To continue to work hard to make Selix a reference for the foundation and blast hole industries in Canada, and demonstrate to our customers the benefits of working with us like a true partner for their success.

What are your predictions for the future of deep foundation construction in Canada?
We believe that the work will keep on getting more and more demanding on our customers’ side of things, so we need to be aware of all and any technical advantages of our equipment and company versus others, and contractors will realize the benefits of dealing with a local Canadian supplier.

Fast Facts

First job: I worked at Atlantic Video and Sounds
Childhood ambition: To one day own my own company
Favourite food: Seafood
Last movie you watched: Cinderella
Last book you read: Time magazine
Family life: I have two boys, Sebastien (27) and Felix (23) – that’s where the name “Selix” comes from – and Elizabeth and Sophie, twin girls who will turn eight next August, and my precious wife, Mylene, who endures me
Dog person or cat person: Yes to both – we have Mozart, a two-year-old Great Dane, and Grizou, a Cornish Rex cat
How you spend your time away from work: Taking care of our property at home, boating in the summer and winter sports
Apple or Android: Apple
Best advice you’ve ever received: Always go the extra mile to achieve your goals Piling Canada


Category: Profile

About Us

Piling Canada is the premier national voice for the Canadian deep foundation construction industry. Each issue is dedicated to providing readers with current and informative editorial, including project updates, company profiles, technological advancements, safety news, environmental information, HR advice, pertinent legal issues and more.

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