Timber Tech Truss Inc., Lethbridge’s largest manufacturer and supplier of wooden trusses, is helping to build the future of Lethbridge College through its $200,000 gift, which was announced Wednesday and will benefit skilled trades and technologies training at the college.
The substantial gift will create two classrooms, named after Timber Tech, in phase two of Lethbridge College’s trades and technologies facility, set to open in 2017.
"The new addition of the trades and technologies facility is a great asset to the college and the city,” says Derrill Murphy, founder and President of Timber Tech Truss Inc. “Having this facility here in Lethbridge contributes greatly to keeping our young, skilled tradespeople right here in southern Alberta. Lethbridge needs these workers and we don't have to go elsewhere to hire trades personnel."
Timber Tech Truss Inc. employs many Lethbridge College graduates, including alumni of the Carpenter Apprenticeship Training, Engineering Design and Drafting Technology, and Business Administration programs. Timber Tech has previously partnered with the college as part of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) College Home initiative and as an Adopt-A-Kodiak sponsor. The company was also a key supporter of the Lethbridge Construction Association’s $100,000 donation to the college in April.
“Timber Tech has physically contributed to building so much of the city of Lethbridge,” says Lethbridge College President and CEO Dr. Paula Burns. “And now, this gift will help build the college and our programming as we grow with the new trades and technologies facility. This is a great partnership between two long-time members of the Lethbridge community.”
Timber Tech Truss Inc. is a locally-owned family business founded by Derrill and Pearl Murphy in 1980. Two of their children, Ryan Murphy and Wendy Going, both attended Lethbridge College and now hold key roles in the organization while also sitting on the company’s board of directors. The couple’s other daughter, Robin McCulloch, owns and operates Lethbridge-based HiTech Bracing. Timber Tech CEO Kelly Skauge is also a Lethbridge College alumni (Business Administration – 1986).
Derrill and Pearl Murphy are members of the CHBA Hall of Fame, after developing Timber Tech into a company which supplies approximately 90 per cent of the wooden trusses used in home construction in Lethbridge. Timber Tech has expanded to include offices in Calgary and Medicine Hat and supports a wide variety of community initiatives across southern Alberta.
“Timber Tech Truss is proud to have been a contributor to the success of Lethbridge and southern Alberta,” says Derrill Murphy. “We are very fortunate to have an amazing management and staff team. Teamwork, along with good customer service, has made Timber Tech Truss a leader in the truss industry in Alberta.”
The first phase of the new trades and technologies facility officially opened on Sep. 30, 2015. When completed in 2017, it will be the largest centre of its kind south of Calgary and will house students in multiple skilled trades and technology programs.
More information is available on the new trades and technologies facility and the Possibilities are Endless campaign.