CEO Garett Wall on the Centra Windows Culture

Centra Windows recently won Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Culture for the second time! We spoke to Centra CEO Garett Wall about this big win and what it means for the company.

What does this major award mean to you personally, and to Centra as a whole?

For myself and for Centra, winning the Waterstone Award is such a great recognition of our amazing Employee Ownership group. It’s a recognition of all the hard work and effort and intentional purpose we have about our culture. It means so much to us as we continue to grow and expand. It helps differentiate us, and it provides new opportunities. We want to say thank you to the Waterstone group. This award is a powerful testament to the unwavering dedication of our entire team. It goes beyond an individual honour. It’s a celebration of Centra as a whole, and the hard work put in by every team member.

What would you say is the most important element of the Centra Culture?

The most important thing about our culture comes down to one of our key differentiators. We’re Employee Owned. Everybody here is a partner at Centra, and when everyone has an ownership stake in a company, they’re accountable to each other, they believe in each other, and they’re there to support. It creates a unique culture where we take care of each other, which allows us to better take care of our customers, which then drives great business results.

Family is the first of Centra’s five Core Values. How would you describe the importance of family at Centra?

Our Core Values are Family, Entrepreneurial Spirit, Respect, Safety, and Teamwork, but Family really encompasses all of them. Our duty being Employee Owned is to make sure we’re providing opportunities for families. That’s not just professionally, although of course we want to provide ladders of opportunity. It’s also personally as well. Can we help people give back to their community through the Centra Cares Foundation? Can we help support them as they become new parents or buy their first home? For us, family is everything.

Waterstone emphasizes the importance of culture in driving company performance. How does it drive Centra’s performance?

Culture absolutely drives performance at Centra. Without it, we would not perform as we have in the past and as we will continue to in the future. If you look at our culture, it’s a collective group of people who are very passionate about what they do, care about each other, and care about their customers. That brings an agility to it. In the last few years, between COVID, supply chain issues, increased demand, and new opportunities, that agility has proven very successful. In fact, over the last few years, we’ve been able to double in size, and the agility embodied in our culture has been integral to that. It’s central to Centra.

The company has seen, and will continue to see, rapid growth. How does Centra ensure it stays true to its culture?

We have it baked in that part of our culture is bringing in new people through new geographies, new customers, new suppliers, and new opportunities. We truly believe that our culture is an evolution. It’s continually improving, continually changing, and getting more diverse. Even in the acquisition we undertook in the last year and a half – everybody at Supreme Windows had an opportunity to become an Employee Owner. They actually chose Centra because of our culture. It’s been so amazing to have all these new families join Centra and have the chance to provide opportunities to people and families that they’d never usually have to become a business owner. That’s really what makes our culture beautiful.

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