Big Time Support for Small Customer

Pat Nixon, a small landscaping contractor and owner of Planit Holdings Ltd. in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, was surprised when he was told he had won Finning’s Big Time Support contest. “I couldn’t believe it, I rarely take these surveys and the one time I do, I come up a winner,” said Pat. The contest involved taking a brief online survey to help us understand what we can do to help you grow your business. In return, you were entered to win $5,000 towards a machine, attachments, parts or service. “This means a lot to me as a start-up company, as all of my expenses are out of pocket. So to have $5,000 for service and parts for my machines, that’s incredible,” said Pat.

Planit Holdings grew out of the downturn in the oil sands. “I have spent pretty well my entire life working in the oil field and have missed seeing my kids grow up,” said Pat. “For the past two years, I have been hatching this idea for starting my own company. So last March when the work dried up in the oil sands, I followed my intuition and started Planit Holdings. I still have a nine year old daughter at home, so starting this company affords me the opportunity to be there while she grows up.” Planit Holdings is also a family affair, as Pat’s sons Kory and Kauy have joined him in the business.

They have two Cat® 287D skid steers and do mainly landscaping, re-building driveways, mulching and snow removal. Business was slow to start but has been continually growing. “We got a lot of requests for re-building driveways in the spring and summer given the wet conditions, and snow removal has kept us very busy this winter,” says Pat. 

“We like our Cats – my sons and I are Cat people. I like the reliability, performance, feel and I’m comfortable in them,” said Pat. One of the biggest things Pat loves about his Cat skid steers is they are both wide track machines with the flotation system. “The track machines are the only way to go in wet areas. The ride control and traction on them is phenomenal. I’ve been through some pretty rough stuff on them and I really enjoy having those machines,” says Pat. “The Flying Dust First Nations hold a demolition derby charity event for Father’s Day every year. They were going to cancel the event last year because the pit was so wet. They called us in and those two machines had the whole track cleaned up in 45 minutes. We used to be the only two track machines in town, but in the last year alone, I’ve seen four more on tracks.”