Young Miramichi entrepreneur making his mark in the oil patch

When you're 20 years old and working as a pipefitter in the oil patch what do you do with with your money? If you're Tanner Stewart of Miramichi, you start a company that eventually makes $20 million a year.

Tanner is 28, a 2003 JMH graduate, and the son of Kathy Stewart and Robert Landry. His grandparents are from South Nelson, Lloyd and Helen Stewart. When graduated high school, Tanner did odd jobs around Miramichi for about a year, then went to Alberta and worked with pipefitters toward his certification.

In 2007 he decided to he wanted to start a business and buy his own welding rig and hire someone to run it. TFL Industries was born. He found it hard to find business financing and was turned down by the first 5 places he applied, despite having good personal credit. Eventually he got funding, and a year later he had 5 rigs and 5 employees.

Then the recession hit in 2008, and everything went flat. He met someone with some space in a fabrication shop to rent, and Tanner started to think about changing his business. Some of the guys Tanner had working for him had fabrication experience, and that's the direction the company took. In 2010 they had 6 to 8 employees and made a little over $1 million.

They soon outgrew their space, and are now building a 20,000 sq foot fabrication facility. The company now has 120 employees, and is on pace to earn $20 million this year. Tanner credits the company's young, dynamic management team that is always coming up with new ideas and new ways to leave their mark on the industry.

TFL produces pipe spools, processes structural steel, pre-fabricates tanks, and produces complete conveyor systems, rail systems, and more; the Module yard, producing steel modules, equipment modules and piping modules; and Field installation, performing structural steel erection, deep underground piping, tanks, SAG-D piping, pipeline installation, field coating, HDPE fusing, and FRP / GRE.

His grandmother, Helen, says they are very proud of him, and will be going soon to visit for a few weeks. She says Tanner will be home this summer, too, as one of his best friends Jeremy Regan is getting married.