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Having built a successful construction
company “brick by brick,” over the
past 25 years, Bill Beattie, owner of
Calgary’s Beattie Homes, isn’t hesitating to
share the fruits of his success.
Beattie and his wife, Diane, were instrumental
in founding what is now known as the
Priddis Greens Charity Classic golf tournament,
to raise money for prostate cancer research
and awareness.
More than nine years later, the golf tournament
has raised upwards of $2.3 million for
the cause, helping to establish and sustain the
city’s Prostate Cancer Institute and giving
those with the illness invaluable resources
and support.
The fundraiser has also helped create a
new Centre of Excellence for Urology at
Rockyview Hospital.
While Priddis club members have since
taken over the tournament’s organization,
Beattie Homes remains a strong supporter of
the charity classic and other prostate cancerrelated
initiatives.
“It’s a great cause and one of the charities
we felt was overlooked for private donations,”
Beattie says.
“We felt Calgary’s building industry would
get behind fundraising for it, and in a large
part they have. Many of the people involved
in the tournament had either survived or
known a survivor of prostate cancer.”
Beattie has reached a place where he can
give back through hard work and belief in his
business — against all odds.
In 1983, Alberta’s economy was in a recession
in the wake of the infamous National
Energy Program.
“A lot of the showhome parades and larger
builders at that time had to shut their doors,”
Beattie recalls.
Undeterred, Beattie and his brother, who
had construction experience, scraped together
the money to launch Beattie Homes.
Everything was on the line. Beattie left his
former job and had a young family to support.
“We got our first shot with a booth in a
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large commercial warehouse,” says Beattie.
“We were thinking, ‘Let’s sell some houses!’
”
The brothers began to win customers over
with their confidence and vision, and the first
sales began to trickle in.
The rest, as they say, is history.
The company has since expanded from
single- to multi-family homes, has expanded
into Edmonton, and is one of Calgary’s most
recognized and respected home builders.
“Over the past 25 years, we’ve built a reputation
for being a quality builder that cares
about the product we build and takes pride
in the homes we finish, as well as providing
a high level of customer care,” Beattie says,
noting the company owes a lot to its dedicated
and skilled employees.
“We want to continue to develop and be
the best we can be — and giving back to the
community is part of that.”