The year was 1958 when a dream turned to reality for Ray Cyr. A prairie
farmboy who found himself in Windsor Ontario when the war ended, was
ready to embark on his own success story. Combining depression era work
ethic, farm machinery smarts and common sense with skills gleaned from
Canada’s cartown and the support of his wife Josephine, R.J. Cyr Co.
was ready for business! Those McDougall Street days were the beginning. The seed was sewn and
our fate was cast: to provide excellence in customer service and quality products,
to re-invest in the business for the long haul and at the same time make money
and share profits with employees. In 1969, we entered the patented track market, becoming a distributor and
installer of the Cleveland Tramrail line of cranes and monorail products.
This enabled R.J. Cyr Co. to provide customers with a high-carbon patented
rail line in addition to its own standard I-beam cranes and monorails. By 1973, we had outgrown the original shop and moved to the outskirts of
Windsor, Ontario. Our product lines had expanded to include Heppenstall
lifting devices and Unified bridges. In-house engineering staff expanded
with product offerings. In 1979 we doubled the size of the shop with
engineering, fabrication and installation of the addition – all completed
by R.J. Cyr Co. employees. In 1983 we celebrated our 25th Anniversary and focused on new markets,
automatic monorails and a new generation of hinged steel belt conveyors. It wasn’t long before the “information base” of the firm needed more space,
too. Office expansion in 1986 accommodated a growing staff of professionals,
project managers, engineers, designers, technicians, accounting, sales and
support personnel. The nineties marked our entrance into niche markets with Venturi Scrubbers,
Scrap Metal Preheaters and the complete installation of an aluminum casting
plant – our first multi-million dollar order. Mathews and Anchor Conveyor
broadened our range of products. Turning 40 in 1998, the second generation is, as ever, the product of
dedication, loyalty, caring and hard work. Although Raymond and Josephine have passed on, their dream is very
much a reality and their spirit lives on with every successful job. “Le plus on change, le plus on revient.” |
