聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 After being an employee for six years, Mathew Sleeva is now the owner of Gabora Electric in Canora.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Sleeva said he wanted to keep using the same name because everybody knows Gabora Electric and the former owner, the late Jerry Gabora. It鈥檚 also a tribute to 鈥渢he best boss I ever had.鈥
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The only difference in the name is that 鈥2015 Ltd.鈥 has been added after the name, he said. The official take-over date was December 18.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Sleeve recalls that he was working with the town鈥檚 labour crew when he asked Gabora about a possible job opening. It wasn鈥檛 long before he was giving his two-weeks notice and began along this career route. He was encouraged to begin studying for his apprenticeship and two years ago, he earned his journeyman鈥檚 ticket. It was a combination of on-the-job training and doing the classwork in Moose Jaw.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It鈥檚 the kind of work that Sleeva says he finds interesting and challenging. He is currently concentrating on all the local business and the few bigger jobs that were started when Gabora was still around.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It鈥檚 important to be dependable and do the high quality work that people expect, Sleeva said. He tries to be as flexible as possible to accommodate all customers and he plans to do work of which he is proud.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Gabora was a great teacher and he was loaded with knowledge, he said. Gabora will be missed in the community and at the shop.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 When business picks up, Sleeva said he expects to hire a few helpers, perhaps even a journeyman electrician. For now, he is handling the workload by himself.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Sleeva said he is eager to work in this community and be part of the community. He and his girlfriend, Shyla Kaiser, own their own house in Canora and they had a baby six months ago.