Zackary Ditner

Vice President @ Bigelow Flooring - The Flooring Specialists

About

I've spent the better part of my career in the flooring and construction world.I'm the VP of Finance & Operations at Bigelow Flooring, a family-owned company in Guelph that supplies and installs flooring for residential and commercial clients across the Waterloo Region and Hamilton corridor. Before joining Bigelow in 2014, I ran my own construction company for seven years. Starting something from nothing and figuring it out as you go teaches you things no classroom can, and I carry that experience into everything I do today.My role sits across a lot of territory. Finance, vendor relationships, operations, people management, and building the kind of systems that let a growing trades business actually function without chaos. I work alongside our owner in an EOS structure as the Integrator, which suits me well. I like making sure the right things get done by the right people at the right time.A few things I care about a lot: honesty with clients and teammates, teams that take real ownership, and always trying to get a little better than we were last year. I'm also a certified flooring inspector, which keeps me connected to the technical side of the industry, not just the business side.Outside of work I spend a lot of time thinking about leadership and what it actually looks like in a small business. Currently working through Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team and finding it pretty relevant to real life.If you're in flooring, construction, or the building products world, I'd love to connect.

Country

Canada

City

Guelph

Industry

Construction

Skill

Accounting, Communication, Engineering, AutoCAD, Profit & Loss Management, Organization Skills, Team Management, Construction, Construction Management, Construction Drawings, Flooring, Architectural Drawings, Property Management, Small Business, Warehouse Management, Field Installation, Project Management, Roll Master, Company Operations, Retail Operations

Experience

Vice President

Bigelow Flooring - The Flooring Specialists

2014-7 - Present · 12 yrs 3 mos

Guelph Ontario Canada

Bigelow Flooring is a family-owned flooring supply and installation company serving residential and commercial clients across the Guelph, Waterloo Region, and Hamilton corridor. I joined the team in 2014 and have grown into the VP Finance & Operations role over the past decade. Day to day I'm responsible for financial oversight, vendor and purchasing relationships, operations, and the people side of the business. I also function as the EOS Integrator alongside our owner, which means keeping the leadership team aligned, running our quarterly planning process, and making sure we actually execute on what we say we're going to do. I'm a certified flooring inspector through CFIU, which keeps me grounded in the technical side of what we sell and install. It's one of those things that makes a real difference when you're sitting across from a client or a supplier and the conversation gets technical. What I enjoy most about this role is that no two days look the same. One day it's a vendor negotiation, the next it's working through a people challenge with the team, and the next it's digging into the numbers to figure out where we can do better. It keeps things interesting.

Owner

Ditner Construction

2007-7 - 2014-7 · 7 yrs 1 mo

Puslinch Ontario Canada

I founded and ran Ditner Construction for seven years, serving residential and light commercial clients in the Waterloo Region. Day to day that meant estimating, winning work, managing subcontractors, keeping clients happy, and handling all the financial and administrative side of the business as a sole proprietor. Running your own company teaches you things that are hard to learn any other way. You feel every decision in a way you just don't when you're working for someone else. That experience gave me a foundation I still draw on constantly, and it's a big part of why I think the way I do about business, ownership, and accountability.