Sifton Properties lands spot on Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies
Family values, diversified portfolio and forward thinking key aspects to company’s 87 years of operation
Monday February 22, 2010 -- Camille Jensen
Sifton Properties is being recognized as one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies for 2009.

The annual list, sponsored by Deloitte, was published in the National Post Feb. 16 highlighting companies that span industry and the country for demonstrating business excellence.

Richard Sifton, president and CEO, of Sifton Properties, says the company was nominated by one of its suppliers and it’s great to be recognized by a peer for outstanding business practices.

“We are not very big on applauding ourselves so it’s kind of nice to be pushed into the limelight to celebrate with the employees and to acknowledge that everyone is doing such a good job,” he says.

One of the key aspects for Sifton’s recognition is its commitment to family values despite becoming a large organization.

According to Richard, this means treating staff members as extended family as opposed to a number.

Richard, his brother Glen and sister Sherene Davidson still hold leadership positions in the company but have extended management to six additional professional members.

The company also has created an outside board of directors and conducts annual external audits.

Another factor to Sifton’s more than 87 years of operation is its differentiated portfolio.

Richard says Sifton has properties spanning a customer’s continuum, beginning with a residential rental portfolio and single-family homes and progressing to retirement residences and long-term care homes.

This has not only helped build customers for life, it has provided the needed diversity to weather tough economic times.

Richard also credits Sifton Properties' continued success to its forward thinking. He says the company was the first to build a solar home in southwest Ontario and was a national leader when it decided to install hydro wires underground.

Sifton Properties was also the first company to design a fully-planned community, now considered to be the norm, in London, Ontario nearly 30 years ago.

In addition to being named one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed, the company was recently awarded the 2009 Builder of the Year Award for excellence in the building industry by the London Home Builders' Association.

On March 24, Sifton Properties will also receive the London Chamber of Commerce board of directors' Corporate Icon Award for its impact on the community and contribution to the city's economic progress.

To learn more about Sifton Properties, click here.

If you have feedback on this article, please contact the newsroom at 800-294-0051, ext. 24, or e-mail camille(at)axiomnews.ca.