Born in Yugoslavia from Hungarian parents, Arpi Berdin fled his home in 1953 to come to Canada. He says that at the time he was only looking for a way to have freedom and a comfortable standard of living. However, on August 20th, 1963, Arpi’s Heating Ltd. began in a double car garage with only one assistant and his Germen Sheppard Chief, who guarded the equipment and tools in the back of his pickup. The work load soon took Arpi out of his garage and into an 8000 square foot facility, growing to a 30,000 square foot area and then to the 100,000 sq ft operation in Calgary that the company fills today.
To expand the business base during the continued and sometimes rapid growing period in the past 44 years, Arpi began doing commercial installations and quickly saw the need to move into the plumbing business to compliment his sheet metal operations. With two very important and qualified partners to help lead the way in the commercial field, along with steady growth in the residential field, annual volume has recently reached into the 60-70 million dollar level, calling on a work force that often exceeded 500 in numbers. This impressive work force has satisfied job requirements primarily in the Calgary area, but has expanded to include Edmonton and the rest of Alberta, as well as Saskatchewan and British Columbia.
In the 1970’s Arpi’s expanded to Edmonton to work on landmark projects such as; the Heritage Mall; and West Edmonton Mall. Due to the size of these projects, a branch office was established and with the hard work of many employees, Edmonton prospered.
Over the years many employees have contributed to the company’s success and as a result Arpi and Arp’s Industries Ltd. have been recognized time over for quality and community contributions by the Pinnacle Award group, the Private 100 Club, Lennox Industries Annual Awards, and also participated in the national advertising promoted by the Bank of Nova Scotia.
In 2006 Arpi, looking to spend more quality time with his family and wife Melvina Berdin, offered to sell the Edmonton operation to Edmonton’s senior management, Don Grundy, Todd Grundy, Ted Trainor. After negotiations were concluded on January 1, 2007 Arpis’s North Inc. was born, bringing with it 185 employees, many of whom have worked for Arpi’s for over 25 years, who continue to bring the confidence and recognition Arpi’s employees have earned in the past.