Commercial Solutions Inc – Comprehensive Supply Solutions
Overview
Commercial Solutions Inc., (TSX: CSA) is Western Canada’s leading supplier of Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO) products including industrial tools, oilfield and safety supplies as well as business collateral to the industrial energy sector. The company also supplies technical and communications support to a diversified international corporate client base, and has key market share in the energy service, forestry, agriculture, mining and manufacturing sectors. Commercial Solutions was originally founded in 1954 and has total of 23 service centres in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Houston and Hong Kong.
Investment Highlights
- Five consecutive quarters of growth and profitability;
- 106.9 per cent net earnings growth increase in the second 2012 fiscal quarter;
- Largest field and technical product expertise in the Canadian market;
- Experienced and invested board members & management team;
- One-stop-shop customized corporate purchasing solution – unique to the industry;
- Proven success in technical and communications support processes;
- Extensive acquisition and integration expertise;
- Well-funded with support from senior lender for future acquisitions;
- Long term relationship with key vendors and a newly established imports program
Product and Service Offering Highlights
Approximately 36 per cent of Commercial Solutions’ business is related to providing bearings and power transmission components to large-scale commercial drilling rigs and manufacturing facilities in a variety of different industries. The company also specializes in providing niche market belts, electric motors and industrial safety supplies.
The company has large-scale centralized storage warehouses in each of its major regions, which reduces overhead costs and contributes to flexible and efficient product delivery turnaround times.
Commercial Solutions is the only company in the industrial energy sector to provide an international call centre to its clients, equipped with live operators who provide expert advice and technical and product support services.
Bearings and Power Transmission 
Commercial Solutions has represented leading manufacturers of bearings and power transmission components since 1954. Commercial Solutions provides bearings and power transmission components to heavy industry throughout Canada, and to the petrochemical industry internationally helping to find effective, efficient solutions to technical challenges.
The company has leading expertise in anti-rotation devices for ACHE applications and supplies all the peripheral products needed when the rigs go into the fields, and all the operational products needed to keep the rigs functional in the field. The Company also specializes in providing niche market belts, electric motors and industrial safety supplies.
Safety and EMS Supplies 
Commercial Solutions supplies personal protective equipment (PPE) and sophisticated safety kits and tools to all Canadian industries. The in-house technical team maintains an in-depth knowledge of government standards and keeps abreast of recent research.
Commercial Solutions supplies the most crucial tools in the firefighting, EMS, and law enforcement industries. The company distributes products with a proven track record of saving lives, reducing property loss, and contributing to the safety of first responders on the job.
Product lineups include personal protective equipment and apparel from lockout systems, breathing apparatuses, bunker gear, helmets, hooligan wrenches and emergency vehicles.
Energy Service Supplies 
Commercial Solutions has been working closely with key players in the drilling, extraction and distribution of oil, natural gas and oil sands for over 50 years. The company has large-scale centralized storage warehouses in each of its major regions, which reduces overhead costs and contributes to flexible and efficient product delivery turnaround times. The company has the products and experience to service every aspect of oilfield maintenance and supply- from drilling, well testing and well servicing to instrumentation, plant turnarounds and fabrication.
Commercial Solutions’ Energy Services teams have the experience and expertise brought from years of operating as Cando Oilfield Supplies and Rentals Ltd, Impact Oilfield Supply Inc, CanGlobal Oilfield Instrumentation and Rig Products Inc.
Industrial Supplies 
The Industrial Solutions catalogue highlights many facets of the industrial supplies on offer. It contains details of the parts and tools required to maintain and repair mission critical machinery. Commercial Solutions is also the only company in the industrial energy sector to provide an international call centre to its clients, equipped with live operators who provide expert advice and technical and product support services.
Summary
Commercial Solutions Inc. holds a unique position in the industrial sector as a key international distributor of industrial tools and oilfield and safety supplies, and holds a dominant market share in the Western Canadian market. Commercial Solutions was originally founded in 1954, and has a management team of highly qualified and experienced industry professionals. The majority of shareholders are long-term – a testament to the company’s tenacity and longevity.
The company expanded its U.S energy sector interests in 2011 with an acquisition of a Texas operation. It has since upgraded to a larger and more visible facility in Houston in order to provide the efficient delivery of products and services to its U.S and South American clients. Commercial Solutions’ Board also projects substantial growth in the U.S market over the next fiscal year based on current client demand.
Directors and Management
James Barker – Chairman, President, and CEO
Jim Barker joined Commercial Solutions Inc. group of companies in 1989 as a management consultant. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Barker spent 17 years as a senior officer with a large manufacturing and distribution company, expanding the regional operations of the company to a North American wide distribution company, eventually selling the company to a Fortune 500 company in 1988. Mr. Barker has been Commercial Solutions Inc.’s Chairman since 2002 and President and CEO since 2004.
Dr. Ken Harrison – Director
Dr. Ken Harrison is a medical doctor with private practice and corporate experience. After 14 years of clinical practice in Alberta and British Columbia, Dr. Harrison joined Dow Chemical Canada and became the Corporate Medical Director for Dow Canada and its affiliates. In addition to clinical occupational medicine services, Dr. Harrison was a member of many Dow’s Hydrocarbons and Plastics business teams where he provided medical expertise in human health risk assessment.
Dr. Harrison carried global responsibilities for aspects of Dow’s Health Services including design and development of international medical services in developing markets. Subsequent to his retirement in 2010, Dr. Harrison continues as a medical consultant. Dr. Harrison is a graduate of the University of Alberta and appointed as an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the U of Alberta. Dr. Harrison has served as a director of Commercial Solutions Inc. since 2002.
Rozina Kassam – Chief Financial Officer
Rozina Kassam has served as the Controller of Finning (Canada), a division of Finning International Inc., an international large equipment dealer which is a publicly traded entity in the Toronto Stock Exchange. Prior to that, she was the Controller of the Fort Saskatchewan Metals Division of Sherritt International Corp., a diversified natural resource company which is also a publicly traded entity.
Mrs. Kassam is a Chartered Accountant and earned her designation through her experience at Deloitte and Touche LLP. She graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Commerce with Distinction. Mrs. Kassam has been the CFO for Commercial Solutions Inc. since 2008.
Daryl Kruper – Director
Daryl Kruper has been President and CEO of Simmax Corp. and its subsidiaries for 25 years. The corporation’s interests include an electrical mechanical construction company that he founded as well as a service company focusing primarily on the manufacture, sale and service of power generators and industrial engines. Both companies operate in many different sectors of the Canadian and International economies, including the utility, energy, mining, forestry, and construction industries. Mr. Kruper has served as a director of Commercial Solutions Inc. since 2006.
Alan Martin, CA CBV – Director
Alan Martin is a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Business Valuator entrepreneur. He is a retired partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers (“PwC”) and had been associated with the firm for 35 years. His professional practice since 1978 has principally been business investigations assignments related to dispute analysis, insurance claims, business valuations, forensic accounting and special purpose financial investigations. Mr. Martin has served as a director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Commercial Solutions Inc. since 2008.
William Rosser, LL.B – Director and Corporate Secretary
Bill Rosser is a partner at McLennan Ross LLP and practices corporate commercial securities law and has acted as general corporate and commercial counsel to a range of domestic and international corporate clients. Mr. Rosser was the founding chair of the Alberta Foundation for Environmental Excellence and Emerald Awards. He is active as a director and corporate secretary to various public and private entities as well as a trustee of several trusts. Mr. Rosser graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Commerce with Distinction (Dean’s List), and a Bachelor of Laws in 1982. Mr. Rosser has been a Commercial Solutions Inc. board member since 2002, and has served in the capacity of Corporate Secretary since 2009.
Richard Smith – Director
Richard Smith served as president and CEO of Dow AgroSciences Canada Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dow Chemical Company until 2005. Mr. Smith has also held senior management positions in the life sciences area including human pharmaceuticals, animal health, as well as several commercialization initiatives in plant biotechnology. He is currently Chairman of SemBioSys Genetics (TSX), Director of AVAC and Co-Chair of Bio Alberta. Mr. Smith has served as a director of Commercial Solutions Inc. since 2005.
