Where some businesses have pages of carefully-written guidelines for treating people with respect, John Bourque has a 12-foot, scrap-metal statue of a T-Rex on his front lot to prove his commitment. 

“It’s our little bit of corporate social responsibility,” says the president of custom metal fabricator Bourque Industrial Ltd. of Saint John about the masked, vaccine-holding dinosaur. “It’s been our part to promote safety related to COVID. It’s our story.”

And what a story it is. Two years ago, a few of his staff pros, looking for something different to do with their time and skills, decided to construct a larger version of a four-inch model of the monster they had received as a supplier promotion. They then displayed their handiwork for all to see. “When COVID hit, we put a mask on him and gave him a big needle,” Bourque says. “The response was huge.”

Between Facebook and Twitter, the sculpture has received thousands of likes and comments. In April, Bourque doubled-down on the fame, and his larger message, by tweeting: “If this old fossil wants a vaccine we all should want it. #vaccine #COVID19 @InfoPEI @nsgov @Gov_NB @HCS_GovNL the sooner we all do the quicker we will #atlanticbubble @BourqueInd”

All of which may sound a little unorthodox for company like this. After all, Bourque Industrial has been in business for decades, custom fabricating carbon steel, stainless steel, nickel alloy, and aluminum for local and global markets. It manufactures new, and replaces or repairs old, equipment for customers in leading industries, including: power generation, petroleum refining, process equipment, and structural steel. 

But Bourque says his T-Rex is just a playful expression of his company’s ongoing commitment to human – and human-scale – values. “As a place to work, we are diverse. We take care to represent and reflect the variety of interests needs of different people.”

It doesn’t take a dinosaur to appreciate that sentiment. •