After months of careful consideration, Red River College’s Alumni Board is proud to announce the recipient of the 2011 Distinguished Alumni Award: Regina resident Wayne Morsky, president and CEO of Morsky Group of Companies.

Inspired in equal measure by his passion for his family and for family-run businesses, Morsky has been working for his own family business since the age of 13, and now oversees a thriving infrastructure development operation that for 55 years has been involved in diverse sectors of the industry, including general contracting, highway construction, railway maintenance, industrial services, HySpeed soil nailing, and oil and gas development.

Born and raised in Virden, Man., Morsky graduated from RRC’s Business Administration program in 1981, having attained skills he now describes as vital to his success as an entrepreneur.

“I could take the things I learned at Red River College and put them into daily effect quite quickly after getting out of school,” says Morsky, “especially because I was involved with a family-owned business.”

Since graduating, Morsky has helped take the family business to new heights, while maintaining his commitments to the profession and to the community. He’s a founding member of the Regina chapter of the Canadian Association of Family Enterprise (CAFE), and was the 2010 Chairman of the Canadian Construction Association.

He’s served as past president of the Roadbuilders and Heavy Construction Association of Saskatchewan and past chair of the Western Canadian Roadbuilders Association, and sits on the boards of both the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Saskatchewan Centre for Excellence for Transportation and Infrastructure.

A proud father of four, Morsky counts his family as his greatest personal achievement, and the Morsky Group’s continued status as a family-run business as his greatest career goal to date.

“My proudest achievement has been taking a first generation company and moving it along to a second generation company … continuing with the same integrity that the company was originally built around, and moving it forward,” he says.

“A lot of this country was built on the backs of family businesses. I take the analogy that if you take one pencil, you can snap it in half, but if you’ve got a handful of them, it’s much harder to break.”

Morsky is equally motivated by his love of community. Each year, his family’s breeding farm donates horse-drawn carriage sleigh rides to various community groups and charities, among them the Shriners’ Children’s Hospital, local veteran’s groups, and the RCMP’s Heritage Days.

“The ability to receive is important, but the ability to give back is just as important,” he says. “We were raised on the philosophy that if you give bread, it will come back buttered.”

Red River College’s Distinguished Alumni Awards recognize graduates who’ve distinguished themselves in both their professional achievements and their contributions to the community. Click here to learn more about past recipients.

Click here to learn more about Morsky Group of Companies.