George Johnson, Owner of Prairie Gold Scaffolding
“THE FIRST TIME I DROPPED OFF A BOX OF UNIFORMS, I WAS BLOWN AWAY..."
George Johnson wasn’t planning to stay in Edmonton when he moved here in 2009.
His wife was starting law school at the University of Alberta, but he had more than a decade’s worth of experience in the scaffolding industry back in B.C. and wanted to get back to it.
“Then Edmonton became home,” he says. “We started a family, bought a house—the same old story as everybody. And here we are.”
More specifically, “here” is the 16,000 ft 2 offices and yard of Prairie Gold Scaffolding, the company Johnson founded six years ago.
The first thing you see when you walk in the doors of the Prairie Gold offices is a series of colourful Free Footie jerseys. Johnson has been a proud sponsor of the program since its early days.
He was moved by hearing stories about kids in Edmonton who wanted to play one of the cheapest sports around, but weren’t able to.
Having kids of his own—two boys, aged 3.5 years and 11 months—cemented his desire to give back.
“I’m able to provide these things for my family,” he says. “Why shouldn’t I help out with other families, too, if I have the means?”
Now, Prairie Gold gives Free Footie $10,000 each year.
Johnson even had to come up with a rotating schedule for equipment Drop Off Day so his employees would stop fighting over who got to do it.
“The first time I dropped off a box of uniforms, I was blown away,” Johnson says.
“The kids were running over, so stoked, giving you hugs and high fives. Nothing but smiles. How
could you not support something like that?”
