Rockwood Custom Homes - Female Entrepreneur of the Year in Canada

Company: Rockwood Custom Homes, Calgary, AB, Canada
Company Description: Rockwood Custom Homes is an exclusive, boutique custom home construction and renovation company that works with discerning clients to deliver exceptional results. An award-winning company, Rockwood offers a full suite of construction, architectural and interior design services for custom homes and multi-home exclusive developments. Rockwood is widely recognized as Calgary's top luxury builder.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Female Entrepreneur of the Year in Canada

Nomination Title: Allison Grafton

Allison Grafton, president of Rockwood Custom Homes, has built a successful business in a traditionally male-dominated industry. No easy undertaking, Allison uses her ingenuity, charisma and instinct to do things differently in the Calgary/Okanagan luxury building markets. Under her leadership, Rockwood has grown from a fledgling custom-home builder in 2009 to one of Calgary’s premier luxury builders with a notable presence in Kelowna.

Allison demonstrated exceptional vision and work-ethic in creating a strong team and desirable work culture that has been a recipient of Waterstone’s Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures Awards (2017-2020). Notably, Allison’s team of skilled Rockwooders is comprised of over 65% women, with over 60% female management.

Allison is a business woman, mother, wife and mentor. She gracefully blends business and personal care, investing deeply in her team and ensuring overall wellness of her employees. She rewards with personal touches, celebrates birthdays, orders favourite foods for monthly Rockwood meetings and takes her team on all-paid annual retreats. The team works in an open-concept office where communication and collaboration are key.Always leading with an opening bid of trust, and an expectation for performance excellence, Allison has built a unified team capable of delivering at the highest standard.

Allison (&Rockwood) had many notable wins and successes since July 2020:

-Rockwood broke ground of its first fully owned exclusive development (includes land, development and construction) of the Villas at Abby Farm in Summer 2020.
-Won Deloitte’s Best Managed Company for 2021– a coveted award given to fewer than 50 Canadian businesses. This was the second time in a row Rockwood has been honoured with this distinction.
-Won Houzz – Best of Houzz Design 2021 (top honour).
-While COVID struck many businesses hard, Allison prepared her team and business, providing safety and flexibility to her organization, while still adhering tothe company’s high and uncompromising standards.
Handed over 13 custom homes during COVID/lockdown, hitting all project targets on time and on budget.
-In the spring of 2021, Rockwood launched its first exclusive development in Kelowna—the Benches are a collection oflimited estate lots with exquisite views situated on a stunning two-tiered parcel of land on Lake Okanagan.
-Allison was a keynote speaker at F*UP Nights – COVID Edition – speaking about the company’s successful COVID protocols and industry-leading response position.
-Allison recognized as one of Business in Calgary’s Industry Rockstars March 2021.
-Rockwood has demonstrated 43% YOY 2020-2021 growth in a challenged 16 months.
-Stevie® Women in Business Award, Category:Women-Run Workplace of the Year- Winner, Gold
-Stevie® Women in Business Award, Category:Female Entrepreneur of the Year in Canada,Allison Grafton- Winner, Bronze
-BILD Alberta –Winner - Multi-family Unit Over $500,000 – September 2020

Winning Deloitte’s Best Managed Companies in 2020 and 2021, is a feat.The multi-phase application process includes coaching, 10,000+ word application, thorough interview process and financial review by Deloitte. It is the second time Rockwood has won the award (in 2018, Rockwood placed as a regional finalist). Through hard work, shoring up the management team, innovation and strategic expansion, Rockwood cinched its spot as one of 50 Canadian privately held companies awarded this honour.

Breaking ground at the Villas at Abby Farm represents the first exclusive development where Rockwood is the underlying landowner. Prior exclusive developments were completed in partnership with investors for the land portion of the projects.

The launch of The Benches solidifies Rockwood’s presence in the Okanagan, cementing the company as a notable and leading player in the local industry. The 17-lot community further establishes Rockwood as a luxury homebuilder in this important retiree/vacation home market.

During COVID, Rockwood was among the first in the local industry to institute safe work practices in the field and flexible work practices in the office. Staff showcased their ability to deliver high performance despite challenging times. Rockwood was an industry leader in COVID response, setting a high bar in terms of workplace safety in the office and work sites.

-Zero days closed due to COVID
-Zero COVID-related employee illness
-Recognizing the importance of mental and physical health, expansion of benefits (for employees and families) to include virtual doctor and psychologist access

Links:

Awards Listing – list of all Rockwood and Allison’s Awards.This is a fulsome record of the awards received by Rockwood and Allison since inception in 2013, showcasing a consistent record of achievement, growth, and strong female leadership.

Video - Best of 2020- Rockwood in Action: 2020 was a challenging year. Rockwood was quick to adapt, ensuring we continuted to deliverin the face of ongoing change and stringent safety precautions. With new measures in place, we were able to hand over all of our projects on time and on budget.

Video - Best Managed - in 2021, we once again took DeloitteBest Managed Companies honours . In this video, our employees advise why Rockwood is truly a best managed company.

Allison Bio Sheet – Allison is an accomplished business leader, speaker and mentor. Her highlight sheet showcases some of the ways she has led, contributed to and influenced the Calgary and Kelowna communities.

Website and Instagram - RockwoodCustomHomes.com – Please visit Rockwood’s website or our Instagram Page (@rockwoodcustomhomes) to get a taste of the amazing projects delivered by Allison and her team and to learn a bit more about the exceptional Rockwood team and culture.

Home Handover Videos (2)- In these two videos, Kuzel an Ying families, we show how Rockwood prepares fora family's move-in to theirRockwood custom home. No detail is spared. The family moves in to a celebration. We dothis with EVERY home handed over.