For brothers Brad and Dave Johnson, a shared love of craftsmanship began long before they stepped into the carpentry shop at Northern Lights College. Growing up, they both knew they wanted careers that would allow them to create with their hands and build with purpose.
In 2015, they graduated together from NLC’s Carpentry program, a milestone in the foundation for what would become two thriving local businesses: Dawson Cabinets Ltd., owned by Brad, and Stonewerx, owned by Dave.
A strong foundation
The Johnson brothers grew up in a family of six kids, living about 45 minutes from Dawson Creek on the Alberta side of the border. From “young on” as these guys both say, they spent their days building with their dad, or learning the finer points of woodworking from their grandfather.
When they were old enough, or close to old enough, they started building houses with their father in local communities.
“We were the youngest two of the family” recalled Dave. “[We] grew up together, did chores, lived on the farm, had lots of animals. And then since we were probably like 11 or 12, we worked with Dad after school doing construction building.”
Knowing the job market for certified tradespeople, their father encouraged them to pursue trades when they started thinking about their futures. Although other trades – like plumbing – were considered, both Johnson brothers decided on carpentry.
Crafting careers close to home
Brad and Dave didn’t take the most traditional route of completing high school and then going to college, but they did take a route that many in our region do. Both brothers completed entrance evaluations and were admitted into the carpentry program.
When asked about why they chose the program, they described the quality of the program, as well as the friendliness and expertise of the instructors.
Brad especially appreciated the expertise of Stephen Janssen, their carpentry instructor, whose other career was cabinetmaker.
“Because he used to be a cabinetmaker as well, I think I took up a lot of his lunchtime too. I’d be like, Steve, how do you do this, how do you do that, do that, can you do that? And he would just dive into it and tell me everything I needed to know.”
Dave also enjoyed his classes and instructors at NLC, but more than the fine details, he enjoyed working on the bigger picture and leaned more into framing, eventually making his way into concrete.
“I finished my third year and then I bought into a concrete company with my brother in Grande Prairie. I moved to Grande Prairie and started doing concrete construction and I did that for about 10 years. “
Proud to build local
Brad’s first foray into professional cabinetmaking came during a house build with his father.
“One of the houses I ended up working on through the winter with a cabinetmaker, finishing out the entire house.”
It gave him the opportunity to try his hand at flooring, finishing work, and cabinetry; from then he was hooked. But he wasn’t expecting what came next.
“Ron Ham from Sun Oak Cabinets approached me and says, ‘I’d like you to buy my business.’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t want to buy your business.’ And he said, ‘you’re going to buy my business.’”
After some back and forth, Ron agreed to teach Brad his business. With the support of Brad’s father and some practice working under Ron and some other cabinetmakers, he eventually moved from carpentry to business owner.
“And now I own Dawson Cabinets solely with my wife.”
Although Dave was also enjoying his carpentry career, the days were long, and his body was starting to protest.
“I realized that concrete construction was a young man’s game and if I wanted to get out, I had to get out.”
So, Dave moved into project management and did that for two years. He moved to Haida Gwaii, leaving a young family at home. After missing his son’s first birthday, he started to reconsider his career choices.
That’s when Brad contacted him about Stonewerx.
“Brad called me, he’s like, ‘Hey, there’s a stone countertop business for sale,’ and I had heard a little bit about it, but I didn’t know much about stone.”
But it was in the same town where Brad had successfully been running his cabinet company and it was an opportunity to try something new, closer to family.
“So I was like, yeah, I need to do something where I can go home every night.” Dave explained. “I might as well. Let’s try it!”
From there, Dave and his family made their way to Vanderhoof to finish a project and finally to Dawson Creek to work with the owner of Stonewerx and learn an entirely new material: stone.
Today, it’s not uncommon to see their businesses collaborating on projects around town; they are even working on building a combined showroom for Dawson Cabinets Ltd. and Stonewerx countertops. Both Brad and Dave are proud to live, work, and raise their families in Dawson Creek. They see their businesses not only as a source of livelihood, but as a way to give back to the community that supported them from the start.
“Learn local, shop local, live local. NLC helps you do this,” said Brad.
The power of NLC’s trades training
Stories like the Johnsons’ highlight how trades education fuels local opportunity.
“We have worked with and for people that were in our class and that is always super enjoyable and definitely a blessing of being in a tight knit community,” said Brad.
He further explained that he has had the opportunity to work on jobs literally steps from his business. Dawson Cabinets Ltd. was asked to build the cabinets when Alcan Dental built their new dental office in the old Greyhound station – right across the alley from Dawson Cabinets.
Every student who trains here has the potential to stay here, contributing their skills to the people and places that make northern BC thrive.
Brad and Dave’s success is proof that when education, opportunity, and hard work meet, strong communities are built, one cabinet, one countertop, and one connection at a time.