Bel-Con is a design-build construction company serving industrial, commercial, and institutional clients in the South-Eastern region of Ontario. Originally founded in 1973 by Bill White and Barry Brown, Bel-Con’s operations were taken over in 2006 by Tom Gunsinger and Michelle Stephens who sought to foster and grow the reputation for service and quality for which the company had become known. As such it was not just the company that was entrusted to Gunsinger and Stephens when they took over, but the legacy. “This is no easy task,” says Stephens, “and frankly it’s impossible without our amazing team”.
Developing our team and helping each of them to grow individually is integral to meeting our corporate goals and to our collective success. We also encourage and participate in community service and make it a priority to provide support to many local NPO’s, charities and events that help improve & enrich our community as well as the lives of those who live here.” Bel-Con is an ‘ICI’ contractor, meaning our focus is on Industrial, Commercial and Institutional projects. The majority of our volume, however, is comprised of industrial projects such as manufacturing and warehouse facilities”, says Gunsinger. “We’re very open to being flexible in terms of the services we provide. Some clients basically want to settle on a design, and have us turn over the facility when we’re done, while some clients want to be very involved through the process. Either way we can accommodate them. They have their own businesses to run, and construction is often a foreign business to them, so they trust us to make the decisions for them and ultimately give them what they’re looking for.”
Bel-Con offers value-added services that go beyond those that are standard of the Design Build industry. “We often get involved with helping clients to find and select properties and to arrange financing,” says Gunsinger. “We offer value engineering ideas to help do things more economically, saving them money in capital costs, ongoing maintenance costs, and energy efficiency. Having some in-house design services, we can take 2D drawings and make renderings so people who are not used to reading drawings can more easily visualize what we are proposing.” Bel-Con’s entire business model is geared towards just that, making the design build process easier for the client through an expert, hands-on approach. Lightening the load for the client in this way and creating longstanding relationships is all part of the Bel-Con legacy. “Bel-Con had values and a reputation in the city and surrounding area, and the previous owners wanted to make sure that was carried forward with the same sort of enthusiasm,” says Gunsinger. “Our tagline is ‘Buildings that work, Relationships that last’, and we have a long history of working with clients going back several decades. In the building industry you don’t necessarily work for all clients every year, but they may need to expand every five years, or there’s little projects along the way, even something simple like installing a door or a very minor renovation. We’re not just looking for the nice new build or big addition. It’s full service and full support for our clients.”
“We’re not just looking for the nice new build or big addition. It’s full service and full support for our clients.”
Stephens and Gunsinger join me today on what is Bel-Con’s 50th year in business. For both, the award- winning SafeStart building comes to mind as a highlight as they reflect on the milestone. “That was a great project from the get-go,” Gunsinger says of the development that went on to win the Butler North American Building of the Year Award in 2014. “It was a competitive design build proposal, and we were able to sell the quality of what we were providing. We captured their vision of what they wanted the space to look like and that’s how we won the job.” Because the SafeStart project was won on quality rather than price, this fostered a relationship in which both parties valued and invested in quality throughout its duration. “SafeStart epitomized what true design-build is intended to be,” Stephens adds. “After an interview selection process, the client chose Bel-Con to work with them to design a building that met the needs of their growing, international business. Bel-Con oversaw the entire process representing their interests at every step and stage of the project, resulting in greater efficiency overall but also allowing them to continue focusing on their business. The end result was a beautiful building that we are both proud of and that provides them the functionality they need.” Gunsinger adds: “Our current building used to belong to SafeStart. When we built their new building, we bought this location from them and before we moved in, we used it as a temporary space for another client who were doing a total interior renovation.” This smart use of space and resources benefitted both parties and is characteristic of Bel-Con as a design build company.
The SafeStart project is just one example of the longstanding relationships that form the foundations upon which Bel-Con is built. “We’ve got some clients that we’ve completed thirty to forty projects for over the years, again everything from small renovations to a new plant or major addition,” Gunsinger says. “We have lots of lots of partners in our design build network, consisting of mechanical, electrical, and sitework contractors that we work with repeatedly. We have trusted subtrades who do good quality work and know what Bel-Con’s about, that we’re going to be there for our clients and if there is an issue that comes up, we find a way to solve it. It can be tough to maintain those relationships as ownership changes over the years, but we’ve been able to go from generation to generation and that’s something to be proud of.”
Perhaps one of Bel-Con’s most significant relationships is its 45-year long partnership with Butler Manufacturing, a worldwide leader in building system design and construction. “It’s a big part of a lot of our projects but we don’t just build pre-engineered buildings, we do all types of conventional construction as well. If it’s a design build, however, we often partner with Butler for a solution.” Michelle adds: “We pride ourselves in our exclusive relationship with Butler Manufacturing; the undisputed leader in the steel building industry. Our services include a wide range of construction types, contract delivery methods and project sizes including new buildings, additions, renovations, and building maintenance services. Metal roofing is also a core competency, as Butler’s proprietary MR24® Standing Seam roof system offers low maintenance protection for 40+ years.” The Butler Builder Network of which Bel-Con is a part is made up of only the highest quality contractors, ensuring superior quality control that is unmatched in the industry.
Another standout project for Stephens, for reasons that become obvious as she describes it, is the Grace Inn Shelter in Belleville. “The Grace Inn Shelter is “a ‘grass roots’ initiative by a few community members to provide Belleville with its first and only homeless shelter,” Stephens says. A long vacant building that was formerly a banquet hall, the Grace Inn Shelter was renovated into a full-service, 21 bed shelter for men and women which included a commercial kitchen, showers, and a dining hall. “Bel-Con was able to support the effort by providing our expertise and resources by overseeing construction operations and helping them open their doors before the winter. The shelter has now been operational since 2019 and to see how it has met the basic needs and provided extended support and assistance to so many vulnerable people is very fulfilling.”
To the list of memorable projects from throughout the years, Stephens adds Bel-Con’s renowned restoration of the historic Bellville City Hall in 1988 which went on to win the Ontario Association of Architect’s prestigious “Landmark” award, while Gunsinger adds the conversion of a city-owned fire hall into an office space for BCS Automation, and the high-end Bay of Quinte Country Club and restaurant, all of which capture the diversity that embodies Bel-Con’s portfolio.
In 2020 Bel-Con was awarded the Outstanding Regional Building of the Year Award at the annual Butler Building Awards & Banquet in Austin, Texas. A period of significant growth followed and continues steadily today. “That new growth has actually turned into repeat business already and that’s a good sign,” says Gunsinger. “We’re getting the confidence of new companies and new owners to expand the business further, so the future looks very bright. There’s lots of projects on the horizon with some projects going into 2026, so we’re thankful to have a solid backlog of work.” The nature of the construction industry, especially design-build, is that you can provide an initial budget for a project, but it may be five years before they “put the shovel in the ground.” This means that while Bel-Con is kept busy with repeat clients, there is always some capacity for new opportunity.
As such, Bel-Con’s approach is to maintain its existing clients while keeping a look out for new ones. “We maintain some space for repeat clients first and foremost,” says Gunsinger, but there’s always some holes to fill.” Bel-Con’s recent growth is in part a result of the construction market within which it operates, which has shifted since pre-pandemic times to the benefit of the design builder. “The area of geography that we cover in Ontario is very attractive right now to a lot of companies because the land costs are cheaper and there’s more people looking for a more relaxed lifestyle. We’re not rural by any stretch, but we’re certainly not the City of Toronto either. Lots of companies are relocating to this area and opening new facilities. That’s obviously good for business in terms of new opportunities.” Michelle says that “Bel-Con’s goal is not to be the biggest, but the best. What does it mean to be the best? To us, it’s creating a legacy that we can be proud of; founded on a superior level of service, a high-quality finished product, and long lasting, mutually beneficial relationships. When a client needs to renovate their building or increase their space by adding on or building new, it can be a daunting task as there are many decisions to be made and factors to consider. Not to mention the time it has the potential to take away from managing their business. We aim to ‘lighten their load’ by guiding and helping clients navigate the process and provide clarity so they can make educated decisions concerning their best interests, not just for today, but also keeping an eye on their potential future growth. They decide how little or much they want our involvement to be, but ultimately our goal is that in the end they get exactly what they need, are happy with not only the outcome but the efficiency of the process and the value we were able to provide. Our ideal future is one where all of our clients can attest to this level of effort and superior service.”
