Getting Motors Running

Really want to know if Alberta’s stalled economy is rolling again?

by Scott Messenger

Talk to guys who deal in its moving parts. Eddy Stahl, dealer principal and president of west Edmonton’s Stahl Peterbilt, believes it’s gaining traction. Sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks may not be at boom-time levels, but they’re revving up again. The building helps, he figures. During the design stage preceding its 2005 opening, Stahl and his dad, CEO Ed Sr., envisioned a one-stop shop for sales, rentals, repairs and, especially in colder months, a boost of vitamin D. That windowed facade isn’t just for showing off trucks in the 3,500-square-foot showroom. A view onto bright, wintery outdoors, says Stahl, “is good for people’s well-being, because they don’t get any sunlight unless they get it at work, right?” Year-round, watch for the tops of those giant Peterbilt straight-pipes from the nearby Yellowhead Highway, one of the main arteries of the western Canadian economy.

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