Like many Calgarians, Phil VanderVeen Sr., emigrated from Holland to Canada in the early 1950’s. For several years he worked as a laborer and supervisor for Dominion Construction. In 1956, with only a wheelbarrow on the roof of his car, and with his wife Lee, willing to do the bookkeeping, Phil Sr. went door-to-door offering to install concrete. Phil’s commitment to hard work and quality soon established A-1 Cement Contractors as a company that its customers could depend on.