Matt Houghton's company had been on the hunt for a bigger space in Barrie for two years when he received an email about a pool hall with 'Barney purple' ceilings.
The former Barrie resident and CEO of GroupHEALTH Benefit Solutions instantly recognized the space as the former Dooly's Pool Hall on Bryne Drve.
Houghton grew up in Oshawa, moved to the U.S. and then came to Barrie when he was 26.
"I actually played pool here a couple of times," said Houghton. "I had difficulty grasping the vision of converting a retail space into an office. We couldn't be happier to have this new facility in Barrie."
The vision officially became a reality Thursday when Houghton and Mayor Jeff Lehman cut the ribbon on the bright, 11,200 square feet facility that is GroupHealth's expanded office after growing in the city for a decade.
"Why Barrie? I still view Barrie as home. It's a place where I spent ten years and I think it's an amazing city. When I came back from the states I could really live anywhere in or outside the GTA. It's just an amazing spot. You rarely can find a place where you've got forests and nature, a lake you can actually swim in without glowing in the dark and a great cost of living. It's the perfect spot for us to expand," Houghton said.
The company now employs 51 people in Barrie and is hiring.
There are currently eight positions available at the Barrie office including Director of Group Benefits Underwriting, Inside Sales Representatives, and Part-Time Human Resources Generalist.
"You need new space all the time and it's a good problem to have," said Mayor Lehman, who told a crowd of employees he was also a former patron of Dooly's.
"Its amazing to see a pool hall converted this kind of collaborative open office environment. The pace of the growth has been remarkable. Our economy is firing on all cylinders. You're in a city itself that is going to grow as a market."
GroupHealth was named as one of Canada’s Top Small & Medium Employers for 2017 by Mediacorp Canada Inc.
The company says it earned the award by providing a 'best-in-class employee experience' which includes competitive compensation and extensive health and wellness benefits to a “Happy Friday” program that gives employees every second Friday off. Key employee perks include an employee lounge with televisions, subsidies for courses and programs of up to $2,000 annually per employee to encourage professional development, and a comprehensive performance recognition program that includes individual peer-to-peer recognition and on-the-spot awards.
"We always knew we wanted to stay here. We had a great core of people. In Barrie there's probably a disproportionate amount of great people that would love to work where they live instead of doing that killer commute," said Houghton.
For more information about the company visit Group HEALTH Benefit Solutions.
