Scott Wallace Weeks was born in Port Wallis (now Port Wallace), Nova Scotia in 1935. A highly educated man, he graduated from Acadia University in 1958 with his diploma in engineering and in 1960 he received a Bachelor of Engineering in Mining from the Nova Scotia Technical College (TECH) and in 1970 became a member of the Association of Professional Engineers of Nova Scotia (APENS). Scott always knew the importance of a good education.
After graduating from engineering Scott worked for INCO in Thompson, Manitoba until 1963. From 1963-1965 he worked for Trynor Construction in Newfoundland and in the fall of 1965 he joined Tidewater Construction in Pictou County as the engineer on the construction of the Pictou Harbour Causeway. Finally in the fall of 1971, with one backhoe and three employees, Scott started S. W. Weeks Construction Limited.
Scott was known in the construction industry as having a tremendous knowledge of crushing equipment and as being very innovative in developing more efficient means of producing aggregate for the highways in the Maritime Provinces. Scott was often called upon by various contractors to provide his insight into unique and difficult crushing tasks. Scott developed S. W. Weeks Construction Limited into one of the most modern aggregate production businesses in the Maritime Provinces.
Scott was a hard worker, expecting, and in turn receiving, hard work from his employees. He felt that if you first recognize and help develop the individual’s potential, you develop a strong, faithful staff that can accept responsibility and will challenge themselves and even exceed their own expectations. Scott’s philosophy has led to a strong organization with very good people. He always believed that the people hired as labourers should have the potential to assume more responsible roles. This philosophy has proven to be very successful for the company, the majority of the foreman and supervisors have started their careers as labourers or equipment operators. Their knowledge of the work required allows the company to complete contracts on time and on budget.
In business, Scott was a founding committee member of the Standard Specifications for Municipal Services, founding director of the Pictou County Regional Development Commission and past president of the Nova Scotia Road Builders Association.
Best remembered for his extraordinary leadership and a passion for the community, Scott was the recipient of the Citizenship Award from APENS and in the same year he was the initial recipient of the Pictou County Chamber of Commerce Business Person of the year.
His dedication to his community was evident in his involvement with every aspect. Scott served as Chairman of the Aberdeen Hospital Fund Campaign and was instrumental in helping raise over six million dollars for the local hospital. The financial contribution made by businesses and individuals in the community, greatly improving the standard of care that is now provided by the local hospital. His commitment to this endeavour was evident by his own company’s contribution of $100,000 and his employees’ further commitment of $40,000. Scott considered his involvement in this campaign one of his major accomplishments in life. He later became Chairman of the Aberdeen Hospital Foundation.
As an avid horseman, he was involved with the development of the Parkdale race track, renamed in his honour, the Scott Weeks Sports Complex. Other areas that Scott was involved in included; founding committee member of the Friends of the Museum for the Museum of Industry, Co- Chairman of the New Glasgow Stadium Fund-raising Campaign and one of the founders and original sponsor of the Weeks AAA Midgets. He knew that the sponsorship by the company in sports not only benefited the players but the whole community. To this day, the company continues to be highly involved with the development of the youth and the community of Pictou County.
Scott Wallace Weeks passed away on January 4, 1995 after a long and courageous battle with cancer. The company and the community as a whole were deeply saddened by Scott’s death and will always remember him as an outstanding leader, a generous sponsor in his community, an astute businessman and a true friend.
Scott built a truly outstanding organization during his twenty-three years and his wife Audrey, his children; Stephen, Susan and Jennifer, and employees of S.W. Weeks Construction Limited are determined to continue the business with the same tenacity and dedication that Scott has shown throughout the years.
Scott had always maintained for years that a person can only have a successful business if they spend the time necessary to ensure that the organization can outlive the founder and can prosper in his absence.
In November 2021, S. W. Weeks Construction Limited celebrated 50 years in business.
