Meet Drayton Valve's Account Manager David Flett

He started our Drayton Valley office 24 years ago, and still serves customers and the community

	Drayton Valve's account manager, David Flett (top image); the newly renovated Eleanor Pickup Arts Centre (middle image); Drayton, Edmonton, and Fort McMurray associates serving up food at the customer appreciation BBQ (bottom image).

Born and raised in Edmonton, David Flett had been working for Edmonton Valve & Fitting for several years doing inside sales when two new opportunities changed his life in 1990. One, he got married. And two, we offered him the chance to do outside sales in Drayton Valley.

"We got married on July 15, went on a two-week honeymoon, came back to Edmonton, and moved a day later," Flett says.

He started out working from home, but over the years he has helped build up Drayton Valve & Fitting into a seven-person office.

"We have a fantastic team that makes my job so much easier," he says.

The customer base has changed as well. Originally he sold to large multinational oil companies. Those have since left the area, and their assets have been purchased by large independent oil and gas producers.

Drayton Valley, the heart of the Pembina Oil field, originally was expected to be only a temporary community when oil and gas production started in 1953. Instead it turned out to be one of the largest prolific plays of conventional oil in North America. It is unique in that several different zones or layers of oil and gas production are located deep underground. Thanks to recent advancements in horizontal drilling, production hasn't just revived, it has increased. Production is now hitting numbers not seen in the community's 60-year history, and it looks like production will continue for generations to come.

Community involvement

Drayton Valley still has only about 7,000 people in town, and perhaps another 7,000 in the immediate surrounding area.

"Being a small town, volunteering is an important thing in the community," Flett notes. Both he and his wife have become involved in several community organizations. He currently serves as president of the Eleanor Pickup Arts Center, formed in 2006 with the renovation of a 50-year-old movie theater.  

"We have currently built a new stage and renovated the inside of the theater," Flett says. "We have ongoing plans to expand the front foyer, build new washrooms, and ultimately fill the empty lot beside the theatre with change rooms and green rooms." The theatre was even recently used by Drayton Valve and the account managers for one of their monthly sales meetings, with the meeting taking place right on the stage.

In a town so small, it's not really possible to separate business from the rest of life.

"Our customers in Drayton Valley are more than just customers or business partners. They are our friends and neighbors," Flett says. Drayton Valve recently hosted a customer appreciation BBQ at the office and it was a great turn out of not just customers, but their family members too. And Flett often runs into customers in town, and with his wife being a teacher in town, she has David’s customers' children in her classes.

While Flett was building up our office, he and his wife also were rearing three children of their own. The oldest just left Drayton Valley last year to attend university. But the Fletts plan to stay put for a long time in Drayton Valley. It's home now.