Empire Industries began as a structural steel fabricator based in Western Canada. The executive management team at Empire Iron Works Ltd. saw that most of Canada’s steel fabrication capacity was in Eastern Canada, but most of the demand for steel fabrication was in Western Canada. They also saw that the Western Canadian steel fabrication capacity was highly fragmented. The team undertook the bold initiative of raising funds, going public, and undertaking an acquisition program to consolidate the fragmented industry.
One of the several such acquisitions in 2007 was Dynamic Structures, a highly specialized fabricator of moving structures. It had developed a niche market it observatory telescope work in the 1990’s, but that market had dried up. Dynamic Structures had discovered that much of their expertise in the field was transferable to the market of building high-end theme park ride systems for major theme parks. Both involved moving huge structures within very fine tolerances.
The steel fabrication market was hard hit by the financial crisis of 2008. Reacting to the situation, Empire adjusted its strategy by disposing of excess capacity in its steel business, and expanding its emphasis on Dynamic Structures’ ride business. Dynamic Structures began to develop its own proprietary line of turnkey theme park rides, and began marketing these directly to theme parks around the world, in addition to building ride systems for the major entertainment companies.
This expansion of the theme park business continued to bear fruit, and in 2011, Empire founded Dynamic Attractions Ltd., a sister company for Dynamic Structures. Dynamic Attractions has taken the proprietary product line a step further, and has added Unlimited Services™. These services include lighting, theming, pre-show, etc., allowing parks to buy a truly turnkey ride from a single source. The media-based attractions business, as it has become known, now has facilities and offices in Vancouver, Toronto, Orlando, Dallas, and Shanghai. In addition, Empire has entered into a partnership with Qiguang Group in Dongguan, China, where Qiguang Dynamic Steel Structures Co. fabricates track and other structural components for media-based attractions.
The global market for such attractions expanded greatly in this time frame, particularly in China and the Middle East. Dynamic Attractions has sold products into China (including mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau), Malaysia, Korea, Japan, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, France, Russia, and more.
This is all straight forward. It is a new ball game. Old Empire from 1911 doesn't exist. It is now "Dynamic Industries" as a conglomerate and focus. And it is focused!