Creating success is Ludovit (Lou) Beres’ vocation.
The 70-year-old St. Albert resident was recently awarded a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for 39 years of work with the Alberta and National Research Council.
His family describes him as a workaholic. But Beres said it’s a life-long passion for his work.
“Everyone is asking when will you retire. I feel that I should retire soon but right now I am still working and everything is perfectly okay,” he said.
“It’s not a job for me anymore. It is a vocation. I am dedicated to this job. I love my job. I think for the same reason our management recommended me for this award.”
Beres, who was born in Czechoslovakia, immigrated to Edmonton in 1969.
In his home country (now Slovakia), he worked as head of the department of rationalization of production of Tesla, a manufacturer of amplifiers, tuners, receivers and transistor radios.
Not affiliated with the communist party, Beres said he struggled to find a place to live with his young, pregnant wife.
After being kicked out of their apartment in Bratislava, he decided to leave his life and career behind. The family moved to Canada, where Beres joined his brother Joe and worked as a manufacturer of school furniture.
Five years later, the Alberta Research Council invited the learned mechanical engineer to join its industrial technology advisory team. That same year, on Sept. 1 1974, the family moved to St. Albert.
In 1983, the ARC offered Beres a contract with the National Research Council to fund the research and development of upcoming industries. Ten years later, he joined the NRC full-time as an industrial technology advisor.
“My passion is to see the company succeed, to see the company have a new product line, to see the company enhance its management and capabilities,” he said.
“The growth of the company is the number one objective.”
Beres said he worked with about 1,000 companies in those 39 years, providing technical and business-related assistance to small and medium-sized businesses.
He guided them in their research, chose whether their product was patentable and marketable and advised them on management, organization and structural questions.
Now many of these companies are worth millions of dollars, he said.
The job was a life-long passion, one that created lasting friendships and one he gladly worked nights and weekends for. Beres said he was very thankful and humbled to be recognized by his management.
