Patrick O’Callaghan
Building business and community are actions synonymous with Pat O’Callaghan.
In possession of a diploma in Hotel Management, a penniless 23-year old, Pat O’Callaghan emigrated from Ireland to North America in the mid 1960’s. Drawing on the experience gained from small business ventures in his youth, such as buying and selling horses and organizing wait staff for functions in Irish hotels, Pat gained a solid foundation to start his life abroad. Within eight years, he became General Manager of a five-star hotel. His first entrepreneurial venture in this province was the creation of Clovelly Stables in Logy Bay. The profit generated from the sale of this venture was a small portion of the required capital for East Coast Catering (ECC), started in 1984.
Today, Pat is President and Chief Executive Officer of East Coast Catering Ltd. – a private company specializing in remote workforce catering and accommodations. His company provides services to the oil and gas, marine, mining and industrial construction sectors.
In the early 1990’s, Pat O’Callaghan’s company, ECC, experienced many challenges as a result of the downturn in the offshore oil industry. He was forced to lay off all of his staff for a year while he searched for viable options. Remote mining and construction camps across Canada became the new direction. Vision, perseverance and significant risk enabled him to re-launch East Coast Catering and begin to diversify. Today, companies that operate under ECC’s umbrella are Labrador Catering in Labrador, Horizon Remote Catering in Western Canada, ECC NS Ltd. in Eastern Canada and ECC Ireland in Ireland.
Pat has ventured into residential housing in both this province and abroad. He is partner in Capital Structures Incorporated, a company that provides installation service in temporary structures to the industrial construction and mining sector and a partner in Offshore Recruiting Services Incorporated which provides skilled workers to offshore oil installations and marine locations around the globe.
Pat O’Callaghan has always believed that a company is only as good as the people who operate it. From the very beginning, he recruited and developed a very committed team.
Pat’s optimistic nature and generosity is known to many individuals and organizations. This includes his personal service to community, corporate sponsorships for sport groups, education and service clubs. Pat is a board member of the Irish Newfoundland Business Partnership. He was recognized by Ernst & Young as the 2012 Atlantic Entrepreneur of the Year.
Pat O’Callaghan’s business acumen and community stewardship has earned him a place in the Junior Achievement Newfoundland and Labrador Business Hall of Fame – a worthy role model for youth and adults alike.