By Mackenzie Ford, Gustavson External Relations co-op
“In grade four I knew two things: that I wanted to go to university and that I wanted to own a business,” said Scott Butler, BCom ’98, while smiling, just one night after accepting Gustavson’s Distinguished Alumni Award for 2019. Born with an entrepreneurial spirit that never dimmed, Scott has always found interest in exploring new ventures, and today is the president of his latest entrepreneurial undertaking, Highstreet Ventures. Scott checks the boxes of what we look for in our Distinguished Alumni Award recipient: integrity, drive, passion, ingenuity and more. Highstreet Ventures, a real estate firm whose purpose is to develop sustainable properties, is merely one example of Scott living these values.
In celebration of Scott’s achievements, we asked him to guide our students and executive mentors along his career path to founding Highstreet Ventures, to gather insight into how he became the successful entrepreneur that he is today and to hear his advice for entrepreneurs wanting to succeed in the world of business.
Scott entered the Gustavson entrepreneurship specialization in 1996, and says that it was one of the important milestones that helped shape his career. “The entrepreneurship program in particular did a great job of providing a systems understanding of a business and how I could one day put it all together,” says Scott. “From cash flow management to people management, I felt like I left with a good grasp of all the different parts of business.” By the time Scott had graduated in 1998, he knew that his long-term plan was to own and operate his own company, but how would he get there?
Scott spent one year post-graduation restoring a Mustang and backpacking through Europe before beginning his job search. Moving to Calgary in the fall of 1999, he bought a suit and arrived at the WestJet Headquarters and asked to speak with the CFO. Scott ended up getting directed to the accounting office and walked in on accounting manager’s meeting, where the CFO looked up and asked “how can we help you?” Several long interviews later, Scott landed a job as WestJet’s first internal auditor, despite not having an accounting accreditation. Scott believes it was his confidence and ambition that lead the WestJet executive team to take a chance on him.
Scott’s time at WestJet would turn out to be the second major milestone along his path to founding Highstreet Ventures. At WestJet, not only did he learn about the inner workings of a rapidly expanding company that rewards ingenuity and innovation, he became close with the founders of the company (including his mentor Don Bell), who would later become investors in Highstreet Ventures, and the people Scott looks to for guidance in both business and life. Most importantly, he met his wife and business partner there, Melissa. Scott also attributes his success with Highstreet Ventures to the lessons he learned at WestJet, including the importance of culture and sharing in success.
In 2005, Scott left WestJet, and alongside his wife Melissa, the two founded Highstreet Ventures. They built the real estate development firm with the purpose of responsibly developing smarter real estate and leading the industry to a zero-carbon future. Highstreet Ventures has always focused on energy efficiency, with early investments in triple pane windows, better envelope insulation and solar panels, and has recently made an ambitious goal to achieve net zero (which is when the building produces just as much energy as it uses, balancing its energy needs) well before the government legislates it. “We have a goal to own and operate $200 million worth of net-zero real estate by the end of 2024,” says Scott.
This may sound like a daunting goal, but throughout his career Scott has shown his hardworking attitude time and time again. However, Scott also possesses humbleness and a deep connection to his values. He doesn’t take sole credit for the success of his company, but rather attributes its success to the people who have supported him along the way.
Over his career, Scott says that he has learned many things about what it takes to achieve goals and bring your own vision to life. “My advice for future entrepreneurs is to start by writing down their values: what is important to you? What don’t you like? What do you like? What do you like in people? Write that down and start there.”
Now, fourteen years after Highstreet Venture’s inception, Scott feels happier than ever in his entrepreneurial career and his personal life. “I feel very humbled and happy at the same time about where I am at,” says Scott. “The Distinguished Alumni Award is a reflection of what Highstreet is doing today. I really feel like it is recognition for the whole team and what they have done, and the support we have had from mentors, investors, friends and family—they’ve all helped create what we represent today.”
Photo: UVic Photo Services
