Profiles
Robert John Watt – President, RJW-Gem Campbell Stonemasons Inc.
Bobby Watt founded RJW Stonemasons and imparted his unique values and beliefs to create a truly unique company. Born and trained in Scotland he apprenticed to John Thomson on the Isle of Arran, his birthplace off Scotland's west coast. Bobby arrived in Canada in 1975 with the youthful ambition of one who has twenty-one summers at his back and the tradition, history and training of six thousand years of masonry in his head, hands and heart.
One of his primary goals was to fill the evident gap left by more than eighty years of inadequate stonemasonry training in North America, and to create a company comprised of committed and hand-picked journeymen capable of completing anything that is requested of them. Bobby's direction and instruction has contributed to the considerable respect that his crews of stonemasons and restoration masons enjoy throughout Canada.
Bobby was instrumental in setting up the stonemasonry training program at Durham College and later the Canadian Guild of Stone and Restoration Masons as well as its training facility, the Guild Institute, in Whitby, Ontario. Bobby is also on the Board of Directors of the Stone Foundation, and is a regular contributor to Stonexus, the Stone Foundation's magazine. The Stone Foundation is an international organization based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, dedicated to the promotion of the use and mastery of stone in all its forms.
Bobby still finds time to deliver lectures to academic and trade conservation students and at tradeshows, conventions, trade workshops and seminars across North America. As a result of his unique approach and commitment to stonemasonry, Bobby enjoys an international reputation as “a sensational instructor and trusted professional the world over”.
Edoardo Del Medico – Founder, Gem Campbell Terrazzo and Tile Inc.
Eddie immigrated to Canada from the Friuli-Venezia region of Italy in 1957. In 1959 Eddie, and a partner, founded Gem Terrazzo, a terrazzo and tile company which later changed its company name to Gem Campbell after buying out a Scottish tradesman named Angus Campbell. Who would have thought that 52 years later he would once again be partnering with a Scotsman – this time a man named Robert (Bobby) Watt?
In addition to running the operations of Gem Campbell, Eddie also founded a major precast company, E&M Precast Ltd., in 1969 that went on to complete a substantial number of significant precast projects in Canada and the United States over a 25 year span.
Throughout his career, Eddie has led his various companies through an energetic and charismatic approach to business. Eddie is a born salesman and leader and he has inspired people to work hard and enjoy life.
Rick Giacomini – Vice-President, Gem Campbell Terrazzo and Tile Inc., President, Gem Campbell (Eastern) Inc.
Rick started in the tile, terrazzo and stone industry in 1983 as an assistant controller with a Toronto based tile company. Learning the business from a junior position, he gained industry insight, knowledge and experience and progressed into a financial controllership role with the company by the time he left in 1994.
Rick joined Gem Campbell as a financial controller in 1995 and led a significant transition in financial management systems and operating processes. In 1999 Rick was promoted to the position of Vice-President and took control over all day to day operations of the company. In 2000 Rick founded and became President of Gem Campbell (Eastern) Inc., an Ottawa based company set up to service the greater Ottawa area with stone, tile and terrazzo services.
Throughout his career, Rick has believed in leading people by example. Honesty, integrity, common sense, respect, and an understanding of core business values have always been the cornerstones of his approach to doing business. He truly values every relationship that has been forged with clients over decades of good business and strives to ensure that the highest standards of performance and quality are maintained in the day to day operations of the companies.
Rick holds the following industry positions:
- President – Terrazzo Tile Marble Guild of Ontario – TTMGO
- President – Toronto & District Marble, Tile & Terrazzo Contractors’ Association
- Director & Past President – Terrazzo Tile Marble Trade School of Ontario
- Chairperson of Provincial Apprenticeship Committee – PAC -Tile Industry
- Toronto Local Apprenticeship Committee – LAC Tile Industry
- Trustee – BACU Local 31 Pension & H&W trusts