Age:36
Job Title: President, Rohit Group of Companies
Why He’s Top 40: He’s making a name for himself in the Edmonton real-estate development market while also giving back to numerous charities.
If you could change one thing about Edmonton, what would it be? Gupta wants to see Edmontonians take more pride in their accomplishments and do more to keep local talent in the city. “Why do we view ourselves as just oil and gas or blue-collar workers? … This is a great city. We should enjoy it and be proud of it.”
Rohit Gupta is so competitive, he once made a younger cousin cry over a game of chess. But it’s that fierce competitiveness that he believes gives him and the Rohit Group of Companies a leg up in the local real-estate development market.
“Whether it’s in my personal life or in my business, if I don’t have that edge to keep producing something that’s better – even working out or eating better – if you don’t have that attitude, it’s tough to progress,” he says.
“If we want to do something wonderful, we have to have that edge.”
Gupta joined the Rohit Group – founded in 1986 by his father, Radhe – in 2002 after completing a computer engineering degree at the University of Alberta. He never intended to join the business at first, but Gupta found his calling as he put his skills to work in new ways.
“A lot of people come from a construction perspective and a very linear path of thinking. But computer engineering taught me more parallel forms of thinking. That has played a huge part; it has shaped the way I process information.”
Since the company started with a single home, its growth has been rapid. In 2015, the Rohit Group landed on the Profit 500 list of Canada’s fastest growing companies, with a 93 per cent increase in sales over the last five years.
Of course, that growth wouldn’t be possible without a great team. The company has won several top employer and best workplace awards. Gupta says that, as employees represent the company to customers through every step of the home-building process, good employee morale is reflected on the balance sheet.
As the Rohit Group grows, so too do its contributions to local charities like Habitat for Humanity, WIN House and the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation, to name a few.
“It’s part of the fabric of who we are as an organization, as a family and as a team,” he says. “We want to do well by ourselves, but we also want to do well by the community. We want to make sure we build a good product, but it’s not just about the houses. There’s got to be community-building in other shapes and forms.”
