Fifty years after Bill and Phyllis Mushaluk opened the doors, the family business continues growing
through loss, resilience, rebuilding and an unshakeable commitment to quality.
There is a mug that sits in Alissa Belseck-Mushaluk’s camping trailer. It reads, simply, “Ace is the place.” She did not write those words herself. They came from a customer, decades ago, who understood something about Ace Pneumatic & Hydraulic Repair that has held true since 1976: when you need an expert in industrial tools, there is only one place to call.
This year, Ace Pneumatic celebrates 50 years in business, a milestone few small companies reach and fewer still reach while carrying the weight of profound loss. The Edmonton-based company, founded by Bill and Phyllis Mushaluk, has grown from a two-person operation run out of a single bay into a specialized team of eight that services and sells premium pneumatic and hydraulic tools across Western Canada. Along the way, it survived a global pandemic, the sudden death of the man poised to lead it into its next chapter and, four years later, the death of its founder. And still, the doors remain open.
“Ever since Bill started the business 50 years ago, quality and integrity in sales and service were his two non-negotiables,” says Alissa, who now owns and leads the company. “Those core values are still the driving factors in how our business is run today.”
Bill and Phyllis moved from Manitoba to Edmonton in 1976 so Bill could pursue an opportunity inspired by his uncle, who owned a tool business of his own. Bill was working toward his mechanics licence at the time, and the couple decided to take a chance on a repair shop. For the first six months, business was slow enough that Phyllis went to work elsewhere while Bill ran the front counter by day and repaired tools by night. Slowly, steadily, the company grew. Bill expanded from repairs into sales, first with Chicago Pneumatic, then Ingersoll Rand and Power Team. What had been a completely handwritten accounting system eventually gave way to computerized bookkeeping. What had been Bill and Phyllis alone eventually became a team.
From the outset, Bill refused to sell anything but the best.
“Bill used to say the tools we sell are like Cadillacs and Lincolns,” says Jonathan Kudryk, Ace’s sales and service manager. “We don’t sell Chevys or Buicks.”
That philosophy meant focusing deeply on premium product lines rather than spreading thin across a hundred generic ones, and it meant every repair underwent rigorous quality checks before it went back into a customer’s hands.
“That was very important, to build that repairs did not come back,” Phyllis says. Honesty mattered just as much. “Bill never steered a customer in the wrong direction. Honesty was very important to him, as was selling the right product.”
Their son, Bryce, joined the business full-time in 2008 after wrapping up a land surveying career as a geomatic engineer. Father and son worked side by side, expanding product lines, modernizing operations and growing the team while keeping the company small and focused.
Jonathan remembers Bill’s gift for connecting with people.
“For him to pick up a phone call, you never had a 30 second talk with Bill,” Jonathan laughs. “You’d better set aside 30 minutes. He would talk your ear off, but always in a very positive way. That rubbed off very heavily on Bryce.”
Alissa, a chartered professional accountant and Ace’s owner and controller, initially joined the family business part-time in January 2020 to help modernize its accounting systems.
Then, that October, Bryce died suddenly. Alissa became an owner alongside Bill and Phyllis, and shortly after, Jonathan came on board full-time to help the company through its darkest days. Just as the team found its footing again, tragedy struck a second time. In January 2025, Bill passed away.
“There are no words to describe the weight that grief brings when you suffer two immeasurable losses in fewer than five years,” Alissa says. “It has not been easy for any of us here.”
She has leaned on a phrase familiar to many parents like herself, who have young children: you can do hard things.
“Since Bryce passed, there are more days than not that I find myself repeating those words to myself. The character trait that my late husband admired most in others was resiliency. The strength we gain by honouring the memory of not only one, but two incredible men keeps us motivated to keep going even when the waters are rough.”
That strength is, in many ways, the true measure of what Bill and Bryce helped to build alongside their wives. In a company with never more than seven or eight employees at a time, colleagues become family.
“Bill was proud to provide a living for a team of people and to provide a pleasant and safe workplace for everyone,” Alissa says.
Jonathan adds that Bill made sure people had proper work-life balance, and Phyllis notes, “He understood people were unique and had families. That culture, built over decades, is what carried the team through its hardest years. The team’s ability to keep stepping up and bringing the strength needed to face adversity when it strikes has been truly remarkable. It is a testament to the character of each member, as well as the love and support we receive from our incredible circle of family and friends.”
Today, Ace Pneumatic stands as a rarity in its industry: a woman-owned business in industrial pneumatic and hydraulic tools in a field long dominated by men. The company holds some of the highest certifications available in its industry, including titanium level status with Chicago Pneumatic, platinum level with Ingersoll Rand and platinum plus with Power Team, along with tier 4 distributor standing with Enerpac. Ace also gives back, supporting causes close to its customers’ hearts, including, over the years, Edmonton’s Food Bank, Canadian Mental Health Association, Autism Society of RMWB, Children’s Miracle Network and more.
Ace has operated out of the same unassuming building for its entire 50-year history, thanks in part to the steady support of its longtime landlords, the Tamm family, who backed the company through renovations and growth. Longtime vendor partners, including Mark Fletcher of Chicago Pneumatic and Cam and Mark Bull of Power Team, have been instrumental to that success as well.
“If you drove by our building, you would completely miss us,” Jonathan says. Step inside, though, and the depth of knowledge becomes clear. The tools Ace sells and services are quietly woven into Edmonton’s infrastructure, supporting the work of industries across the region and beyond.
Fifty years after Bill and Phyllis took a chance on a small repair shop, that legacy now rests in the hands of a woman who lost her husband and her father-in-law within five years of each other, and who chose, each time, to keep going. Bill’s grandchildren may one day carry the business into a third generation. For now, Alissa, Jonathan and the rest of the Ace team continue building on a foundation built with integrity, expertise and heart.
“If the past is any indication of the future, we cannot say with any certainty what life will bring,” Alissa concludes. “But with the great team we have here and the amazing support we have at home, we know for certain that the future for Ace Pneumatic will continue to be very bright.”
In loving memory of Bill Mushaluk (2025) and Bryce Mushaluk (2020).
Your hard work and dedication to the business and your family continues to inspire us all.