How CVS Controls Founder Lyle Kurtz Changed Canadian Rodeo Forever

What does it actually take to build something that lasts nearly 50 years and then hand it off to the next generation without losing a single step? 

Lyle Kurtz didn't set out to become one of the most quietly influential figures in Canadian rodeo history. 

He was a Saskatchewan ranch kid who came to Alberta for the oil and gas industry, spotted an opportunity, and launched CVS Controls with his wife Marie on August 13, 1978, with no money, one handshake deal struck on a Mediterranean honeymoon, and an absolute refusal to quit. 

In this episode, Dr. Chad Hewlett sits down with his friend and client Lyle Kurtz, founder of CVS Controls, to trace the remarkable arc of a man who built a multi-million-dollar industrial controls company and then turned that business success into something that transformed Canadian professional rodeo, fighting for nearly a decade to bring team roping into the CPRA at the professional level. 

What Lyle built in the arena goes far beyond prize money: a legacy of loyalty, mentorship, and giving back to the cowboys who built this industry, one entry fee at a time.

Listen For:

:08 How do you build a company for 48 years and hand it off without losing what made it great?

3:13 What does a honeymoon cruise to Sicily have to do with founding a multi-million dollar company?

9:21 Why did the CPRA fight so hard to keep team roping out of Canadian professional rodeo?

14:32 What pushes someone to spend years lobbying for a sport they weren't being paid to fight for?

17:17 What does it really mean to sponsor a cowboy — and why does Lyle Kurtz still carry his CPRA card?

CONNECT WITH GUESTS: LYLE KURTZ FOUNDER, CVS CONTROLS LTD.

LinkedIn | CVS Controls

CONNECT WITH CHAD HEWLETT, VETERINARIAN | OWNER OF ENERGY EQUINE

Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

Transcript

Chad Hewlett (00:08):

Hey everybody. It's Chad Hewlett with Unbridled and Legendary. I'm here with one of my really good friends and also a client. I've wanted to interview him for a while. It just kind of came up that we were up here in Edmonton working on horses. So this is Lyle Kurtz. Him and his wife founded CBS Controls about close to 50 years ago.

Lyle Kurtz (00:30):

Yeah,

Chad Hewlett (00:30):

August

Lyle Kurtz (00:31):

13th, 1978. Yeah,

Chad Hewlett (00:32):

He was seeing 40 years ago. So we're going to go through, talk quite a bit just about Lyle's life. We'll kind of do kind of how they got started, how they got the business started, go through that a little bit, just how his life got coming and then we'll go through a chapter of some kind of cool stuff because when you look at Canadian history as far as rodeo goes and team roping, especially at the professional level, it had some things over, some business to kind of overcome and he was really instrumental in that. And then the last one is just how I know him because I've been around kind of for the last 20 years, but mostly I know you through just how good of a sponsor and just a friend of rodeo as far as like all those cowboys that are out there.

(01:19):

Right. So you want to kind of get us started with like Saskatchewan and all the things that come about and sort of that thing?

Lyle Kurtz (01:26):

Yeah. I was raised in a little town called Maple Creek, Saskatchewan and we had a ranch out there. And my parents wanted me to have a career to fall back on before I took the ranch over when I got to school. So I left Maple Creek and come to Alberta and ended up working in the oil and gas industry and was fortunate enough to work for the number one process control company, which was a rep of Fisher Controls and worked for them for five years. I met my wife there, Marie, and I was a field technician and then they brought me in and put me management and kind of showed me too much too quick. And I woke up one morning and said, "You can do this yourself." So I broke away and started CVS Controls and that was August 13th, 1978. And away we went and CVS Controls is a company that manufactures and sells process production control, which is control valves, actuators, level controllers, regulators, and everything to do with process controls.

Chad Hewlett (02:49):

Well, we've talked so many different times because every time I see you, I want to kind of know a little bit more, but just in the last couple hours or whatever, we were talking just a little bit about the ... Well, no, actually this last time I was here. We were talking about going on the ship and you guys got married.

Lyle Kurtz (03:08):

Oh yeah.

Chad Hewlett (03:09):

And can you give us that? This goes with how it got started, right?

Lyle Kurtz (03:13):

Yeah, that was before I even started CVS Controls. Marie and I got married and so I wanted to take her on a nice honeymoon. So we booked the Mediterranean cruise and so we jumped on the plane in Edmonton and flew all the way to Palermo, Sicily. And when we got off the plane, we were all jet lagged and tired and we got to the ship and we were supposed to have a suite, but it wasn't a suite. It was just a room with two little beds in it. So I said, "I think I need a drink." And Reese says, "I'm going to sleep." So I went down to the bar and as I was trying to get in the door, there was another guy trying to get in at the same time as me and it turned out that this individual, his name was Dan Stadnick and he was articling to be a lawyer for Miller Thompson or Cook, Duke and Cox at that particular time.

(04:11):

And so anyways, we became really good friends, his wife and my wife, and we chummed around for the three weeks that were on this honeymoon. And then we came back to Edmonton and that's when I decided that I wanted to start my own company so I didn't have any money. I had a little money but not a lot. So anyway, I contacted Dan and I said, "Listen, Dan," I said, "I want to start this company." And I said, "I need a lawyer to incorporate it. " And I said, "I don't have a lot of money, but I said, I'll tell you what I'll do. " I said, "I'll give you 2% of CVS." I said, "I'll give you shares 2%." And I said, "For that, " I said, "You'll have to do all my legal services and that for nothing." And I said, "I don't know where CVS will go, but I said, if it makes money, you'll get 2% of the profits and if it doesn't make money, you'll get 2% of nothing." And so that is kind of where we started and continued on right up until last year, which was 2025 when we turned the company over to Melanie and Chad.

(05:28):

And Mr. Stadik, he was a 2% owner in CVS Control right up to that time.

Chad Hewlett (05:36):

It sounds like it worked out.

Lyle Kurtz (05:38):

Oh, it worked out really good. Dan not only was it-

Chad Hewlett (05:42):

He probably wished he'd charge that on a few more deals, wouldn't he?

Lyle Kurtz (05:45):

He thought he was our corporate counsel, but he got all my friends that got impaired drivings and we did more work on the side for looking after my friends that he did doing corporate work for CVS Controls.

Chad Hewlett (06:00):

Right. Yeah, good. And just through that we just kind of mentioned, because we're staying with the starting thing, because 48 years you've been at this and I think you were just telling me Melanie turns 45.

Lyle Kurtz (06:14):

Yes, that's correct.

Chad Hewlett (06:15):

And Chad's going to turn 42. So you guys got to start having kids right after you got things rolling?

Lyle Kurtz (06:21):

Yeah, I think it was about three or four years after we started CVS Controls that Marie and I decided to have the family and Melanie was the first one born and then Chad came along and when it was time for them to go to school, we had made the decision that our children weren't going to go to school in the city. And so we looked around and we ended up buying a ranch out here. It was owned by Gem Sod Sod Farms, but they had gone into bankruptcy. So we bought it from the Bank of Montreal and got the ranch going and the first thing I did was put runbacks in the arenas and the little arena and the outdoor arena. And we started team roping and taught the kids all about rodeo and roping.

Chad Hewlett (07:06):

Yeah. Well, I think that ties back to your heritage a little bit too from Saskatchewan, right?

Lyle Kurtz (07:11):

That's all I ever knew what to do when I was down in Maple Creek was a caval cows cut hay and amateur rodeo and that was pretty much it. And I had a love for that. And so of course when we had my own children and that, I turned around and got them going into it and kept our business going. And then it was 1999, 2000 when Murray Lithicum and Rocky Dellon came to me and had asked if I'd be interested in helping them try and get team roping brought into the pro ranks in the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association. They said, "You run a pretty good business and it'd be nice if we could get you to come in and give us a hand." So I jumped on board with that.

Chad Hewlett (08:07):

Well, Rocky and Murray's from over in Southern Spanish.

Lyle Kurtz (08:10):

Yeah. Murray is from Glenworth, Saskatchewan,

Chad Hewlett (08:13):

Down

Lyle Kurtz (08:13):

Down in Southern Saskatchewan down there by Swift Current Country.

Chad Hewlett (08:16):

Yeah. And then Rocky's kind of-

Lyle Kurtz (08:19):

Well, he's from the Nanton country down in Southern Alberta, but Murray and Rocky and Jim Randall were the top team ropers in Canada that particular time and were very well known and the rodeos that they went to, they pretty much won everything that they went to was Murray Rocky and Jim Randle and the boys to

Chad Hewlett (08:43):

Bet. It's interesting because that's about the time that I came to Alberta. I got here in 95, 96 and then I just watched it all unfold and being a veterinarian and expected or whatever, I don't think I understood how all this was coming about. And so inside of that, we talked a little bit about two different parts of it. One was figuring out with Pinocch, trying to be able to do that and then PRCA kind of had to get involved. Can you kind of lead us through that just a little bit, how that all-

Lyle Kurtz (09:21):

Well, at the very start there, when Murray Rocky had asked me to turn around and helped him try to get team rope and run the pro ranks, first thing that I did is I hired a lady by the name of Sue O'Connor who worked for Northland and she was her marketing girl and Sue O'Connor knew a fellow by the name of Dr. Bob Stedward who was partners with Randy Greg in the Steadward Center and brought him on because he's a very distinguished gentleman and well spoken and really well known in all of Canada and in sports and so forth. And so we turned around and formed a Friends of Pro Rodeo and did fundraisers on that to get money to give to the different committees that had rodeos because I was fighting with the CPRA about getting team roping brought in and they were scared that if they put team roping in, that the team ropers would want to take money out of the other events for their prize money.

(10:27):

And so they wouldn't put the team roping in. And I assured them that we would come to the table with our own money and as long as they would turn around and give us an opportunity to have team roping. And I had several meetings with different committees and talked to them about bringing team roping in and listen, telling them that we would give them the money for the team rope in purse and that they wouldn't have to go find a sponsor. So there was royal committees such as Inusville and Stavely and Medicine Hat and a few of them that welcomed us on board. And then there was other ones such as Kanoka, which I had sat down and had meetings with them and they were dead against having team roping in their rodeo or having, I shouldn't say not dead against having a team roping.

(11:25):

They had team roping, but they only had like $1,500 for the team ropers first where all the other events had 15 or 20,000. We talked to Pinocchi and said, "Listen, if we come to the table with the money and sign a contract with you, would you consider putting team roping in? " And they said, "No, they weren't going to have any part of that. " And it was the same thing as Calgary and so forth. And so we then turned around and went down and had meetings with the PRCA and Troy Ellerman was the president at that particular time and there was Dr. Bob and Pastel Del Gracio from the Strathmore Committee, myself and Jim Nichols from the PRCA and sat down with the PRCA board and told them all about trying to get team roping brought into Canada. And they had turned around and were graceous enough to say, "Listen, if we turn around and talk to the CPRA and they want their money to count to the world's standings, then we'll make team roping mandatory." And so that was a big step in getting Team Roping brought in to the CPRA was the help of the PRCA.

(12:49):

And so that was a pretty big deal as well and that did happen. And so at that time Team Roping came in as a major optional, which meant that the rodeo committees didn't have to have team roping and they didn't want to, but pretty much all of them did. There's like 50 some rodeos that had team roping and it took off and we went and we had the CPRA, we talked them into letting us have introductory team roping at the CFR and they allowed six teams, but we had to come up with all the purse money and all the saddles and all the prizes and so forth.

Chad Hewlett (13:35):

This was in 2000, wasn't it?

Lyle Kurtz (13:37):

Yes, that's correct. It's 26 years now. It is really funny because to show our good faith, we turned around and we gave all the Cowboys from the Times event right through to the roughstock money as appearance money to the CFR and put up saddle trophy saddles for all the champions and that. But it was still a struggle. They still didn't want to have team open even after we done that. But like I said, in 206 is when the PRCA made it mandatory that you had to, if you wanted the money to count both sides of the border, you had to have team open. So it was the PRCA that really helped us get that accomplished.

Chad Hewlett (14:32):

It's kind of interesting because if you think about that, that's lobbying for a group of people, like it was not for you per se, you know what I mean? Your love of team roping is so nice to see. Did that kind of come from the business aspect or is that just something you always had? Because you know what I mean? There's a lot of people out there that team rope, but didn't step up and help

Lyle Kurtz (14:58):

Them. We turned around and we looked at all the different people that rodeoed and it was strange to find out that like 80% of the people that rodeoed, their family were direct or indirectly involved with the oil and gas industry. And of course CVS Controls manufacturers process production patrols for the oil and gas industry. So we kind of said, "Hey, this is going to a good fit for us. We can turn around and help these cowboys because anyone who rodeos knows that you can't make a living in Canada rodeoing and it's a hard go because you buy time to pay your fuel and your entry fees and try and keep your job going, it's a hard deal." And so we jumped on board and we selected different cowboys and cowgirls for the CVS rodeo team and we pay their entry fees both sides of the border.

(15:56):

So that helps them out a lot and it doesn't put so much stress on them to, when they go to a rodeo, they say, "Well, I have to win in order to make money to go to the next rodeo." Their entry fees are paid and so it's kind of cool and we can turn around and give something back to these kids because their families support us in the oil and gas industry with buying our

Chad Hewlett (16:22):

Products.That's

(16:25):

A really good thing. Again, those are things I kind of knew that was going on, but I kind of didn't. So it was one of the things I wanted to come out today was like just how fortunate we are, first of all, to live in Alberta and just be able to be in a part of the world where it's super prosperous, but we have the oil and gas industry to thank for that as far as how things come together and just makes it all kind of work. Last thing on that, Lyle, is like if we come back to current stuff, which is how I kind of know things, because last year when we ended up going to the NFR, I went down to watch Kyle Lucas because Joe and I are pretty good friends and he's on the sponsored team. So kind of got probably 20 Cowboys.

Lyle Kurtz (17:17):

Yeah, we got 20 boys and then two girls on the CVS rodeo team. And like I said, Joe Lucas and I go back many, many years just because he rodeoed and of course I rodeoed and it was Joe, you come friends with everybody out there. And of course when Kyle turned around and decided to start pursuing what his father did, we just said, "Well, listen, this is a good time to turn around and help a young man out who has dreams to become professional cowboy." And so we sponsored Kyle.

Chad Hewlett (18:02):

Yeah. Must have been quite a deal when he went to the NFL.

Lyle Kurtz (18:05):

Oh yeah, it was really nice. Yeah.

Chad Hewlett (18:06):

I know I sure couldn't wait to go and I knew there were some in there, like how that came together because it's kind of nice to see the ... Kyle's just a good roper and these kids and good family and his dad was there and-

Lyle Kurtz (18:20):

Joe tutored him very well.

Chad Hewlett (18:22):

It's kind of nice to see all that. And then both the grandboys were on there as well.

Lyle Kurtz (18:27):

Dawson and Dylan, yeah, from Wayne Wright, their family, their relatives and that working on the gas interview support us. Yeah. We wanted to see that's a family deal. Yeah. We want to turn around and help those guys out as well because they support CVS, so we want to give back a little bit.

Chad Hewlett (18:46):

Yeah. And then Colton was there as well.

Lyle Kurtz (18:48):

Colton Schmidt. Yeah. It's funny, Leonard, which is Colton's grandpa, he was a really, really close friend of mine and I knew Colton's he was wearing square pants. And so as he grew up, we kind of watched him progress through the rodeo world and so forth like that and I wanted to help him out and the Schmidt families are very close to our family and so it was a no-brainer putting Colton on the CBS rodeo team.

Chad Hewlett (19:23):

And then we talked a little bit about, we've been with the Cassidys for a long time as far as that goes.

Lyle Kurtz (19:29):

Is Tanner? Yeah. Tanner Milana. It's really funny with Cody and Curtis because Greg Cassidy, he was the president of the CPRA and Greg and I fought tooth and nail when I was trying to get team roping brought in and really funny. So now we're really good friends and so forth, but it was funny how he was just dead against having team roping and him and I fought, I don't know how many different meetings about me trying to get team roping brought in. Yeah,

Chad Hewlett (20:05):

I knew that was a part of it, but I just didn't

Lyle Kurtz (20:07):

Know.

Chad Hewlett (20:08):

Yeah.

Lyle Kurtz (20:08):

But Cody and Curtis are very good ambassadors for their steer wrestlers and of course Curtis is a tie down roper as well, but they represent the Canadian rodeo on a very high note and we're very proud to have both of them on our rodeo team.

Chad Hewlett (20:25):

Yeah. And then we had Scotty Gunther there too. Yeah, Scotty Gunther. Yeah. Scotty because he's quite the champion.

Lyle Kurtz (20:31):

Yeah, you bet he has, he's been to the NFR and he's won the Canadian title four or five times. It's incredible the steer wrestling ability that he has.

Chad Hewlett (20:44):

Yeah, he knocked all six steers down last year at the CFR in October. It was incredible to watch, right? And so it's kind of nice to have-

Lyle Kurtz (20:52):

Scotty's a great ambassador and he went to Lakeland College and he goes over there and helps the kids over there, my hat off to Scott for what he does for the roading world as well.

Chad Hewlett (21:05):

Well, while I sure appreciate you taking the time to sit down. I just really love the stories and I love how generous your spirit is. And I think that's something that I look for and people that we're doing our interviews with is like, there's just difficulties in life and different things like that. And I just feel like just knowing who you were, I was like, it's just nice that you have been so generous with your time because it's not just money. I mean, the time that you put into it too has been incredible as far as- Well,

Lyle Kurtz (21:41):

It keeps from the love of the sport too. Chad, rodeo is the rodeo people are a close knit family and I think everybody who rodeos or been around rodeo knows that and we all try to help one another in different ways and I'm just fortunate that a successful company that can turn around and support a lot of their athletes and help them along the road and they've got dreams become the world champion and we certainly want to see that.

Chad Hewlett (22:16):

Yeah, definitely have helped some.

Lyle Kurtz (22:18):

Yep, you bet. And it's sure a lot of fun doing it and I enjoy it tremendously because I still carry my card and so when I go to these rodeos, I go down and dirt there with the boys and visit with them and talk to

Chad Hewlett (22:33):

Them

Lyle Kurtz (22:33):

And it's real cool.

Chad Hewlett (22:35):

Well, thank you again for taking the time.

Lyle Kurtz (22:37):

My pleasure.

Chad Hewlett (22:38):

You can do us a favor if it works out, we'd sure like you to like our channel and subscribe to Unbridled and Legendary. This is another episode of following the horses and seeing what's out there and visiting with the people inside the industry in order to look at excellence and how it all comes about in our sport. Thank you. Yeah,

Lyle Kurtz (22:59):

You bet. My pleasure.