Welcome to the 10th anniversary of the Global Buyers Mission™ (GBM) – a three-day, invitation only networking/tradeshow event developed to bring together pre-qualified international buyers of wood products from around the world, with Canadian manufacturers of products that include finished materials, building supplies, and remanufacturing products.

The GBM continues to be the best business building event in Canada for wood products manufacturers interested in growing their export market opportunities – and developing new business relationships with architects, designers, developers, builder & contractors – and other exhibiting wood products companies. Response from our 2012 Exhibitors surveys indicated an estimated $48+ million in new business from attendance at the event.

To celebrate our 10th Anniversary, we are also putting on a little competition to see who can come up with the best booth design/display. This will be judged by a committee of your peers and international buyers, and the incentive is to win back the cost of one booth space! (That’s better than an ipad, right?!)

We are very pleased to be partnering once again with the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association (WRCLA) on the event, as they deliver their Cedar Summit program on the 4th and 5th. We will also draw the important architect / designer / contractor / builder decision makers with our popular Wood First program, which will run through the whole event. Last year, pre-qualified wood products buyers came from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Eastern Canada, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam.

We will be back at the beautiful Whistler Conference Centre and have negotiated unbeatable hotel rates for our delegates in Whistler Village.

You will not want to miss this opportunity to showcase your products to over 250 pre-qualified international buyers plus North American specifiers!

Exhibit space is limited and will be available on a first-come / first-served basis. If you haven’t already registered, contact us for your online registration link at gbm@bcwood.com or call 604-882-7100. The link will include a floor plan showing the space and showroom layout for exhibitors.

In case you haven’t seen them yet, here are some links to a few short videos from last year’s event:

2012 Global Buyers Mission Video: http://youtu.be/75FB6QDMv1o
2012 Wood First Video: http://youtu.be/2oAK2n6Vf8U
2012 Global Buyers Mission Exhibitor Testimonials: http://youtu.be/C5j5u6ShUP8
2012 Global Buyers Mission Buyer Testimonials: http://youtu.be/c2Xwy8yRbio
BC Wood YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/BCWoodAssociation

Proposed Program Schedule

Thursday – September 5th
Association Business & In-Market Representatives Meetings
Evening Welcome Event at the spectacular Roundhouse Lodge at the Peak of Whistler Mountain for all participants

Friday – September 6th
Morning Networking/Tradeshow/Meetings
Afternoon WRCLA Sponsored Golf Tournament; Architects in-booth presentations; or Whistler free time
Gala Evening Event

Saturday – September 7th
Morning Networking/Tradeshow/Meetings

2013 Exhibitor Fees

BC Wood, WRCLA or Canadian Wood Products Association Member:
10 x 10 booth – $2,079 (includes 2 exhibiting participants)
Non-member:
10 x 10 booth – $3,129 (includes 2 exhibiting participants)
Each additional company participant: $400 / Spousal Program: $150 (includes 2 Evening events)

Exhibit Registration Includes:

• 2 full participants per booth space
• Basic electrical, pipe & drape, covered table & 2 chairs, carpet & Wi-Fi
• All meals during the event including the Thursday night Welcome Event at the Roundhouse Lodge & Friday evening Gala Event
• Full access to Thursday Association Programs
• Complete multi-lingual company listing in the Mission Program Guide

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like more information on the GBM or how it could benefit your company.

Design duo Michael Thomas Host and Tanja Hinder are the creative force behind mth woodworks, a local woodworking company based in Vancouver, BC. They combine salvaged Western Red Cedar tree stumps and birch branches with organic resin, creating one-of-a-kind furniture pieces that connect people with beautiful West Coast forests.

This success story started many years ago, when designer and builder Michael Host left his hometown of Vancouver, BC to pursue his passion – the design and construction of timeless furniture. His path led to places like Australia and New York where Michael became an accomplished furniture maker. His journey also brought him to Europe where he was inspired by the architecture and furniture designs. Michael spent many years studying and acquiring renowned and unique woodworking techniques.

Tanja Hinder, on the other hand, grew up in Switzerland. Fascinated by architecture and furniture design, Tanja soon found herself involved in many design-consulting projects. In 2001, she travelled to Vancouver where the paths of Michael and Tanja crossed for the first time. The rest as they say “is history!” Tanja eventually immigrated to Canada and become an aspiring furniture and interior designer.

Over the past year, they have been able to refine their construction techniques to enhance the longevity and durability of their designs. They also further developed their original concept in a new series of products that complement the organic shapes of their salvaged woods in a surprising way.

Today, mth woodworks’ mission is to connect people with BC’s beautiful surroundings by fusing together raw natural elements with organic resin.

“The inspiration for our designs comes from, well, EVERYWHERE. However, nature and travel definitely fuel our creative minds. To us, these are the most important ingredients for all our creations. Guided by clean lines and functionality, we are proud to offer “the bloom collection” and “the host collection” to a diverse clientele.”

For more information on mth woodworks, please visit: http://www.mthwoodworks.com/

Click below to watch a great video on how they salvage their wood:

If you can not see the video link above: click here

Responding to membership, BC Wood has secured a coordinated space at the Gas and Oil Expo to be held June 11-13, 2013 in Calgary, Alberta. BC Wood staff, along with some members, have walked the show in the past and feel it presents a good opportunity for exposure into the fast growing oil sands regions of Alberta, the Dakotas, Wyoming, and Montana.

About the Gas and Oil Expo

‘We’re a leading biennial event for the North American gas and oil industry. Held in the energy capital of Canada – Calgary, Alberta – the event offers opportunities for brand exposure, business development, education, and networking. Indoor and outdoor exhibits showcase emerging technologies, a diverse range of products and services, and leading expertise. The largest Canadian energy event of 2013, Gas & Oil Expo hosts over 500 exhibiting companies and attracts 20,000 registered attendees.’

BC Wood feels there is an excellent opportunity for companies that manufacture pre-fabricated homes, industrial products such as, rig matting & components, as well as finished products such as, cabinets, flooring, and millwork.

Growth in the oil and gas sector is creating significant opportunities in select regional markets in the western United States. For example, the State of North Dakota is in dire need of additional housing units due to an influx of refinery workers. The state’s population is expected to grow by 25% over the next 15 years. The ten energy development counties where the oil sands are located, are projected to grow by at least 50%. The North Dakota Housing Finance Agency projects household growth at 30% or 80,000 new housing units by 2025.

Given that the show is fast approaching, please contact BC Wood as soon as possible to hold a position at the show as space is limited. Online registration will be available soon.

Date & Location:

Calgary, Alberta
June 11-13, 2013

Registration:

Please contact Scott Thompson at BC Wood for more information and to register: Office: 604-882-7100; Cell: 604-880-0060; E-mail – sthompson@bcwood.com. Please note, a deposit is required to register for the show.

We have another fiscal year behind us as April 1st marks the beginning of a new year for both BC Wood and the Specifiers Program.

Although we had a late start in 2012, the Program picked up considerable momentum beginning in October and continued quite a hectic pace through to March 31st, the end of our fiscal year. Although the major audience was the architect community, the program also experienced an expansion into the construction community with us joining and become active with the major construction associations in BC. As we look back, here are some of the highlights for the 2012 – 2013 year:

• We hosted almost 50 events, including lunch & learn sessions, group seminars, and tours.
• These events put us in front of over 800 architects and designers and their respective support staff, contractors, builders, and engineers.
• While Greater Vancouver is where the majority of events took place, we also held sessions for specifiers throughout the province including Victoria, Nanaimo, Squamish, Kamloops, Kelowna, Vernon, and Penticton. We were accompanied by industry representatives who each provided educational seminars on their respective products.
• One of our last events of the year was our first group session for the Independent Construction Business Association (ICBA) (picture below). For this group, instead of a lunch & learn, we held a “breakfast & learn”. This worked quite well for the contractors as it ended at 9:00am, thereby, allowing those that attended to minimize the time from the jobsites. Five companies from industry participated in the session and each gave 15 minute educational presentations on their respective products to the group. Afterwards, most stayed behind for 30 minutes or so to answer questions on a one-on-one basis.

• We have a group session booked for Mid-May with the other major construction association, the Vancouver Regional Construction Association (VRCA).

• We held our first group seminar for the CHBA, Sea to Sky Chapter, up at Whistler.

• In total, 24 companies from Industry participated in the Specifiers Program in varying degrees.

• Throughout the year, we were contacted by several architect firms requesting seminars on specific products which we arranged for industry representatives to present on. This epitomizes one of the major benefits of the program; follow up sessions are where relationships are formed between specifiers and companies, which in turns greatly increases the company’s profile and chances of having products specified.

• We fielded numerous requests from specifiers looking for information on specific products or where to source them. In these cases, we put them in touch with the appropriate companies. If the products are available, having high quality, made in BC products used on BC projects is a win-win for both the specifier and industry. Certainly, the specifiers are now aware of this more than ever before.

All in all, this was a quite busy and successful year for the Specifiers Program. My next Wood Connections article will cover our planned activities for the coming year. In the meantime, should you want to participate in the program for the upcoming year, or simply want more information, please feel free to contact me at rmanion@bcwood.com or you can reach me by calling the BC Wood office.

BC Wood just recently received confirmation that the funding for our 2013-2014 trade show activities has been approved. We began this year’s proposal writing with some concerns over just how much our members would want to take on in the coming year. Our early December sector meetings with member companies provided some good input on how much companies wanted to do this year and where they wanted BC Wood to focus its’ efforts.

BC Wood took this input and put together a comprehensive package of market development activities. Upcoming activities will focus on expanding market share in the United States while maintaining the hard won presence we have gained in Asian markets and Eastern Europe. Recognizing the possibility of a new and emerging market opportunity in India, BC Wood has scheduled a mission and participation in a trade show in Bangalore in February 2014. The Global Buyers Mission, our 10th, will be a highlight, with over 200 buyers coming to Whistler in early September.

I would like to recognize and thank the staff of BC Wood for the extra effort they put towards writing these funding proposals. The result was that BC Wood has another strong program of approved trade event activities for 2013-2014. For those of you wanting to see the updated list of trade show activities, please visit the BC Wood website at www.bcwood.com and select Trade Events from the Programs & Services tab. Any comments or questions regarding these planned activities can be directed to me at bhawrysh@bcwood.com or by calling our office at 604-882-7100.

By Scott Buchholz

This past weekend, Abbotsford was once again home to the 2013 BC Log Home, Timber Frame and Country Living Show. The show exhibited many products and consumer goods, yet none more impressive than what was on display in the BC Wood Pavilion where the Log Home, Timber Frame, and Pre-Fab companies of British Columbia showcased their craftsmanship, innovation, and skill.

Participating members this year included: Artisan Log & Timber Homes, BC Timberframe Co., Big Foot Log Homes, Canadian Timber Frame, Daizen, Hamill Creek Timber Homes, Kettle River Timberworks, Okanagan Timber Frame, Pacific Homes, Sitka Log Homes, and Trout Creek Log Homes.

The LHTF sector stood out among the displays as fully and partially erected log homes towered over the trade event attendees, attracting large crowds and marketing the latest and greatest in timber home joinery, product, and design.

Reports after the 2012 Denver Log Home Show suggested a growing sense that the worst of the 2008 ripple-effects were over and that a general feeling of profitable times were approaching. Fast forward 5 months later to Abbotsford, and it appears as though these sentiments were rightly directed as scores of serious buyers-and less “tire kickers”-lined the event hall to inquire into companies and determine the right builder for them.

A Strong attendance, serious buyers, and quality product added legitimacy to reports of a resilient BC housing sector and a rise in demand from the U.S. This upward trend is a welcomed one.

After speaking with a number of BC Wood Members who participated in the event days after it had finalized, there were reports of sales made, meetings scheduled to go over projects, and a general air of optimism for things to come. It was good to hear of a much busier show than last year, and the word that continues to be passed around is that we are trending towards more black and less red.

For more information, do not hesitate to contact me at sbuchholz@bcwood.com

By Scott Thompson

BUILDEX Vancouver, one of Canada’s largest tradeshow/conferences, welcomed over 13,000 design, construction, and real estate management professionals on February 13th and 14th to the Vancouver Convention Centre. Over 600 exhibitors and more than 50 educational seminars were presented to the interior design and architecture professions, property and real estate management, and the construction and renovation sectors.

BC Wood coordinated a centralized area for wood products manufacturers with 15 members joining us from the building and finished products sectors including Structurlam, Sitka Log Homes, Pacific Homes, Cedarland, SilvaPanel, Coulson Manufacturing, Woodtone, Masonite, Kettle River Timberworks, BC Timber Frame, Merit Kitchens, Brisco Manufacturing, Big Foot Log Homes, AWMAC, and Wideplank Flooring. Feedback to date has been very positive with respondents citing renewed optimism in demand for wood based building products.

We were very busy during the show as we met with over 40 architects, designers, and contractors; approximately 20 of which we knew and were afforded the opportunity of renewing relationships. The rest were new connections who we will invite to future BC Wood specifier related activities including the popular lunch & learn sessions.

We met with 12 international buyers looking for BC wood products. In each case, we requested they contact us with detail that we can pass on to our members. To date, 3 have done this.

We also met with companies that were both exhibitors and visitors to the show from the value-added wood industry that are not BC Wood members and used the opportunity to promote various association activities.

BC Wood plans to participate in the next Buildex show being held Feb 18th – 19th, 2014. For more information on this event, contact Scott Thompson at 604-882-7100.

This week I had the opportunity to meet with a very interesting company; Vancouver Urban Timberworks. They specialize in producing products from hard and softwoods. What sets them apart is that their products are made from discarded trees around the local area.

In and around Metro Vancouver, there are hundredsof trees that are coming down for various reasons which could be quite costly for the individual or company to discard. Starting out in their North Vancouver driveway three years ago, Eric and Danny began retrieving these fallen trees free of charge. They then transformed these trees into unique wood products including large slabs, furniture, and other custom products.

One of their projects included producing a boardroom table made out of reclaimed and salvaged timber from the Squamish Valley in BC. After retrieving the tree, they reclaimed the usable timber, milled it into slabs, transported it in their biodiesel powered trucks, kiln dried it, CNC’d it flat, and finished the table. Click here to watch a quick video on the production of the table.

With the support of their community, they have moved their business out of the driveway and into a retail location that will soon house an exquisite showroom. They are steadily adding and upgrading their equipment and inventory to increase their capacity and meet a high demand.

For more information on Vancouver Urban Timberworks, visit their website: http://vancouverurbantimberworks.com and their facebook page: facebook.com/pages/Vancouver-Urban-Timberworks/245145348849853

Our 2012 Global Buyers Mission videos have now been uploaded. All of our videos can be seen on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/BCWoodAssociation?feature=watch

Global Buyers Mission Video

Wood First Program Video

Buyer Testimonial Video

Exhibitor Testimonial Video

Over the next couple of months, BC Wood will be coordinating the participation of its members in the BC Log Home and Country Living Show in Abbotsford in March. Held at the Tradex facility in Abbotsford, March 9-10th, this show draws over 12,000 attendees, primarily members of the general public who have an interest in log and timber frame homes. The Abbotsford show has traditionally been the best attended trade event for BC Wood’s log home and timber frame sector, with 12 to 14 members participating in the event over the past few years.

This Abbotsford show features log & timber builders and a range of related products and services that go hand-in-hand with outdoor living. BC Wood’s participation in the 2011 show was marked by a general improvement in the public’s confidence and attitude toward building. All exhibitors reported positively on the improved attitude of the attendees and the quality and quantity of the sales leads they generated from the show.

While most of the exhibitors at this show are manufacturers of log and timber frame structures, there is an opportunity for manufacturers to promote other building and finishing materials including flooring, roofing, kitchens, doors, windows, and exterior finishing materials. The audience is drawn to the show to see a complete range of products, from log and timber frame shells to the materials that are need to finish them.

Space is available for BC Wood members wanting to participate in the BC Log Home, Timber Frame and Country Living show this coming March. I would encourage any companies interested in more information to contact me at  bhawrysh@bcwood.com or in BC Wood’s offices at 604-882-7100.

The 8th Annual IDSWest show was held in the New Vancouver Convention Centre, September 27th to 30th, 2012.  The Interior Design Show West (IDSwest) is Western Canada’s annual premiere residential design show featuring over 300 exhibitors showcasing quality cutting edge and original design products and services to an audience of industry professionals, architects, designers, consumers, and media. This is about a 30% increase in exhibitors from the past year and all the participants agreed, it was the finest one yet!

An amazing array of both internationally renowned and local designers (including a fab fashion show), critics, and popular magazine editors spoke throughout the course of the event, drawing standing room only crowds over the weekend.

We had good representation of BC Wood members participating in our joint booth this year, including:

Brent Comber Originals
Coulson Mfg.
Kettle Valley Moulding & Millwork
vin de garde cellar systems
Wide Plank Hardwood Ltd.

The overall displays were great, offering the 30,000+ audience lots of ideas and opportunities to see what exceptional talent we have here in BC. Results received from members to date make it one of the most successful Canadian activities that BC Wood participates in. Congratulations to all our members for their hard work and ingenuity.

A special display sharing our space this year was the Picker’s Shack, designed by UBC students in Michael Green’s program. The fruit stand was designed for a Naramata orchard that wanted to increase their on-farm produce sales. They wanted something functional, well shaded, naturally ventilated, and moveable. The student’s goal was to rethink the modest fruit stand to attract more drive-by customers. The concept is a functional box with subtle complexity. Protection from the elements, display space, views, and seating are all accomplished through an operable wall system made from custom cut pine beetle infested lumber. The roof is made from reclaimed Canada Place roof fabric. When in its closed state, the fruit stand shows hints of the operable elements. When open, the operable elements reveal colourful surfaces that relate to the families heritage and the colours of agriculture. It was a hit at IDSWest, particularly the fresh apples, pears, and cider that were distributed by the students throughout the event.

To see the program and speaker highlights, as well as listings of all the exhibitors, visit their website at www.idswest.com

A reminder of BC Wood’s presence at this year’s Interior Design Show West (IDS West) – September 27-30th. Over the past couple of years, the IDS West has become the venue to see the best of international and local designs. BC Wood will bring together local companies that produce a full range of design-oriented products; everything from custom furnishings and architectural millwork, to cabinets, doors, mouldings, and flooring.

The objective will be to feature the individual companies by drawing more traffic to a centrally located “Design BC” pavilion. The pavilion will be an 1800 square foot of exhibition space, with BC Wood covering a good portion of the hard costs for this sector wide display.

If you plan to participate in the IDS West show this year, please contact me to see how we can save you money and ensure you higher visibility through the “Design BC” pavilion. Call 604-882-7100 or email me at  bhawrysh@bcwood.com.

Later this year in September, BC Wood will be coordinating a tandem of cost-shared trade shows for the Log and Timber Frame Home sector. Member companies are able to participate in the Log and Timber Home Show in Dallas, Texas on September 22-23rd and on the following weekend, Sept 28-29th, in Denver Colorado.

The Log & Timber Home Show – Dallas Texas – Sept 22-23, 2012
The Denver Log Home Show – Denver, Colorado – Sept 28-29, 2012

The first of the two shows scheduled for September is in Dallas. The Dallas region was identified by the industry advisory group for BC Wood’s Log and Timber Frame Home sector as a priority market for this year. The reason to focus our collective effort on Dallas was not because there were a lot of log and timber frame structures being built in Dallas, but, because there were a good number of people living in Dallas who had a desire to own a log or timber frame home and had the financial where-with-all to purchase one.

The attendees at previous Dallas shows had a very desirable demographic make-up with 85% of the attendees being couples 35+, higher education, higher income, and skewing to the outdoors. Further, 80% of the attendees plan to build their log or timber frame home within the next 3 years.

The majority of the homes built by Dallas residences were located in the surrounding states of Arkansas, New Mexico, and the Oklahoma panhandle. BC Wood will support its’ members in our first venture into what is expected to be a very lucrative market.

The second show where BC Wood will support its’ members participation is the show in Denver. Last year, six BC Wood members attended the Denver Log Home Show and expressed a strong desire to return this year. Over the years, many BC Wood members from the log and timber frame home sector have used the Denver show to establish a presence in this very strong market for recreational homes in the Rocky Mountain States region. As the economy in this region continues to build some momentum, I fully expect another strong level of participation from BC Wood’s members for the Dallas show.

Space is available for BC Wood members wanting to participate in these two up-coming shows. I would encourage any companies interested to contact me at BC Wood’s office at 604-882-7100 or at bhawrysh@bcwood.com.

Francis Lemieux & Co. is a small, custom woodworking company located in Port Moody, British Columbia. With over 20 years of experience serving the BC and US market, Francis Lemieux offers a wide range of services including custom furniture and millwork fabrication, art services, and prototype building. The company is involved in the entire process from design to production and installation. They have chosen to remain small in order to maintain flexibility and diversity in the products they produce and to provide a high level of personalized service.

The company was established by Francis Lemieux, a hands-on master tradesperson in the joinery trade. Francis Lemieux has designed and made everything from musical instruments to furniture and architectural woodwork. For a time, he specialized in the design and production of chairs. Francis Lemieux is also the designer of a collection of original furniture, lighting, accessories, and art work called “Frank Smith”; all of these pieces are produced in-house. Francis Lemieux & Co. has worked with many design professionals and artists to facilitate the production of their products and projects which have included restaurants, hotels, and private residences. Their shop is well equipped for a diversity of products, including a CNC router capable of 2D and 3D work, which is used as a design tool just as much as a production tool.

Francis Lemieux & Co. has exhibited in numerous shows and competitions and has won several design & craft awards. Judson Beaumont has described Francis Lemieux as a positive inspiration when he started his company, Straight Lines Designs, in the 1980′s.

Over the years, Francis Lemieux & Co. has given back to the community by training many apprentices. Francis also volunteered his time to sit on the advisory committee for the Fine Woodworking program at Selkirk College in Nelson, BC and was a member of the former Wood Co-op on Granville Island. In addition, he has donated his work, including art pieces to numerous causes; the most recent being a relief carved art piece donated to the Unicef Unite for Art Auction.

For more information on Francis Lemieux & Co., please visit http://www.francislemieux.com and http://franksmith.ca. To read Francis’ blog, please visit: http://relevantwoodworking.blogspot.com/ .

By Roy Manion

While we continued our ongoing efforts to work with architects, designers, and now contractors, yours truly also travelled to Saskatoon the week of Jan 16th to participate in the Prairie Showcase, an annual event that has been held in Saskatoon in mid-January for the past 11 years. The reason given for the timing is that the weather is so cold (it was -35C with the wind chill factor bring it down to -48C) that there isn’t much going on, allowing companies to send key personnel to the show.

The Prairie Showcase is for members only; companies must belong to the WRLA to participate either as an exhibitor or as a buyer, and is designed primarily as a buying show.  Exhibitors are encouraged to have credible “show specials”. This has been a very successful format which has resulted in the show growing over the years to become one the largest of its kind in Canada. This was BC Wood’s first year of attending with the purpose of creating an awareness of BC’s value-added wood industry and products to the attendees. In this regard, we did have a number of retailers stop at our booth to inquire about specific products and where they might be sourced.

This can be an excellent show for BC Wood and some of its members (who are able to sell to major retailers) and we have added it again to our line-up of activities for next year – so keep it in mind.

Over and above the Prairie Showcase, BC Wood continues to call on architects and major contractors which included meetings with Bird Construction and EllisDon. We also attended a millwork seminar for the technical committee of the Greater Vancouver House Builders Association.

The last couple of weeks also included our working with a timber frame company on Vancouver Island to finalize and send out invitations for a tour and seminar event. Early response from the architect community for the event has been excellent.

For further information on anything in this article or if you wish to participate in the Architect Program, please contact me at  rmanion@bcwood.com or you can reach me at the BC Wood office

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Westminster Industries Ltd. was founded in 1975 by Dave Wasmuth in New Westminster. It is now one of the most respected and oldest, originally owned lumber wholesalers in the Lower Mainland. They are currently located in White Rock and have a distribution yard in Delta.

Westminster Industries works with the majority of the major and medium sized mills in BC and Alberta, distributing Hemlock, Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar, and SPF to both domestic and international markets including Asia, Middle East, Europe, and Australia. Providing service to purchasers over this broad range of clients is a knowledgeable staff and experienced traders, including two traders fully conversant in all Chinese dialects. Westminster Industries is seen as a valued supplier to its long and growing customer base. They also have strong ties to the community through their various donations and charitable work, with the most recent being donations for the new White Rock Bike Park.

Since their start in 1975, Westminster Industries has been following the trends and adapting to the market. This, coupled with their experienced staff, has been the key to their growth and success. They recently updated their website to reflect current conditions and company adaptions. The website is now easier to function and educates the customer on what Westminster’s products and services are. To view their new website, go to www.westmin.ca

Kelowna-based Norelco Cabinets taps into the Business Innovation Partnership (BIP) on all fronts and achieves huge impact to their bottom-line.

Companies that have accessed the BIP services have seen significant payback! For Norelco Cabinets, the market and technical advice delivered through the BIP has dramatically changed the way the company manufactures its products, as well as how it markets and sells those products. Hear from company owner Peter Raja in this short video (link below) as he details some of the changes that dramatically increased productivity, product quality, and sales – along with an increase in profitability.

Some of the areas Norelco focused on were the better use of their manufacturing space and how product moved through the shop. With FPInnovations’ help, the company was able to increase its production without expanding its footprint – a significant capital savings! Along with gains in productivity came increases in product quality, and lower rework costs. Accessing new markets and developing new business approaches helped Norelco expand its sales. With the help of BCWood, Norelco embraced new sales techniques including both online marketing as well as traditional client/vendor interaction, and discovered new sales potential in markets it had not previously ventured in to.

Overall, the biggest benefit for Norelco was working with BCWood and FPInnovations concurrently. As new sales opportunities were discovered, the manufacturing process was being improved with the final result of getting to the market quicker, and efficiently capitalizing on new sales potential.

If you’d like to discover how you can achieve results like these, watch this short video. If you have questions or want further information, contact FPInnovations at (604) 222 5672, or BCWood at (877) 422 9663.

Norelco Cabinets from Rumin Mann on Vimeo.

For the sixth year in a row, Whistler again hosted a B.C. wood industry conference last week — but a changing demographic in attendees offered an opportunity for resort officials to connect with international delegates interested in the resort.

The 2011 Global Buyers Mission (GBM), organized by the B.C. Wood Specialties Group, took place at the Whistler Conference Centre last Thursday through Saturday (Sept. 8 to 10). The event saw about 700 attendees including buyers from around the world and wood companies from across B.C.

According to organizers, about 70 per cent of buyers, attendees and sellers were participating in the conference for the first time. With the recent decline of American markets for B.C. wood, more buyers came from Asian markets such as China and Korea.

Those are areas Whistler has been trying to reach from a tourism standpoint, and at least one municipal official had the chance to promote the resort to a group of conference attendees.

Mike Vance, RMOW general manager of policy and program development, was asked to speak at the conference on behalf of the Council of Forest Industries, according to information provided by the municipal communications department.

The delegation of China-based land developers was interested to learn if they can build a resort like Whistler and use some of the municipality’s best practices as a model, a spokesperson said. Vance’s presentation focused on Whistler’s success as a resort, including its evolution, leading-edge practices and strong brand.

The group of about 30 people was also taken on a tour of the Whistler Public Library, the Rainbow neighbourhood and the Lost Lake Passivhaus to learn more about green and energy-efficient building features and the use of wood as a sustainable resource.

Whistler is a great place to host the GBM conference because it’s a really good showcase of B.C. wood and its uses, said Mike Cunningham, a representative for the conference.

“Look at the chalets, the residential homes, the construction — even the convention centre itself,” he said.

Besides Whistler’s abundance of wood, keeping the GBM in the resort helps to keep the invitation-only event small in order to keep that face-to-face interaction, according to Cunningham.

“For the buyers and the sellers the real advantage of this conference is that it gives them that opportunity to interact in a little more of a relaxed setting,” Cunningham said.

There was also plenty of opportunity for delegates to enjoy Whistler.

“They go golfing, they go up the gondola. Its spectacular scenery and they love it,” Cunningham said. “A lot of people bring their spouses with them too and compared to being somewhere stuck in a hotel, we intentionally design the conference with a lot of free time.”

It’s important to have the conference each year in order to attract new buyers and allow smaller B.C. companies to sell their B.C. wood products to the large international market, Cunningham added.

“For a large- to medium-sized company trying to sell to a huge market in China, if they have never done business in a place like that before it can be quite daunting for them to jump on a plane and fly over there and start looking for people to buy their product.”

Source: Whistler Question Local News – September 15, 2011