Last weeks speaker

Posted by Derek Bottomley PDG

on Nov 12, 2013

This week we had an interesting talk about a significant local industry that was started in 1930 by the Thoriakson family. The speaker was Greg Morella of Tolko Lumber who has had 32 years of experience in the lumber industry.

Greg presented not only a capsule of the Tolko operations past and future but some incite into the current situation and future growth of the lumber industry in British Columbia.

The company was formed in 1951 and is now in its third generation. It currently has a force of 4,000 employees. It has twenty two different operations with eight operating sites in the Okanagan. Its operations produce about 58% in lumber, 16% in plywood and the rest in OSB together with some railway ties. The jobs are well paid and the economic benefit to Kelowna from its local operation is significant as the local payroll is about $18 million.

He advised that the industry is driven by housing starts and that the American housing down turn for the past six years has meant that the industry has faced several years of economic hardship. The company has had to work hard to find other markets. They have done well in obtaining overseas markets and are now not so reliant on the Americans. Japan now takes 30% of their exports but they require the very best of the material that they send overseas.

The company takes pride in being a responsible local company and does much good work by supplying material and supporting such things as the new downtown public pier, the Mission creek runoff project and the Apple Triathlon.