It seems like yesterday that 2017 arrived and since then, the first 6 months of the year have passed in a blur. The Softwood Lumber Agreement and its impact to various facets of our industry has been the dominant news item, and we continue to stay engaged with the federal government as well as our own Trade Advisory Committee. However, 2017 to date has provided many other newsworthy items that we felt we should make sure that we passed on to you, our members.
Membership
Here we grow again…. We are happy to welcome the following new members to the CWPCA folds. Since January, we have been joined by North American Forest Products in British Columbia, River City Remanufacturing in Manitoba, DMF Pallets in Quebec, Storti Equipment in Italy, and Timber Products Inspection from Georgia USA. In addition to this, we are happy to report that we had 100% membership renewal from last year.
Annual General Meeting
Our 50th Annual General Meeting has just passed, and we want to thank all of those who participated in the event. The Hilton Lac Leamy resort made a fabulous host facility and delegates were treated to a great reception featuring a performance by renowned mentalist “Spidey”. A full slate of informative speakers covered topics relating to our industry during the Monday meeting. Exhibitors from Canada, the USA, and Sweden were on hand to show off their products.
Annual Report
Our 2016 Annual Report has been prepared and was distributed to delegates at the AGM. We have enclosed a copy with this issue of Bark Bits, and would encourage you to read it and provide us with your feedback. Honestly, we would really love to hear from you!
Governance
During the business session of the AGM, the Board of Directors elections were held for the 2017-2018 term. We wish to congratulate Jason Wheeler of Herwood Inc, Paul Simpson of Pallet Renew, Henry Wall Jr of H and H Wood Products, Martin Boutet of LCN, Joe Carbone of Stanley Black and Decker, and Vincent Piche of Canadian Wood Products on being re elected, and we wish to welcome our newest board member, Dave Uppal of Pioneer Pallet in British Columbia to the team. We would also like to thank Stephan Harms of Pacific Pallet, Jeff Butler of Butler and Baird, and Jeremy Bavaro of Bissett Fasteners for their interest in joining the Board of Directors and standing for election.
In addition to the elections, we also have a changing of the guard at the executive level. Ryan Scobie will now be replacing Herman Long in the Past President’s position, and we are pleased to announce the appointment of Jason Wheeler as the new CWPCA President. The Executive will be rounded off by Sukhi Brar in the Vice President’s chair, and Rob Anderson as your Treasurer. We look forward to continuing to build the CWPCA and working with the Board and its executive to do so.
We would be remiss if we did not take a moment at this time to recognize three individuals who have chosen to step away from the Board and thank them for their contribution over the years. A big THANK YOU goes out to:
In the very near future we would like you all to watch your inbox as we will be sending out a call for Committee volunteers. We encourage as many of you as possible to get involved and help to shape the direction of the CWPCA.
AGM 2018
Finally, we have decided to step out of the box just a little bit in 2018. INTERPAL will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the early fall of 2018, and CWPCA is proud to be involved in hosting this event. In efforts to bring as many people as possible to this great event, we will be hosting our 2018 AGM in conjunction with INTERPAL. Please watch for more information regarding INTERPAL, its dates, how to register, and what is involved.
New Initiatives
Nature’s Packaging
In conjunction with the Nature’s Packaging effort (we hope you have all downloaded the logo and taken time to explore the website) we are now involved with the NWPCA, via the Pallet Foundation, by collaborating to produce a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) geared toward the end goal of an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for wood pallets. While the effort is strongly driven by our friends in the USA, Rob Anderson, of St Boniface Pallet in Winnipeg, and I sit on the committee responsible for this initiative.
As indicated in an earlier column, we will be circulating a survey to gather data about the Canadian wood packaging industry for use in this effort, but to also use internally for statistical support for issues that we may engage in on your behalf. We strongly encourage (beg) you to take a few minutes and fill out the 100% anonymous survey to help us help you!
New website
We are currently working on combining our CWPCA and HT Program websites into one “NEW LOOK”. We aim to launch this site within the next two months and are very excited by the progress to date. In addition to continuing a cohesive look in all our materials, combining the two websites will reduce costs. It will also serve as a one stop shop for information on the Canadian wood packaging industry and the HT Program. This will lead to a broader reach to promote awareness of our industry’s products, challenges, and opportunities.
I look forward to the remainder of the year, and continuing to make the CWPCA all it can be.
