President’s Message
We are a privately owned company and have grown rapidly because of the talented people who comprise our team – they are our most important asset. Duthie Welsford founded Welco Lumber Corp. in 1983. After 19 years of growth and many successes, Duthie retired from the company in 2002 leaving us in a position of strength and flexibility.
I joined the company in early 1984 and served as Vice President until 2002 when I became President and CEO. I have been very fortunate and have had the honor of working with a dynamic and strong executive management team. They are:
Brian Elcock, our Senior Partner and our Secretary Treasurer, joined Welco in 1984 as a senior trader. Along with his daily sales responsibilities Brian is also an integral part of the shareholder group. Many of our young traders are successful today from working along with and emulating Brian.
Glenn Mattice finally joined us in 1990. I chased him for two years prior to that but finally got him. Glenn and I worked closely for a number of years developing Welco’s first proprietary program, which eventually became our Silva Star program with Canfor. In 2003, Glenn became our Vice President of Specialty Products where his strengths as a product and market developer compliment his strong attention to detail. Over the last couple of years Glenn has led the development of our growth into China. BC shipments to China have increased 600% since 2007 and we are excited to be participating in this growing market.
Kip Fotheringham joined Welco in early 1994. It became very clear, early on that Kip had the ability to develop and grow strong relationships with both Welco suppliers and our major accounts in Canada and the United States. Kip also showed strong leadership skills on the trading floor. It is because of these talents Kip was appointed as our Vice President of Commodity Sales in 2003. We rely on him to develop the horse power we need to satisfy our supplier’s and customer’s expectations. Kip is instrumental in sourcing our supply.
Over the years we have worked closely with several sawmills partners representing their products in the market place. This has been both rewarding and beneficial for Welco and we believe we have added value to their operations.
To our customers, our objective is to be your vendor of choice. We plan on earning your business and your trust by providing excellent service, top quality products and competitive prices. We see our customers as partners in our business, and we treat them accordingly.
To potential employees, welcome to our web-site. Look us over and give me a call if you have any questions. Our growth is only possible through the great people who we work with and our future growth will mean plenty of employment opportunities.
To other suppliers, call us; we would like to chat about partnering with us. We would welcome the opportunity to sit down and get to know you better.
Again, thanks for visiting our web-site. I hope it has been of interest to you. If you have any further questions please send me an e-mail or give me a call. My e-mail address is brad@welcolumber.com or contact me by phone at 604-732-1411. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely
Brad Johansen
President & CEO