President's Message
Brad Johansen, President & CEO
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 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.
Yuri Lewis joined Welco in 1989. She served as our Comptroller until 2002 when she became the Vice President of Finance. Yuri is responsible for all financial functions. She is part of our senior management team and we couldn’t do what we do without her.
Glenn Mattice finally joined us in 1990. I chased him for 2 years prior to that but finally got him. Glenn and I worked closely for a number of years developing Welco’s first proprietary program. What would eventually become our Silva Star program with Canfor, Glenn and I created our brand and reputation for quality SPF fascia products for the California, Nevada and Arizona markets. 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.
Kip Fotheringham joined Welco in early 1994. It became very clear, very early that Kip had the ability to develop and grow strong relationships with both Welco suppliers and our major accounts in Canada and the U.S. 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.
I joined the company in early 1984 and served as Vice President until 2002 when I became President and CEO.
Much of our success has been from adding additional people and offices and through the development or acquisition of specific programs. We now have satellite offices in Winnipeg, Calgary, Costa Mesa Ca, Sequim Wa, Carthage Mo, and Vologda Russia.
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 hope 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 error-free 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 further 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 use our Vancouver number 604-732-1411. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely
Brad Johansen
President & CEO