|
P.V. Reman "Intends to grow"
• Back to News
BY NICOLE MILLION
Houston Today
June 30, 2004
|
Life is about having a dream.
This is the message John Brink, owner and founder of Brink Forest Products and the Pleasant Valley Remanufacturing Plant in Houston, was trying to get across at the last lunch meeting of the Houston and District Chamber of Commerce.
Brink, who came to Canada from Holland in 1965 with a little more than $25 in his pocket and not speaking a word of English, spoke to the Chamber about his beginnings in the lumber industry, and what he sees for the future of the industry. “When I first came to Canada, I worked piling lumber in Quesnel. It was hard work, but I knew one thing for sure, I was not going to quit. I would pile it all if I had to.” |
 |
Brink said he always knew he would come to Canada. “I remember the day Holland was liberated by the Canadians and the impression it left on me. I knew that one day I would go there...it was my dream. He also said that he always knew he would one day own his own lumber mill, and admits to designing Brink Forest Products’ letterhead for his future company. “I knew that someday, not if, but when, I would own my own lumber mill.”
The initial plan for Brink Forest Products was to turn low grade lumber and trim blocks into high quality board by gluing them together with a method called finger-jointing. “I put together a business plan and dropped it off at every bank in town, then kept going back until one of them finally agree to give me the money.” Finally, the Royal Bank of Canada came forward with a loan $25,000 loan for Brink to start up what has now become a very profitable and successful business. “We worked day and night to get it off the ground,” he said.
In order to get his business plan to work, Brink said he had to do something with the short pieces of wood, something that he had experience with back in Holland, but that there was no standard for in Canada. This is where the finger-jointing concept came to play. “It nearly put us out of business,” he admitted.
Today, Brink Forest Products employs 160 people in Prince George and 40 at the Pleasant Valley remanufacturing plant in Houston, a number that will only increase as time goes by, he said. “We intend to double in size.”
Over the years, Brink Forest Products has had a close working relationship with both Houston Forest Products and Canfor, and they hope to look at the various opportunities Houston offers, including possibly building a finger-jointing plant that could employ more than 50 people. “That is something we should be making a decision on by next year.” Brink said that the decision to locate themselves in Houston was not a coincidence, but a long-awaited plan. “It has taken us 25 years to get into Houston, but I believe in the future of the industry here, and we are committed to Houston and intend to be involved in the community and have plans to grow in the future.”
|
