About
How we got here.
Powerwood was started in October 1995 by founder Steve Power in the basement of his Coquitlam, BC home. He built the business up by servicing the wholesale distributors in California. The flagship product was kiln dried select tight knot which remains one of our main product lines. The business grew steadily and within a few years he brought in quality control, admin and sales staff. All manufacturing was done custom by other businesses in British Columbia, and our inventory was stored in a leased yard in Surrey, BC.
In 2002, Powerwood had grown to roughly 21 employees and Steve bought the 5 acre distribution yard in Surrey where we still work today. Sales and customer base grew steadily for the next six years, which were some of the best years in the company’s history. Profits were reinvested in developing the lumber yard and slowly equipment was added for in house manufacturing. In 2006, we bought our first resaw and chop saw. By the summer of 2008, we had also installed a weinig moulder and we were well on our way to becoming the manufacturer we are today.
In November 2008, the housing crisis hit in the US and had a significant impact on Powerwood’s bottom line. The result was very difficult years in 2009 and 2010. Powerwood retracted slightly, though we are proud to say we were not forced into any permanent layoffs by the poor market. The slow years have been well utilized at Powerwood and we took the opportunity to evaluate our business model. Prior to 2008, Powerwood was mainly a sales driven company that had a very simple operations model. In the 3 years that followed, we made significant changes to our operations and when the market recovered slightly in 2011, the changes allowed us to step into market segments that had been left unserviced due to industry retraction.
In June 2011, Steve Power retired and was succeeded by the the ownership team of Jake Power and Dustin Elliott. Jake manages the sales force and Dustin the operations. Both have played a prominent role in rebuilding the operations of the company and both are committed to continuing to build Powerwood through top end quality, service and consistency.