Events & Activities
Past events
CANADIAN HARDWOOD BUREAU MEETING
APRIL 9-10, 2024, MONTREAL, QC
Now is the time to register for the next meeting of the Canadian Hardwood Bureau (CHB) which will take place on April 9-10, 2024 at the Double Tree by Hilton Montreal, 1255 Jeanne Mance St., Montreal, QC. Please book your hotel rooms today!
The Canadian Hardwood Bureau traditionally attracts over 100 dedicated hardwood industry professionals to our meeting each year. Our format allows you to maximize your time and we keep your costs down – by providing a convenient daily registration fee. Our members receive access to both days of our event for a registration fee of $205. Judd Johnson, Editor, HMR, will be our keynote speaker. Register today.
CANADIAN HARDWOOD BUREAU MEETING
NOTICE 7 AM- 9 AM FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2023
Omni Louisville Hotel
Louisville, KY
The next meeting of the Canadian Hardwood Bureau will take place Friday, October 6, 2023 at the beautiful Omni Louisville Hotel, Louisville, KY in conjunction with the NHLA Convention. The meeting will be held from 7:00 am-9:00 am. For those who are interested, breakfast will be served at 7:00 am. Participants can register for breakfast and the meeting, or simply register for the meeting only. Don’t book your trip home until after you take this opportunity to participate and network at the CHB breakfast meeting.
CHB-NHLA
FRENCH-LANGUAGE HARDWOOD LUMBER GRADING SHORT COURSE
(Drummondville, QC)
September 19 - 21, 2023
The CHB is pleased to advise that in conjunction with NHLA, we will be hosting a French-language hardwood lumber grading short course (with a bilingual instructor). Please note that space is limited to 25 people. We encourage you to register now to avoid being disappointed!
CANADIAN HARDWOOD BUREAU MEETING
NOTICE 7 AM- 9 AM FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2023
Omni Louisville Hotel
Louisville, KY
The next meeting of the Canadian Hardwood Bureau will take place Friday, October 6, 2023 at the beautiful Omni Louisville Hotel, Louisville, KY in conjunction with the NHLA Convention. The meeting will be held from 7:00 am-9:00 am. For those who are interested, breakfast will be served at 7:00 am. Participants can register for breakfast and the meeting, or simply register for the meeting only. Don’t book your trip home until after you take this opportunity to participate and network at the CHB breakfast meeting.
April 18-19, 2023 - MONTREAL, QC
The Canadian Hardwood Bureau’s annual meeting was held April 18-19, 2023 in Montreal and this year’s meeting attracted over 100 delegates. The session provided an opportunity for delegates to learn and to network. The program kicked off with a spirited Industry hockey game. CHB Chairman Shaun Rowe, Quality Hardwoods, welcomed everyone to the session and summarized CHB activity, including the promotions program and the upcoming short course.
The keynote speaker was Derek Nighbor, President and CEO of Forest Products Association of Canada, with a presentation entitled “Moving Canada’s Forestry Solutions Forward”. Nighbor spoke to the role forestry and forest products can play in accelerating the move to a net-zero carbon economy – and support community values and Canadian economic growth along the way. He also spoke to where things are working well with the federal government – and where we need to see improvement in this important partnership.
CHB-NHLA HARDWOOD LUMBER GRADING SHORT COURSE (Bolton, Ontario) May 9 - 11, 2023
The CHB is pleased to advise that in conjunction with NHLA, we will be hosting an English-language hardwood lumber grading short course (with a bilingual instructor). Please note that space is limited to 20 people. We encourage you to register now to avoid being disappointed!
OVERVIEW
The course will be conducted by NHLA Canadian Inspector Simon Laroque. The theoretical portion of the course will be held in Bolton from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm approximately. The practical portion of the course will be held on the third day at Ontario Hardwood Products in Bolton. Instruction is geared towards production, warehouse staff, sales and office personnel, not necessarily to those directly involved in lumber grading. The goal is to make your personnel “rules conscious”, not professional graders. The course will cover such things as a basic introduction to hardwood lumber grading, a basic rules description, lumber characteristics, cutting unit method, general instructions, standard grades, grading practice, lumber rule, species exceptions, net/gross tally etc.
CHB CLEVELAND - SEPTEMBER MEETING 2022
The 2022 Fall Meeting of the Canadian Hardwood Bureau was held
at the recent NHLA Convention in Cleveland OH, with 40 delegates
attending. The guest speaker was Mike Snow, Executive Director,
American Hardwood Export Council, whose presentation was entitled
“Hardwood Exports in a Changed World”. The group was pleased to
have the new NHLA Executive Director, Dallin Brooks attend the
meeting and Allison DeFord, Executive Director of the North
American Forest Foundation also made a brief presentation. CHB
reiterated its support for the work of the North American Forest
Foundation.
Chairman Shaun Rowe, Quality Hardwoods noted CHB had a very
busy year. Thanks to Haliburton Forest Products and Quality
Hardwoods, along with NHLA and CHB, a 7-Week Lumber Inspector
Training program was held last spring. A total of 15 students
registered, 14 for the 7 week and 1 for the 2 week course. Interest in
holding a similar course in 2023 is there, so members were invited to
send employees to this unique opportunity in Canada.
Rowe also outlined the CHB’s Promotion Program, the goal of which
is to tell the story of Canadian hardwoods as beautiful, durable, and
sustainable interior building materials to as many potential customers
as possible. The program targets US based designers and
architects, who will promote our story to home owners and
commercial end users. Last year, CHB presented 12 on-line
webinars, reaching almost 1400 designers and architects. This
year’s program will exceed those participation numbers. He urged
members to support the promotions efforts.
The next meeting of the CHB will be held in April 2023 in Montreal.
Download the Hardwood Exports in a Changed World Presentation
7 WEEK (AND 2 WEEK) NHLA/CHB GRADING COURSES MARCH 28 - MAY 13, 2022
The Canadian Hardwood Bureau and the National Hardwood Lumber Association are pleased to jointly offer interested individuals and companies the opportunity to participate in a unique, seven week Accelerated Lumber Inspection Program in Canada. The first two weeks will also serve as Block 1 of the Online Progressive Program. Please note the lower registration fees now available.
The Canadian Hardwood Bureau traditionally attracts over 100 dedicated hardwood industry professionals to our meeting each year. Our format allows you to maximize your time and we keep your costs down – by providing a convenient daily registration fee. Our members receive access to both days of our event for a registration fee of $190.
We are very pleased that our keynote speaker will be Judd Johnson, Editor of Hardwood Market Report (HMR).
CHB Meeting - October 4, 2019 - New Orleans
The 2019 fall meeting of the Canadian Hardwood Bureau was held October 4th in New Orleans, in conjunction with the NHLA convention. Many long-time members attended, and our newest member, Haliburton Forest, was also present.
The guest speaker was John Forbes, the Manufacturer Services Director for the National Wood Flooring Association, who is responsible for overseeing and promoting all industry issues relating to the environment, governmental policy, and manufacturer services, among many other things. His presentation was very interesting and comprehensive, and there was excellent conversation and questions from the floor. Participants appreciated learning more about NWFA, their services and about the flooring market, purchasing preferences etc. His presentation made for a great addition to our fall meeting.
Guests to the meeting included NHLA inspection team members, Terry Miller, National Hardwood Magazine and Jennifer Reith, the new Executive Director of the North American Forest Foundation. A presentation was made to NAFF, with donations from 4 CHB members that had contributed through the membership invoicing process.
Past chair Brent Stief, Huron Forest Products, chaired the meeting and reported on finances and activities. The dates for the CHB’s next meeting are the afternoon of Tuesday, March 24 and the morning of Wednesday, March 25. We are very pleased that Judd Johnson from HRM will be our keynote speaker.
The Canadian Hardwood Bureau held a three-day English language hardwood lumber grading short course, September 10-12, in Bolton, Ontario. The theoretical (classroom) portion of the course was held on the first two days, and we would like to thank Ontario Hardwood Products Ltd. for hosting the practical portion of the course on the final day. NHLA Canadian Inspector Simon Laroque was our instructor and 11 students participated. The goal of this course is to make personnel “rules conscious”, not professional graders.
CHB Meeting - Mar. 19-20, 2019 - Montreal
More than 90 hardwood industry professionals travelled to the 2019 winter meeting of the Canadian Hardwood Bureau (CHB), in Montreal. Special thanks to our generous sponsors, HUB International and UC Coatings.
This year, National Hardwood Lumber Association’s Yield Advisor Tony Parks was a guest speaker. Parks outlined the yield program, which examines such production processes as profitability and process improvement – trim gain, edging gain and productivity, for example, to identify areas for increased efficiencies. The program was of real interest to CHB delegates and the presentation generated a number of questions. It is available on our website.
The meeting program also featured a presentation by Jeff Durst, Hull Forest Products who is President of the new North American Forest Foundation (NAFF), which is the next evolution of the Hardwood Forest Foundation. He outlined the thinking and strategies behind this evolution and presented NAFF’s new mission: “To support the Forest Products Industry through Education, Promotion and Advocacy of science-based facts about sustainable forestry, revealing the Truth About Trees, our world’s most diverse, abundant, renewable natural resource”. After the meeting, the CHB presented NAFF with its 2018-19 and 2019-20 donations, as part of its ongoing support for the important work they do on behalf of the wood industry.
The breakfast speaker on the final day was Pierre Cleroux, Vice-President, Research and Chief Economist of BDC. His lively presentation covered three main areas; the world economic outlook, Canada’s economic outlook and three major questions, around interest rates in 2019, when will the labour shortage come to an end and when will the next recession hit? He answered a great many questions from people about everything from climate change, to foreign markets and tariff issues. His presentation is on the website.
Ample networking time was provided attendees, and the annual industry hockey game was held in Brossard. The next CHB meeting is October 4 in New Orleans at the NHLA Convention.
CHB Meeting - October 4, 2018 - Toronto, ON
The Canadian Hardwood Bureau (CHB) fall meeting took place on October 4, 2018 in Toronto, in conjunction with the NHLA Convention. Over 45 delegates participated, with Shaun Rowe, Huron Forest Products, the Chairman of the CHB, presiding over the program. In his remarks, Mr. Rowe reviewed the Bureau’s finances, outlined the plans for upcoming grading courses and discussed future meetings. He also noted some unfortunate news recently; the loss of Don Odorizzi, Odorizzi Lumber, Golden Valley, ON and he extended best wishes to Richard Keeso and his family, following the tragic fire they had at their mill.
This year, National Hardwood Lumber Association’s Yield Advisor Tony Parks was a guest speaker. Parks outlined the yield program, which examines such production processes as profitability and process improvement – trim gain, edging gain and productivity, for example, to identify areas for increased efficiencies. The program was of real interest to CHB delegates and the presentation generated a number of questions. It is available on our website.
The guest speaker was Henry Quesada, Associate Professor, Department of Sustainable Biomaterials, Virginia Tech, who works in the area of Industrial Engineering with specific interests in continuous improvement, supply chain management, international marketing, and organizational innovation. He spoke about hardwood Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT), with a presentation entitled “Is the CLT market an opportunity for the US hardwood industry?” He addressed such issues as the main barriers and drivers for hardwood CLT, standards, raw material and supply chain considerations, machining, and research. There was discussion of the Canadian market and an opportunity for questions and answers.
The next meeting of the Bureau is scheduled for March 19 and 20, 2019 in Montreal.
CHB Winter Meeting - March 20-21, 2018 in Montreal
The Canadian Hardwood Bureau winter meeting took place on March 20-21, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Montréal, QC. The event attracted over 115 dedicated hardwood industry professionals.
The keynote speaker was Pierre Fournier, President of Triangle Kitchen, Dieppe, NB. Triangle is a family business of 42 years, and Pierre spoke of their experiences in China and of the kitchen business and hardwoods. Our Wednesday morning speaker was Jason Metnick, Senior Vice President, Customer Affairs, Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI, Inc.).
His presentation was entitled “SFI Forest Certification: Why It’s Important and How SFI Certification Can Open Up Markets in Green Building”.
Special thanks to HUB International, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and UC Coatings for their generous sponsorship of the event. Their support is greatly appreciated. The program also included reports and updates on CHB and NHLA activities, and discussion on future grading courses. The CHB thanked and congratulated Dave Williams for his career and contributions to CHB and the hardwood industry. Mr. Williams is closing Champlain Hardwoods and retiring. As always, the industry hockey game was a big hit. Thanks to Jean Paul Lupien for making the arrangements. The CHB meets next in early October 2018 at the NHLA Convention in Toronto.
As Senior Vice President, Jason oversees the supply chain assurance work related to demonstrating SFI Standards as proof points for responsible forestry. This also includes increasing certified supply and enhancing the sourcing of products from sustainable sources. Both presentations generated lots of questions and discussion.
CHB Nashville Meeting - October 2017
Chairman S. Rowe, Huron Forest Products, welcomed close to 50 people to the fall 2017 meeting of the Canadian Hardwood Bureau, held October 27 in Nashville, in conjunction with the NHLA convention.
Marco Chan, who was NHLA’s consultant for doing business in China, with expertise in Chinese business culture. spoke about successful ways to sell in China, how to approach the market correctly, trends that he sees developing and new sorts that would capture market share. He talked about how members can make money in China. Mr. Chan founded V2 Leadership Group in 2004 after a more than 20-year career with FEDEX and 13 years with TWA. He serves as a Chair of Vistage CEO Peer Advisory Group, where he coaches Memphis-area CEOs and business owners on how to unlock the power of their people and operations.
In August, the CHB and NHLA jointly offered individuals and companies a unique two-week intensive lumber grading short course at North Bay’s Canadore College. Special thanks to Pete Van Amelsfoort and Quality Hardwoods of Powassan, who generously provided assistance with all aspects of the course, including hosting the practical portion where students graded lumber. The NHLA created the “Online/Progressive Program” to provide training for those interested in becoming lumber graders. It is divided into 3 blocks, where upon successful completion of one block the student proceeds to the next one.
Generally held at the NHLA Inspector Training School in Memphis, TN, Block 1 requires two weeks of hands-on study. This block was offered at Canadore College where 18 participants took the course. Both the CHB and the NHLA were very pleased with the number of attendees for this first course. CHB thanked chief inspector Dana Spessert and the instructor Tom Buyers for their efforts to arrange and deliver this course. CHB will consider presenting a NHLA hardwood lumber grading short courses in 2018.
Winter Meeting Draws a Crowd
The 2017 Winter Meeting of the Canadian Hardwood Bureau took place February 28-March 1, 2017 at the Hyatt Regency in Montreal, QC. Registration for the meeting exceeded 110.
The Tuesday keynote speaker was Peter Mate, President and Co-Owner Planit Canada Inc., who presented “What’s the future of hardwood in the Kitchen Cabinet industry?”. In the woodworking industry since 1999, Mate has a strong background in CNC equipment, tooling, and processes, with a particular passion for the software that drives it. He is focused on providing strong leadership to cultivate a top-level team, as well as ongoing research into the future of innovation to provide the Canadian Woodworking Industry with best in class software tools for manufacturing, sales and business processes. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Canadian Kitchen Cabinet Association and the WMC.
The afternoon continued with updates on CHB finances and activities, NHLA activities and the proposed 10-week hardwood lumber grading course tentatively planned for North Bay, ON in June. Participants were very pleased to welcome Lorna Christie, Executive Director, NHLA to her first CHB meeting.
Wednesday morning featured three speakers. Richard Lipman, President, Wood Manufacturing Council, spoke about his organization’s new labour market study and about their training programs at the management, high school and entry level, as well as their efforts to establish a mentorship program for women in woodworking. Crystal Oldham – Executive Director, Hardwood Forest Foundation, highlighted the many exciting efforts the HHF is undertaking, with a focus on their Canadian activities. The CHB has made a multi-year commitment to the HHF to support their great work. Richard Keeso – JH Keeso and Sons Ltd., Listowel, ON talked about his work with the local Carbon Footprint Initiative, which has local industry working together to look at climate change and what they can do to reduce their carbon impact on the environment. The effort includes tree planting, especially along water courses, to improve water quality, and to create natural snow fences.
The meeting would not be complete without the sold-out Industry Hockey Game, which was played at the Sportplexe Pierrefonds. Thanks to Jean Paul Lupien for organizing this event. The next meeting of the CHB will take place at the NHLA Convention this fall.
Canadian Hardwood Bureau meetings at NHLA - October 7, 2016
The fall meeting of the Canadian Hardwood Bureau took place Friday October 7, 2016 in Washington, D.C in conjunction with the NHLA Convention. Forty people participated in the program which included breakfast, a brief meeting and the guest speaker. Brent Stief, Huron Forest Products, chaired the meeting, which included updates on finances, governance, training courses and future meetings.
The group was treated to an excellent presentation by Brent McClendon, who has been President of the National Wood Pallet and Container Association (NWPCA) since 2013. He has spent the last 24 years in the forest products industry serving as a forester, sales manager, lobbyist and CEO in various private, public and non-profit organizations. Mr. McClendon showed some interesting videos and talked about major pallet-related issues and how they relate to the hardwood lumber industry. He also outlined their environmental messages and highlighted their website www.naturespackaging.org.
Winter 2016 Hardwood Lumber Grading Course
January 19-21, 2016 – Listowel, ON
The CHB was pleased to advise that J.H. Keeso and Sons Ltd., in Listowel, ON will be hosted a Winter 2016 English language hardwood lumber grading short course.
The course was conducted by NHLA Canadian Inspector Simon Laroque. Instruction was geared towards production, sales and office personnel, not necessarily to those directly involved in lumber grading.
The goal was to make your personnel “rules conscious”, not professional graders. The course covered such things as a basic introduction to hardwood lumber grading, a basic rules description, lumber characteristics, cutting unit method, general instructions, standard grades, grading practice, lumber rule, species exceptions, net/gross tally etc.
CHB Fall 2015 Meeting Report
The Canadian Hardwood Bureau held its fall meeting on October 9, 2015 in Nashville in conjunction with the NHLA Convention. The breakfast meeting provided an opportunity for members and other interested parties to talk business and to network.
Brent Stief, Huron Forest Products, chaired the meeting and he introduced Shaun Rowe, Aurora Timberland as the new Vice-Chairman of the CHB.
Crystal Oldham, Executive Director, Hardwood Forest Foundation made a brief presentation to the meeting and CHB voted to make a financial contribution to HHF. A number of members volunteered to put their names forward to support the CHB’s official application for not-for-profit status. A brief report on NHLA activities was also provided and there was interest in holding a hardwood lumber grading short course in Ontario in the near future.
Michael Snow, Executive Director, American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) was the guest speaker and he gave a highly informative and passionate presentation to the delegates entitled “Promoting American Hardwood Exports”. Since 1999, Mr. Snow has overseen the Council’s promotional programs around the globe, and manages AHEC’s many overseas offices. He spoke of the top 3 challenges for American hardwoods; finding new markets for grade lumber; finding new applications and capitalizing on green credentials.
CHB Winter 2015 Meeting Report
February 17-18, 2015 (Montreal, QC)
More than 120 delegates attended the 2015 Winter Meeting of the Canadian Hardwood Bureau (CHB), February 17-18, 2015 in Montreal, QC. Under the guidance of Chairman Brent Stief, the CHB again organized this successful event to provide those in the hardwood business with the opportunity to get together, learn and network during the traditional February period. The Ice Breaker Party was the key networking opportunity and was again sponsored this year by HUB International Quebec Ltee. The other key sponsors this year were the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and UC Coatings.
Michael Snow, Executive Director, American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) was the guest speaker and he gave a highly informative and passionate presentation to the delegates entitled “Promoting American Hardwood Exports”. Since 1999, Mr. Snow has overseen the Council’s promotional programs around the globe, and manages AHEC’s many overseas offices. He spoke of the top 3 challenges for American hardwoods; finding new markets for grade lumber; finding new applications and capitalizing on green credentials.
The meeting featured four strong speakers, including Maxim Armstrong, Senior Economist, The Conference Board of Canada; Iain Macdonald, Centre for Advanced Wood Processing, UBC; Judd Johnson, Editor, Hardwood Market Report and Pierre Richard, President and CEO, Quebec Furniture Manufacturers’ Association
The event also featured the annual Industry Hockey Game. Our thanks to Jean-Paul Lupien for again organizing another outstanding hockey event.
CHB Fall Meeting Report
October 10, 2014 (Las Vegas, NV)
The Canadian Hardwood Bureau held its fall meeting on October 10, 2014 in Las Vegas in conjunction with the NHLA Convention. Over 40 people participated in the session that was moderated by Pete Van Amelsfoort of Quality Hardwoods Ltd. Powassan, ON.
David Cohen, Professor, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia was the guest speaker. After working for the BC forest industry for a decade, he completed a Bachelors and PhD focusing on the business of wood products production and trade. Since 1989 he has been at UBC with much of his research focused on Japan and China. For the past dozen years, his teaching and research focus has shifted to sustainability, globalization and forest firm transformation. He has published numerous scientific articles and reports and has acted as a consultant to many companies and government organizations in North America, New Zealand, China, Japan, and Europe.
Dr. Cohen had been at the International Union of Forest Research Organisation’s World Congress in Salt Lake City for the release of a chapter in a book that was published in tandem with the Congress. His talk to CHB was entitled “Drivers of Future Forest Use”, where he discussed four key interacting drivers: population growth, the economic power shift to developing regions with their growing middle class, the squeeze on world resources and growing environmental degradation. He then talked about future forests. Download his presentation. We were fortunate to also have brief remarks from Michael Buckley, and the two speakers complimented each other very well. Executive Director Mark Barford brought greetings and a brief report from the NHLA and the participants approved a CHB donation to the Hardwood Forest Foundation.
CHB Holds Successful Winter Meeting
Registration again topped 120 for the winter meeting of the Canadian Hardwood Bureau, which took place February 25-26, 2014 in Montreal, QC. Participants included manufacturers and wholesalers of hardwood lumber and hardwood flooring producers from eastern Canada and the northeastern US. Brent Stief, Huron Forest Products, the Chairman of the Canadian Hardwood Bureau, presided over the event, which is organized yearly to provide those in the Canadian hardwood industry with the opportunity to get together, learn and network. Sponsorship support was provided by HUB International Quebec Ltee and by UC Coatings. The 16th annual Industry Hockey Game, organized by Jean-Paul Lupien, MKMQC Inc., ended in a 14-14 tie.
The program featured an impressive line-up of presentations that included:
Denis Staples, President, Deslaurier Custom Cabinets presented “That Will Never Work- Recognizing When Opportunity Knocks”. He touched on the challenges and opportunities resulting from the devastating fire the company faced in 2009, along with some environmental and kitchen industry trends and developments. Staples first professional experience was working with his father, Ross Staples, at Madawaska Hardwood Flooring as the Director of Human Resources. He joined Deslaurier Custom Cabinets in 2001 as the marketing manager and in 2005 he became a part owner and President.
“Global economic outlook and investment opportunities” was presented by Martin Roberge, Portfolio Strategist and Quantitative Analyst at Canaccord Genuity. Mr. Roberge is responsible for providing tactical asset mix and sector rotation research and recommendations to the firm’s retail and institutional clients. He holds the CFA designation and is a member of the Montreal Society of Financial Analysts.
Dr. Nigel Roulet spoke on climate, trees and carbon with “Adventures in Carbon and Climate – Trying to see the Forest for the Trees”. He is a James McGill Professor of Biogeosciences in the Department of Geography and is a former Director, McGill School of Environment (2003 to 2008) and Director, Centre for Climate and Global Change Research, McGill University from 1996 – 2002. Dr. Roulet was a contributing author to the 2nd – 4th scientific assessments of climate change by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The Canadian Hardwood Bureau meets next on October 10, 2014 at the National Hardwood Lumber Association Convention in Las Vegas, NV.
This meeting was sponsored by U•C Coatings and Hub International Québec.
Download: Presentation – Global economic outlook and investment opportunities
Read : Meeting Agenda and Guest Speakers
CHB Holds Successful Winter Meeting
October 4, 2013 in Fort Worth, TX
The Canadian Hardwood Bureau held their annual fall breakfast meeting on October 4, 2013 in Fort Worth, TX in conjunction with the National Hardwood Lumber Association Convention. Over 40 participants were in attendance for the upbeat event, presided over by Brent Stief, Huron Forest Products, Chairman, Canadian Hardwood Bureau.
The meeting and discussion touched on such topics as financial issues, grading courses and future meetings and events. NHLA Executive Director Mark Barford updated the Canadian gathering on his association’s activities. He also introduced NHLA President Scott Heidler, Heidler Hardwood Lumber Co.
The guest speaker was Michael Martin, President & CEO of the National Wood Flooring Association, a not-for-profit trade association serving more than 2,600 wood flooring companies worldwide. He made an interesting presentation on market trends, combining some economic details with information on current flooring trends. The presentation is available on the CHB website.
Canadian Hardwood Bureau Holds Successful 2013 Winter Meeting
More than 120 delegates attended the 2013 Winter Meeting of the Canadian Hardwood Bureau (CHB), February 12-13, 2013 in Montreal, QC. Chairman Brent Stief, Huron Forest Products, the CHB Executive Committee again organized this successful event to provide those in the hardwood business with the opportunity to get together, learn and network during the traditional February period.
The Ice Breaker Party was the key networking opportunity and was again sponsored the year by HUB International Quebec Ltee. The other key sponsor this year was again Kuehne and Nagel, who supported the business program.
The meeting featured three speakers, including Michael Burt, an Associate Director in the Industrial Economic Trends Group, Conference Board of Canada. He brought his more than 10 years of experience conducting industry forecasting and analysis to his economic forecast for delegates, which is available on the CHB website. Over his career he has completed many studies examining the impact of socio-economic variables on private sector performance.
Also presenting on the first day was Robin Tapley, who has been called “Muskoka’s Nature Nut”. He is a naturalist, astronomer, and Eco Tourism Program Consultant, whose clients include: Marriott Hotels and Resorts International and Fanshawe College of Applied Arts and Technology. He spoke of his adventures as an international and national expedition leader whose destinations have included: Mount Everest, New Zealand, Yukon, Antarctica and the Galapagos.
The second day featured a “Going Global” export/international trades training presentation by Ennio Vita-Finzi, the “human energy source with no reverse gear”, who speaks five languages fluently. Vita-Finzi has been a senior Government Trade Commissioner in Milan, Sao Paulo, Brussels, Paris and Dallas; a bank executive and motivational author. He managed four start-up companies in Canada and Mexico and was also President of the Canadian Council for the Americas during NAFTA negotiations. He brought to the meeting his international trade expertise and experience and provided good advice and training on how CHB participants can thrive while “Going Global”.
The event also featured the 15th annual Industry Hockey Game, with some 30 players participating. Our thanks to Jean Paul Lupien for again organizing an outstanding hockey event. We also thank HUB International Quebec, USNR and King City Northway Forwarding for their sponsorship support of this event.
Presentation download:
- “The Economic Outlook Cools” – Implications for Hardwood Products Manufacturers (Feb 12, 2013 – Michael Burt, Director Economic Trends)
Canadian Hardwood Bureau - Congress 2012
This event is being organized to provide those in the Canadian Hardwood Bureau with the opportunity to get together, learn and network during the traditional February period. It will allow you to meet and greet with others in the industry and learn more about the Bureau’s plans.
| Date: | February 22-23, 2012 |
| City: | Montreal, QC |
| Place: | Delta Montreal 475 President-Kennedy Avenue Montreal, QC, H3A 1J7 phone: 514-286-1986 |
Read: Final Notice (including Hotel, sponsorship details)
Download: Registration Form
Canadian Hardwood Bureau - Congress 2010
Come join us for this upcoming 2 day event, reception and meetings
| Date: | June 29-30, 2010 |
| City: | Orangeville, ON |
| Place: | Hockley Valley Resort RR#1 Orangeville, ON 416-363-5490 |
Read: First Notice (including Hotel, sponsorship details)
Download: Registration Form
