If anyone can get things done, it’s Terris Billyboy.
As the new general manager of Yunesit’in’s Leading Edge Wood Products, Billyboy’s vision is to ramp up production and get the business name circulating.
“I’m not going to start anything new...let’s finish what we started,” Billyboy said.
Based out of Horsefly, just east of Williams Lake, Leading Edge provides high quality wood products from flooring and siding to glulam beams and rough-cut lumber. The business also offers lumber drying services and custom timber preparation and promotes a sustainable approach to the industry.
“When I started it was so overwhelming,” Billyboy told the Tribune. She stepped into the role in May of 2024 after working as a labourer with West Fraser for eight years. Her career was essentially set at the plywood plant in Williams Lake; she was among the third generation of her family to work for West Fraser and was in her second year of a millwright apprenticeship.
But Billyboy was looking for a change, and her limited experience in management wasn’t going to stop her. It was a leap, she said, but as she spoke with the Tribune eight months later Billyboy seemed to be adjusting well.
“You really have to think outside the box," she said while explaining she’s learned to make the most of the limited resources available to the business.
Leading Edge was purchased in 2020 by Yunesit’in, a First Nation community just over 100 kilometres west of Williams Lake. When Billyboy arrived, she found there were several unfinished projects on the go and thought the business couldn’t keep juggling everything without first getting on track to make money.
“You need to set a boundary of how many good ideas you can do,” she said. So, Billyboy looked at what was working, what was missing and what would be the best approach for long term success, then got to work.
She got a website up in November, organized a big flooring sale to clear out old products and her team got the business’ radio frequency (RF) kiln up and running after two years of collecting dust.
“It looks like a submarine, and it works like a microwave,” Billyboy said about the RF kiln, a newer technology used to dry wood and prevent it from warping over time.
One of only two in western Canada, the RF kiln is a “big deal” according to Yunesit’in’s Band Manager Dwayne Emerson. It was a big and exciting purchase, but Leading Edge wasn’t set up with the right power system to run the kiln. Yet another roadblock for the business which Emerson said has seen a bit of a pattern.
“It has been one challenge after another,” he said, recalling all the issues Leading Edge has faced since the nation purchased it. The small local population means there aren't many people to draw from to staff the business, and efforts to update buildings or equipment have been stalled by no-show contractors.
“It’s been a long haul to get it to this place,” Emerson said, but he believes Leading Edge is now on the verge of economic success.
When Billyboy arrived, she made setting up the kiln a priority, so her team came together to set it up themselves. With new generators and a last-minute vent installation, the RF kiln is now in full operation, making production much more efficient and allowing the business to introduce wood drying to the services it offers. The RF kiln takes only four to six days to dry wood, as opposed to a conventional kiln which takes up to four weeks, and the new technology uses pressure plates to prevent twisting.
The focus now is to get products out the door. Emerson said competitive prices for quality product is what you get with Leading Edge, and he hopes potential customers will begin to see that.
As for Billyboy, she thinks the business may be able to pursue bigger projects in the future, but for now she said it's important not to act impulsively when an exciting idea comes along. She's had to put a pause on furniture production, and while her team is very supportive, she believes in getting her staff on board before making big decisions. Billyboy said she's not the type to tell her team to do something 'because she said so,' and has learned to collaborate with her team by communicating her vision and showing how they can get there.
She's taking business management classes at the moment, and is also working on completing her millwrighting apprenticeship. She has a T-shirt business on the side with her sister, and hopes to open her own equipment rental business one day.
It's all about following her instinct, and Billyboy said she feels she's found the place she's meant to be for the time being.
