The Alex Fraser Research Forest (AFRF) and partners are stirring things up for Cariboo woodworkers who on Dec. 12 were invited to visit the research forest’s main office in Williams Lake.
It’s all part of a new initiative known as the Cariboo Wood Innovation Training Hub (CWITH), an opportunity for the Cariboo to strengthen its wood industry by coming together and sharing ideas.
“We’re hoping to start offering courses in January, but I think that will just be the first step,” said Stephanie Ewen, manager of the AFRF, the University of British Columbia’s research forest.
What the innovation hub will come to be is not entirely clear, but there are ideas, and the team of bright minds supporting the project, which includes the Cariboo Regional District, are encouraging others to contribute their own ideas.
Hence the Dec. 12 event, an open house where folks learned about the project, asked questions and added their own thoughts and knowledge to a brainstorm for the initiative.
“We know that there's opportunity, but it needs traction,” said Brock Smith, owner of Smith Timber Works which specializes in the design and fabrication of architectural timber.
Smith and co-worker Martin Doerig were just some of the industry folks who stopped in at the event, where idea boards were set up for visitors to share their thoughts on what CWITH could be. One read: “dream board for courses,” another asked how people would define “value-added,” and yet another asked: “what is the most significant opportunity for value-added wood product development or innovation in the Cariboo?”
A map was also set up on the wall and visitors were encouraged to identify their own value-added activities, creating a trail of innovative wood projects across the Cariboo.
Getting creative with value-added wood products
With its abundant access to trees, the wood industry plays an essential role in the Cariboo economy. There’s a whole realm of possibility when it comes to adding value to wood, with a more typical example being to create furniture. Every step along the way from tree to plank to chair, for instance, adds value to the wood, and with that comes opportunity for economic development.
“As the city person, I’m always looking to diversify the economy,” Beth Veenkamp, manager of economic development with the city of Williams Lake, told the Tribune.
Veenkamp has been involved in the project since its beginnings in 2018, when the idea to create a centre for the Cariboo wood industry first began to brew. Veenkamp ran a survey on economic development in the Cariboo from which the idea around a training hub for value-added manufacturing emerged.
Examples of value-added products provided at the open house got creative, with Ewen explaining to the Tribune wood chips can be pressed or individual wood planks combined to create a beam. A simple idea, but an effective alternative as massive trees typically used for beams are becoming few and far between.
Ewen also explained how unused portions of trees, such as their narrow tops, can be used to generate power. This is especially relevant to remote forestry communities where shipping in diesel can be a huge expense, making the available wood a viable alternative to producing power.
“That’s to me one of the low hanging fruit for adopting this technology,” Ewen said while giving a tour of the AFRF’s very own 40-kilowatt power plant which relies on gas made from wood chips. The power plant takes about four-and-a-half cubic metres to run at full capacity, or two-and-a-half cubic metres to run at 30 per cent capacity.
While the technicalities of using this sort of power plant are not fully ironed out, the hope is that by operating this power plant the AFRF can learn how it really works and help others adopt the technology.
The road to a thriving Cariboo wood industry
In today’s climate, value-added wood is an even greater attraction as sustainable practices become ever more pertinent, and finding ways to reduce waste and maximize profits is essential. So too is the need to support and uplift those working with wood or looking to enter the industry.
But brilliant ideas can’t all come from one person, and it's all the more difficult when the nature of the industry means those involved are scattered far and wide. CWITH will be a way to connect the industry, thereby enabling the exchange of ideas while also creating a hub where folks can go to learn and develop their skills.
When the AFRF purchased its Williams Lake property in 2020, the team working to build CWITH thought it would be an ideal location where the project could operate. The city of Williams Lake ended up including the initiative in its economic development strategy, but its 2022 application to the Northern Development Initiative Trust for funding was denied.
However, the project continued to develop, and in 2023 the Fraser Basin Council (FBC) came on to support the initiative and, as a nonprofit, was able to secure $500,000 in funding through the province’s Rural Economic Diversification and Infrastructure Program.
Stephanie Huska was then hired in August as an independent contractor to help identify industry needs and design the hub along those lines. Since she was hired, Huska has gone around to speak with different manufacturers across the Cariboo to see what people are up to and to find out how CWITH could best serve them.
“It’s incredible the stuff that’s happening right now,” she said.
However, Huska said manufacturers aren’t engaging with each other, despite often relying on one another. She also said there's little public awareness around what is really happening in the Cariboo when it comes to value-added wood projects. In fact, she said she can already identify more value-added projects taking place in the Cariboo than what she could find in provincial directories.
“There’s a great opportunity there to share what people are doing” Huska said, hoping that CWITH can help build systems through which industry partners can work together and build a thriving industry. She envisions running talks and tours and enabling wood workers to collaborate, rather than focus completely on competition.
The main goal, Huska said, is to provide education for those who want to upgrade their skills, change their focus or looking to enter the industry.
CWITH will offer courses by pulling from different resources which already exist, whether it’s setting something up with local innovators, or bringing in courses from Thompson Rivers Univeristy (TRU) and from the Centre for Advanced Wood Processing.
“The thing that is a little bit tricky is finding people that want to teach,” Huska said, adding teaching locations may also be a challenge as not all courses would necessarily take place at the AFRF.
But it’s all part of the process, and the CWITH team is hopeful that by holding open houses, connecting industry partners and starting to offer courses in the new year, things will really start to kick off.
The CWITH team is preparing to distribute a survey in the new year, informed by what they've learned during the open house, to gather more feedback from the community. Courses will also be starting up in the new year.
