{"id":83197,"date":"2014-06-03T12:34:00","date_gmt":"2014-06-03T12:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resourcework2.devstudio.work\/?p=83197"},"modified":"2024-11-26T12:22:38","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T12:22:38","slug":"lower_mainland_company_forestry_industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/resourcework2.devstudio.work\/?p=83197","title":{"rendered":"Economy spins around urban log brokers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the vice-president of Probyn Log Ltd, one of the companies under the umbrella of the Probyn Group, Bill Markvoort does far more than buy and sell logs and it would be a mistake to dismiss Probyn Log as simply the middle men in an enterprise that exists only for the benefit of loggers in small resource towns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, there\u2019s Markvoort himself. He does not fit the mould of a resource industry worker. At 65, he\u2019s a committed cyclist and plans on riding in late June from Vancouver to Banff with a goal of raising $65,000 for cystic fibrosis, a cause he supports strongly. He is considered knowledgeable enough in his field that he is a regular guest lecturer on forestry at the University of British Columbia. He is a university grad himself and is a registered professional forester. He lives on a quiet street in New Westminster but his business contacts span the world. And he is as much at home in his office as he is walking a Fraser River log boom with a client.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Probyn Log and 10 other major log brokers in the Vancouver area all operate under most people\u2019s radar screen. But they penetrate the Lower Mainland economy in a way that far outweighs their size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An entire economy spins around the activities of Vancouver\u2019s log broker community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It starts with the contract loggers in the coastal rainforest and the millions of dollars worth of logging equipment they purchase, but then shifts to Greater Vancouver: to the tugs, the water taxis that regularly shunt clients back and forth along the Fraser River booming grounds, the hotels and restaurants that cater to overseas clients, the legal and accounting firms, the foresters designing logging plans, the computer mapping services, even the foundry in Chilliwack that makes the hammer marks to identify each log harvested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are very low profile. People in the business know us. Nobody else does,\u201d Markvoort said of the Probyn Group, which has six divisions in the forest products sector, 400 employees and revenues of $250 million a year. \u201cI would say the mayor hardly knows we exist around here. The bankers do, of course,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bankers know Probyn because the brokerage side of the business doesn\u2019t just buy and sell logs. The company also finances the independent loggers, the backbone of the coastal forest industry, who are viewed by the banks as too high a risk. Banks will finance logging equipment purchases \u2013 a million-dollar piece of equipment is something tangible \u2013 But they won\u2019t touch the operating side of the business. Costs like road building, planning, consultations with stakeholders, and the cost of holding an inventory of logs, that if left in the water too long, will sink, are all too risky for banks. If they had to call a loan, what would they do with a load of logs decked on a remote roadside 200 kilometres up the Coast?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They would only end up calling a broker anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Markvoort said brokers like Probyn \u2013 who know the business and have the capital \u2013 are willing to take on the kind of risk that is inherent in logging on the B.C. Coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe occupy a niche position, much like GM runs its own finance department for car loans. We are unique in the sense that we are willing to lend money. It\u2019s because of our relationships and our knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brokers understand the risk levels far more than anyone not involved directly in the business, said John Iacoviello, a Probyn broker and forester who works with the company\u2019s First Nations clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of the two major forest companies on the Coast, Western Forest Products and Interfor, log brokers are a critical piece that keeps the rest of forest industry operating, and from it flows unseen economic benefits. The B.C. forestry sector employs 17,000 people in logging alone and consultants PwC estimate that every job generates two spinoff jobs. Many of those jobs are in Greater Vancouver. The 25 people employed at Probyn Log would be considered as spin-off jobs. But drill down into Probyn and it quickly becomes apparent that the spin-off jobs create their own spin-offs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople are running businesses off this, but you wouldn\u2019t know it,\u201d said Iacoviello.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n