Coulson Group – Homegrown Success in Port Alberni

Value-added forestry activities bring together the best of BC’s coastal region: unparalleled natural resources, responsible management, and local expertise. Combined, these assets create a forest products industry that sustains thousands of well-paying local jobs and wins on the global stage.

Port Alberni’s Coulson Group is an example of a leading-edge local success story. When Clifford Coulson founded a Port Alberni logging company in 1960, he might not have imagined that 55 years later, it would turn into a large, diversified conglomerate. Today, wood product manufacturing, logging, entertainment, aviation, and environmentally friendly cleaning technology are just some of the sectors the Coulson Group is active in – and it’s still owned by the Coulson family.

Focusing on western red cedar timber, Coulson Manufacturing produces a line of engineered wood products at their Port Alberni facility. Between shingle panels, cedar boards, and engineered flooring, chances are you’ve probably seen some of their products on a building near you.

Coulson’s success is earning them recognition on the local and international stage. Recently a finalist for the Vancouver Island Business Excellence Awards, in 2004 they earned a nod as “Entrepreneur of the Year” from global consultancy Ernst & Young.

The Coulson Group has come a long way since their humble beginnings, and are now part of a new generation of leaders in coastal British Columbia’s the forest products sector. They’re not alone –  supported by a strong local commitment to sustainability and innovation, BC wood product manufacturers are meeting the needs of industries and consumers around the world, and in the process, bringing economic opportunity to communities throughout the coast.