Palliser Lumber is profiled in the Pallet Enterprise, a Leading Pallet Industry Source for news and information....Read Article

Good managers know that they don't have all the answers - and that the best ideas often come from employees themselves. That's why Palliser Lumber has implemented a new program to encourage and reward employee feedback that helps make Palliser a better, safer place to work. It's designed to give Palliser an edge, so no wonder it's called...

EDGE - Employees Driving Greater Efficiency

Palliser Lumber is asking all employees to come up with good, workable suggestions to make Palliser a more efficient and/or a safer place to work. Any employee can complete an entry form with their suggestion and put it in a drop box in the lunchroom or Administrator Cheryl Howe's office.

An EDGE selection committee, comprised of managers and supervisors reviews the submissions every month, and awards prizes for first, second, and third place. If employees have questions about their submission, they can talk to any member of the committee.

If you're an employee with an idea, Palliser Lumber and the EDGE committee say, "Run with it!"

Palliser's supports the town of Crossfield's Volunteer Fire Department in two ways. Some of Palliser's employees are on-call volunteer firefighters. Palliser also supports the fire department by donations of time and resources, as the following letter shows.

January 21, 2002

Attention: Mr. Doug Currie, President, Palliser Lumber Sales Ltd.

Dear Doug,

On behalf of Mayor Tennant, Town Council, and the Crossfield Volunteer Fire Department, I would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks to Palliser for all of their assistance and support over the past year.

The assistance provided by Palliser Lumber with the weight room, kitchen facelift, and contributions towards the Christmas Food Hampers was tremendous. It is also very much appreciated to have Palliser free up staff members for daytime emergency response.

Palliser Lumber has proven to be an extremely valuable supporter of the Crossfield Volunteer Fire Department. Howie Kroon and Glen White have provided numerous hours of direct assistance to the Volunteer Fire Department.

The coordinating of renovations, and the work put in by Glen towards the upgrading of the weight room is very much appreciated. The weight room is second to none and is constantly utilized by our members.

Thank you once again. Your corporate contribution to this community is exemplary.

Sincerely,
Robert Cote
Fire Chief

c.c. - Mayor Tennant and members of Town Council

Palliser Lumber has been chosen by Deloitte & Touche, Queen's School of Business, CIBC, and Canada's National Post newspaper as one of the 50 Best Managed Private Companies in Canada for 2003. Palliser also achieved this recognition in 2000, 2001, and 2002.

Companies with a winning formula
A tribute to those that succeed in tough times

The Canada's 50 Best-Managed Companies program was created in 1993 to pay tribute to companies that were achieving success despite the harsh economic conditions of the early 1990s.

The national sponsors, Deloitte & Touche, CIBC, National Post and Queen's School of Business congratulate the winners as they have demonstrated excellence by embracing new technology and globalization, and recognize the increased importance of leadership, strategy, culture, brand and knowledge.

(Excerpted from the National Post web site)

Nailing down success

by Mary Teresa Bitti, Financial Post

Doug Currie, Bob Murphy, Howard Kroon and Pat Carley are the management team at Palliser - and are a team, in every sense of the word. They "live and breathe the philosophy that quality people create quality products."

Mr. Kroon, chief financial officer, attributes the company's success to its core values. The first is, the customer is king. Also key is its alliances with suppliers. "We speak on a regular basis. They are involved in helping us develop our business plans," says Mr. Murphy, vice-president. Mr. Kroon says employees also top the list. "We are always trying to motivate our employees. As a result, our corporate structure is pretty flat." Another core attribute is a strong management team. Last, but not least, the company strives to be "leading edge, not bleeding edge." It recently attained its ISO 14,000 environmental certification.

"We run our business with integrity. This permeates all the way through our company. If you are going to be successful, you have to have integrity, and we do," Mr. Currie, Palliser's chief executive, says.

That integrity comes through in community involvment. Palliser supports food drives and it funded and set up a fitness facility for the local volunteer fire department.

After the Columbine high school tragedy, Palliser established the Spirit of Youth Award, which is given to the student who best exemplifies community spirit.

"This is about the kind of person who goes out of their way to help others. At a time when so many bad things were happening, we wanted to do something that would celebrate the positive," says Mr. Currie.

(Excerpted from the National Post web site)