The Softwood Forest Products Buyer - September/October 2023

Gilbert Smith Forest Products Ltd. Provides High Quality Wood
Items To Global Markets
By Zach Miller
McCoy’s Building Supply, Maintaining Quality Throughout Four Generations
By Scott Dalton
Super B leaving GSFP with a full load of kiln-dried Western Red Cedar blanks for
remanufacture to high end specialty products.
Gilbert Smith Forest Products Ltd. (GSFP), based in Barriere, British Columbia,
four and a half hours inland from Vancouver, has manufactured specialty
Cedar products for more than 65 years. “To diversify our fiber supply, we work
with some other species, including Western White Pine and oversize Spruce, but
our main focus is Western Red Cedar,” stated Greg Smith, company president and
grandson of the company’s founder, Gilbert Smith.
GSFP specializes in rough green blanks for remanufacturing into pattern stock,
bevel blanks, S1S2E boards and other specialty products. Now with the addition
of their new dry kiln in 2023 they now offer rough and finished kiln-dried
products.
“We are constantly trying to get the most value from a precious resource by
investing in our people and new technology,” Smith said.
GSFP, a multi-generational family company, began as a Cedar pole plant in
1955. In 1967 a sawmill was built on the same site and then, over the ensuing
years, continuous improvements, upgrades and additions have been made.
GSFP’s mission statement is: “To create and enhance stakeholder value by
supplying high quality wood products to global markets. We do this while caring
about our employees and the community, providing careful stewardship of the
forests and building strong, long-term relationships with valued customers.”
Smith commented, “The approach at our company is: first and foremost, we’re
a manufacturing facility, and we want to have a safety culture that will ensure
that people – about 85 employees – are going home to their families every day.
From that, when you
have the workforce
grounded in that
sense, then you can
consider how you
further advance your
business. What I
really try to push is
creative thinking and
problem solving. But
more so it’s trying
to focus on specific
programs or systems
and just keep getting
better and better at
them.”
GSFP has made
many mechanical
upgrades, the most
recent being the addition
of their Nyle
dehumidification
dry kiln. Smith said
GSFP chose Nyle
because of their
Sales manager, Aidan Coyles, manning the GSFP booth at
the 2022 NAWLA Conference in Phoenix, AZ.
“expertise in dehumidification
drying
First Kiln charge loaded in Gilbert Smith’s new Nyle Dehumidification Dry Kiln.
and energy management capacity. Once we landed on that, we knew the goal was
to maintain a high drying quality to improve product value.”
The mill and the new kiln are entirely powered by renewable hydroelectricity.
In line with one of GSFP’s core values of sustainability, “We looked at what
kind of technology is out there that we can use to dry a quality product without
impacting greenhouse gas emissions,” Smith said. “In British Columbia, we are
extremely fortunate with the hydroelectric generating capacity that we have in the
province. So, we were able to dial into that available power source with a fully
electric kiln.”
Smith said, “I think the future looks good for Gilbert Smith Forest Products.
We’ve got a good team together, including adding Aidan Coyles who joined the
sales department a few years ago, whose expertise in forestry has helped us implement
these strategic investments. So, I think we are positioned well. Certainly,
there are a few market challenges to get through but, at the same time, we have
been at it producing lumber for over 50 years. We’re good and we want to keep
getting better by paying attention to the details that promote quality and value.
“The multi-generational family-run business continues to grow due to sustained
customer, supplier, owner, employee, Indigenous and community support.”
For more information, visit www.gsfpcedar.com. n
“To ensure our forest resources
remain sustainable we strive
to achieve the most value from
them by investing in our people
and technology.”
– Greg Smith,
president, Gilbert Smith Forest
Products Ltd.
In 1927, Frank McCoy decided to uproot his family and his small roofing company in Houston in favor of the town of Galveston, Texas. The Company is now headquartered
in San Marcos, TX.
In 1927, Frank McCoy decided
to uproot his family and his small
roofing company in Houston in
favor of the town of Galveston,
Texas. It was a challenging time
for businesses, about to become
even more challenging two years
later, when the Great Depression
put so many out of work. But then,
as now, McCoy’s, headquartered
in San Marcos, TX, faced the
challenges head-on, focusing on
customers and building a company
that would last multiple generations
and well into the next century.
That small roofing company
quickly grew, with Frank’s son,
Emmett eventually taking over
the business and expanding it to
include a retail operation, selling
not only roofing, but other
building supply materials as well.
Rebranding the company as the
McCoy Supply Company, Emmett
built on Frank’s vision through the
1950s and 1960s, expanding both
the company’s reach and product
“We like to differentiate
ourselves on the quality of
what we sell. We work with
mills that produce quality
products, and we specify
higher grades. You can walk
in off the street for a two by
four and know that you are
getting good quality lumber
produced in a good quality
mill.”
Continued on page 52
– Brandon Bishop, Vice
President of Merchandising,
McCoy’s Building Supply
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Page 6 Softwood Forest Products Buyer • September/October 2023 Softwood Forest Products Buyer • September/October 2023 Page 7