Industry & Services >> CEO Interviews >> May 15, 2000
IRVING K. BARBER has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Slocan
Forest Products Ltd. since its inception in 1978. He graduated from the
University of British Columbia in 1950 with a BS in Forestry and became
a Registered Professional Forester in 1952. Mr. Barber spent 18 years in
the Woodlands and Logging Operations of MacMillan Bloedel on the British
Columbia coast. He joined Eurocan Pulp & Paper in Kitimat, BC as Vice
President of Woodlands and Sawmill and led the development of the
logging activities centered around Burns Lake and Andrew Bay. Mr. Barber
joined Triangle Pacific, US in 1972 and ran their three British Columbia
lumber operations. In 1978 he formed Slocan Forest Products Ltd. and has
grown it from $23 million in sales to in excess of $4 billion. The
growth has been the result of acquisition opportunities developed
throughout the British Columbia interior, stretching from the border of
the United States to the border of the Yukon Territories. The company
went public in 1986 and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange. In 1997
Mr. Barber received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Pacific
Region. Profile
Products? Then describe what you see as your company and business today.
Mr. Barber: I formed the company some 22 years ago. We
