History

Please click on sub-headings to reveal additional info.

The beginning:

The Denim Pine™ idea came to me one late afternoon in early May of 2001.

While sitting on my deck discussing the day over a glass of white wine, we talked about this wood and other species, saying that consumers readily purchase stained woods for many applications; why wouldn't they purchase something that was naturally stained? Then I looked down at my jeans, and there it was!

The Association:

First Board members and inception of the association.

FIRST BOARD MEMBERS left to right: Bob Guy, Myself (not a board member), Wade Fisher, Murial Dodge, Shane Pont and Reg Mueller (not shown)

I formed the Denim Pine™ Marketing Association as a non-profit Society on March 27, 2002.

The purposes of the society were:

1. To promote and market the use of beetle stained pine from the central interior of British Columbia in manufacturing.

2. To fund economic development projects which utilize beetle stained pine from the central interior of British Columbia.

3. To promote the use of beetle stained pine under the "Denim Pine™" trademark and logo.

Testimonials:

Feeback we recieved from a variety of sources...

1. ”We are pleased that you are able to work with First Nations in the north and hope that your expertise and professional contacts will provide the required level of assistance to those First Nations.“

FIRST NATIONS SUMMIT

Grand Chief Edward John

Herb George (Satsan)

Lyndia Hiwitsum

2. ”I am pleased to see the initial success of your company’s Denim PineTM trademark.“

PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

Premier Gordon Campbell

3. ”Your entrepreneurial spirit and strategic efforts will go far in helping to offset the damage caused by this serious threat to the forests of British Columbia (B.C.) interior.

MINISTER OF NATURAL RESOURCES CANADA

The Honourable Herb Dhaliwal, P.C., M.P.

4. ”I compliment you on your Denim Pine marketing initiative and wish you the greatest success in helping to turn the devastating impacts of the bark beetle infestation into a more positive event.“

MINISTRY OF COMPETITION, SCIENCE AND ENTERPRISE

Rick Thorpe

5. ”As you are doubtless aware, our organization has long sought government and industry action to help ensure greater diversification of our industry and investments in new products, new production processes and new markets. This initiative promises to achieve these goals.“

I.W.A.

D. C. Haggard, President

6. ”Your proposal will help establish retail outlets and distributors for this new and unique product, and in addition will provide added employment which is of critical importance to our region.“

CITY OF WILLIAMS LAKE

Mayor Rick Gibson

and many more..

Funding:

The Association received minimal funding from various sources.

We applied to the Softwood Industry Community Economic Adjustment Initiative (SICEAI). Our proposal addressed many issues in the wood industry in general: how to supply local value added companies like furniture and flooring manufacturers with materials that are sized and dried to their specifications, market research & analysis, a distribution system, marketing & promotion and helping to close the sale of value added products over the internet.

We needed desperately to do something with the mountains of pine beetle wood in the area.

This proposal met every proposal application criteria in detail, and worked with other organizations including First Nation communitites.

The SICEAI criteria was completely changed for those entering into stage two.

The application could have provided the funds needed to work with First Nation groups and small business to supply much of the raw materials needed for manufacturers in Canada, the United States and China.

I simply couldn't understand how they could change an application's criteria so drastically, making everyone start from scratch. I did not enter into stage two of this funding proposal.

Association Folds:

Circumstances led to the folding of the association.

What I wanted to do was create something on behalf of manufacturers who were struggling with sales hoping this could give them the niche they needed to survive in a forest industry where large primary mills ruled.

We successfully promoted this wood across the globe.

The media loved it, consumers wanted to buy it NOW.

The trademark became so popular, that consumers were asking for finished wood products that didn't exist yet.

With the issues in our forest industry as described on the home page, the Denim Pine Marketing Association folded.

Birth of our Logo:

By the end of 2001, I was considering a logo for Denim Pine™.

We scanned in jean material from the back pocket on my jeans and designed 6 prototypes.

We had guests over one evening during the Christmas season and had each person vote on which design they liked.

The score was very close for two designs; I chose the one that took second place (the one I voted for).

Promotion:

Promotion of this wood and products that can be made from it began.

We began promoting this by showcasing the Denim Pine™ dining room table at the local Northern Municipal Association held at the Northstar Church in Quesnel May 2-4 2002. The new at the time Premier Campbell attended and liked the look of our table, as did all the government and municipal representatives who attended.

We displayed our Denim Pine™ table at Forest Expo in Prince George, BC in May of 2002 with extremely positive results. This was quickly picked up by the media.

The Association sent a letter to every city across the province asking for membership and support letters. The letters poured in and the membership grew. Still to this day, I cannot thank enough each and every Mayor and Council as well as many individuals and companies of this province who contributed and supported our cause.

Media:

A list of media releases was created, but I could not keep up.

In October of 2002, Deb Hope and camera man Paul from BCTV Global News visited our home and filmed our Denim Pine™ wood products during an interview. This gave us our first global media coverage. Both are very good at what they do, and a lot of fun! The media continued after this, with articles and interviews in many newspapers and magazines.

China:

During my travels to China...

While in China in late 2003, I attended an investment symposium in Ningbo, south of Shanghai.

The Gateway to Asia program, or S.U.C.C.E.S.S. in Vancouver are a VERY good group to work with in China.

From that show, China's government representatives wanted to create a project on behalf of the manufacturers in their respective areas.

I was filmed at the show, and was on national television.

I never did see the news that night, but it's just as well considering my blow dryer and curling iron would not plug into the sockets!

We were published in China's largest wood products magazine, International Wood Industry in November of 2003. Their distribution is 10,000 and is strictly for wood product manufacturers.

On my second trip to China, manufacturers who met us on the first trip drove for hours to explore our opportunity in more detail.

An agreement with representation of government and a non-profit association representing about 300 manufacturers was made.

With trust as the most important factor when negotiating, they will be purchasing container load after container load of our labled Denim Pine™ wood.

We created an idea to employ many of their people and make profits. Also, they believe that the words Denim Pine™ are a type of good luck.

Family Support:

The support provided by my family has been of incalculable value.

My Mom and Stepfather, Orval & Carley Sharman never stopped supporting me throughout the roller coaster venture.

Orv told me I had a tiger by the tail, and he was RIGHT!

From start to present, this venture has been very overwhelming, and everything he ever said to me was true in every detail.

He was a WW-II hero, his wave of lancasters (planes) broke the dykes on Walcheren Island flooding the island including the enemy bunkers.

This was the enemy's last stronghold and the war was all but won.

They were freed after that, no more starvation.

We have all said that my Mom made him the happiest person on earth, but I believe the reverse is also true.

Orval died in January of 2005 and it was his wish to be cremated and his ashes put into a Denim Pine™ Urn.