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If you don't receive it please email us and request a copy :
Ed Burke 
Annual General Meeting -50th Year of Incorporation
Beth Hird
Executive Assistant
The Western Red Cedar Lumber Association has reached the impressive milestone of Fifty Years of incorporation. The Association was incorporated in the State of Washington on April 1 st , 1954 as the Western Red Cedar Association with twelve Trustees at the helm. On August 11 th , 1954 a resolution was passed to change the name of the corporation to our distinctly recognizable name: Western Red Cedar Lumber Association.
It is a testimony to the Founding and Current Members of this association, who have had the vision and fortitude to work together as manufacturers and distributors; to increase public demand; to create, enlarge and maintain markets for Western Red Cedar, and to stand together during the past fifty years and succeed as a cohesive group.
Join us at the 50 th Annual General Meeting in Whistler, British Columbia
to celebrate this significant occasion.
Please mark your calendars for:
Dates: Wednesday July 14 th to Saturday, July 17 th , 2004
Where: Fairmont Chateau Whistler, Whistler, British Columbia
Reservations: 1 800-257-7544 Website: http://www.fairmont.com/whistler
NOTE: Alternate accommodation can be found at: http://www.whistlervillageinn.com/whistler/whistler_hotels_1.htm
Registration packages will be sent out in the next couple of weeks, but if you have any questions, please contact: Beth Hird at: hird@wrcla.org or telephone: 604/ 891-1231 .
Cees de Jager,Marketing Consultant
In its on-going efforts to expand the delivery of its message, the WRCLA now provides three levels of training:
1. Field Rep. training sessions for individual companies or industry groups.
2. Cedar School (Spring & Fall)
3. Newly developed PowerPoint training tool that enables Cedar School graduates and others who have taken WRCLA training to communicate what they’ve learned to their colleagues and customers. This is available on CD Rom.
A new fourth level of training that will deliver the maximum cedar knowledge for the lowest cost is the new WRCLA online training tool. Ii is rapidly nearing completion and soon WRCLA members, Certified Distributors and their customers will be able to utilize this resource to provide employees or customers with a base level of understanding of the key areas of the Cedar business.
The tool is segmented into seven stand alone modules, each lasts about an hour and ends with a quiz to reinforce the learning.
The modules are:
1. Forestry – provides specific details about forest management, harvesting, reforestation and certification. This module also speaks to the long heritage of Western Red Cedar as a unique and prestigious building material.
2. Wood Properties – this module provides core facts about the natural characteristics of Western Red Cedar that make it such a remarkable building material.
3. Wood Manufacturing – describes how a product is produced, the important steps that impact quality and the flexibility that today’s manufacturers have in producing a wide variety of Western Red Cedar products.
4. Products & Grading – provides the learner an overview of the consumer ready products produced by WRCLA members and their grades.
5. Marketing & Selling Cedar – this module describes key elements of the sales process, how Cedar should be positioned in the marketplace and how the marketing materials developed by the WRCLA can be leverage to benefit the member, distributor and/or retailer.
6. Installing Cedar – proper installation is critical to the longevity and performance of Western Red Cedar siding and decking. The module provides specific installation guidelines as well as a review of common installation mistakes and how to avoid them.
7. Finishing and Maintenance – this area covers one of the most misunderstood yet important areas of the Cedar business. Ensuring that sales staff and their customer understand how to properly finish and maintain their Cedar project will result in increased customer satisfaction, less call backs and most certainly repeat business.
Programming and content development for each of these modules is complete. Over the next few weeks we will be recording the voice overs, incorporating the materials into the tool, and testing the usability. We expect to launch the tool for general use in early April. In the meantime, if you have any questions, feel free to send me an email: cdejager@hunterconsulting.ca
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The WRCLA submitted the Year 3 North American Marketing Program Request for proposal on January 23rd. As the program has matured over the first two years it has changed focus but not its direction in building the infrastructure to deliver a first class promotional program for Western Red Cedar.
To view the Executive Summary from this year's proposal download it in pdf format click here
Peter Lang
General Manager
As WRCLA prepares to celebrate its 50th Anniversary, it is encouraging to report that the association has never been stronger - both in terms of membership numbers and in their commitment to promote cedar. Combine this with the great marketing program that has been developed for the coming year and you have a formula for success.
The key to maximizing the program’s impact is to fully engage our resources – which includes our members and CCDs. Although our budget has never been larger, the reality is that in terms of the task we have to accomplish, it is small - but it can be stretched. Members and CCD’s who conduct their own advertising programs should consider using the new WRCLA ads – which can easily be modified to incorporate your logos. Not only do you get access to attractive low cost ads and the benefit of being associated with our campaign, but we as a whole benefit from the increased exposure of our messaging.
Our internet campaign is having tremendous success in terms of the amount of traffic visiting our sites, and the Purchasing Cedar guide has become the second most popular stop. Unfortunately it still has a lot of “holes” in it in terms of the number of cedar retailers listed. We need feedback from you to ensure that your best retail customers are accessible through this great tool. Go to our Purchasing Cedar option (on the top menu bar of each of our websites), go to the finding a retailer section and type in either your or your best customers zip code. Are your best retailers listed?? If not, let us know and we’ll add them to the site.
We still have a long way to go in getting our messaging visible in retail stores. The successful distribution of our “point of purchase” materials needs the help of our CCD’s. Have you ordered the kits?? When visiting your best retail accounts, encourage them to display these materials to help make consumers aware that cedar is available.
Our Public Relations program is attracting more media attention than ever before as we feed a steady stream of cedar news to media outlets - but we are always in need of new story material. Are you aware of a good cedar story in your area? Let us know about interesting restoration projects using cedar, or stunning cedar projects that we might be able to photograph. We need your input to keep our PR campaign building.
The list of ways you can get more involved in the cedar promotion campaign goes on – have you considered pooling resources with other players in your market to rent our “big” booth for a tradeshow in your area?? Help us to make the promotion program as visible in your region as possible.
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Cedar School-Next Session April 25
Shelley Smolka
Administrative Assistant
WRCLA Cedar School Is A Five Day Program In Vancouver, BC
Held each spring and fall in Vancouver British Columbia, the WRCLA Cedar School is a five day educational program for sales professionals that covers all aspects of the modern cedar industry. The curriculum includes cedar mill and forest tours as well as presentations on environmental and industry issues, cedar growth and fiber characteristics, manufacturing, grading and product knowledge. There are sales and marketing seminars as well as workshops on finishing and hands-on sessions on the installation of cedar siding and decking.
Cedar School presenters are industry professionals and educators working in the forest industry, business, university, and communications. In addition to the classroom lectures, seminars and workshops, there is an extensive display of WRCLA cedar lumber products so participants can meet with representatives of WRCLA member mills and get a first hand look at any new product lines coming into production. Industry suppliers also take part in this Product Showcase, which is a popular event at the Cedar School.
Click image to enlarge
The WRCLA initiated the Cedar School program in 1995 in response to requests from sales professionals for training and information pertinent to taking cedar to market. The program was an immediate success and is now well established with many companies relying on it as a training vehicle for their sales staff.
Cedar School graduates receive special certificates and there are several awards for excellence in grading and overall achievement. Each student receives a take-home reference binder containing all course material as well as a comprehensive selection of WRCLA technical literature and sales guides. A Cedar School course outline in the WRCLA binder is designed so graduates can use the material for training purposes in their own organizations
For more information on costs and benefits of this program follow this link: http://wrcla.org/aboutus/training/registrationinfo.asp
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Ed Burke is our new Eastern Representative. Ed brings many skills to his new position including a sound knowledge of the cedar business and expertise in the technical properties of Western Red Cedar. Ed can be reached on his toll free number: 800-266-1910 or email at: burke@wrcla.org
Shelley Smolka is our newest addition to the Vancouver office. Shelley comes to the WRCLA from the B.C. Library Association and brings to her new role as Administrative Assistant many vital organizational and administrative skills. Shelley can be contacted by email at: smolka@wrcla.orgMembers -Corner
The WRCLA Board of Directors is pleased to welcome three new Members: BW Creative Wood Industries, Inc., Fraserview Cedar Products and Gilbert Smith Forest Products and three new Certified Cedar Distributors: Midwest Lumber Minnesota, Inc., Taiga Forest Products Ltd. and Timber Products, Inc. The current number of Member companies has reached a record number of thirty-one and there are a total of forty-four Certified Cedar Distributor companies under the umbrella of the WRCLA.
NEW MEMBER COMPANIES
BW CREATIVE WOOD INDUSTRIES 
Located in Maple Ridge, BC over the past 29 years, BW Creative Wood Industries Ltd. has grown to be one of the leading manufacturers of interior stair components and exterior deck accessories in North America.
FRASERVIEW CEDAR PRODUCTS 
Located in Surrey, BC, Fraserview produces Western Red Cedar pre-fabricated lattice -top fence panels, solid fence panel, privacy lattice panels, 'dog-eared' fence panels and traditional picket fence panels . Their products lines have also expanded to include cedar fence and lattice accessories, (1x4, 1x6, x 1x8) rough & S1S2E cedar fencing boards,
cedar lath, and picnic tables.
GILBERT SMITH FOREST PRODUCTS LTD.
A long time producer of Western Red Cedar, Gilbert Smith Forest Products was established in 1955 and is located in the interior of British Columbia in Barriere.
NEW CERTIFIED CEDAR DISTRIBUTORS
MIDWEST LUMBER MINNESOTA, INC. 
Midwest Lumber Inc. is a family-owned wholesale distributor serving the building industry with an extensive line of renewable forest products.
TAIGA FOREST PRODUCTS LTD. 
Established in 1973, Taiga Forest Products is a Canadian building products distributor and processor specializing in the wholesale distribution of lumber and panel products.
The Company operates 15 distribution centers in various locations across Canada which service both the Canadian and the U. S. markets.
TIMBER PRODUCTS INC 
Timber Products was founded in 1958 by Lester Neff and Roy Nash, as a lumber broker.
With more than 45 years of experience Timber Products has shaped and milled a truckload of customer confidence for product quality and outstanding service.
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"Some of our CCD’s have promotional ads for various products playing while you’re on-hold; why don’t we produce a sample of ‘while you’re waiting’ recordings for our CCD’s to promote Western Red Cedar?"
Carlos Furtado, Sawarne Lumber
You spoke, we listened... 5 short Western Red Cedar promotional messages have been created in three different formats designed to integrate into your "on hold message" for your telephone system. Each message contains the message and directs the listener to the realcedar.org website.
Click the links below to download an mp3 version of each message:
(right click link and select "save target as" to copy to your computer)
1. Siding message WRCLA_01.mp3
2. Backyard use message WRCLA_02.mp3
3. Coating & finishing message WRCLA_03.mp3
4. Why users prefer WRC message WRCLA_04.mp3
5. The many uses of Real Cedar message WRCLA_05.mp3
These are available in the following formats:
.mp3, wav and .aiff
All three versions are available behind the member login on the wrcla.org site just follow this link:
http://wrcla.org/aboutus/memberlogin.asp
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