Wayne Coulson was only 12 years old when he stared working for his father’s Port Alberni-based Coulson Forest Products business. He’d wash trucks and cut grass on the weekends, helping out wherever he could.
As he grew older, his responsibilities increased. Wayne started logging “out in the bush” after he finished high school. But when his father, Cliff Coulson, the company’s founder, suffered a heart attack in 1982, Wayne came in from the woods to help in the office.
“I went in with virtually no experience to figure out how to pay the bills,” said Wayne. “We had a small office staff of two people at the time, but I got a good look at that part of the business. I’ve been in the office ever since.”
Once Cliff returned to work, he and Wayne began to expand the company. In 1986, they bought their first helicopter to give the Coulsons access to timber located on the tops of mountains. Today, the company’s Coulson Aircrane aviation branch still offers helicopter logging but has expanded its ambitious mandate to include power line construction and forest fire suppression services as well. Coulson Aircrane has fought fires worldwide, from Port Alberni to Los Angeles to Melbourne, Australia. The jump from logging to firefighting was a big one, to be sure, but Wayne said his father was always open to taking risks to expand the business.
“Very seldom did my father say no to changes,” Wayne, now chief executive officer of the Coulson Group of Companies, the umbrella organization that includes aviation and logging interests, told Business in Vancouver.
“I look back now and, you know, I never thought he was a gambler, but he certainly gambled. I remember him saying, ‘You know, I built this company, but if I lost everything, but did it my way, I’d be OK with it.’ That’s something I really, really respected.”
The company further diversified when, in 1989 the Coulsons established Coulson Manufacturing – an enterprise that produces wood products such as siding from western red cedar. In 2007, the family got into the casino business, opening a 30,000-square-foot Chances RimRock location in Port Alberni.
Foster Coulson, Wayne’s 25-year-old son, now leads the manufacturing division. As a third-generation member of the Coulson family enterprise, Foster said his introduction to the business started when he was just a child.
“It’s been ingrained in us. Talking about business is talking about life at this point,” said Foster. “It’s just been there since we’ve been little. We’ve listened to Dad on conference calls, we’ve heard Dad working, and now it’s translated to we’re all doing it together.”
Britton Coulson, Wayne’s 27-year-old son, agreed. Business has always been a topic of discussion at the house, he said. But that’s how he wants it – discussions about new ventures and new opportunities shouldn’t be restricted to office hours.
“It’s a total lifestyle; when you go home from work you’re thinking about it, you’re always thinking about it, you wake up in the middle of the night and you have ideas and you start sending out email. It’s a whole way of living,” said Britton. “It’s a total passion.”
Although the company has grown considerably since Wayne first joined the office, the Coulson Group of Companies is far from done. The company’s latest challenge: marketing an industrial cleaning method for ships and other large-scale uses known as Ice Blast.
Wayne anticipates Ice Blast “having a big impact on the business” in 2014. But, as with all the Coulson family ventures, everyone will be involved in its development.
“The my-way-or-the-highway thing is done. I don’t want to build that,” said Wayne. “I want these kids to build it their way. I just need to make sure I guide them to make sure they don’t go over ground that I’ve already been through.”
Acclaim for the Coulson Group of Companies
- Coulson Aircrane was a finalist in the 2013 BC Export Awards in the professional services category.
- Wayne Coulson received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013; his father, Cliff, received a Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2003.
- EY named the Coulson Group of Companies Entrepreneur of the Year in 2004.
