July 23, 2013 12:05 pm Leave your thoughts
Fact: Quite the contrary! Tolko’s mills are all located in towns. This means that you can actually live in the city or town of your operation. Five of Tolko’s mills are located 20 minutes from Vernon. Here in Vernon, we have all of the amenities you might expect and more – department stores, malls, restaurants, shopping, supermarkets, movie theatres,
July 18, 2013 12:29 pm Leave your thoughts
Fact: With forestry, this is definitely false. Vernon may be a small town, but thanks to Tolko, there are big opportunities in the private sector with plenty of room for advancement.
Tolko’s towering corporate office is located in Vernon, a small city of about 30 000 people. Plenty of corporate opportunities exist, including the ability to perform meaningful,
July 18, 2013 12:22 pm Leave your thoughts
Hello once again readers. Since my last blog, not much has changed regarding my work, so I chose to write this particular post on something else. I am going to write a brief account of what it has been like working for Millar Western so far this summer.
First off, I would like to say that Millar Western is an amazing company to work for.
July 18, 2013 11:56 am Leave your thoughts
The past week and a half have been busy, to say the least! Last Sunday, there was a flood relief event held at Muskoseepi Park, with local musicians playing all day, complete with a barbeque and amazing, sunny weather. I went to check it out with my roommate, and we ended up staying a good six hours! More importantly, the event managed to raise over $44,000 to help those affected by the floods!
July 17, 2013 1:20 pm Leave your thoughts
Hello readers! It has been a few days now since I have updated my blog — my internship is keeping me busy! Recently, I have been working with the silviculture group, assessing tree-planting blocks. We check for various planting errors, as well as the density of plantings in an area. I enjoy working in the blocks at Tom Hill, as there is nice scenery,
July 17, 2013 11:44 am Leave your thoughts
It’s no secret – there are a lot of stigmas and stereotypes about working in the forestry industry and living in smaller centres like Vernon, where Tolko is based. Contrary to popular belief, my co-workers are not the axe-wielding, plaid-wearing lumberjacks of yesteryear; rather, Tolko’s workforce is comprised of a diverse array of professionals, tradespeople, and skilled workers.
It’s myths like these that need some busting.
July 16, 2013 3:46 pm Leave your thoughts
Who says you can’t go home?
As a business student, I truly believed that advancing my career would likely require relocation, away from my comfortable surroundings in the tranquil Okanagan Valley. I was under the impression that climbing the corporate ladder would require at least a few years in a big bustling city, like Calgary, Vancouver or Toronto.
July 16, 2013 3:39 pm Leave your thoughts
Picture this: a group of Canada’s largest forest product companies and prominent environmental groups sit down at a table.
The unlikely duo talks for a while. Surprisingly, the two groups walk away shaking hands, proudly holding an agreement that promises a better environmental future for all Canadians.
I am proud to say that my employer, Tolko Industries,
July 16, 2013 3:13 pm Leave your thoughts
So much has gone on these past few weeks. I have been featured in an internal company newsletter, congratulating me on my internship, and in a local newspaper regarding my internship. The reporter from the Whitecourt Star even came out to talk to me and take my photo! During the interview, he asked me about what I thought about the way I got this internship,
July 16, 2013 3:07 pm Leave your thoughts
For this blog, I have created a quick video on what a culvert inspection is and a few things we look for when we go out to do these inspections. To watch the video, just click the first link below. I will be doing lots of these inspections through the summer, because I’m currently in charge of completing all the inspections for all the roads in Millar Western’s forest management plan,
July 12, 2013 12:43 pm Leave your thoughts
To better describe what one of my days generally consists of here is a ‘day in the life’ at Slave Lake Pulp as an Engineering Co-op student.
My daily morning greeting at the mill.
A great start to the day; a cup of coffee with a side of CAD.
July 11, 2013 10:35 am Leave your thoughts
It has been over a month now that I have been on the Helitack crew, with each day bringing new experiences! As a member of Millar Western’s Helitack crew, I am responsible for forest fire protection of company interests, as well as many other side projects, giving me a very broad exposure of the forestry industry. My first day was certainly my most memorable to date.
July 8, 2013 3:17 pm Leave your thoughts
Hello once again readers. Since I haven’t talked much about what I have been physically doing at work since my first blog, I figured it was time to provide a brief update as well as discuss some of the tasks lined up for me in the remainder of my time here.
So far, I have been continuing to work on finalizing data for the consistency meters I was trialing at the start of the summer.
July 5, 2013 11:13 am Leave your thoughts
The marginal ground trial that was supposed to start this week has been pushed back to start Monday now, due to wet ground conditions from an abundance of rain recently. Last week, I attended a SafeStart conference along with employees of other forestry companies and contractors. The conference aimed to encourage us to think about our behaviours and actions in regards to safety.
July 5, 2013 10:47 am Leave your thoughts
Safety is an integral part of both the operations and culture at all divisions of West Fraser Mills, and Slave Lake Pulp is no exception. Slave Lake Pulp is committed to the principle that no phase of operation takes precedence over accident prevention. To see evidence of this one has to look no further than the Health and Safety Philosophy that can be found plastered all throughout the mill: