The Central Interior Logging Association is moving, and it is taking as many forest companies as it can along with it. A surprisingly healthy forest industry is the cause of the address change, according to CILA staff.
The CILA has been one of the largest voices of forest industry advocacy for the past 45-plus years. A support and public awareness group for the log harvesting sector, and in latter years also a training source for new loggers, the CILA has continued to grow despite international negative pressures on the overall wood world.
This year they have outgrown their River Road home overlooking the Nechako and need new space. Within the next two weeks they will be relocating to South Fort George to a home overlooking the Fraser.
Joining them in their new space will be the Carbon Offset Aggregate Co-operative, Malfair Law, Resources North, the BC Forest Safety Council and the Council of Forest Industries.
"It will be one-stop forestry shopping, with lots of board room space and a great atmosphere for everyone," said Kate Iverson, CILA's director of training. "We all need room to grow and this space is perfect for that. The CILA keeps going and going so we need more space."
The best sign CILA had of outgrowing their current crib was the success of their FIRSTLogger Training Program.
"There is still a real demand for logging truck drivers, chip truck drivers, heavy equipment operators, so that is a positive sign for our industry as a whole," Iverson said. "We're seeing people coming back from oil and gas and mining jobs who want more family time, who are tired of the month-in and month-out system, who want to work in their own back yard. And forestry provides for that."
The new location will be the third floor at 2666 Queensway. The transition for all the gathering agencies will be late August into early September.
