Building Connections at T.L. Timber

Clayton Hillman, co-owner and manager of T.L. Timber, is set on three goals:

• growing his business;
• providing a good life for himself and his employees; and
• creating high quality log homes in B.C.

T.L.’s custom-milled log home facility is a family-run operation located in Cawston, B.C., just south of Keremeos.

With his many years of experience in all aspects of millwork, Hillman has been transforming standing dead timber (both fire-damaged and beetle-killed trees) into stunning log homes since 1997.

T.L. works closely with another local company, Gorman Bros. Lumber Ltd., which supplies much of the Lodgepole Pine and Spruce logs used for the posts, beams and walls of the homes.

The 13 years Hillman has spent building his client base is paying off. “When we started out, we were shipping two homes a month to our U.S. market,” says Hillman. “Over the past five years, we’ve doubled the number of clients we serve. In this global economy, that’s really good.” The company’s biggest strength is quality. B.C.’s world-renowned reputation for excellent value-added wood products helps as well.

Over the past few years, the company has focused on domestic sales. It now has more clients in Canada than ever before.

The owner also knows that there’s a tremendous potential for custom log homes in Asia. “Right now we have three or four interested parties in China, including the Chinese government.”

Importance of the Internet

It’s said that a great product sells itself, but Hillman credits much of the company’s success to broadband Internet. “Before broadband we had so many problems with dial-up. One day it would be down and the next day it would be back on. I would go to send a large file and it wouldn’t make it to the client. I unknowingly thought it was there and I lost that client.”

High-speed Internet and a good company website have helped expand T.L. Timber’s business and serve their customers.

“With the Internet, we can connect with both clients and people interested in our products. We can receive and send large files in architectural and engineering formats” says Hillman. “And in this day and age, being able to do that quickly and reliably is essential.”

Cawston gained access to broadband Internet in 2004 through support of the federal and provincial governments. Communities like Cawston have benefitted from the Province’s Network BC and their collaborative approach.

Network BC focuses on the strategic use of telecommunications, including increasing broadband connectivity for citizens and business in rural and remote areas of the province.

This story was adapted from a short video. If you’d like to learn a bit more about how broadband is helping bridge the digital divide, have a look at this series of video vignettes. You’ll find the T.L. Lumber story under the ‘E-business’ link.

Did You Know?

• Today, 93 per cent of British Columbians have access to high-speed Internet.
• B.C. is one of the most connected jurisdictions in the world.
• Bridging the digital divide increases access to health information, education, economic opportunities and government services.
• $1.5M to connect more B.C. residents to broadband. [Oct. 12, 2010 information bulletin]
• Related stories: Network BC and the West Lake Community and Wells, B.C. Sparks a Modern Day Gold Rush.