What a difference two years makes

Canadian Timberframes Ltd.’s balance sheet has improved dramatically in the past two years

Jeff Bowes has been with Canadian Timberframes Ltd. in Golden, B.C., for two years. — Photo courtesy Jeff Bowes

Jeff Bowes is an equity partner in Canadian Timberframes Ltd. (CTF) in Golden, B.C. He works as the director of business development and is a design/project consultant. The company has had a dramatic turnaround since Bowes joined it two years ago.

We spoke with Bowes recently, and learned a little bit about him.

What was a business highlight for you this year?

Well, two years ago I was living in Ontario and I was lucky enough to be approached by Pat Soles, one of the owners of CTF, and he asked me to join them in the business here. The slow economy had hit them hard, and I’m happy to say that in the past two years we have achieved a 100 per cent sales-and-revenue increase, and a 300 per cent increase in our backlog, which is contracted available revenue. In the past 12 months four of our permanent employees moved to Golden and purchased property here, adding to the town’s economy.

Can you separate work from play, or are you up in the middle of the night thinking about work?

I’m sometimes awake all night, but it’s because I’m so excited about it. It isn’t just work, it’s a passion.

Can you give us a hint of a new development being planned for your business?

We’re dramatically expanding our front-end and back-end service to include architectural and engineering services—design work prior to our product being in place, and then site services and construction to help the project move along.

Would you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert?

In business, I’m definitely an extrovert and love to engage with people. I also really like my downtime and being alone out in nature—that’s why Golden is such a great fit for me. I love doing trade shows and giving seminars and engaging with clients, but my downtime is clear and uncluttered.

If you could acquire a superhero’s power, what would it be and what would you like to accomplish with it?

I think maybe I’d like the powers of Flash. It would be cool to instantly provide both great products for our clients and great opportunities for our team.