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THE CANADIAN HOME BUILDERS CENTRAL INTERIOR ARE CELEBRATING 50 YEARS! P R E SE NT S TH IS SP E CIA L KE E P S A K E
Canadian Home Builders’ Association
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CHBA 50 YEARS
Dreaming in Juniper West
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his year’s TRU Training House has been built in the neighbourhood of Juniper West, a planned community with spectacular views of the city and river valley and only minutes from many of Kamloops main amenities. This is the first time Juniper West has been selected by the CHBACentral Interior as the location for the training house, which has been designed as two-story, energy efficient home that offers unobstructed, scenic views from both the front and the back of the home. As in previous years, it has been handed over to the Kamloops Y to be raffled off as the 2015 Y Dream Home. “We’re excited to be involved in this partnership, which highlights innovative homebuilding design, brings value to our community as a whole and allows Juniper West to showcase all the benefits of this growing neighbourhood,” said Doug
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Mackenzie, project manager at Juniper West. The relationship among the CHBA-CI, the Y Dream Home and local builders has been a long and successful one, with numerous individuals and organizations stepping up to donate time, materials and funding to make the partnership a success. The training-home project allows first-year residential construction and other trades program students at Thompson Rivers University to be involved in hands-on building experiences. Students undertake the foundation, framing and rough in work. The home is then finished with the support of CHBA CI members. The Y has been involved in the partnership for 19 years, as the home has become the focal point for its major Dream Home Lottery fundraiser, which gives back in a variety of ways to members of the community through its many programs. Bert Gatien of Juniper Realty, which is the real-es-
Juniper West is proud to be part of the CHBA-CI.
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ounded in Vancouver in 1913, Underhill has strong community ties in the Kamloops area dating as far back as 1953, opening an office in Kamloops in 2002 and Merritt in 2014. While serving several major companies and numerous First Nation Bands, Underhill is dedicated to supplying the citizens of BC’s interior region with a high professional standard of Land Survey services and Geomatics Engineering.
tate broker for Juniper West, said community involvement through Juniper Realty and Juniper West is important and fits well with the collaboration required for the successful training house initiative. Gatien said that because the Y Dream Home has been in different neighbourhoods over the years, the home has been able to highlight different parts of our city. “The Y Dream Home is something special. People who have not been up to Juniper recently will be impressed with the new road and all the new development occurring in Juniper West,” he said. Gaiten and the realtors at Juniper Realty are looking forward to showcasing Juniper West and to supporting the Y in their efforts to have a successful Y Dream Home for 2015. The neighbourhood has been developed to appeal to a variety of homeowners. First-time homebuyers will find affordability, family-focused neighbours and amenities.
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CHBA 50 YEARS
‘I decided I wanted to be a contractor’
Bill Bilton has been building Kamloops for 50 years
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ill Bilton credits Tom Kerr for teaching him to speak. Not just regular conversation, obviously, but being comfortable standing in front of a crowd that could number more than 1,000 and simply talk about something or answer questions. The story goes back to when Bilton was in high school and Kerr — who went on to create what is now known as Western Canada Theatre — was a teacher. Bilton was a jock back then, playing every sport except hockey — “I couldn’t skate,� he says. He was also pretty busy with a part-time job in construction. Kerr was getting ready to direct a play and needed a set built. He reached out to Bilton, asking him if he and his buddies could get the job done. They did and, the next thing
‘THIS WAS IMPORTANT’
Turn to Page 11 to read the CHBA-CI’s origin story, as told by Bill Bilton he knew, Bilton was sitting in one of Kerr’s theatre classes. “And he told me to speak. He made me speak,� Bilton says. “I learned to speak.� Bilton and some of his buddies continued building sets for Kerr, sometimes travelling out of the province to festivals where some of Kerr’s plays were being presented and judged. It led to a friendship that has lasted through the years. Sitting in the clubhouse of his golf course, The Dunes at Kamloops, Bilton points to the way it has been designed, a layout influenced by all of those theatre experiences. Another designer played a significant role in Bilton’s longtime career in the building industry, a man known more for his work with grass, earth
and water than bricks and mortar. Back in 1978, Bilton began work on what became Rivershore, a community built around a golf course. Robert Trent Jones was hired to design the 18 holes nestled between the sagebrush-covered hills and the South Thompson River. “Three years working with Robert Trent Jones,� Bilton says. “It was the best time of my working life. To meet him was something else altogether.� Bilton got his start working in the family plumbing and heating business. Then something changed. “I decided I wanted to be a contractor,� he said. See BILTON, page 11
DAVE EAGLES PHOTO Bill Bilton was working closely with Frank Hewlett when he got the CHBA-CI off the ground in 1965, and he’s still a member today.
Bill Bilton has been a member since DAY 1! #JMM JT UIF SFDJQJFOU PG UIF - QSFTFOUFE CZ UIF $JUZ PG ,BNMPPQT UIF Canadian Home Builders Association
50
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“Lifetime Community Builder Award“
Bill Bilton would like to congratulate the CHBA on 50 YEARS! Bill has been the longest continually serving member of the CHBA and takes pride in these associated business ventures:
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34 CHBA 50 YEARS
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ST Keeping the31 focus CLOSED SATURDAY, DECEMBER Congratulations
Housing affordability is the main priority: CHBA-CI president TO PREPARE FOR OUR
CHBA-CI on 50 Years!
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uring his second year at the helm, Matt McCurrach is happy to see the Canadian Home Builders’ Association Central Interior (CHBA-CI) maintaining its focus on builder-related issues. The member-driven association, which acts as the voice of the residentialbuilding sector, lobbies all three levels of government to address concerns its members might have. When McCurrach, of Homex Development Corporation, became president after five years on the board, he said the main goal was to streamline the association’s efforts. “I think we wanted to put our stamp on things,� he said. “We wanted to be taken seriously in the community. “As an association, I think we’re the biggest economic driver of a private industry in our region.
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“Our GDP is $90 million in this region annually and we want to make sure our voice is heard.� While the association has addressed a variety of concerns — such as Canada Post’s move to implement a $200 per mailbox fee on new home buyers, in which he CHBA successfully lobbied to have the fee deferred in
hopes of having it eliminated — its main focus is housing affordability. CHBA-CI meets regularly with the city to discuss development cost charges and increases that can be costly to the industry. More recently, fees for dumping construction waste have increased, almost tripling the 2014 rates.
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DAVE EAGLES/KTW Canadian Home Builders’ Association Central Interior president Matt McCurrach in front of Homex Development’s townhouse development Ora Bella at Hidden Trails in Dufferin.
Even changes to the B.C. Building Code were expected to bring costs up for builders. “It’s becoming harder and harder to build affordable houses and so that’s what we’re trying to get back to government at all three levels, that this is a problem,� McCurrach said. “They can’t just use
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CHBA 50 YEARS it as a cash cow.” McCurrach said government does respond — and listens. He sits on the provincial board and the national body of the association is involved in Ottawa. For home buyers, the association offers a level of credibility they can rely on when working with any one of its members, McCurrach said. The members — which include institutions, banks, brokers and sub-trades — take advantage of courses on building codes, financing and legalities of the industry. The association is seeing success in its other endeavours — its annual golf tournament sells out every year, it brought Ron MacLean to town for its yearly special speaker series and the Y Dream Home/training house tickets are in high-demand under the partnership with the YMCA-YWCA. It recently partnered with Interior Community Services for a new initiative that will see youth at risk of homelessness, and those coming out of the fostercare system, get the opportunity to find employment and mentorship with CHBACI members. McCurrach credits both the board and members for the strides the association has made in its 50 years. “What we do, we try to do very well. I think we’ve accomplished most of those goals,” McCurrach said. “There’s always room for improvement but, when you have good people, you have good energy. “That’s what we’ve achieved so far.”
ROOFING
Peter McCurrach and Matt McCurrach at the Canadian Home Builders’ Association Central Interior’s 2014 Milestone Awards, accepting honours for Homex Development Corporation’s dedication as a member.
YEAR MEMBER
Much has changed since Peter McCurrach sat as president at the CHBA’s monthly dinner meetings. When Homex Development Corporation became a member of the Kamloops Builders’ Association in 1970, the 35 members met at Harold’s Family Restaurant in Valleyview. “That’s when I started building and I just kept on building,” McCurrach said. The senior McCurrach has built well over 1,000 residential units in Kamloops — from duplexes in North Kamloops to single-family homes in Sahali and Dufferin. “At that time, most of it was comradeship,” he said of the association. “It wasn’t as businessoriented as it is today. It was very informal.” He was president in 1974 and had a hand in founding the longstanding golf tournament and bringing the New Home Warranty Program to the city. He believes the first house built
250-828-9413
in the province under the new warranty was in Batchelor. In the early 1970s, the association became involved with the provincial branch of the Housing and Urban Development Association of Canada — an earlier name for the CHBA. McCurrach insists the association offers much more to builders now, however. “Having a permanent organization, the builders are much better informed as to what is going on. I think that is the biggest thing,” he said. “They get so much feedback from the organizations that deal with the house-building industry.” The camaraderie isn’t lost, though. Son Matt McCurrach, current president, said networking is one of the organization’s biggest strengths. “It’s one of those things that it’s hard to imagine you would ever see a son up as president of an association, but he’s doing a good job,” Peter McCurrach said. “It’s exciting to see him there.”
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ose Choy’s title is office manager, but it might as well be jack of all trades. One of her many duties with the Central Interior chapter of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association is to help organize its events. The association holds nine dinner meetings each year, one of which is the flagship gathering featuring a special-guest speaker. To celebrate its 50th anniversary in style, the local CHBA chapter brought in Canadian hockey icon Ron MacLean, who spoke to a sold-out crowd at the Coast Kamloops Hotel and Conference Centre on March 11. “All of our meetings are open to the public but, with the special speaker, it draws more of a crowd,” said Choy, who has worked with the association since 2006.
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“You don’t see Ron MacLean in Kamloops every day. “It’s a fundraiser for us and, at the same time, it’s about raising the profile of the association.” The CHBA is a nonprofit, member-driven association. Past special-guest speakers include Trevor Linden, Mike (Pinball) Clemons, Rex Murphy and Dianne Buckner. Choy said the annual House and Home Show
is another opportunity to increase the association’s profile and raise money at the same time. The chapter used this year’s event to determine the winner of its ugly-stove contest. Local residents submitted photos — 38 were received — to the CHBA of their still-in-use, ugly, energy-hogging stoves. The top 10 were picked and displayed at the show at the Coast conference centre on March 21. There were about 1,200 people in attendance, many of whom voted to determine whose stove was the ugliest. “We’re promoting energy-efficiency and it caught a lot of attention from the community,” Choy said. Maria Schaaf of Kamloops won the contest and she received a new Frigidaire stove. Last year, the association held the same contest, only it was for ugly fridges.
The chapter also holds a just-for-fun golf tournament each year for its members and their guests — the 38th annual tourney tees off on June 19. “It’s just a fun day for our members, builders and the people in trades,” Choy said. “I had one member yesterday come in here and he’s like, ‘That is the one day a year that I schedule off work.’” Choy has a knack for remembering names and faces — and most members know her. “Because I’ve been here for a long time, that’s why I’m the all-around person,” Choy said with a laugh. “We’re a very small office.” The association is holding its Awards of Excellence event at the Coast on May 13. To learn more about the association and its events, call Choy at 250-828-1844 or go online to chbaci.ca.
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CHBA 50 YEARS
Excel Industries five decades strong Enzo Lizzi built the roots of his firm in Kamloops and has grown it into a family affair
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abinet manufacturing firm Excel Industries has a history in Kamloops that’s intertwined with the Canadian homebuilders. Excel founder Enzo Lizzi moved to Kamloops in 1965 from Lethbridge, where he immigrated to from his native Italy. While today the firm manufactures kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities from its North Kamloops complex, Lizzi began here building houses as Excel Homes, along with partner August Zinetti. The two also dabbled in pasta-making; millwork was done as a side business. The partners from Lethbridge originally planned to look as far as north as Prince George after becoming interested
in moving to Premier W.A.C. Bennett’s booming B.C. “We never got farther than Kamloops,” Enzo said. “We were told there’s as much work as you want.” Many of the contacts and friendships Lizzi made forming the homebuilders group 50 years ago are still with him today through business relationships for the respected local firm that focuses on medium- and high-end cabinet making. “They’re all our customers,” Lizzi said of the handful of firms and builders who came together as a club in 1965. Excel has gone through transitions and phases through the years as the Lizzi family adapted to changing market conditions. There have been forays into the California and Alberta markets; Lizzi and
August split their business relationship in 1979, with August taking over Zinetti Pasta and Lizzi staying with cabinet-making — a trade he learned in Italy soon after elementary school. Today, the firm employs about 40 people in areas including sales and marketing, cabinet making and production. It has grown by a quarter in the past two decades. Victor Lizzi, the vicepresident, said Excel’s future looks very much like its past: Slow and steady, avoiding the lure of excessive growth and the crashes that come with it. “The biggest challenge we have right now is replacing people who have been with us for 35 or 40 years,” Victor said. “Guys 25 to 35 years old — you hope they have that same commitment.”
The biggest challenge we have right now is “replacing people who have been with us for 35 or 40 years. Guys 25 to 35 years old — you hope they have that same commitment.
”
Excel endured hard times in the early 1980s and has weathered recessions that took down customers and suppliers. Its customers are friends for decades and the firm itself is a family affair: Children Victor, Rose and Laura work at Excel (a fourth is a school teacher) while son-in-law Rob Roy also works at the North Kamloops firm. The company has managed to keep its workforce on the job, even through grinding recessions, by keeping them on the job or on layoff no longer than a month.
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— VICTOR LIZZI Excel has not tried to grow too fast, even during boom times when everyone thought it wouldn’t come to an end.
“We’d rather get work and keep people employed and not make as much money on a job,” Victor said.
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CHBA 50 YEARS According to Kamloops builder Doug Wittal, membership in the CHBA-CI gives companies an advantage in the highly competitive construction market. DAVE EAGLES/KTW
Business from the ground up Doug Wittal ‘started from scratch’
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oug Wittal got his start in construction young, and he’s been going strong ever since. “It started in 1980, just right out of high school,” he said. “It was me being chiefcook-bottle-washer, my wife doing the books. “I did the building, cleanup — everything. “Then we started hiring people.” Today, DW Builders employs 30 people and is one of the most-recognized builders in Kamloops. And, according to Wittal, a lot of those Keystone Awards and other honours are thanks, in part, to the
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leg up provided by the CHBA-CI. “What CHBA did for me is, it’s a sounding board and it’s an organization where people aren’t afraid to share information,” Wittal said. “I guess it’s basically a library — a library where people aren’t afraid to share information. “We share stuff. I don’t tell you how much my percentage mark-ups are, but you can say, ‘I ran into this issue,’ or, ‘I ran into that issue.’ “If I’ve got a question or an issue, I can ask builders in Kelowna, Prince George, Lethbridge, Regina — all across Canada, really. It’s a huge family. “I think that’s the greatest advantage.” Now, Wittal said, it’s all about growing DW Builders to its full potential. “I hope we get a lot bigger,” he said. “We see our company continuing to grow and to expand into other areas outside the Interior.” And, for Wittal, the company now has the next generation on board, with his son, Wayne, employed as a supervisor. “He’s extremely involved in the company,” Wittal said. “It’s pretty cool. I had nobody to take over. I started from scratch. “So, having him there makes me pretty proud.” Wittal’s daughter, Cassie, also spent 10 years with the company before leaving Kamloops to start her own construction career. Away from the office, Wittal is keeping plenty busy. In January, he endeavours to lead a Discovering World Connections group on a trek to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. “We’re going to raise $100,000 for charity,” he said. “That’s a cool thing to be a part of, too.”
TUESDAY, May 5, 2015
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CHBA 50 YEARS
Thomson building points of pride
K
amloops was a much different city when Jim Thomson arrived. The president of Plainsman Construction Services, Thomson moved to Kamloops in 1983, in the middle of the recession of the early 1980s. Like the rest of Canada, the River City was feeling the pinch in the face of a struggling economy. “The younger generation forgets how bad the crash was in the mid-80s,” Thomson said. During that time, some residential interest rates climbed to more than 20 per cent. “You could drive around town and there was just street upon street of foreclosures.” With the financial impacts came the societal woes, Thomson said, families broken up by money stress, domestic issues, substance abuse, even suicide. It was a darker time in the builder’s history with
nice to be able to walk down “theIt’sstreet and look people in the eye, that you’ve done business with, and shake their hand. — Jim Thomson
”
JIM THOMSON: Arrived in Kamloops during 1980s recession.
the city. While some years his company has averaged 1,200 building starts, he recalls having just 40 in 1984. Fast-forward more than 30 years and the picture today is much brighter in the Tournament Capital. For Thompson, who has certainly left his mark on Kamloops — as well as provincially and nationally, having served as president of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association at all levels — it has made for a satisfying career. And though he has seen a lot of change in his more
than three decades in building, Thomson said a lot has remained the same, too. Today, just like when he first got started, affordability is one of the biggest issues facing builders and homeowners. There’s more emphasis on quality in home building, Thomson said — both consumers and regulators expect the best in new properties. It becomes a balancing act, however, as he and his peers try to walk the line between affordability and building requirements. “You’ve got to have a balance between people being able to afford a home and live in a comfortable, safe, healthy environment, as opposed to making houses so expensive they have a choice between the street and elite homes for the very wealthy,” Thomson said.
“That’s not good housing policy.” For Thomson, driving the streets of Kamloops brings back a lot of memories. So many of his projects — the building that now houses Save-On Foods, the Zimmer Wheaton car dealership, countless homes and commercial buildings — remind him of the role he has played in shaping the city. Even now, as his company works on Cascades Casino, he continues to leave his mark. He has always prided himself on doing it the right way, too. “Its kind of rewarding and it’s nice to be able to walk down the street and look people in the eye, that you’ve done business with, and shake their hand,” Thomson said. “It’s a good feeling.”
One building, in particular, will always have a special place in his heart — 301 Victoria Street, the downtown home of, among other businesses, TD Bank and McDonald’s. At the top of the building — a marquee project for the Plainsman — the company’s logo and the year it was completed are etched into the building, a point of pride for Thomson. Like everything he has built in Kamloops, he expects it will stand the test of time.
“I think our local homebuilding community can be very proud of the product that we’ve built, compared to the peers across Canada,” Thomson said. “I’ve travelled all across Canada as the national president [of the CHBA] and seen builders in every end of this country and we’re among the best builders in the country — and Canada’s one of the besthoused nations in the world. “We can be very proud of that.”
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GreenTree Electric specializes in residential and commercial wiring, service upgrades, mobile certifications, lighting design and more.
Residential & Commercial
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“WHATEVER GOOD THINGS WE BUILD END UP BUILDING US” —Jim Rohn
Lighting
“
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I would like to take this opportunity to highly recommend Dave and his company. I am trained electrical engineer and have high expectations. Dave met those expectations with no problem. He came prepared with all the items needed and with state of the art tools. Dave listen to his customers’ requirements and strives to fulfill them. - Horst Kimmerle
DAVE SIMONS - 250-299-6588
www.greentreeelectricltd.com info@greentreeelectric.ca
Proud supporters and members Custom New Construction
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Your Home is one of your Biggest Assets—Protect It!
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Looking for a high quality, cost effective electrical contractor?
19
of the Canadian Home Builders Association Central Interior.
daleyllp.ca
B10
TUESDAY, May 5, 2015
www.kamloopsthisweek.com
34 CHBA 50 YEARS CONTRACTORS THE
YEAR MEMBER
CHOICE
THROUGH THE YEARS
E TH
CO
IC E
• RooďŹ ng Supplies Commercial & Residential • Siding Materials Hardiplank, Vinyl & Metal Cladding •Insulation Products •Skylights & Sun Tunnels • WaterprooďŹ ng Membranes
N TR
ACTOR’S
O CH
CONVOY SUPPLY LTD. Construction Materials 990 Laval Cres. Kamloops • www.convoy-supply.com F: 250-374-9514
250-374-9955
9
YEAR MEMBER
834 Laval Crescent, Kamloops, B.C. Tel: 250-372-8141
Kamloops
2000s 1990s 1980s 1970s 1960s
The Canadian Home Builders’ Association of the Central Interior is celebrating its 50th anniversary, so we thought it would be fun to take a look at the style trends through the years it’s been in operation . . .
Ah yes, the ‘60s, with sharp edges, bright colours and a look that could at best be described as moulded functional.
Moving on to the ‘70s and it was colour, baby, psychedelic patterns, designs for no other reason than to just be.
For many, the ‘80s was a time of ugly decor — overstuffed couches, too much floral — and the focal point of the living room was always the stereo cabinet.
Design trends in the ‘90s can be summed up in a few words — beige and white — with everyone learning to sponge-paint their walls.
It’s a new century and everything old is new again: sharp corners, functional design, but with an eye to Mother Earth when shopping.
For any of your construction needs, contact award winning Nexbuild today!
15
YEAR MEMBER
265 Peerless Way,
Kamloops www.nuďƒ&#x;oors.ca/kamloops 834 Laval Crescent, Kamloops, B.C. Tel: 250-372-8141
Kamloops B.C. V2C 6X2 Tel: 250-391-1383
WWW.NEXBUILD.COM
COLUMBIA PROPERTY MANAGEMENT LTD.
7
YEAR MEMBER
STRATA MANAGEMENT RESIDENTIAL MANAGEMENT COMMERCIAL MANAGEMENT BONDED & FULLY LICENSED
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TUESDAY, May 5, 2015
www.kamloopsthisweek.com
30
CHBA 50 YEARS
Bilton credits association From page 3
“That was back in the day when there were really just six models built.� He noticed most builders had something unique to their houses, a trademark element. For him, it was boxed-in soffits in the corners of the houses. “It wasn’t a big thing, but it was my trademark.� Bilton was the first contractor to build a condominium complex in the Interior, encouraged by Dave Davies of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. Within seven months, 119 units Bilton called Valhalla were finished. “It’s 44 years old, but that project is still good housing,� Bilton says. The Westsyde Shopping Centre went through an upgrade recently, a project Bilton says he watched with some nostalgia because he constructed it back in the early 1970s. The Rivershore development gave him his first taste of the golf business as he worked with designer Jones to create the course along with the housing. Since then, Bilton says, he’s spent “a fair amount of time in the golfing industry, not because they’re profitable, but because I like it and did well in building.� And, while his office is at his golf course, The Dunes at Kamloops, Bilton says he only gets in 15 to 20 rounds a year now — “and I’m the — Bill Bilton worst golfer in the family.� Bilton says he’d play more if games took only a couple or hours, something he’s hoping to see start to happen at The Dunes as he redesigns the tees. He’s still busy building — the day KTW visited, he had just finished up days of meetings with the Agricultural Land Reserve as he pushes forward to build more houses in Westsyde. “I put my shoulder to the wheel as much as I can,� he says. “And, without the homebuilders’ association, I wouldn’t have been as successful.�
I put my “shoulder to
the wheel as much as I can. And, without the homebuilders’ association, I wouldn’t have been as successful.
�
3
YEAR MEMBER
Kamloops’ Premier Roofing Company
SPECIALIZING IN RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL PROJECTS FREE ESTIMATES ON ALL PROJECTS
www.tvroofing.ca ÂŤÂť 250.851.5269
B11
‘This was important’ It was 1965 — and Frank Hewlett had an idea. As a busy builder in North Kamloops, he thought it was important for his industry “to become more professional, rather than just a bunch of guys with hammers,� said Bill Bilton. At the time, Bilton was working in the family’s plumbing and heating business, doing work for Hewlett and other contractors in the area. “He made it clear to all of us this was important,� Bilton said of the man he credits for creating what is today known as the Canadian Home Builders’ AssociationCentral Interior. “It was like a club to start with and we got others to join. Frank was a real organizer and it started to be more of an association to make sure there was credibility for the builders. He wanted it to have a voice with authority.� Back then, Kamloops didn’t exist as it does today, with North Kamloops, Valleyview, Brocklehurst, Westsyde and Raleigh “all separate but in the district,� Bilton said. Membership grew from those areas and the association continued advocating not only for its members, but for the consumers, talking about quality and standards and responsibility to the homebuyers. “It spread,� Bilton said. “Bob Borrie, he was from Prince George and he was in the federal government back then and he started to spread the word and, somehow, this association [idea] spread throughout the whole province.� Hewlett wasn’t done, though. Soon, he created the first computer centre in the city, working with city accountants Bernie Kent and Ken Almond to install “this big computer in this massive room. We all could sign on and use it.� It was a novelty at a time when there were no cellphones, fax machines or laptop computers. “If you wanted copies, you used carbon paper,� Bilton said. Bilton sees the association’s growth as a credit to builders and suppliers taking each year in stride. “Now, if you’re not a member, you’re out of touch,� Bilton said. “You know, I sit back and think how was it 35 years ago? Fifty years ago? There was a real renaissance in building houses 50 years ago and it seems like it’s been status quo with polish the last 15 years. And, now, we are going through another change. Right now, some [building] standards are changing completely, changing for the better. “We went through a period of massive houses and, now, we’re more economical, getting the maximum benefits in smaller houses.�
Your mortgage specialist. Bev has been with BMO for over 30 years and has extensive knowledge of the Kamloops Real Estate market. Regardless if it’s your 1st home, a new home, or even your dream home, see Bev for your residential mortgage needs.
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Happy 50th CHBA CI! Buying or selling a home is one of the most important decisions you will make. Our agents will help you get through the steps. We are dedicated and committed to you.
Visit our kiosk in the upper level of Aberdeen Mall and in Sahali Centre Mall Royal LePage Kamloops 322 Seymour Street 250-374-3022 Royal LePage Westwin 800 Seymour Street 250-374-1461
27
YEAR MEMBER
BUILDERS
33
YEAR MEMBER
BUILDING REALITY
out of DREAMS
)"11: 5) $)#" $* We are Kamloops’ premium builders for new home construction and renovation. We have been servicing the Kamloops market for over 34 years. Looking for builders with creative ideas and passion? You’ve come to the right place. 3&/07"5*0/4 t $0..&3$*".6-5* '".*-: t /&8 )0.&4 102 - 925 LAVAL CRESCENT 1I t 'BY WWW.DWBUILDERS.CA
B12
TUESDAY, May 5, 2015
29 CHBA 50 YEARS
www.kamloopsthisweek.com
YEAR
Congrats MEMBER
to CHBA CI o
n
50 years!
Members speak Being a member of CHBA is an integral part of my “job. It involves networking, advocacy, leading-edge
Kamloops’ 100% Locally Owned & Operated building supply centre.
knowledge, contributing to my community, as well as fun! — BEV WASSENHUNTER, BMO BANK OF MONTREAL
”
As a member of the CHBA for the past 20 “years, I have always found the association
• Fencing & Landscaping • Roofing & Siding • Paint & Decor • Doors & Windows • Drywall & Insulation • Outdoor Living • BBQ’s & Accessories
to be an extremely valuable resource and advocate for the industry.
”
— JEFF ARNOLD, A&T PROJECT DEVELOPMENTS INC.
Since becoming a member of the CHBA, our “company has established many long-lasting connections with professionals in our industry. From both a business and personal standpoint, the networking events, educational seminars and marketing opportunities have been invaluable.
”
— DAVE ROBINSON, RIVER CITY ROCK PRODUCTS LTD. & ROBINSON MASONRY
44
YEAR MEMBER
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Orabella 1405 Springhill Drive
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