NOVEMBER 2015
» SALES
–PAGE 24
For job
SIDNEY Sea Power Marine Centre: Small Shop/
National in Scope, Local in Focus
Big Products
Victoria
WWW.BUSINESSEXAMINER.CA
PAGE 9
VICTORIA Custom Pro Exteriors Continues to Grow
Melinda’s Biscotti goes from home base to big break Company’s unique product helped it grow from home-based business to big brand
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INDEX News Update
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Saanich Peninsula
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Victoria 6 Salt Spring Island 10 Esquimalt 10 Who is Suing Whom 19 Movers and Shakers 20 Law 23 Cowichan Valley
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Opinion 26 West Shore
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Contact us: 1-866-758-2684
OUR 30TH YEAR
ORT H SA A NICH – Melinda’s Biscotti has grown from humble origins to a BC-wide brand that’s now featured in more than 400 grocery outlets. O w ners Melinda Cow nden and Alun Hodgson have built the business from their home kitchen, to an industrial operation that now serves nearly every major grocery retailer on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. “Melinda’s products were a hit from the get-go,” says Hodgson. “Everyone who tried them liked them; from her friends and people she met through tastings, to café and coffee shop ow ners t h roug hout Greater Victoria. “Her recipe has a truly unique
texture and flavor that’s very rare, and that’s been one of the major reasons why we’re standing here 11 years after the first batch was cooked.” Turning their dream into a reality has been anything but easy for the couple, and the road to success has been paved by their relentless work ethic, and raw determination. “A f ive day work week has never e x i s te d for u s,” s ay s Hodgson. “From the beginning we’ve had this idea of ‘going big’, and we have put everything on the line to get to where we are today. There has been a tremendous amount of sacrifice at every turn, but it’s been worth it. Becoming an entrepreneur is SEE MELINDA’S BISCOTTI | PAGE 16
The Melinda’s Biscotti team on location at their production facility and coffee house PHOTO CREDIT: JO-ANN WAY/NUTTYCAKE.COM
Island Custom Sawmill Serves A Global Marketplace Parksville’s Longhouse Forest Products has been providing custom milled wood products for more than 30 years BY DAVID HOLMES
P Canadian Publications Mail Acct.: 40069240
Unity B the produ
#220 - 645 Fort Street, Victoria
ARKSVILLE - A successful melding of business with art (and the latest in manufacturing technology), Parksville’s Longhouse Forest Products has been producing custom lumber products for residential and
commercial building projects for more than 30 years. “The company makes finished specialty lumber products primarily out of coastal softwoods. We supply everything from large timbers to interior and exterior clear cedar paneling and other species including Douglas fir, yellow cedar
as well as hemlock. We are also able to produce items from an array of hardwoods from around the world,” explained company owner Brian Jenkins. “We create lumber that typically has some form of profile (customized shape). We produce specialty products, cut to order for clients.
We take orders for individual construction projects and we custom cut those orders. Each order is distinctive, has its own fingerprint. We very rarely sell products to dealers instead we sell directly to building contractors.” SEE LONGHOUSE FOREST | PAGE 7
Our job is to keep an eye on our customers business equipment needs. Vancouver Island’s largest independent copier and MFP dealer. Reliability, serviceability, affordability. We are Unity Business.
250.384.7243 www.unitybusiness.ca