¶ Coulson Group of Companies
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The Coulson Group of Companies (CG) is a Canadian business conglomerate based in Port Alberni, British Columbia.
¶ History
Clifford James Coulson grew up in Oak Bay, British Columbia, where he worked in the logging industry starting in 1934.[1] Cliff served over five years as a member of the Canadian Scottish Regiment during World War II, operating bulldozers and tanks in support of the Allied forces.[2]
¶ Coulson Forest Products
After the war, he returned to BC and resumed “working various jobs in the industry.”[3] In 1960, he settled in the City of Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, and founded Coulson Forest Products Ltd.[4]
Cliff’s son, Wayne Coulson, followed him into the family business in 1978 at age 14. According to a profile published in December 2013 by Business in Vancouver, Wayne would “wash trucks and cut grass on the weekends, helping out wherever he could.”[5]
After Cliff suffered a heart attack in 1982, he passed day-to-day leadership of his company to Wayne. He took the position of General Manager in late 1984.
In 1984, the company formed a joint partnership with the Ehattesaht First Nation called Hecate Logging.
¶ Coulson Aircrane
Coulson Aircrane Ltd. was founded in 1985.[6]
Cliff returned to work alongside his son after recovering from his illness, at which point the pair began to expand the company. Wayne wanted to be able to cut down trees from the top of nearby mountains, leading the company to purchase its first S-61 helicopter in 1986 to carry the timber. By the mid-1990s, the company had quadrupled the size of their fleet, and owned 20 helicopters seven years into the new business. Coulson Aircrane later expanded to include Coulson Aviation USA and Coulson Aviation Australia.
Wayne’s son, Britton Coulson, was also born in 1986.
¶ Coulson Manufacturing
Foster Coulson was born three years after his brother Britton, in 1989. That same year, Coulson Manufacturing was founded in order to launch the company’s wood products manufacturing division.[7]
Coulson Aviation (USA) Inc. was founded in 1990 as a subsidiary of Coulson Aircrane.[8] It began providing aerial fire suppression aircraft to the United States Forest Service, an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Britton Coulson began working in shipping and receiving for Coulson Aircrane in 2004.[9]
Cliff Coulson died on November 19, 2006 at age 87.[10]
In 2007, the Coulson Group entered into an agreement to manage the Chances RimRock Gaming Centre, which was owned and operated by the Alberni Valley Gaming Association.[11]
Foster joined the forest products division of the company in 2007 after graduating from Alberni District Secondary School,[12] working various manual jobs with the timber. In 2009, he transitioned into a sales and marketing role for the manufacturing division.[13]
In 2010, Coulson Aviation (Australia) PTY Ltd. was launched to expand its services into Australia.[14]
¶ Coulson Cedar
According to his Coulson Group biography, Foster’s “passion for the environment drove him to find a more environmentally and sustainable way to provide lumber products.” This led to the creation of Coulson Cedar as a subsidiary of Coulson Manufacturing, which began “working to develop a revolutionary new product” in 2010.[15]
A September 2012 article in the Vancouver Sun quotes Wayne Coulson as describing the company’s cedar as “a boutique product,” with no mention of Foster as the originator.[16] Coulson Cedar would go on to help build Ronald McDonald House BC, and partner with the American Institute of Architects’ continuing education program.[17] Its cedar siding products were sold through retail outlets like The Home Depot.[18]
¶ Coulson Ice Blast
In 2012, the Coulson Group acquired the intellectual property of Universal Ice Blast, a defunct company from Washington State that had previously marketed a patented “ice blasting” system.[19] The Coulson family spent several years on “reorganization and improvements to the UIB technology.”[20]
In March 2015, the ice blast venture was relaunched under its new name, Coulson Ice Blast Ltd. According to the company, its many applications included paint removal, chemical cleaning, processing chicken bones, tar removal, automotive parts cleaning, steam generator decontamination...[21] and even nuclear decontamination.[22] A press release issued on November 25, 2015 described Foster Coulson as Ice Blast’s General Manager.[23] The company wasn't officially incorporated until February 18, 2016.[24] According to an article published two years later by BCBusiness, Coulson Ice Blast received federal funding through the National Research Council of Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP).[25] The company launched its first product, the IceStorm90, in 2017.[26]
In 2019, Foster and his brother Britton were promoted to Co-Presidents of the Coulson Group of Companies.
In September 2019, Coulson Aviation signed an agreement with the Government of Bolivia to assist in firefighting efforts in the Chiquitania region, becoming the first Canadian company allowed to fight the fires in the Amazon rainforest. This was done in partnership with the Canadian Commercial Corporation, a government-owned crown corporation that describes itself as “Canada’s government to government contracting agency.”[27]
¶ COVID-19
On April 3, 2020, Coulson Aviation USA announced it had been awarded a multi-year contract with the United States Forest Service, which involved deploying the first modified Boeing 737 into service as a “Fireliner.”[28]
After over twelve years of management, the Coulson Group of Companies purchased the Chances RimRock Gaming Centre in December 2020 and folded it into the larger company. It now operates as RimRock Casino.[29]
On February 22, 2023, Coulson Aviation announced a CAD $6.8 million contract with Argentina’s Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development (MAyDS), once again facilitated by the Canadian Commercial Corporation.[30]
As of September 2023, Foster Coulson has been removed from the website of the Coulson Group of Companies.[31]
¶ Organization
The companies that make up the Coulson Group include:[32][3:1]
- Coulson Aero Technologies
- Coulson Aircrane
- Coulson Aviation
- Coulson Aviation Australia
- Coulson Cedar
- Coulson Entertainment
- Coulson Flying Tankers
- Coulson Forest Products
- Coulson Ice Blast
- Coulson Manufacturing
- Coulson Specialties (CSL)
- Cypress Restaurant & Lounge
- Executive Transport Airways
- Hecate Logging
- High Margin Processing (HMP)
- RimRock Casino
¶ Team
| Name | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wayne Coulson | CEO[33] | Son of Cliff Coulson |
| Cliff Coulson | Founder | - |
| Britton Coulson | Co-President | Coulson Aircrane |
| Foster Coulson | Co-President (former) | Coulson Cedar, The Wellness Company, Integro Capital, Momentix Capital |
| Brandon Kuemper | Chief of Staff (former)[34] | Momentix Capital, Integro Capital, The Wellness Company |
¶ External links
Meet Foster Coulson, Coulson Ice Blast. Small Business BC. Retrieved September 9, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.09.09-052951/https://smallbusinessbc.ca/success-story/meet-foster-coulson-coulson-ice-blast/ ↩︎
The Coulson Group: Unique by Design. (2019, May 9). Tharawat Magazine. http://archive.today/2023.09.11-053006/https://www.tharawat-magazine.com/online-magazine/coulson-group-unique-design/ ↩︎
About. Coulson Group of Companies. Retrieved May 22, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.05.22-215235/https://coulsongroup.com/about/ ↩︎ ↩︎
Wise, J. (2021, August 5). To Fight Wildfires, California Turns to a Family With a Fleet of $8,000-an-Hour Helicopters. Bloomberg. http://archive.today/2021.08.06-121935/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-08-05/california-wildfire-coulson-aviation-s-night-flying-helicopters-bring-advantage ↩︎
Kolenko, S. (2013, December 16). Family business report: Vancouver Island forest products business rooted in family values. Business in Vancouver. https://web.archive.org/web/20230911170932/https://biv.com/article/2013/12/family-business-report-vancouver-island-forest-pro ↩︎
Coulson: Global leaders in aerial firefighting. The Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC). Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230329222421/https://www.ccc.ca/en/resources/coulson-customer-profile/ ↩︎
Blats, K. (2017, April 7). Possible sale for Coulson Manufacturing. Alberni Valley News. http://archive.today/2023.09.11-151319/https://www.albernivalleynews.com/news/possible-sale-for-coulson-manufacturing-684167 ↩︎
Welcome to the Coulson Group career site. Coulson Group. Retrieved September 11, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230911152332/https://careers.coulsongroup.com/ ↩︎
Britton. Coulson Group. Retrieved September 11, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230911155935/https://coulsongroup.com/britton-coulson/ ↩︎
Clifford James Coulson. (2006, November 19). Comox Valley Record. https://web.archive.org/web/20230910185748/https://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/obituaries/clifford-james-coulson-1535046 ↩︎
Coulson Group buys Chances RimRock Gaming Centre. (2020, December 10). Alberni Valley News. https://web.archive.org/web/20230911214337/https://www.albernivalleynews.com/business/coulson-group-buys-chances-rimrock-gaming-centre-725992 ↩︎
Foster Coulson. LinkedIn. Retrieved May 22, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.05.22-182223/https://www.linkedin.com/in/foster-coulson-04815a58/ ↩︎
Foster. Coulson Group. Retrieved May 22, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230522183211/https://coulsongroup.com/foster-coulson/ ↩︎
About Us. Coulson Aviation. Retrieved September 11, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230911152605/https://www.coulsonaviationusa.com/about-us ↩︎
Home. Coulson Cedar. Retrieved February 10, 2011, from https://web.archive.org/web/20111021070037/http://coulsoncedar.com/ ↩︎
Hamilton, G. (2012, September 5).* B.C. innovations in wood lure buyers from around the globe.* Vancouver Sun. http://archive.today/2023.09.11-160650/https://vancouversun.com/news/bc-innovations-in-wood-lure-buyers-from-around-the-globe ↩︎
Welcome to Coulson Cedar - New and Innovative Western Red Cedar Products. Coulson Cedar. Retrieved February 26, 2015, from http://archive.today/2015.02.26-155028/http://coulsoncedar.com/ ↩︎
1 in. x 6 in. x 144 in. Clear Vertical Grain Cedar Tongue and Groove Engineered Siding 1612ECSCVGTG. The Home Depot. Retrieved September 11, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.09.11-160259/https://www.homedepot.com/p/1-in-x-6-in-x-144-in-Clear-Vertical-Grain-Cedar-Tongue-and-Groove-Engineered-Siding-1612ECSCVGTG/309328383 ↩︎
Gaitskell, V. (2017, October 28). Industrial cleaning with ice offers environmental advances and cost savings. Pulp and Paper Canada. https://web.archive.org/web/20230911215606/https://www.pulpandpapercanada.com/industrial-cleaning-with-ice-offers-environmental-advances-and-cost-savings-1100000843/ ↩︎
About Us. Coulson Ice Blast. Retrieved September 12, 2015, from https://web.archive.org/web/20150912000146/http://coulsoniceblast.com/about.php ↩︎
Applications. Coulson Ice Blast. Retrieved October 26, 2015, from http://archive.today/2015.10.26-005552/http://www.coulsoniceblast.com/applications/over-view.php ↩︎
Nuclear Decontamination. (2001, July). Coulson Ice Blast. https://web.archive.org/web/20160430141012/http://coulsoniceblast.com/applications/pdf/Case Study_Ice Blast Technology for Nuclear Decontamination 2001.pdf ↩︎
Coulson Ice Blast. (2015, November 25). Innovative blasting technology using wet-ice poised to change industrial cleaning. Bloomberg. https://web.archive.org/web/20230911221213/https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/2015-11-25/innovative-blasting-technology-using-wet-ice-poised-to-change-industrial-cleaning ↩︎
COULSON ICE BLAST LTD. OrgBook BC. Retrieved September 11, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.09.11-221753/https://www.orgbook.gov.bc.ca/entity/BC1065164 ↩︎
Rockel, N. (2018, March 16). He’s putting the rest of the industrial cleaning industry on ice. BCBusiness. https://web.archive.org/web/20230911224144/https://www.bcbusiness.ca/30-Under-30-2018-Foster-Coulson ↩︎
Revolutionizing Ice Blasting Technology: Coulson Ice Blast Ltd Makes Cleaning a Real Blast. The Silicon Review. Retrieved September 11, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230911230047/https://thesiliconreview.com/magazines/revolutionizing-ice-blasting-technology-coulson-ice-blast-ltd-makes-cleaning-a-real-blast ↩︎
Government partners. The Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC). Retrieved July 12, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230712143946/https://www.ccc.ca/en/about/government-partners/ ↩︎
Coulson Aviation Fireliner wins USDA Forest Service contract. (2020, April 21). Skies Mag. https://web.archive.org/web/20230326155936/https://skiesmag.com/press-releases/coulson-aviation-earns-usda-forest-service-contract/ ↩︎
Home. RimRock Casino. Retrieved September 11, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230911155952/https://rimrockcasino.ca/ ↩︎
CCC to supply Argentina with aerial firefighting services from Coulson Aviation. (2023, February 22). The Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC). http://archive.today/2023.09.11-150508/https://www.ccc.ca/en/announcements/ccc-to-supply-argentina-with-aerial-firefighting-services-from-coulson-aviation/ ↩︎
Foster. Coulson Group. Retrieved September 11, 2023, from https://coulsongroup.com/foster-coulson/ ↩︎
Companies. Coulson Group of Companies. Retrieved May 22, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230522214729/https://coulsongroup.com/companies/ ↩︎
Leaders. Coulson Group of Companies. Retrieved May 22, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230522182700/https://coulsongroup.com/leaders/ ↩︎
Brandon Kuemper. LinkedIn. Retrieved August 26, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.08.26-234845/https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-kuemper-81a589234/ ↩︎