E N T R E P R E N E U R O F T H E Y E A R 2 0 1 9 / N A T U R A L R E S O U R C E S + E N E R G Y
48 BCBUSINESS OCTOBER 2019
n
B.C.'s forestry indus-
try is fighting for survival.
Keystone sawmills are
closing in communities
like Fort St. James, Ques-
nel and Vavenby this year,
while dozens more across
the province are reducing
shifts. But in Port Alberni,
Langley-based San Group
is racing to expand opera-
tions so it can keep grow-
ing its exports worldwide.
The family-run com-
pany, founded in 1979 and
led by brothers Kamal and
Suki Sanghera, bought a
sawmill just outside the
city from Coulson Forest
Products in 2017. The
facility processes high-
value logs like Western red
cedar. San started
construction of a new
$70-million mill on the
same site this spring, build-
ing it to process smaller,
lower-grade timber. Next,
it plans to build a remanu-
facturing plant near the
city's waterfront, where it
will turn different grades
of wood into finished engi-
neered building products,
like banisters, siding and
flooring.
W I N N E R S
Kamal Sanghera
+ Suki Sanghera
C E O + P R E S I D E N T ,
S A N G R O U P
WHAT DO YOU DO TO
RELAX/UNWIND?
Work. Come into the plant,
do something different. Plan
for something new. That's
what relaxes me
–Kamal Sanghera
Kamal (left)
and Suki
Sanghera
