June 18, 1998
(Development and Rural Renewal)

Trinity Bay manufacturer adds value to raw lumber

Stirling Russell used to be a building contractor. Then one day he decided to make mouldings for baseboards, doors and windows for his homes. He became so good at it that he abandoned home building to make mouldings and has not looked back. His company, Distinctive Mouldings Limited of Blaketown, is one of only two companies in mass moulding manufacture in the province.

"We make up to 50,000 linear feet of moulding a day in 58 different shapes from your basic standard mouldings to your colonial classics," says Russell.

Russell uses relatively inexpensive knotty pine but cuts out the knots and finger joints and glues the remaining pieces together. This makes clear, straight mouldings with a good paintable surface.

"If we were to use clear pine I would have to pass the extra cost on to my customers. This way I can offer a finished product at less cost while generating work for my staff," says Russell, who has eight full-time and four seasonal employees.

Russell uses the left over knotty blocks to make knotty pine siding for cabins and recreation rooms. And he is installing a kiln to dry birch from central Newfoundland that he will turn into pre-finished flooring.

"We add value to every piece of wood we touch. Turning raw wood into finished products means a higher profit margin and it creates more work," says Russell.

A year ago Russell was operating out of a 40-by-80 foot shop selling every piece of moulding he could make, and he could not keep pace with demand. He called the Department of Development and Rural Renewal who helped him develop a new business plan and helped him construct a 30-by-120 foot extension to his plant. Russell also received assistance from the National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance Program which provided technical assistance in plant layout, and helped him visit a woodworking show in Ontario to investigate new product lines and equipment. Now Russell keeps pace with the needs of his major customer, Chester Dawe, and has sufficient product to wholesale to other suppliers.

"Before the expansion, we had to manufacture moulding for each order. Now by expanding our inventory we can guarantee a continuous supply. I have also doubled the number of people I employ in a year," he says.

Distinctive Mouldings Limited is a good example of small-scale value-added manufacturing that can be pursued in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, and it illustrates the department's economic diversification growth agenda.

Beaton Tulk, Minister of Development and Rural Renewal, says Stirling Russell is a good example of a successful government-private sector partnerhip.

"Mr Russell had developed his business and markets as far as he could before he came to us for assistance," says Minister Tulk. "We were able to show him ways of raising capital and aquiring the technical knowledge he needed for plant expansion. Mr. Russell has a niche market and is making a product that might otherwise be imported. Newfoundland and Labrador has many able people with good ideas and we are always happy to help them develop and exploit their ideas. That is what my department does best: help people to help themselves to create new jobs and wealth for our province."

Contact: Clifford Grinling, DDRR, (709) 729-7066, Stirling Russell, Distinctive Mouldings, (709) 759-3014.

1998 06 18                           9:50 a.m.