Family-owned Centurion Lumber of Chemainus has presented the T’Sou-ke First Nation with a cheque for $592,000 for its part of a mutual benefits agreement.
Centurion president and CEO Jerry Doman explained over the past four years the company has supplied access and crane mats to the Trans Mountain Pipeline Project in B.C. and Alberta.
“Centurion, through working with Trans Mountain, has mutual benefits agreements with First Nations, the largest benefit agreement is with T’Sou-ke First Nation.”
Centurion also made a substantial payment to the Malahat First Nation a few years ago.
Doman added Centurion has created significant First Nations employment on Vancouver Island.
“We had that employment before we ever got involved with Trans Mountain,” he noted.
The cheque to Chief Gordon Planes of the T’Sou-ke First Nation was presented Feb. 28 at Centurion’s Copper Canyon Timber facility on River Road. Its offices are located at the corner of Henry Road and the Trans-Canada Highway.
Centurion was founded in 1968 by Gordie Doman. One of the original founders of Doman Industries, Doman died in 1978 but family members kept the business going and it’s now entering its 55th year.
Jerry Doman’s brothers Randy and Ronnie are also involved with the business and it’s now gone to a third generation with Jerry’s kids Gordon, Jaron and Denesha.
Gordon and Jaron operate and manage the mat business they developed in 2012.
Centurion builds mats in Chemainus and “we do build mats in the Interior,” noted Jerry Doman.
It’s created 160,000 hours of manufacturing to build the mats at operations on the Island and the Interior.
Mats built on the Island are from lumber supplied by Western Forest Products, a key partner for Centurion in its bids to Trans Mountain.
Directly or indirectly, Doman explained Centurion has supplied 74,000 access mats, 9,500 crane mats and 1,150 rig mats over the years. That works out to 47 million board feet of 2x8 fir for access mats and nine million board feet of 12x12s for crane mats.
In building the mats, some 13 million nuts and bolts and 38,000 crane mat rods have been used.
Further down the employment line from the industry, trucking the lumber to plants and trucking the mats has required 3,700 trucks.
Doman estimates the process has resulted in $3.5 million being paid in provincial sales tax as well.
Gordon, Jaron and Denesha are proud to continue the legacy of the Doman family and its forest industry roots in the Cowichan Valley.