The Western Red Cedar Lumber Association’s (WRCLA) 2025 Cedar Summit and Cedar School wrapped up a record-breaking week of business sessions, networking and training seminars recently with 195 industry professionals in attendance and a near sold out Cedar School with 46 students participating.
The annual event began on the preceding Saturday with the week-long Cedar school, which included forestry and woodland sites, mill and reforestation site tours, as well as grading theory and practicum and installation seminars that saw attendance this year from both Canadian and U.S. companies.
While the Cedar school continued throughout the week, the annual Cedar Summit kicked into high gear in Kelowna, British Columbia, a lakeside city in BC’s southern interior. The first official event was the highly popular WRCLA golf tournament at the Black Mountain Golf Club and was well attended by WRCLA manufacturers, remanufacturers, distributors and retailers from throughout North America.
Following the tournament, the Summit got underway with the WRCLA business session that included introductory remarks from WRCLA Managing Director Brad Kirkbride; Keynote speakers Kevin Mason, managing director of ERA Forest Products and Kelly McCloskey, president of Wood N Frog Communications, who delivered an insightful presentation on tariffs titled, The Elephant in the Room, and a marketing and advertising year in review by Bare Advertising and Communications.
The Summit was also noted for the presentation of the newly named Jeff Derby Cedar Champion Award, awarded this year to Vancouver Specialty Cedar Products’ President Don Backs, and the retirement of long-time Cedar Specialist and WRCLA Market Representative Paul Mackie, who had his Mr. Cedar jersey retired after 30 years of outstanding contributions to the Western Red Cedar industry.
The Summit concluded with the WRCLA Chairman’s Dinner at The Grand Okanagan Resort and gave all attendees a last chance to network and connect before returning home the following day.
Next year’s Cedar Summit and Cedar School will be held May 13th-15th at the Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort in Victoria, BC, with the Cedar School running from May 10-15. Watch for details later in the year, as enrollment fills up quickly.
The WRCLA is “the voice of the Cedar industry” and has marked a new membership record, with 145 members proudly representing approximately 90 percent of the total production of Western Red Cedar. WRCLA would like to thank all the attendees of the Cedar Summit and School, as well as all the generous sponsors of the event.
Want to learn more? Visit realcedar.com.
