the team that you have, and that’s what we
did.”
HWP is a wood packaging manufacturer of
pallets and crates as well as the components
that are used in the assembly of these packag-
ing products. Three generations of the found-
ing Wheeler family have operated and grown
the company.
The wood packaging and pallets industry is
a fairly tough one with only 500 companies in
Canada, out of which 73 per cent are small orga-
nizations. HWP has gone through three phases
of growth to experience the continuous success
and leadership in the market that it is seeing
today. The initial expansion happened in 1965.
Founder Henry Wheeler’s youngest child, Mal-
colm joined the company and purchased about
20 percent of the company shares in 1970, and
in 1971 he was tasked with taking control and
rebuilding the company from the ground up af-
ter a large fire burnt the first company facility
to the ground. He met the challenge of rebuild-
ing and in 1974, HWP partnered with a lumber
company to reach the $1-million mark.
Mark Patrick Tame
Co-owner and VP Sales and Strategic Business Development
168 business elite canada
H
AUGUST 2014
