INNISFAIL - Even after his first less than spectacular business year Chris Chivilo is still thinking about new ways to make his successful company bigger and better.
Chivilo, the CEO and president of Innisfail's W.A. Grain & Pulse Solutions, made a business update presentation earlier this month to members of Innisfail town council. He talked about his recent trip to India with high-level federal government officials, the worldwide pulse trading challenges his industry faced over the past year, and his boundless hope for the future that could include a new multi-million-dollar facility for Bowden.
"We have expansion plans (that) we're just looking at right now. We may be building a protein fractionation plant where we take the different components of pulses and break them into protein, starch and fibre," said Chivilo, adding a final decision to move forward with the plan would not be made before next January or February. "We were planning on doing it this year, but due to the new competition coming on in that marketplace and it not being a fantastic year for pulse trading worldwide we decided to slow down for a year."
With his wife Tracey, Chivilo's company started in 2007 and its spectacular year-to-year growth earned an 18th place ranking in 2014 as one of Canada's fastest growing companies, and a fourth placing ranking two years later as one of Alberta's fastest growing enterprises. His company is now producing in six locations across Canada, including two in Alberta (Bowden and Bashaw), three in Saskatchewan and one in Prince Edward Island.
W.A. Grain & Pulse Solutions currently has two facilities in Bowden. One is a cleaning and storage plant, while the second, built over the past year, is a pet food ingredients operation. Last year also saw the company increase its stock of leased land from 11 to 21 acres in anticipation of expansion.
"We leased the property to the south where our two plants are now in preparation for the annexation and we wanted to have that land with the option to purchase in the next few years while we figure out what we are going to expand," he said.
And by early next year there could be a third company operation for Bowden, and one that could mean significant job creation and commercial tax revenue opportunities for the town and its citizens.
"Depending on the expansion and what we end up going with," said Chivilo, adding one model could generate 50 full-time jobs, with the least being 20. "As far as taxes go that would be a very high valued business and you would be looking at possibly a $20-million asset."
If the plan is realized it would be another economic boost for Bowden, which is now experiencing the excitement of the soon-to-be-open A Dog's World Pet Resort at the old nursery, the multi-million-dollar re-refinery project at the Bowden Refinery site and the pending opening of the Paterson Grain terminal, which Chivilo considers a benefit because it will attract more producer traffic to the area.
"They (Paterson) are not always as aggressive as we are on peas, so we are probably going to put an ad in the paper to say, 'Hey, when you are coming to Paterson to check out your samples drop by W.A. Grain.' To me everything is good competition and we will use every advantage we get," he said, adding he remains bullish on the Bowden area.
"I love the area. Business-wide it is on the perfect route, rail wise and road wise, east, west and south," he said. "It is easy to justify building industry in this area because of the logistic advantages, plus I live west of Bowden on an acreage. I am kind of partial to the area."
