Charles R. Widman
Founder
Charles Widman was involved in the forest industry in British Columbia from 1948 to 2002. He was experienced in all facets of the industry including lumber production, wholesale distribution, international trade and management consulting. Mr. Widman, was a Graduate of the University of British Columbia, with honours in economics and international trade. He was also a Graduate of the advanced management seminar, Harvard University, Boston, MA.
Mr. Widman was formally the CEO of Cooper-Widman Ltd. Cooper-Widman was, at the time, Canada’s largest wholesale distributor of forest products with ownership of timber and sawmills in the Northern Interior of B.C. As president of this company, Mr. Widman was involved in the operations of the company’s sawmills at a time when sweeping changes were needed to make mill production more efficient. The company was sold to Consolidated Bathhurst and Bowaters Canadian in 1967. Mr. Widman was honoured as “Lumberman of the Year” by the B.C. Wholesale Lumber Association in 1985. From 1952 – 1990 Mr. Widman Guest Lectured for the Forest Products Department at the University of British Columbia. On the international front, Mr. Widman was a true pioneer. He was a delegate on the first Canadian government trade mission to the Middle East to expand forest products trade to this region. Mr. Widman was the first exporter in B.C. to open up the People’s Republic of China to lumber shipment from this province in the 1980s. Charles Widman continues to inspire our company’s leadership.
“A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than others see and who sees before others see.”
– Leroy Eimes, author and leadership expert
Management
Jason Roth
President
Jason Roth, President and Owner of Widman Publishing, has more than 20 years of progressively responsible experience directing a consortium of diversified companies. Jason has led these companies through start-up, survival, turnaround and growth modes.
Jason has served as a chief executive officer, chief information officer, and vice president in a variety of industries, including publishing, agriculture, information technology, health and financial services.
His understanding of both domestic and international trade channels encompasses retail sales, wholesale, OEM, catalogue sales, direct sales, leasing and government markets.
Among his significant previous positions, Jason served as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Information Highway Corporation, a Vancouver-based startup technology firm that pioneered Internet services during the late 1990s. Jason is President and Director of Sylva Solutions Inc. a Vancouver-based holding company, and CEO and Director of WorldTel Systems, a managed technology services provider involved in consulting and professional services worldwide. Jason Roth is a B.Sc. alumni of the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University, with a primary focus in business, genetics, and computers.
Tamara Haugen
Director, Secretary, Business Manager & Editor
BIO Coming soon …
Richard Butler
Vice President of Business Development
Richard Butler is a business professional with 20 plus years of expertise in project management, application and web development. Over the past years, Richard has been involved in a combination of full time and contracted employment in the lumber, services, healthcare, IT, government, education and non-profit sectors focusing on infrastructure and application development.
Richard’s project work ranges from a 30 million dollar deployment plan for a voice, data and video search and rescue system for a West African Government to the development of a .net based case management system with voice-activated case dictation with an annual budget of $200,000 US dollars as the IT manager for a an American healthcare service provider.
Richard brings key core skill sets in marketing, multimedia and online business development strategies to the firm. He is also COO and managing business partner at WorldTel Systems, a managed technology services provider involved in consulting and professional services worldwide. Mr. Butler has a BA degree in computer information and management technology from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree from Ashford University majoring in Organizational Management and specializing in project management. He is a husband and father of two who enjoys spending time with his family and researching new technology and business initiatives.
Dick Brown
Associate Editor
Dick Brown is a graduate of the University of British Columbia, has worked in the wood products industry for more than three decades. His experience includes being a home builder, a partner in a large wholesale firm, vice president of a Vancouver-based consulting firm and president of the Canadian division of a large Japanese importer. He presently runs his own business supplying value-added products to domestic and overseas markets. As editor of The Barometer, he brings with him practical knowledge of the world’s markets for forest products.
Board of Directors
Jason Roth
Director and President
Tamara Haugen
Director, Secretary, Business Manager and Editor
Richard Butler
Director and Managing Partner
