The category of the Business of the Year Award with 76-plus employees featured something “old” and something “new.”
In a tie result, the “old” was Cowell Auto Group, while the “new” was Paper Excellence Canada Holdings Corp.
Started in 1967, Cowell Auto Group is the oldest, continuously owned retail automotive dealership in Richmond.
“The choice to start the business here in Richmond nearly 50 years ago was a wise one,” said Gary Cowell, chairman of Cowell Auto Group. “Reeve Henry Anderson cut the ribbon when we opened the business.”
That was back on Dec. 1, 1967 when the dealership was housed in a converted, eight-bay facility where four employees helped sell a total of two new VWs, plus one used one, in the first month of operation.
Today, Cowell Auto Group employs more than 200 across four dealerships — Volkswagen, Jaguar, Audi, and Land Rover.
As for Paper Excellence Canada, it has only been in existence in name since 2010, but has grown through acquisitions from a single mill to a global, value-added pulp and paper exporter with in excess of $1.5 billion in sales from 10 mills across the country.
The company’s deputy CEO, Pedro Chang, who accepted the award, said the business strategy going forward is to capture an increasing share of the paper market in China which is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades, making it a sunrise industry.
“When I was in China in 1998, the per capita consumption of paper was 7 kg.,” Chang said. “Today, it’s 73 kg. And according to experts, by 2022 that will increase to 100 kg.”
Gary Cowell (left) started his car dealership with a single VW showroom back in 1967. Today, Cowell Auto Group represents four brands — VW, Jaguar, Audi and Land Rover. Pedro Chang (right), deputy CEO of Paper Excellence Canada, started operations in 2010 and through acquisitions aims to become a major supplier of paper to China.Photos by Rob Newell/Special to the News
