The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) presented its Rising Star Award of Excellence to Matthew Buxton of Prince George, today in Ottawa.
The Rising Star Award is presented to recognize young people in the forest industry who bring passion and pride to their work every day, and are making a unique contribution to their workplace
“As the voice of the forest industry nationally and internationally, FPAC has developed an Awards of Excellence program that salutes those are making a difference and serve as an inspiration to all of us,” said CEO Derek Nighbor, in a news release. “The Rising Star Award is an important part of that process, as it allows the industry to showcase the talent and knowledge that young professionals are bringing to the workplace – those who will be the industry’s future leaders.”
Buxton is a mechanical technologist for Canfor Pulp and the forest industry is in his blood having spent his first year living on a sawmill site near Prince George and coming from a family of many generations that relied on the forest industry for work. Following completion of the mechanical technologist program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, Buxton spent nine years working in robotics and cutting‐edge technology holding several roles in the offshore oil industry, which took him all over the world. His time away from home and his roots highlighted his appreciation for Canada and the forest industry which resulted in his return to Prince George in 2015 when he joined Canfor Pulp as a mechanical area engineer at the company’s Prince George Pulp and Paper Mill.
“Both the nomination and the award have come as a surprise – but a surprise which can be attributed to the teams within Canfor that foster and promote innovation, training and personal advancement,” said Buxton.
Canfor Supervisor Rob Laurendeau says the award is well deserved.
“In Matt’s short time with the company and the industry, he has challenged the norm and brought new innovative solutions to age old problems,” he said.
The Rising Star Award is part of an awards program developed by Forest Products Association of Canada to celebrate the sector’s best and brightest, those who are making unique contributions in support of Canada’s forest products sector.
