WhiteWater West, a Canadian manufacturer and installer of waterpark attractions in Richmond, B.C., recently celebrated 35 years in business, growing from a team of four in the ’80s to a staff of 650, with 380 working in its British Columbia office.
The company started in 1980, then known as WhiteWater Waterslide & Recreation Complex based in Penticton, B.C. Since then, it has expanded across 20 global markets and has introduced a number of waterpark products, including one of the world’s largest waterslide complexes (52 slides off one tower).
This year was also one of the company’s most successful, as it earned 17 awards for business excellence, product innovation, and contributions to international projects. WhiteWater is one of British Columbia’s largest exporters and was recognized earlier this month with the British Columbia Export Award in the manufactured products category.
“Globalization is not simply selling our products overseas, rather it is making a commitment to the local overseas markets in terms of establishing engineers, project managers, and sales support locally,” says WhiteWater’s president and CEO, Geoff Chutter. “By outsourcing some of these services and products, we have doubled our staff at our British Columbia offices as we needed more technically skilled and higher paid employees to satisfy our increasing sales.”
Chutter was also recognized as an export champion receiving the Leadership Award at the British Columbia Export Awards hosted by the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters.
“We are very proud of both of these awards recognizing our export leadership,” says the company’s chief operating officer, Mike Heaven. “They celebrate the talents of the diverse team we’ve built and our outward looking culture which helps us to embrace new opportunities wherever they are located.”
