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Steven Elefant
President: 1992 - Present

"I do not take lightly the legacy which both my grandfather and father have passed to me. In a world economy which knows few borders, I have been given charge of a company well equipped for the 21st century."

Steven Elefant from a speech given at the time of his appointment to President. 1992

Born in Montréal on March 28, 1962, Steven Elefant was educated at Boston University and at Babson College. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and his Masters of Business Administration. Like his father, Steven grew up in the wood industry and was groomed for the position of president from an early age. Even while completing his university studies, he was deeply immersed by both his father and grandfather in the running of the family company. Fortunately Isidore Elefant would live to see his grandson assume the reins of the international corporation he had built from a small sales office some forty years before.

Like his father and grandfather before him, the -year-old Steven Elefant is a man of intellect and dynamic personality. His natural intuition and life-long experience within the wood industry has been even further enhanced by his training under probably the two most qualified industry leaders in the world.

For ten years before assuming the role of President, Steven undertook rigorous training at the request of both Isidore and Marcel Elefant. Working at various stages of the operation, Steven became fully acquainted with operations, log procurement, production management and domestic and international marketing.

During the first years of his administration Steven Elefant worked closely with his father in the continued development of new market opportunities and in the establishment of state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Hungary.

With formal training in advanced management, Elefant has developed an administration style with strong emphasis on self-initiative and team work. Employees at all levels are empowered to contribute to the advancement of the corporate goals of increased efficiency in both the manufacturing and customer service areas, as well as enhanced quality and an improved working environment. This open-door policy has contributed to a greater delegation of responsibilities throughout the network, establishing a strong communication link between staff and management at all levels.

Fundamental to Elefant's administration has been a sensitivity to the needs and concerns of GWV's varied customer base. Increased focus has been placed on added-benefit and customer service through sophisticated communications technologies, a rapid customer-response program, efficient, timely delivery systems, improved manufacturing techniques, and sensitivity to the diverse professional and cultural requirements of the company's broad, international customer base.

Travelling extensively, Steven Elefant dedicates substantial amounts of his time to both develop new international clients and maintain an ever-vigilant stewardship over the world-wide operations of the company.

Today the General Woods & Veneers Group is an international enterprise which employs over 1000 people world-wide. The company is currently doing business in over 70 countries, operates manufacturing facilities: in Canada, in the United States and Hungary. In addition the company maintains marketing offices across the globe.

Operations of the GWV Group are managed by five senior executives, each with a definitive area of expertise. Marcel Elefant, BA, Chairman and C.E.O in tandem with Steven Elefant BA, MBA, President and C.O.O., represent the guiding force in the development of new business opportunities, corporate planning, long-term strategies and the possible acquisition of additional properties. In addition to these strategic tasks, Steven Elefant assumes the daily operations of the entire enterprise, and is actively involved with export veneer and log sales and production for the Group.

Ms. Stacey Elefant, BA, daughter of Marcel, joined General Woods & Veneers in 1985. Like her brother, Ms. Elefant grew up within the business, and spent her first years after university in a rigorous programme of training within the many divisions of the GWV group. A graduate of the University of Western Ontario, where she holds her honour's Bachelor of Arts degree, Ms. Elefant was promoted to Vice-President of GWV in 1993 and manages the strategically located Ontario Region Office. The area represents Canada's most populated region, incorporating the country's largest city, Toronto - the provincial capital of Ontario and the industrial and financial hub of the country - as well as other major cities, such as London, Hamilton, Windsor, Kingston and the nation's capital, Ottawa.

The area's richly diverse and cosmopolitan population stimulates a extraordinarily broad demand for wood design and architectural specifications. Home to many of Canada's financial, industrial, governmental and cultural institutions, Ms. Elefant works with every major sector of the industry, providing expert knowledge and advice to the multi-faceted demands of the residential, industrial and cultural design and construction industries. Her responsibilities include the executive management of the Ontario Regional Office, as well as the marketing of veneers to many of the country's most prestigious architectural firms, interior design houses and the large domestic markets of this, the most populated region of Canada.

Mr. Satish Chawla BA, CMA, Vice-President, Finance, is charged with the financial planning, finance services and accounting for the company's vast network of marketing and manufacturing facilities. Controllers of the U.S. subsidiaries directly advise Chawla on day-to- day operations outside of Canada.

Ekkart Holle, working from the Montréal headquarters, is in charge of international marketing for the corporation. Mr. Holle has over 30 years of international marketing experience within the veneer industry. Trained in the manufacturing process in both Germany and Switzerland, Mr. Holle immigrated to the United States in the late sixties, where he worked for a well-known U.S. veneer-manufacturing company. His skills were rapidly apparent and he was invited to join General Woods & Veneers in 1973. Within 2 years Mr. Holle was appointed to the position of Vice-President. Now retired, Ekkart Holle continues to consult for the GWV Group.

Together, this highly trained and experienced team of wood professionals form the Executive Committee of the General Woods & Veneers Group of Companies.



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