Business
Plains Powder Coating adds the finishing touch to a Canadian dream - Johan and Charla van den Berg win BDC's Young Entrepreneur Award for Saskatchewan
Plains Powder Coating adds the finishing touch to a Canadian dream - Johan and Charla van den Ber...
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[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\nOct. 20, 2009 (Canada NewsWire Group) -- REGINA, Oct. 20 /CNW Telbec/ -- Convinced that Canada held opportunities he could never find in Europe, Johan van den Berg moved to Saskatchewan from his native Holland after finishing his mechanical engineering studies. After careful preparation, Johan and his wife Charla established Plains Powder Coating in 2007. In just two years, the company has polished up Saskatchewan's metal finishing market, providing equipment manufacturers and other clients with a long-lasting, eco-friendly alternative to spray painting. For their success, Johan, 33, and Charla, 34, have won BDC's Young Entrepreneur Award for Saskatchewan and will be honoured tonight at a ceremony in Ottawa.Johan met Charla when he came to Saskatchewan on a student work term. The stay convinced him that Canada had a world of opportunities to offer someone with the drive to learn, take risks and work hard. Waiting for the right opportunity to start his own business, Johan acquired valuable experience in Saskatchewan heading up the powder coating division of another company. \"My dad was an entrepreneur and taught me a lot; it's something that had always been in the back of my mind,\" he says.Setting up for successAfter more than a year of research and preparation, he and Charla were ready. Charla, who had worked as an account manager and small business advisor in a bank, did the business plan. Securing two major clients at the outset, they never looked back.In addition to doing work for large agricultural equipment manufacturers, they powder coat anything metal: fences, built-in sunrooms on new homes, doors and windows, and bumpers for semi trucks, among other items. \"Clients know we stand behind our work and guarantee everything we do,\" says Charla. Today, the thriving operation has nine full-time employees, with more during the peak winter period, as well as students on work term programs.Unlike spray paint, powder coating involves no harmful volatile organic compound emissions and offers an unlimited variety of colours and textures. One of their challenges has been to educate engineers, rural municipalities and city planners about its uses for park benches, light poles and many other things. \"Once you powder coat it, you never have to touch it again,\" Charla explains. The size of the small shop they rent has also p...