AUGUST 2014
H
business elite canada
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Looking ahead, Vangeluwe identifies the short-
term five to ten year goal for Solmax as being
close to where the energy will be very cheap.
“The United States is looking to be the place
for that, because what is happening now is that
people are coming back to North America be-
cause the energy there is going down thanks
to natural gas. So it’s going to be much more
convenient to be in North America than to set-
tle manufacturing plants to other countries,”
said Vangeluwe noting Western Canada and
the Northeastern part of the United States as
places Solmax has its sights set on.
Solmax would not be where it is today with-
out the help of its many partners who were
there from the very beginning transition in
1997 and without the energetic action of CEO
Marc André Gervais who run the business till
2012.
“Our Partners actually took part of the finan-
cial risk when we decided to develop this busi-
ness internationally,” said Vangeluwe. It is an
investment-driven business that requires mon-
ey on the table before going into mass com-
mercialization of the product.
In the light of the current recession in the
mining industry, Vangeluwe admits that after
30 years pioneering the way, gaining first po-
sition in international geomembrane manu-
facturing will be a matter of finding the right
opportunities, and the right place to develop
and sell its products, but in the process Solmax
International Inc. will continue to lead the way
as it has from the very beginning.
