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GORMAN GROUP EDGE / ISSUE #1 3

CEO Report

As we celebrate our 70th anniversary, the expression ‘respect the past and embrace the future’ comes to
mind. We have been fortunate to inherit a legacy from the founders John and Ross Gorman and their wives
Edith and Eunice. It is a legacy that set us on a path that has helped us survive the difficult periods and
make the most of the good ones. This volatility has been particularly evident recently with the tough year of
2019, the 2020 pandemic, then the more recent period of extraordinarily high lumber and plywood prices.
The focus on creating margin on high value products was really a by-product of the founder’s motivation to
treat people with dignity and respect, encouraging them to be the best they could be while recognizing our
responsibility in both the local and broader community.

Today, we have over 1000 direct employees and many dependant
contractors across five different communities. Our operations are “We will not move
integrated on an unprecedented level as we send logs and products from the core
between each of the divisions to ensure we maximize the investments we focus on value - of
have made and create value. It is a complex set of movements that is only the individual and
possible because of all of us working together to make it happen. of the product.”

We ‘respect the past’ by never forgetting our core values. Keep looking out Nick Arkle
for each other by protecting our physical and mental health. Aim for all of
us to leave the workplace everyday in better shape than we arrived in with
recharged batteries and invigorated to take on our other responsibilities. To work together for success within
our Gorman Group setting helps us do those other things we want to do with our families and communities.

The future will have different challenges. Timber supply and profile changes combined with ever changing
social expectations will require us to adapt, but we will not move from the core focus on value - of the
individual and of the product. To ‘embrace the future’ we must continue to be on the Gorman Edge of
innovations; maximizing the value extracted from what we produce while adhering to the quality standards
our worldwide customers expect.

The global pandemic has taught us all that external factors can affect us very quickly. We proved to
ourselves that all of us can come together very quickly to face a major challenge and overcome it. Thank
you to all our suppliers, employees, and customers for that. We can predict that by the next time a Gorman
Group milestone comes around, there will have been many changes and we’ll have likely had to face many
difficulties. What will not change is the culture we have cultivated that allows us to successfully make it
through any crisis…together.

One final note: on September 16th, our last founding family member, Eunice Gorman, passed away (see
History Section). She will be missed but her legacy lives on. Thank you, Eunice.

Nick Arkle