Andre Chevigny credits his co-workers as one reason Pioneer Log Homes of British Columbia received the manufacturer Award at the 10th Annual Business Excellence Awards from Williams Lake and the District Chamber of Commerce.

"We receive awards just because of our people," Chevigny said. "We love our work and what we do to it shows through our craft."

Chevigny's brother, Bryan Reid Sr., founded Pioneer Log Homes of British Columbia in 1973 in Williams Lake after he decided to build his own home. Since then, it has become a family business, Chevigny hopes his children will someday enter the company with the same passion.

Pioneer Log Homes of British Columbia has grown, employing around 100 people and attracting attention from people in countries where cattle roam to a continent where kangaroo hop.

"We sold one home to somebody in the Gold Coast of Australia, close to Surfers Paradise," Chevigny said.

Currently, Pioneer Log Homes of British Columbia is building a big house for the Colorado area in the United States. Chevigny said the company gets most of its business from building exquisite homes in the United States and as the European market opens up again after a recession more calls are coming in from Europe.

"We just sent our first house to Austria," Chevigny said. "Three to four truck loads of wood are needed to construct an average building, but a lot of our structure take 15 to 20 loads" Chevigny said. The timber comes from all around British Columbia then is hand peeled using a drawknife and placed into a structure at the operation-building site on the outskirts of Williams Lake. Chevigny said each structure takes roughly three to four months to piece together before it is dissembled and sent to the buyer.

Although log cabins have a strong association with the rustic wilderness of North America, historically log construction came across the Atlantic Ocean from Scandinavia and Eastern Europe according to the International Log Builders' Association (ILBA). As Pioneers trekked westward log construction became more rudimentary and by the early 1900s, the ILBA reports it was not until the 1960's that people's curiosity in the skills involved with building log homes revitalized.

Chevigny is looking forward to the 2010 Winter Olympics as he hopes it will give him the opportunity to build more homes for B.C. Chevigny's family currently lives in a log home. "There isn't anything else."