FC WOODWORKS
F.C. Woodworks' custom work can be seen at some of Winnipeg's highest profile venues including BellMTS Place, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and IG Field. Photo by Darcy Finley
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church group. He fell in love with the province — and later a local woman who would become his wife. “I had never snowmobiled before, never played ice hockey outside. Manitoba has that little ‘best kept secret’ thing going on, and I recognized it right away,” he says. Mostert got his start as a carpenter framing houses. But a serious car accident in B.C. at age 21 left him with injuries that forced him to find less physical work. Here in Manitoba he bought a book series called Fine Woodworking and started building things in his elderly neighbour’s tiny garage. The rest is history. The company now employs 21 regular staff plus installers, and often takes on apprentices. Along with all of the hours he dedicates to the company, Mostert is also the director of the Manitoba chapter of the Architectural Woodworks Manufacturing Association of
Canada. Feedback from his colleagues in the association, as well as his Christian faith and his role in the church, help guide him in running his business. Mostert also says he is grateful for the advantages that came with starting his business in Manitoba. “The overall costs of doing business here are a little less than most places, when you look at labour, land and operating costs. And I really find that Winnipeg is a great place for standard and quality of living,” he says, adding he also credits his employees for their role in the company’s success. “I have a great team right now, and we take pride in putting out a quality product that we know is going to last a long time. Your name is on it, your reputation is on it, and the value it’s going to give the customer over many years is what we’re here for.” ■
look at it, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference,” Mostert says. Even when implementing technology, automation and looking at ways to improve productivity, Mostert keeps an old-school sense of craftsmanship in mind. But changing and adapting is necessary, he says. “Because we’re in Manitoba, everybody cranks the heat up in the winter, and that can suck the moisture out and shrink the millwork. It’s a real challenge, so we have to manufacture differently, change our methods and procedures – you have to be a bit of an inventor in a way,” he explains. Mostert actually loves the winter here. He was raised in British Columbia and decided to move to Manitoba as a young man after he visited a friend from his
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WINTER 2019
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