Kalesnikoff: A Family Business for Sustainable Development Case Study

It could be argued that Kalesnikoff is the ultimate family business. At its core is CEO Ken Kalesnikoff, his daughter Krystle Seed and son Christopher Kalesnikoff. Each compliment one another. Ken, long-time entrepreneur, is irrepressible in his drive to lead a first-class multigenerational enterprise. Krystle is CFO and a prudent financier. Her brother Chris is COO and the strategist. The visionary threesome lives by the family credo: Take care of the land and the land will take care of you. This simple maxim defines their family purpose, which has driven the trio to expand from their sawmill to build Kalesnikoff into North America’s most advanced, vertically-integrated, multi-species mass timber manufacturer. Yet, as an enterprise that has boldly invested in multi-million-dollar upgrades, and whose history stretches back eight decades to the wilds of British Columbia’s Kootenays, Kalesnikoff has worked hard to preserve the family feel of their dynamic 250‑employee enterprise. As a mass timber and sawmill business that values people, communities and prudent forest management above all, Kalesnikoff is always looking for ways to add value and secure the business for the future.