Raven Venture

[replant]

This thread is devoted to gossip and discussion for employees and stakeholders of Raven Venture.

This company is believed to work predominantly in British Columbia.

Their last known contact information is:

Box 984
Kelowna, BC
V1Y 7P7
Phone: (250) 769-5086

[daleks]

no such thing as golden raven co-op.......how about "raven ventures" instead....

[Scooter]

Good point ... I just did some digging and these are the same company. I think they may have gone by Golden Raven at some point in the distant past, since that company has also been listed on other websites. However, I will consolidate the two into "Raven Ventures" which appears to be the newest name.

[The Wolf]

The correct phone number is 250 769-5086 (Kelowna). This is David Shaw's home number.

[Slash Monkey]

deleted.

[Mr. Amazing]

These guys PAY in full every two weeks (you NEVER have to beg to be paid), have BRAND NEW trucks, the owner is a VERY honest person, their Nakusp work is severely over-bid, and they had no problems making their production quotas last year!!! Vet's were FLOCKING en mass last year to share in the spoils of their wonderful contracts!!! It was not a revolving door of planters WHATSOEVER. These guys are the best!!!

[Halfpint]

Just a few,

The porch...The Porch at Downie...Ahhh!!! Civilized accomadations...with good cooks.

Really nice boss...knows your name even if you don't see him throughout the season...some how he knows your name so you don't feel like just a number. David is honest...he will tell you how it is nothing more nothing less.
The frist 2 pay checks are on time...but by the end of the season he seems to have a hard time to keeping up.
He is usually on the hunt for more work for the crew...Thanks Dave
In the end great company to work for...this is my 6th year with Raven and have planted with 10 other companies as well on the coast.

[backcountrysister]

David Shaw is a great guy, good prices, decent accommodation. worked for them after they defunct golden raven. that was quite some time ago. But a great place to work- especially if your french- strong francophone company- my french sucks.

[muffin_man]

i hear these guys are really small but good. no rookies or bullshit, downside is not much work to be had and lots of downtime between jobs.

[Slash Monkey]

i hear these guys are really small but good. no rookies or bullshit, downside is not much work to be had and lots of downtime between jobs.

not totally true. there are rookies and some bullshit. they mean well, but not too organized. takes a while to get paid as well.

[insylum]

Hey guys its Gregg from the Barierre/Downy lake times a few years ago. Hope every one is doing well this season, cheers!

[Scooter]

Does anyone have any current info on Raven or Waterside? Someone just write to me and said that they had sent out resumes to both companies, but that they got returned because the postal address I have listed is no longer correct.

Are both of these companies still in operation?

[jdtesluk]

David Shaw (Raven Venture) is still very much active (note "Venture" is singular). He conducts planting, cone picking, and a bit of brushsaw work, generally around the Okanagan area and up near Revvy. His company is friendly to both french and english speaking. I planted for him a few times about 8-9 years ago and really enjoyed it- lots of very technical ground- my style of planting. He had a couple of really solid foremen (Mike C and Daniel) who I believe are still around. David is man of his word. He is best found through his name and not his company name, and you would have to find someone who worked for him more recently to get his number.

Waterside Ventures (Earl Hughes) I heard was active as recently as 2 years ago. However, his operations were scaled down significantly from the past (isn't everyone's for the most part?). He was based out of Burns Lake. Not sure if Earl is still going, or if someone else has taken over.

[Scooter]

Yeah, I seem to remember someone saying something about Connie a few years ago, but I can't remember what it was. I worked in her camp when I did a short stint with Waterside quite a few years ago.

[ekim]

Waterside is still very much running, I know last year they scaled down about 2/3rds of the crew for planting but had a whole summer/fall of brushing.

[Screefhead]

I'm pretty sure Earl Hughes 2 sons have more or less taken over Waterside Ventures.

Connie runs her own company based out of Quesnel . Really good prices . mostly locals, short season.

[Coaster]

David Shaw (Raven Venture) is still very much active... ... His company is friendly to both french and english speaking.

Is that an unusual situation? His company being friendly to both French & English speakers that is. Do you know companies that discriminate against certain planters, besides those that throw daggers at their planters like Khaira?

If I was to discriminate it would be against anyone wearing citronella. Fire their ass no questions asked - or at least make them ride in the Fist.

[jdtesluk]

David Shaw (Raven Venture) is still very much active... ... His company is friendly to both french and english speaking.

Is that an unusual situation? His company being friendly to both French & English speakers that is. Do you know companies that discriminate against certain planters, besides those that throw daggers at their planters like Khaira?

If I was to discriminate it would be against anyone wearing citronella. Fire their ass no questions asked - or at least make them ride in the Fist.

Coaster, you're going off the deep end here and onto an unrelated tangent- although I am unsure that perhaps you may be joking by the citronella comment. I was merely emphasizing that David has a fairly even mix of francos and anglos there (maybe a few more francos). I realize that there are some people that enjoy the chance to work with other francophones. It is not wholly unusual to have such a mix, but I often get asked by people if they know companies where there are lots of francophones because that is where they (the worker) prefer to go. Sharing this information was simply intended to cater to worker preferences. If you like working with other francophones- Raven is a great place to go because they have a lot of long-time francophones there (and David is a good guy). I could name about half a dozen other companies/crews where I know there to be lots of francophones, but I think that diversity is a big part of the industry, and people should be able to (and in most cases can) get on anywhere regardless of colour creed or belief.

That being said, I agree with you in regard to hiring practices, and I have an extremely well developed understanding of the Human Rights Act(s) that apply to such issues. If I knew of companies that discriminated I would not care to do business with them.
Fortunately, choice of perfume is not listed in the criteria upon which discrimination is prohibited. Thus, patchouli-wearers and citronella-lovers alike should be wary.

[Coaster]

Jordan - yes just joking here but it would be interesting to hear if anyone is being discriminated against. Yes it is a tangent and unrelated but I thought that was status quo for this forum. As far as Raven is concerned, I've heard good things about them and they've been around for quite a while. They've got good direct work around Revelstoke and work into the summer brushing.

[trip]

This company started as Golden Raven Co-op, and now goes by the name Raven Venture. The current owner (David Shaw) was one of the three people that started the company - so it has not been sold and resold numerous times like so many companies these days. David is an honest employer and good to work for. I have worked for them on numerous occasions over the last 14 years and continue to do so when the timing works out for all concerned. Contrary to one of the earlier posts, they do hire rookies (though they don't really need to), but maybe not so much in mid-season.

[donkeyrider]

I worked for these guys this spring and summer and they were a fairly tight company. Overall the Kelowna prices were very good (16 cents across the board) and the other stuff...well the other stuff (Blue River) was a bit more difficult but at 21-30 cents a tree. Good planters were making 200-300 there. Kelowna was an easy 300 a day. Not to mention for the first time in my planting career we only planted 7.5-8 hours a day. 20 minute drive to work, work 7.5 hours come home and its literally 230-3pm. It was unreal and very awesome. You cook your own food and pay 8-12bucks for camp costs. Prices don't include vacation pay. Even though the pay was a bit sporadic I was paid every single nickel I was promised at the prices I was told. David also bumped the last days prices up 2 cents just because we had to work an 11 hour day to close the block. After he ordered way to much pizza(like 35 large pizza's for 25 planters) and beer for the company. Honest guy who I feel really appreciates his planters... some of them have been working for him for 2-3 decades. I would work for him again.

[marbles]

I've been working for Waterside for the last couple of seasons and they've treated me well. They also have a great francophone hiring policy in fact I was making jokes that if they hired any more francs they'd have to change their name to Sherbrook Ventures. Joking aside earl is still very much involved but he has left a lot more up to Shamus and Brock. The seasons are on the shorter side usually from the second week of May to the end of June. Prices start out at 12 but get up to 15 for straight plants near the end and between 18 to 22 cents for fill plants. They also have a couple months worth of brushing with pretty decent rates between 200 and 400/hectare. I never made much money brushing but the experienced guys keep coming back.
Its all local work for me but the times we did do camp work its all at resort/hotel or logging camp. Though the latter was shut down due to the mill blowing up.

[Redyoter]

I have planted for David (Raven Venture) in both Kelowna and Revy for the last 2 years. Planting in Revy is based out of a camp about an hour north of town. The Kelowna contract is made up of mostly locals planting from home. David's cell number is 250 470 7897. He is always looking for experienced planters for the Revy contract. Good prices, technical ground. The Kelowna contract is very fast ground, pretty much always 17 cents.

I hope this helps!

[prof]

For those with experience: Do you think that Raven would be an appropriate Spring gig for somebody who has worked 2 years in faster, easier land in Central BC? (Canfor for Spectrum)
Honestly, the reviews on Raven have been consistently fantastic, and I'd like to hear more about these guys.

Also, I'm from out of province, which sounds like it might be more of an issue here.

[jdtesluk]

If you are working for Danielle or Mike Colins, they'll whip you into shape fast enough - both good forepersons.

[Scooter]

I just noticed that I've been spelling this company's name incorrectly for years. It's Raven Venture, not Ventures. My apologies.

Also, Raven Venture has an instagram account: www.instagram.com/ravenventure

[JonCedarteeth]

Does anybody have any recent experiences with Raven?

[jdtesluk]

I'd vouch for the reports above. David is a good employer.