There are two uncommon aspects to The Bucket Shop.

Paul Woodward gave Timmins Chamber of Commerce members a glimpse into the business during a lunch at the Dante Club on Tuesday afternoon.

While there may be more than a couple things that make The Bucket Shop unique, his presentation mentioned two: global growth and gender diversity in the workforce.

Woodward shared a map of the world to show where his company has done business, planting virtual buckets on the maps of South America, Asia, Africa and the United States.

Chamber president Jamie Clarke said it’s not a common thing for Timmins businesses to expand globally.

“It’s one thing we all love to see,” said Clarke. “They’ve taken this to a different level, and we promote it in whichever way we can.”

Woodward is hoping to continue that expansion.

“The mining community is such a small community,” he said. “That’s such a good thing for us, who are looking to go global.

“The major mining leaders who are out there, managing different properties, they tend to bounce around from one place to another and if you’ve done well by them, they tend to bring you into their new places of business.”

The Bucket Shop’s other unique feature happened naturally – the workforce there is almost equally split between men and women.

Woodward said he thinks this is relatively uncommon, but it’s growing in popularity.

“Society is changing. I don’t believe there’s an all-male environment that exists anymore.”

He said he’s proud of the women on his staff. The vice president of The Bucket Shop said labour is one of the challenges he faces in Timmins, including learning how to incorporate workers from the millennial generation into his organization.

Woodward said he promotes family values at work, though it’s more of a challenge these days now that the staff has grown to 140.

“With spending more time with your work family than you do your real family, there needs to be a positive experience when you come to work. People need to look forward to coming to work.”

That means outings and activities like paintball, and integrating employees’ families into the organization.

All in all, Woodward said he is happy to do business in this city.

“Timmins is a great place. I really believe in our city, more than anything else. I love the people,” he said. “People do not need to leave the community to have a prosperous career.”

Source: The Timmins Daily Press