News

January 30th, 2002

Sun Brand Homes (built under license by Diamond Valley Manufacturing Ltd.) was approached by the Better Business Bureau of Southern Alberta to participate in a yearlong campaign that featured Builders in good standing with the BBB. The ad itself says it best:

"All of the following home building companies are members of the BBB of Southern Alberta in good standing. This means that they must abide by the standards of the Bureau. In other words,

THESE ARE COMPANIES YOU CAN TRUST"

"We are pleased to be offered this opportunity to participate. We continue to support & encourage the invaluable services and protection that the BBB provides to the public." ~ Mel Chorney (VP Operations)

June 1st, 2001

With a full compliment of equipment for moving one piece, Ready To Move (R.T.M.) homes, as well as sectional modular homes, and with 27 years of house moving experience, QUAD Trucking is an active and welcome addition to Sun Brand/Diamond Valley Manufacturing Ltd.
QUAD's "transport technology" - care and attention to moving homes across Canada and the Northern USA has earned it the highest level of professionalism in the industry. We are proud to have QUAD as a member of the Diamond Valley group of companies.

April 20th, 2001

Sun Brand Homes gets ready for the gates to open at the Grand Falls Home and Garden Show, April 20th to 22nd.

April 14th, 2001

The Great Falls Tribune runs an article on Sun Brand Homes as a lead-up to the Home and Garden Show.

TRANSPORTABLE HOMES PROVIDE CONVENTIONAL COMFORT

James and Beth Roen of Rudyard started shopping for a home four or five years before they retired from the Montana National Guard.
The price for building a home left the couple with sticker shock, and after looking at modular homes in four states, they still were not satisfied.
Then a friend told them about Sun Brand Homes, of Okotoks, Alberta. Roen didn't want the cookie cutter look punched out by larger companies. "This company is small enough that they pretty much allow you to design what you want." He said.
Sun Brand built a home to the Roens' specifications in Okotoks, which is just south of Calgary.
They hauled it to Rudyard on four trucks. One truck carried a prefabricated three car garage.
It took just ten days for three men to assemble the 2,020-square-foot, completely finished house, and to erect the garage.
"It's a very high quality house" said Roen. "We've lived in it for a little more than a year, and we wouldn't change anything yet."
Mel Chorney, director of Marketing from Sun Brand Homes, said, "We build conventional houses in modular, transportable format. It's the same kind of house you would have if you were building in a conventional subdivision."
The company, which was launched in 1989, has shipped out hundreds of home, a number of them into Montana.
The homes are built to Canadian standards and include an excellent insulation process which Roen calls "made from the Arctic Circle.
" Probably the greatest advantage to Montana buyers is that our dollar is so strong in comparison to the Canadian dollar, and that we pay no duty.
Potential buyers can talk with Sun Brand Homes representitives at the Great Fals Home and Garden Show April 20-22.
The company have floor plans, brochures and information on hand, or Chorney said "If they've got some floor plans of their own they want to get a price on, we can do that too."

Sun Brand Homes at the CHQR 770 Studio in "Talk to the Expert"

Download our Radiospot as MP3 (770KB)

"PREFERRED BUILDER'S" SPECIAL 5 YEAR MORTGAGE RATES AVAILABLE

Two Articles from the Okotoks Western Wheel of October 4, 2000

TURNER VALLEY Gas plant project receives $.5 million

By Gillian Beckett STAFF REPORTER
Christmas has come definitely early to Turner Valley,this year. On Sept. 29 at the Turner Valley town office, Highwood MLA Don Tannas announced that the Turner Valley Gas Plant historic site will receive a $5 million grant from the Alberta 2005 Centennial Legacies Grant Program. "At long last we have the money to preserve (Turner Valley's) oil history," said Tannas. "This is the largest grant and, in my opinion, the most worthy for Turner Valley to receive." Upon hearing the funding announcement, town councillors, administration and community representatives were indeed elated. "We originally asked for $250,000 (to go towards the gas plant's development) which we thought was a lot of money,' said Mayor Elaine Dafoe. 'But this is just wonderful." According to Dafoe, the funds may not stop at $5 million for the gas plant development project. She explained that the development plan is a 50/50 partnership between the federal and provincial government. Although not yet confirmed, the 50/50 partnership means that the gas plant project may receive an additional $5 million from the federal government. In the meantime, the $5 million grant will go towards Phase I of the gas plant project which includes reclamation of the site and clean up. Members of the Turner Valley Oilfields Society agree that the funding towards the development of the gas plant has been a long time coming. 'We've been planning this (gas plant development) since 1979,' said society member Jim McCreary. 'Now we can get going on it." A public meeting to discuss the gas plant development plan will be held at the Turner Valley town office on Oct. 18 at 7 pm. Dafoe noted that the gas plant will be bigger and better once it is completed, even though the site, in its existing state, already receives numerous visitors from all around the world. "This summer the plant has been visited by people from every province in Canada as well as from the United States,' said Dafoe, who added'that tourists from the West Indies, Hong Kong, Japan and Europe, among other nations, have also visited the site. Tannas's announcement coincided with the official announcement of Alberta's 2005 Centennial Program by Community Development Minister Stan Woloshyn. The program will fund 17 Albertawide projects which include the Calgary Performing Arts Centre which will receive $2.5 million, Drumheller's Royal Tyrrell Museum Learning Centre, which will also receive $2.5 million and Calgary's Lougheed Residence, which will receive $2.8 million. The centennial projects must be completed by Dec. 31, 2005. For more information, visit the Centennial Legacies website at www.gov.ab.ca/alberta2OO5

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BLACK DIAMOND Town's main street is transformed into boomtown days

By Cindy Sallance, EDITOR
A metamorphosis of wood, shingles and windows is beginning to take place on Black Diamond's main street. At one time the downtown core of Black Diamond was slowly becoming weathered with time and desperatelly needed a face lift, but thanks to funding from a provincial program a fresh new look is beginning to unfold. Funding from the Alberta Main Streets program,coupled with the enthusiasm of local businesses, has sparked a rejuvenation of the community's downtown. To ensure Black Diamond's rich heritage of the coal mining days of yesteryear are not forgotten, relics of the past are beginning to encompass the future of the town. With the help of the Main Street program, local business owners have begun to revive some of those relics with, a boomtown motif. One such relic was the once-condemned community hall on Centre Avenue. The building, now more than 62 years old, was moved to Black Diamond in 1952 onto the site of the Winston Theatre which was destroyed in the 1949 fire. The building, once called the Mountainview Theatre, was one of the first projects tackled under the Main Street program Main Street coordinator Fraser Shaw explained that the old community hall has now been transformed into a boomtown building. "We take our cue from the what was there historically and adapt it to the needs and bud- get of the building's owners,' said Shaw. Shaw explained that first the 1950 stucco was removed from the building and rough bevel siding was installed. In order to transform the build back to its original state, old photographs were an invaluable tool. The historic restoration of the main facade and the addition of a porch, brings the building into the street and creates an ambience of days gone by. The building now houses the Main Street project office and Diamond Treasures, an antique store. Shaw explained that the once condemned building has now added more than 4,000 square feet of commercial, space in the downtown. The restoration of the old community hall marks the first in the series of renovations to take place along Black Diamond's main street. The next two projects already under way include the restoration of the Ye Old Clip joint and Terra Cotta Dudes. Fraser explained that both are single storey wood-frame buildings and the intent is to restore the buildings to the original wood facades with a pre 1950s boomtown treatment. Another project was to repaint the Liquor Outpost which has recently been completed. It is expected that more than 20 other projects are in line for restorations under the Main Street program. "I am impressed with the way things are heading," said Shaw of the five projects which are currently in varying degrees of completion and those yet to be started. "All of the buildings' owners (in the downtown area) have expressed an interest (in the Main Street project)," he added. The three-year downtown renovation project is partially funded by the Alberta Historic Resources Foundation through the Alberta Main Street program and business owners typically match the dollars. The annual provincial contribution for the project is $45,000 of which some is utilized, for the design work and public consultation. However, Shaw said in some cases business owners have doubled their contribution in order to secure a complete renovation to their specific desires. While the construction season is coming to an end, Shaw said the plans for next year's projects are far from complete. He said over the winter design work will be completed for next year's projects. We, are trying to bring back and strengthen the character (of what was in the downtown before) and also leave a stamp of the present, said Shaw of the intent of the project. In order to assist the Main Street project in designing the downtown into a page of the past, Shaw is seeking old photographs, anecdotes or information to assist in the design of the boomtown buildings. Various drawings of the buildings are on display at the Main Street office. Shaw is also available for information on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and every second Thursday or call the Main Street office at 933- 5743.

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The Western Wheel