A major guitar manufacturer is making a home in Sicamous.
Mike Miltimore, owner and founder of Riversong Guitars, is in the midst of opening a guitar manufacturing facility in the district, returning to his Shuswap roots.
The road to Sicamous as a manufacturing destination involved some serendipitous events falling into place, explained Miltimore. His family business is Lee含羞草研究社檚 Music, based in Kamloops, which offers all sorts of services outside of selling musical instruments.
Miltimore is a sound engineer and was working the tech booth at the Southern Interior Local Government Association when he shared with organizers his search for a commercial space to expand Riversong含羞草研究社檚 guitar manufacturing operation.
Read more:
An announcement was made at the convention and Miltimore said he couldn含羞草研究社檛 believe how many local governments approached him with spaces available. However, he chose Sicamous because of its 含羞草研究社渟ecret sauce含羞草研究社� of affordable commercial rental prices and available resources.
含羞草研究社淎s a guitar builder, guitars that we build should represent where we live and what we含羞草研究社檙e around,含羞草研究社� said Miltimore. 含羞草研究社淎ll the best woods for guitars come from the Pacific Northwest and Interior B.C. Revelstoke含羞草研究社檚 spruce, broad leaf maple from Chilliwack and area, firs and cedars from right here in Sicamous.含羞草研究社�
He also mentioned the climate, noting the Shuswap含羞草研究社檚 humidity is easily controllable. Using domestic supplies is near and dear to Miltimore含羞草研究社檚 heart and he said using woods from his favourite places also helps his guitars achieve a high designation in the musical world, using almost 100 per cent Canadian products.
含羞草研究社淪cratch them and they smell like maple syrup, basically,含羞草研究社� Miltimore laughed.
A large factor in Miltimore含羞草研究社檚 choice was the personal component.
含羞草研究社淚含羞草研究社檝e been coming out here with my family for years, and we enjoy the lake and love the town. We含羞草研究社檝e met a lot of people we含羞草研究社檝e become friends with, and love the community feeling going on there. There含羞草研究社檚 also a really rich music scene in Sicamous.含羞草研究社�
Miltimore含羞草研究社檚 family also has roots in Salmon Arm. His great-grandparents were some of the original homesteaders there and had a farm, he said, and his great grandmother taught in the one-room schoolhouse.
He added he wished he could have bought their family farm and used the space to build guitars today, but the opportunity never presented itself.
Riversong Guitars started in 2006 in Kamloops, when Miltimore, his dad and friends wanted to build 含羞草研究社渃ool, custom guitars含羞草研究社� and over six years developed a new guitar system he later patented.
In 2012, Miltimore won Young Entrepreneur of the Year in B.C. and placed second in Canada. As sales exploded, he found Riversong was outgrowing their building in Kamloops, and said the company stumbled a bit growing too big too fast.
As they grew, they were shortlisted for and then won the MMR Dealers含羞草研究社� Choice Award, beating out Yamaha, Martin and Taylor for Acoustic Guitar of the Year.
Read more:
Read more:
The new facility will allow Riversong to keep up with heightened demand, said Miltimore. He recently signed a distribution agreement with Peavey Electronics, and it marks the first time the company will be distributing a brand they don含羞草研究社檛 own.
Starting in the U.S., guitars produced in Sicamous will eventually be shipped out of Mississippi to Shenzhen, China and further to Pakistan, then to Germany to expand into western Europe.
The Sicamous facility will be capable of producing 800 guitars a month and when it gets to that level, Miltimore will be looking to hire probably eight people, he said.
The factory was previously used to build and house Waterways houseboats, so the building has high ceilings and a wide and tall door, allowing forklifts and machinery better than their previous warehouse, and Miltimore said the space only gives them room to grow. A clubhouse suite is also attached, providing space for employees from Kamloops to stay.
With the goal of opening during the summer put on hold by wildfires and evacuations, Miltimore hopes to be operational by late fall at 1265 Monashee Frontage Rd. Contact information is available at riversongguitars.com.
Miltimore hopes to integrate fully into and support the Sicamous community, even expressing a wish to create a Riversong specialty ice cream flavour at D Dutchman Dairy.
含羞草研究社淲hat matters most is that we含羞草研究社檒l be supporting the community.含羞草研究社�
rebecca.willson@saobserver.net
Like us on and follow us on and subscribe to our daily .
