Local knowledge is Pawer: A chat with Two Small Men's Vancouver territory manager      

If there's one thing Jeff Pawer know a lot about, it's moving in and around Vancouver. After spending 40 years in the transportation industry, Pawer landed at Two Small Men with Big Hearts, and after three and a half years with the company, he's worked his way up to the position of territory manager, which covers Vancouver, Victoria and Nanaimo. 

“I'm on the operations side of the business for the most part,” he says. “So, day to day, we're managing three branches, making sure the crews are getting out, following all the safety protocols, and following all our proven processes for completing moves. We control the supplies, we control the trucks to make sure that they're safe and maintained. We deal with customers on a daily basis where we're actually confirming details and moves. Yeah, so there's a lot going on.”

It's not too much for Pawer, however, who credits his previous experience in regards to his smooth transition into his current role. 

“Moving is very similar to transportation,” he says. “You're either moving household goods or something else, right?”

Pawer assumes a humble tone in conversation but that humility is belied by rich local knowledge of the land that informs his decisions daily. And it's a knowledge that's been forming over the course of his whole life.

“My father was in sales. When I was five or six years old, he used to pull out a map so he knew where he was going on his sales call. I guess I never realized it until many years later that maybe that's what encouraged me to get involved in transportation. But it certainly shaped my knowledge of the area. I know most addresses. I already know where they are. The assistant dispatcher here is also a very experienced mover. So I think we're better positioned [as a moving company] just because of the knowledge of the area and the experience we have directly in the Lower Mainland.”

And while it's easy to be impressed by Pawer's penchant for provincial placement, it's his double life as a champion of community involvement that's truly amazing.

“One of the reasons I came to Two Small Men to work was because when I was researching the opportunity, I saw that they did a lot of community work. I have a lot of experience working in the community as a volunteer. I'm also on the Community Committee for Two Small Men. I ran the Special Olympics in Richmond for a number of years. I coached in the Special Olympics for a number of years. I was on the board of directors for the Richmond Soccer Association and for the BC Soccer Association. I was also a licensed provincial referee for soccer. I was the president and founder of the Cures for Kids Foundation. I've also been a school board trustee.” 

While the community outreach work done by Two Small Men is slightly different in nature, it still brings satisfaction to Pawer. 

“We work with a number of organizations that are transitional houses,” he says. “It's typically mothers with children who are getting out of either a violent situation or a crisis of some sort. So we work with a couple of these organizations that help these folks get moved. Obviously our part is the physical move, but there's certainly a lot of gratification in getting these folks into safe homes.

“People will donate furniture items to these same organizations so we'll also move the furniture to warehouses and so forth before they're actually distributed. I would say that that kind of work is probably the most rewarding in terms of our community work.”

A proud father himself, Pawer says there was no question as to who would assist with his daughter's upcoming move. 

“My daughter will be moving this weekend, actually. Oh, yeah, and she's going to be using Two Small Men. She didn't really have a choice.”

And for those looking to some day work for Two Small Men, he shares this wisdom:

“Every day is different. The exciting part about transportation is that it never gets boring. It doesn't matter if you're setting up moves as a move coordinator or you're actually on the move as a mover or a helper. Every day brings either new successes or new challenges. One or the other. And some days you get both. 

“And if you're community-minded at all and you are interested in giving back, this is an ideal company because we really do care about the communities that we serve.”

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