Rami grew up in the Kootenay region of BC, where he continues to live.
He has been involved in many business and service related ventures over the years, including operating a successful tree-planting company, and working on the campaign that culminated into the creation of West Arm Wilderness near Nelson BC.
He believes a growing a successful business depends on a mix of surrounding yourself with good people, treating them well, and operating within a strong set of ethical and environmentally-based values.
After leaving the tree-planting Industry, Rami and several other residents co-founded a local watershed group that would go on to successfully apply for one of BC’s first Community Forest Licence Agreements under the name of The Harrop-Procter Community Co-operative, thereby giving residents direct eco system-based management of the land that sustains and surrounds them.
Shortly thereafter, he began working with several others in creating Harrop-Procter Forest Products (HPFP), the Community Forests value added division. He soon took over the role as manager and the business grew quickly and has evolved into a well-known and respected source for a broad range of competitively priced, locally produced forest products.
Today, Rami volunteers time with the Harrop-Procter Community Forest as an advisor and sits on its Finance Committee. He has co-written and helped implement numerous business plans and studies for small-scale wood production businesses on his own and in conjunction with Ecotrust Canada. Some of his current and past projects include working with the Chilcotin, Nuxalk, and Soda Creek First Nations in British Columbia — all of which are focused on developing labour intensive small-scale sawmilling operations which will then provide materials for targeted markets including products for culturally appropriate community building initiatives.