The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that a good investment is easy to understand, but what is a good company? Guest columnist George Athanassakos writes that a company might be a winner, but it also depends on what price one pays. For example, Intel is a good company, but had you bought it in 2000, you would have overpaid terribly. In fact, you would not have made any capital gain for the next 23 years. A good company also needs a sustainable competitive advantage. An example is Stella-Jones, which makes pressure-treated industrial lumber products such as railway ties and utility poles. The company focuses on products that are tied to infrastructure and this insulates it from extreme volatility over the business cycle. Maintenance requirements drive demand for Stella-Jones's products and its customer base, which consists of utility and railways, is reliable, stable and low risk. Big telcos purchase Stella-Jones's utility poles to maintain their networks, while CN and CP use Stella-Jones's railway ties. Mr. Athanassakos says that Stella-Jones is a good company with a competitive advantage and sustainability, but he would not buy the stock today, given that there is valuation risk in its high price.