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June 14-20, 2011 issue of Business in Vancouver, issue number 1129
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RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT: 102 EAST 4TH AVENUE, VANCOUVER, B.C. V5T 1G2.
Business in Vancouver Issue 1129
PM40069240 R88767 671114 78312 25
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U.S. real estate opportunities abound for Canadian commercial and residential buyers 3
Sam Belzberg’s boardroom battle 7
Business complacency hurting B.C. economic prospects, conference told 8
Meryle Corbett piloting Flightcraft’s success 16
How to harness technology to keep ahead of the competition 28
Property tax justice delayedfor industries in B.C. 36
David England’s growing real estate industry empire 39
INSIDE
Top 100 private companies in B.C. 18, 20, 22, 24
FULL DISCLOSURE
Gas peddling push on>With exports to foreign markets still years away, energy companies are looking to promote gas consumption on B.C.’s home turf
By Joel McKay
BC’s multibillion-dollar natural gas industry is all pumped up but struggling to find a place to go.
Although the province is awash in trillions of feet of natural gas, the industry is struggling to nail down buyers for the resource.
In less than a decade, North America has gone from being a net importer of natural gas to an exporter, with some speculating the U.S. has a century’s worth of gas resources sitting in the ground.
But the rush to extract these resources has been so successful it’s created a market oversupplied to the point that it can cost more to extract the resources from the ground than they can be sold for.
B.C.’s biggest challenge is being at the end of the demand pipe-line. � at has gas companies thinking about how they can take advantage of home-grown demand.
“We have to be the biggest advocates now of our own resources because it’s so important to our economy,” said Gary Weilinger, vice-president strategic development and external a� airs at gas giant Spectra Energy (NYSE:SE). “And the reason why we need to do that is in spite of the fact we have so much natural gas we are handicapped in that we’re furthest from the market.”
Business in Vancouver investigative feature – 4, 5
B.C.’s largest companies still struggling to shake off recession’s impact: 15–27
TOP 100PRIVATE COMPANIES
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June 14–20, 2011 • Issue 1129 BIV.COM $3.00LOCAL. BUSINESS. INTELLIGENCE.
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CONTENTSColumnistsReal Estate Roundup 12
Peter MithamBizPharmacy 28
Cyri Jones/Ivan Surjanovic
Thumbs up/Thumbs down 36
Public Eye 36Sean Holman
Podium 37Seth Klein
Podium 37Greg Munden
Golden Goals 38Bob Mackin
DepartmentsBy the numbers 8BIV lists 18, 20, 22, 24Trouble 29–31Lawsuit of the week 31People on the move 32–33Datebook 35–36Business classified 38
SectionsFinance 8–9Technology 11Real estate 12Top 100 15–25Small business 27Law 29–31Business tool kit 28Comment 36–37
Coastal Contacts sues former employee for launching competitor
Falcon accuses Dix of misinforming public
Westport Innovations to acquire Emer
Taseko revises Prosperity Mine proposal
Face the World gala raises $1 million to fi ght homelessness
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FULL DISCLOSUREPublic scrutiny: B.C. has traditionally been a hot-bed of new companies seeking to raise capital through initial public offerings. But the relative dearth of IPO activity in recent years is raising questions about the value of investing the time and resources to tap public-market capital, particularly for non-resource sectors. Vancouver’s international
reputation as a global mining centre might be limiting the availability of public capital for other sectors.
TOP 100Business in Vancouver’s annual ranking of the province’s top 100 public companies.
Top 100 public companies in B.C.
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U.S. housing crash attracting more Canadian investor cash High loonie, distressed American market providing good fundamentals for local commercial and residential real estate buyers
By Glen Korstrom
With the U.S. house-price crash officially becoming worse
than during the Great Depression last month, a growing number of Canadians are sinking their high-priced loonies into American real estate.
Dean Duperron and wife Sherri Duperron are among those Canadian real estate shoppers. They successfully bid $2.7 million to buy a 64-unit apartment build-ing in Washington state’s Tri-Cities region in May – the same month the S&P-Case-Shiller price index estimated that national residential rates were down 33% from their 2006 peak. That compares with a 31% decline during the Great Depression.
Experts predict that the U.S. housing market will drop further before it starts to rise, but as Vancouver-based Colliers Inter-national vice-president John Gee joked: “Predictions are difficult, especially about the future.”
What is clear is that now is an abnormally good time to buy U.S. real estate.
Last year, Jim Gillespie, the CEO of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corp., told Business in Van-couver, “This is the best time I’ve ever seen in my 35 years in this busi-ness to buy in [sand] states [such as Florida, Arizona and California].”
Gillespie knows real estate well. He oversees 100,000 sales repre-sentatives in more than 3,000 offices in 49 countries around the world.
The Duperrons decided to dip their toe in the U.S. mar-ket after buying a 28-unit apart-ment building in Langley for $2.96 million. They also own four houses,
a tri-plex and two individual apart-ments in Canada.
Sherr i sold Sprott Shaw Community College to CIBT Education Group Inc. for $12 million in 2007.
According to Dea n, t he advantages of buying in the U.S. include: •capitalization (cap) rates are high-er;•prices are more attractive; and•there’s more available housing supply in communities that have 200,000 or more residents.
In addition, the U.S. real estate market collapse has prompt-ed many Americans to rent rather than own.
According to California broker-age Marcus & Millchap, the crush of new renters has pushed the value of U.S. apartment buildings up 16% in 2010. In contrast, apartment building prices fell 27% between 2006 and 2009.
Research firm Green Street Ad-visors now estimates that the prices
of U.S. apartment buildings that are owned by real estate investment trusts (REITs) are within 10% of their 2007 peak.
Duperron said the apartment building he’s buying is priced high-er than it was a few years ago, but so are the rents.
“The property six years ago rent-ed its units for $300 per unit. Today, they’re renting for $640,” Duperron said. “Apartment buildings have some minimum value for land and buildings, but the key value is the cap rate, which is the return that you’re getting.”
The cap rate is the ratio between an asset’s net operating income and its original price. For example, a
$1 million property that generates $100,000 annually after expenses would give the owner a 10% cap rate.
Duperron’s Langley apartment building came with a 6% cap rate; the rate for the Tri-Cities property is 8.4%.
But Gee warned that high cap rates are a sign of risk.
“The reason buildings have a high cap rate is because demand is low, because it’s risky and people would rather buy something else,” Gee said. “I have a building in Bur-naby, which is a 4% cap rate, and one in the West End, which is a 4.2% cap rate – that’s a great deal.”
Gee knows of some buildings in Atlanta, Georgia, that come with 20% cap rates. He said a friend of his bought one for what the friend said was about the same price as it would cost to carpet the structure.
Gee added that properties with extremely high cap rates could continue to drop in value.
The crash in the value of sin-gle-family homes makes residen-tial real estate even more desirable than buying apartment buildings, said Troy Peterson, who is direc-tor of U.S. operations at Aperture Investment Group.
He pointed out that single-family homes have higher cap rates and higher long-term appre-ciation potential than apartment buildings.
“If you can buy low and sell high, then you make a lot of money over time.”
Aperture, a month-old Van-couver-based company that helps Canadians buy U.S. single-family homes, does not provide tax, accounting or legal advice. It refers clients to consultants as needed. •[email protected]
Duperron Investment Group principal Dean Duperron: bought a 28-unit apartment in Langley for $2.96 million and is now negotiating to buy a 64-unit complex in the U.S. for $2.7 million
“If you can buy low and
sell high, then you make a
lot of money over time”
– Troy Peterson,director of U.S. operations,Aperture Investment Group
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June 14–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver 3News
By Joel McKay
Doug Stout has a tough job on his hands.
The Vancouver-based executive needs to � gure out how to get more people in B.C. to use natural gas.
That’s no easy feat in a
province where people have enjoyed cheap hydroelectricity for decades and, like the rest of North America, are addicted to ample supplies of gasoline and diesel.
On top of that, the province has turned away from natural gas as a power source, and past
attempts to install natural gas fuelling stations have met with little success.
But Stout, vice-president energy solutions and exter-nal relations at FortisBC (for-merly Terasen), believes abun-dant gas resources in northeast B.C.’s Horn River and Mont-
ney basins could be coupled with other existing resour-ces to create a more balanced energy grid.
“If you don’t want trans-mission lines built through your backyard, then how do we better use all the other re-sources we have on a more
system-integrated approach?” said Stout.
FortisBC is just one of many companies looking to sell more gas to more custom-ers in B.C.
A decade ago, the prov-ince’s gas industry was virtu-ally non-existent.
But advancements in hori-zontal drilling techniques, more commonly known as fracking, have allowed com-panies to tap gargantuan shale gas reserves in northern B.C.
Almost overnight, the province has created a $6 bil-lion fossil fuel industry, gen-erating jobs and attracting in-vestment from energy giants the world over.
Last month, the province and the National Energy Board published a joint re-port that more than doubled a previous assessment of gas resources in B.C.
� e province believes there is 78 trillion cubic feet of shale gas in the Horn River Basin alone, enough energy to fuel the country’s needs for 26 years.
At the same time, massive gas reserves have also been dis-covered in the U.S., meaning that country is unlikely to look north of its border for supply any time soon.
� at leaves B.C. gas com-panies with two options:•export the resources to Asian markets; and•create demand at home.
Plans are already under-way for a $3 billion lique� ed natural gas (LNG) export terminal near Kitimat.
But that faci l ity, i f approved, is still years away from being built.
Until then, B.C.’s gas resources are land-locked.
“� ere is more opportunity here for B.C. to be its own best customer,” said Gary Weil-inger, vice-president strategic development and external a� airs at Spectra Energy.
Despite an immediate lack of demand, Spectra is bullish about B.C.’s prospects.
Between 2009 and 2011 it will invest about $1.5 billion in natural gas infrastructure in this province.
Still, the only realistic mar-kets for gas consumption in B.C. are transportation and heat and power generation.
“What we think is the big-gest opportunity, and we’re aligned with Fortis on this, is … large � eet natural gas vehicles where there’s return-to-base or point-to-point [movements],” Weilenger said.
� e idea is simple.Focus on truck companies
that have hauling routes re-stricted to the Lower Main-land and Fraser Valley.
� at way natural gas fuel-ling stations don’t need to be installed on every cor-ner, but could be built at � eet headquarters and topped up as needed for the day’s operations.
“The operating cost sav-ings for the end user is prob-ably 30% to 50%,” Stout said of natural gas vehicles.
FortisBC already built a gas refuelling station for Waste Management in Coquitlam.
� e company has 20 com-pressed natural gas trucks picking up garbage and recyclables throughout the Lower Mainland.
In Abbotsford, Vedder Transport has invested in 50 LNG-powered vehicles that it says are cost-efficient and
FULL DISCLOSURE
Domestic market needed to exploit B.C.’s gas richesIndustry leaders say natural gas vehicles and power generation are the two best options for driving local resource consumption
Spectra Energy vice-president Gary Weilinger: “there is more opportunity here for B.C. to be its own best customer”
SFU professor Mark Jaccard: “there is no environmental or save-the-planet case for burning natural gas in British Columbia”
Ed Mansfield, Ph D — Partner, Consulting (Economics & Analytics Leader)
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SPECTRA ENERGY CORP. (NYSE:SE)
Houston, TXCEO: Gregory Ebel Employees: N/AMarket cap: $17.6bP/E ratio: 16.81EPS: $1.62
SOURCES: STOCKWATCH, NYSE, GLOBE INVESTOR
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Daily business news at www.biv.com June 14–20, 20114 NEWS
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cleaner burning.Still, they have a hefty price
tag.Stout said a natural gas
truck could cost $80,000 to $90,000 more than its trad-itional diesel counterpart.
Although the cost differ-ence has steered customers away in the past, FortisBC isn’t giving up.
“We’ve provided incen-tives through our energy efficiency programs, demand-side management, to cover the incremental cost of that capital,” said Stout. “We’ve offered to build our own [fuel-ling] stations.”
But getting companies to make the switch to natural gas power vehicles isn’t easy.
Westport Innovations (TSX:WPT), a natural gas en-gine manufacturer in Vancou-ver, continues to sell most of its products outside of B.C.
“The fact is there just hasn’t been the drive, in-centive and interest locally … to move to natural gas,” said Westport spokesman Darren Seed.
If the transportation option doesn’t work out, gas companies are also keen to look at power production.
Spectra met with the prov-incial government last month to talk about the benefits of natural gas power generation.
According to Spectra, natural gas generation costs between $60 and $80 per megawatt hour compared with more than $100 for bio-mass, wind and solar sources.
Natural gas plants also pro-vide a consistent power base, whereas renewable sources are often intermittent, Spectra said. At a time when BC Hydro is looking to increase power rates 32% over the next three years to pay for $6 billion in capital upgrades and the prov-ince is charging ahead with its $7.9 billion Site C hydroelectric project, gas proponents say it might be financially wise to consider other options.
But Simon Fraser Univer-sity professor Mark Jaccard is concerned the business case for natural gas power in B.C. is so positive that the govern-ment might ignore its own clean energy policies and em-brace it.
“I think there’s an excel-lent business case for burn-ing natural gas, which is why there’s a risk that stupid humans would do it,” said Jaccard, the former chairman and CEO of the B.C. Utilities Commission and a renowned climate change expert. “There is no environmental or save-the-planet case for burning natural gas in British Colum-bia.”
In 2009, the Gordon Campbell government closed the door on future natural gas power generation when it relegated the 900-megawatt Burrard Thermal plant in Port Moody to “back-up” status.
Energy Minister Rich
Coleman said he’s reviewing all economic opportunities for natural gas in B.C. He’s keen to see the transportation sector use more natural gas, but said the province’s hydroelectric plans could negate the need for
future gas power production.“At this stage of the game
we’re not in need of the power, because we’re going to build Site C,” Coleman said.
Even if the province were to consider future power produc-
tion from gas, it would have a number of political and en-vironmental hurdles to over-come. The David Suzuki Foundation hasn’t been quiet about the fact that natural gas power plants emit “danger-
ously small” particulates that can harm human health.
There is a lso rising concern about the effect fracking is having on the environment.
In December, New York halted fracking in the state over concerns the process, which injects sand, water and chemicals into the ground, could affect drinking water.
In B.C., the provin-cial government has said it will conduct a health review focusing on the impact of the northeast’s extractive industries. But one of the big-gest risks to B.C.’s natural gas industry is that the cost to ex-tract the resource is sometimes more than the prevailing mar-ket price.
One analyst told Busi-ness in Vancouver it costs between $4 and $6 per thou-sand cubic feet to extract gas from a well. The Alberta spot price for natural gas is $4.02.
Encana (TSX:ECA), one of B.C.’s largest shale gas players, has hedged some of
its price contracts at higher rates to weather the low price environment. But as more and more gas reserves are found, it’s difficult for anyone to say when prices might climb out of the current supply gut.
Encana spokesman Alan Boras said exports to Asia, where gas can be sold for $12 per million cubic feet, would be a major boon for the long-term viability of the industry.
But with export terminals a few years away, the industry remains on tentative grounds.
Stout and Weilenger believe the low-price environ-ment creates more incentive for greater natural gas use.
But Tyler Bryant takes a different stance.
“It just doesn’t seem there’s a lot of economic sense to that gas,” said Bryant, an energy policy analyst at the David Suzuki Foundation. “For some reason we have this natural gas industry which doesn’t seem to be that competitive.” •[email protected]
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Fortis vice-president Doug Stout: “if you don’t want transmission lines built through your backyard, then how do we better use all the other resources we have on a more system-integrated approach?”
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June 14–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver 5News
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Daily business news at www.biv.com Business in Vancouver June 14–20, 20116
Raincoast Books snags major American clientThe sixth largest commercial book publisher in the U.S. has contracted a Vancouver company to distribute its books across Canada, thereby shunning many large Toronto-based book distributors.
New York-based Macmil-lan Publishers chose Rain-coast Book Distribution Ltd. to handle sales, distribution and marketing for the Macmil-lan imprints previously sold by H.B. Fenn and Co.
“It’s a big deal because of how big they are as a publish-ing entity,” Raincoast’s vice-president of marketing, Jamie Broadhurst, told Business in Vancouver June 9.
Both companies will begin transitioning immediately and Raincoast will be responsible for selling Macmillan’s fall lists.Friday June 10
Coastal Contacts sues former employee Vancouver-based online contact lens seller Coastal Contacts Inc. is suing former employee Nelson Tin for allegedly misappropriating confidential information and using it to launch a compet-ing venture named IseeIsee Optical.
Tin was a laboratory supervisor when he left Coastal Contacts (TSX:COA) in October 2010.
According to the lawsuit filed June 1, Tin’s position gave him access to supplier lists, customer lists and detailed financial information. Thursday, June 9
Travel bloggers in town for conferenceThe world’s largest gathering of travel bloggers is coming to Vancouver for the Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) conference at the Vancouver Convention Centre June 11 and 12.
The conference will bring approximately 550 North American travel bloggers and travel industry professionals here for professional develop-ment.
This is the first time Vancouver has hosted the TBEX conference, which has previously been held in New York and Chicago. Thursday, June 9
Dix misinforming the public, Falcon saysB.C. Finance Minister Kevin Falcon accused NDP leader Adrian Dix June 8 of “embarking on an Alice-in-Wonderland misinformation campaign by trying to con-vince British Columbians that 12 is less than 10,” Falcon said.
Dix kicked off his Vote Yes campaign at his family’s home in Burnaby June 7.
Even if the tax drops 10%, as the Liberal government promises, Dix said the HST still represents a $1.3 billion shift onto consumers.
Falcon took aim at Dix’s claims that a two-income family with each parent earn-ing $50,000 is paying more than $1,000 a year in extra tax under the HST.
Falcon said that under the “improved HST,” the average family will be $120 ahead.
Thursday, June 9
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Financier-philanthropist sparks boardroom battleSam Belzberg pushing to replace Bennett Environmental’s board of directors
By Glen Korstrom
One of Vancouver’s best-known investors and
philanthropists is plotting a boardroom coup because of numerous disagreements with a soil remediation com-pany’s board.
S a m Bel zberg to ld Business in Vancouver that he is frustrated that the board of Bennett Environ-mental Inc. (TSX:BEV) has “not done anything to e n h a n c e s h a r e h o l d e r value.”
Specifically, he gripes that the company: •is attempting, without a shareholder vote, to ram through a merger that is “dilutive, high-risk and non-arm’s-length;”•has not made any “value-enhancing” acquisitions de-spite declaring two years ago its intention to make some;•passed up the opportun-ity to buy one of Belzberg’s companies at a price that was less than what the com-pany eventually sold for;•has a board with a “lack of transaction experience”;•is burning money while idling its only soil remedi-ation plant in Quebec;•has a “highly unusual stock option backstop-ping guarantee” that en-ables management to exer-cise stock options and then sell the resulting stock to a securities dealer instead of the open market – a situa-tion that allows directors to get the best possible price while leaving the company with the risk of reselling the
shares at a lower price;•is considering issuing a cash dividend when that money would be better spent making acquisitions; and•paid a director $93,000 in 2010 and $50,000 so far this year to draft letters of intent and perform due diligence – a situation that he believes taints the independence ex-pected of board members.
“It’s a shame, but some-times you have to do certain things in life to keep going,” Belzberg said.
Shareholders have until June 24 to have their proxy votes received by the com-pany.
A meeting will then be held June 29.
Belzberg embarked on his successful business ca-reer by founding City Sav-ings and Trust in Edmon-ton in 1962. He moved to Vancouver in 1968 and eventually built his First City Financial Corp. into what was reported to be a $7 billion company.
He is quick to say he is not a billionaire. He has, however, given several $1 million donations to Simon Fraser University. First, it was so the university could create the Samuel and Frances Belzberg Library. More recently he donated $1 million to the university’s Wosk Centre and $1 million to its new SFU Woodward’s campus.
The 82-year-old’s Second City Capital Partners owns a 23.2% stake in Bennett.
He has convinced I.A. Investment Counsel Ltd., which owns a 18.2% stake in the company, to back his preferred slate of directors: •Farris Vaughan Wills and Murphy LLP partner Mitchell Gropper; •Greenstone Venture Part-ners partner Livia Mahler; •McMillan LLP partner John Reynolds; •S e c o n d C i t y m a n -a g i n g d i r e c t o r Jamie Farrar; and •Toronto private equity ex-pert Ian Kidson.
Belzberg and his sup-porters are now attempting to convince sharehold-ers who own the remain-ing 68.6% of the company to back that slate.
“Read his letter to share-holders. It ’s of fensive,” Bennett’s current CEO Jack Shaw told Business in Van-couver. “I find it offensive that Mr. Belzberg has pre-tended that certain things weren’t disclosed.”
Bennett’s core business is remediating soils that have persistent organic com-
pounds (POCs), which are difficult to remove from soil. It’s an expensive ser-vice that customers would not buy if regulators did not force them to.
Shaw describes the busi-ness as “lumpy” because work comes in f its and starts.
The company’s thermal treatment facility is most efficient when it operates around-the-clock. So Ben-nett’s plant operates at full capacity for several months and then temporarily shuts down. Shaw expects to re-open the plant in August.
Shaw defended h i s board’s experience stick-handling acquisitions and said that there is no require-ment that directors have large stakes in the com-pany.
“I hold 600,000 shares that are currently trading at $2 each,” Shaw said.
“For me, that’s a dispro-portionate amount of my net worth.” •[email protected]
Investor Sam Belzberg: frustrated that the board has “not done anything to enhance shareholder value”
Bennett Environmental Inc. CEO Jack Shaw: “I find it offensive that Mr. Belzberg has pretended that certain things weren’t disclosed”
June 14–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver 7News
Ric
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BY THE NUMBERS Losses are shown in brackets. Graph information by Stockwatch.
Iplayco Corp. Ltd. (TSX-V:IPC)
▼32% ($198k) ($0.02)Play time: Langley-based Iplayco saw sales in its manufacturing division tumble 41.7% in the second quarter of 2011 compared with the same period the year before. This while revenue at its Family Entertainment Centre operations was up 5.4%. The economic downturn has resulted in lower demand for its larger play structures. The company finished the period with negative cash flow of $216k.
Revenue: $1.3m3 months 2011
Net income 3 months 2011
Earnings per share 3 months 2011
BioteQ Environmental Technologies Inc. (TSX:BQE)
▼48% ($1.3m) ($0.02)Sewered: The environmental-technology company saw revenues drop 48% in the first quarter because sales were actually substantially higher for the first period in 2010, which was the result of one-time revenue from a plant in Yukon. The company ended the period with $6.1m in cash and had no debt. BioteQ also saw its net loss for the period increase 82% to $1.3 million.
Revenue: $1.3m3 months 2011
Net income 3 months 2011
Earnings per share 3 months 2011
Western Wind Energy Corp. (TSX-V:WND) Figures in U.S. dollars
▲4% ($398k) ($0.01)Trade winds: Western Wind saw an increase in wind energy sales to $511k in the first quarter of 2011 due to a 38% increase in energy production, though that was partially offset by a decrease in price due to lower natural gas prices. The increase in energy production was the result of stronger winds. Construction at two wind farm projects are on budget. The company finished period with $1.1m in cash.
Revenue: $511k 3 months 2011
Net income 3 months 2011
Earnings per share 3 months 2011
$0.00
$0.10
$0.20
$0.30
$0.40
J A O D F A
$0.00
$0.40
$0.80
$1.20
J A O D F A
$0.0
$0.5
$1.0
$1.5
$2.0
J A O D F A
Complacency and inefficiency limiting B.C.’s global opportunity, conference toldInaugural economic-outlook conference in Whistler challenges business and government to tackle weaknesses in B.C.’s economy to ensure that the province continues to prosper over the next decade
By Richard Chu
BC’s entrepreneurs, execut ives and
their employees will have to work hard to capitalize on the province’s economic opportunities over the next decade.
That was one of the key messages delivered to nearly 200 attendees at this year’s inaugural two-day economic-outlook confer-ence held June 5 and 6 in Whistler.
The Whistler Outlook Symposium examined a host of issues focused on the question: is B.C. pos-itioned to prosper over the next 10 years?
The short answer: yes. Analysts and econo-
mists ranging from Andrew Ramlo of the Urban Futures Institute and Sam Shaw, Encana’s vice-president of natural gas policy and development to Niels Veld-
huis of the Fraser Institute and Roger Gibbins of the Canada West Foundation noted B.C.’s vast opportun-ities and its natural pos-ition as the gateway between Canada and Asia for trade, investment and talent.
But poor labour pro-ductivity along with com-placency and the inability
of business and political leaders to adapt to a vola-tile global economy remain key roadblocks to exploiting that potential.
B.C.’s productivity level has consistently remained low for decades.
A c c o r d i n g t o B C Stats, that productivity is below the national aver-
age and exceeds only the Atlantic provinces.
W hi le a signi f icant investment in technology is required to help boost pro-ductivity in B.C., Ramlo said business cultures need to do more to promote the sharing of experience among differ-ent generations of workers and executives to improve
efficiency and processes. “We need to work on
downloading the informa-tion from the older genera-tion to the newer one more effectively,” he said.
Gibbins also warned agains being complacent about marketing B.C.’s strengths to the world.
He said the province
remains a relatively small player on the world stage so it needs to work continual-ly to attract the attention of potential buyers.
“The reality is, we have to beat the path to the world’s door.
“We’re not alone in hav-ing what the world wants.”
Roger Gibbins, Canada West Foundation: it’s a mistake to be complacent about marketing B.C.’s strengths to the world
Peter Leitch, Motion Picture Production Industry Association of BC chairman: governments need to be better co-ordinated
Pascal Spothelfer, BC Technology Industry Association CEO: vital for B.C.’s tech sector to grow to the point where it can export its products and services
Fiona Famulak, president of the Whistler Chamber of Commerce: the 16 speakers at the symposium bullish about the prospects for B.C.
Andrew Ramlo of the Urban Futures Institute: business cultures need to do more to promote the sharing of experience among different generations of workers
see Talent, 9
Daily business news at www.biv.com June 14–20, 20118 Finance
B.C. wages rise 1.3% in q1 Province lags behind national increases
▲1.6% ▲1.3% ▲2.6% ▲1.7%Labour
income in 2011 Q1
(Canada)
Labour income in 2011 Q1 (B.C.)
Labour income in 2011 Q1
(Alberta)
Labour income in 2011 Q1
(Manitoba)wages, salaries and benefits earned by B.C. workers grew 1.3% (seasonally adjusted) during the first quarter. The increase in labour income was slightly lower than the national average (1.6%). newfoundland and Labrador (2.9%) and alberta (2.6%) posted the strongest growth rates. in the rest of the country, labour income rose at rates ranging from 0.7% in nova scotia to 1.7% in Manitoba.
B.C. restaurant receipts decline further in MarchReceipts at food services and drinking places in the province fell (-0.6%, seasonally adjusted) in March, marking the third consecutive month of declines. Drinking places were hardest-hit, but food service establishments also saw revenues drop in March. BC was the only province to record lower sales in April.
-BC stats infoline, issue 11-22, June 3
B.C. sawmills see year-over-year boost in March B.C.’s sawmills registered yet another year-over-year boost in March as output of lumber jumped 6.6%. Both Coastal (7.5%) and Interior (6.5%) mills ramped up lumber production significantly. Nationally, production was also higher (0.7%) than in the same month last year.
-BC stats infoline, issue 11-22, June 3
Non-resident investment climbs in 2011 Q1 Investment by non-residents in Canadian bonds, stocks and the money market increased $21.8 billion in the first quarter. Foreign investment in Canadian bonds slowed to the lowest level since late 2008, but investment in stocks continued to strengthen.
-BC stats infoline, issue 11-22, June 3
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Tourism needs to focus on finding the next “Olympic” eventMark Andrew, Paci f ic Northwest regional vice-president for Fairmont Ho-tels and Resorts, noted that the tourism sector must guard against believing its own public relations about the significance of events like hosting the 2010 Win-ter Olympics and obtaining approved-destination status from China in boosting our reputation abroad.
While these events will help keep B.C. on the radar of international tourists, Andrew said the province needs to think about the next big global event that will again draw the world’s eye to B.C.
“If you go to Beijing, they see B.C. as being very much like the rest of Can-ada, which they now have access to. But it’s not as near on the map as Europe or other parts of Asia. We can’t rest on our laurels of the Olympics.”
Andrew also advised that the sector should not neglect its existing tourism markets as it focuses on new markets like China.
“The business from Asia is huge, but the business we’ve got from the U.S., Australia and Europe is even bigger. Australia pro-duces thousands of room nights for [our B.C.] prop-erties because people are coming here for the experi-ence. As we sell the experi-ence, we need to adapt it to lots of different markets. It’s so much more than moose, mountains, Mounties and maple leafs.”
Attracting global companies is key to B.C.’s film industry growth Peter Leitch, chairman of the Motion Picture Pro-duction Industry Associa-tion of BC, said the various levels of government need to be better co-ordinated to avoid decisions that can deter world-class companies from operating in B.C.
He pointed out that recent changes to Canada’s immigration policy that limit the time foreign work-ers can stay in Canada are potentially damaging to his industry.
“It will affect us from day one, because, they’ll say, ‘You know, we’re not going to be able to bring up some of our talent, so we might as well not start here.’”
Such deterrents a lso hamper the industry’s abil-ity to attract the industry’s biggest players like Pixar, Deluxe, and Sony to B.C., which he says is vital to develop the province’s film sector by providing the training ground to improve the skills of the local talent pool.
“It’s one of the most important things we can do, [because] we don’t have the time to train people up to speed as fast as we need to be competitive. The best train-ing you can get is bringing the best companies in the world up here.”
Developing the prov-ince’s talent is key to trans-
forming B.C. from being simply a film location into a centre for film production.
While B.C. continues to attract productions from Los Angeles, he said the domestic industry a lso needs to look at itself as a business.
“We don’t seem to create things to sell to the world market or figure out where the market is before we create them.”
Bottlenecks threaten B.C.’s resource boomTim McEwan, president and CEO of Initiatives Prince George Develop-ment Corp., noted that skills shortages, infrastruc-ture bottlenecks and ineffi-cient regulation threaten to dampen the potential for growth in the resource sec-tors across the province.
Skills shortages are al-ready acute in northern jurisdictions like Prince George, where unemploy-
ment is at 5.7%. “We’re near full employ-
ment as we speak, so we have to focus on building capaci-ties in aboriginal commun-ities and focus on immigra-tion.”
Strengthening managerial talent vital to tech sector developmentPascal Spothelfer, president and CEO of the BC Tech-nology Industry Associa-tion, noted that for B.C.’s technology companies to tap the global market, the prov-ince’s tech sector must grow to the point where it can ef-fectively export its products and services. That remains a challenge even though the tech sector is among B.C.’s fastest growing sectors.
Spothelfer noted that key challenges to improving the sector’s export potential in-clude a shortage of capital and a dearth of management capable of developing small businesses into medium-sized companies.
“There is a shortage of capital, but we also don’t have enough people who know how to take a com-pany from 10 people to 100. And unless you are a 100-person company, you can’t export effectively. If you can’t export effectively, you can’t grow.”
Complacency will continue to slow economic growthSpeakers emphasized the need for entrepreneurs and business and government leaders to address the road-blocks to B.C.’s prosperity.
F i o n a F a m u l a k , president of the Whistler Chamber of Commerce, said, “It’s fair to say that the 16 speakers at the sympo-sium are quite bullish about the prospects for B.C., but there is work to do. Bear-ing in mind that 98% of our business base is small busi-ness, it has to happen at the grassroots.”
In closing the conference, Gibbon said, “B.C. has a great foundation, but it’s up to us to build on that foundation. This means that if we are to be resilient in the face of unrelenting global change, we must be thoughtful of the future. We can’t just sit back and let the future hap-pen to us. We have to step up to the challenges we anticipate and don’t live in a status quo world. I still believe intensely that B.C. has an extraordinary future, but B.C.’s success in a global economy is not a given.” •[email protected]
Talent: Executive expertise in short supply from Complacency, 8
“It’s fair to say that
the 16 speakers at
the symposium are
quite bullish about the
prospects for B.C., but
there is work to do.
Bearing in mind that
98% of our business
base is small business,
it has to happen at
the grassrooots”– Fiona Famulak,
president,Whistler Chamber of Commerce
June 14–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver 9finance
Alpha Technologies Ltd. clients run the gamut from
telecom providers to cable TV broadcasters, from traffic signal-and-light controllers to security systems, but they all have one thing in common. They need reliable, high-quality, uninterrupted power to keep their own customers happy by avoiding service interruptions.
“We build power electronics and related products to power critical facilities, systems, and devices to maintain operations,” says Dave Boroevich, Vice President of Marketing at Alpha Technologies.
Alpha Technologies customers also need customized solutions from a manufacturer that understands the unique requirements and constraints of each of these industries. Boroevich says that Alpha Technologies is very good at understanding each of its customers and their markets, and knows each has unique power requirements.
“One solution does not fit all,” says Boroevich. “We design and engineer solutions for each application. We use AC, DC, and renewable energy solutions and we choose what is best, given a customer’s specific situation. These solutions often include back-up batteries and sophisticated enclosures. It’s not just the power; we tailor the entire system to fit together. ”
It is an approach borne 35 years ago when company founder, Fred Kaiser, was personally unhappy with the reliability of the cable signal in his home. TV, he thought, lacked reliability in the provision of service. He used his engineering background and developed a solution which he built and sold to Delta Cable, Rogers, and others. From this humble beginning, the
company evolved into the de facto solution for power for cable networks worldwide, and has captured more than 90 per cent of the North American cable market.
Boroevich says that founder Kaiser had the foresight to see an explosion in the cable TV business and focused on the market at a time when no one else was pursuing it. The company’s technology was welcomed with open arms, he says, and that welcome still exists today.
“The company then moved into like applications in the telecom industry, which needed a different solution but the same essential application: keeping the network working all the time. Using our core competencies, we built a solution that could operate in a rugged environment, often an extreme environment with dust, wind, hot and cold temperatures. It is a sustainable solution that can operate reliably in these conditions,” says Boroevich.
The key with uninterrupted power sources is they are not needed until something else goes wrong, so they must work when needed. Boroevich says Alpha Technologies has the expertise to understand the industries it works in, and to design solutions that won’t fail.
“It’s the same in the traffic and security industries. They have different requirements but all need to work reliably under the same tough conditions.”
“Back-up power is more necessary today than ever before,” says Boroevich. “As consumers we rely on telecom and cable service providers for multiple services: phone, TV, wireless, the Internet. We didn’t have these dependencies before but today, it’s critical we remain connected.”
“That dependence has grown,” he says, adding that the current traditional power grid is more unreliable than before, with its aging post-war architecture beginning to disintegrate. “As overall demand for power increases, the rate of failure is accelerating. It will get worse before it gets better.”
It’s easy to see why reliable, sustainable back-up power is vital to each of us, though we often take it for granted until it isn’t there when we need it. For example, we expect
instant access day or night to our wireless services. In traffic control, when the power is down, intersections can become hazardous with four-way stop procedures, in addition to being inefficient at moving traffic. Security systems, when they lose power, lose all their ability to protect both human and material assets.
“Due to the competitive nature of business, consumers leave if service isn’t reliable,” says Boroevich of telecom and cable service providers. “Companies in these markets need to be at least as reliable as the next guy.”
In January 2010, Alpha Technologies acquired another member of the Alpha Group (a global collective of companies that are dedicated to creating world-class powering solutions for communication, commercial, industrial and renewable energy markets), Argus Technologies.
The two Alpha Group companies had been in operation in Vancouver for 20 years. Coincident with the merger, Alpha Technologies Ltd. consolidated its operations from three disparate facilities into its new 113,000ft2 state-of-the-art headquarters in Burnaby’s Big Bend Industrial Park. This impressive structure is home to Alpha Technologies’ 500+ employees, corporate offices, customer service, R & D labs, AC and DC product production, warehousing, circuit board design, prototype development, and final assembly and testing.
From this new location, the company designs, manufactures, installs, and services powering solutions including ruggedized Uninterruptible Power Supplies and Backup Power Solutions, Power Rectifiers, Converters, Inverters, Indoor and Outdoor Power System Enclosures, Generators, and Batteries.
Boroevich says that the company has experienced tremendous growth, averaging 25 per cent increase in revenues year over year for the past five years, as a result of identifying market opportunities and shaping innovative solutions to address them.
“We are 100 per cent market driven, not technology driven. The opportunities we pursue come to us in the form of powering challenges being experienced by our customers.“
That’s because, he says, Alpha Technologies understands the needs of its customers better than anyone else as the company focuses on unique segments of the power market.
“We live and breathe in the industries where we develop solutions. We’ve got good at it and remain competitive over larger competitors who only dabble in these markets,” says Boroevich.
“We build customized solutions because we understand the unique requirements of our customers, and our solutions address those specific needs. Others simply sell off-the-shelf.”
Further cementing the company’s continued success is its ability to rely on other expertise in the Alpha Group for new solutions in power supply, including integrating solar and other renewable power into customer solutions.
“In our market sectors,” says Boroevich, “people are familiar with Alpha Technologies and what we bring to those markets: reliable, quality solutions specifically tailored to their needs. We are a known and respected entity—buying an Alpha power solution gives decision-makers confidence as they know our solution will work. There’s no worry, just peace of mind. They can focus on their own businesses and let Alpha Technologies focus on the power solution.” u
Alpha Technologies Ltd.Providing reliable, sustainable power solutions
With over three million
powering solutions in operation
globally, for over 35 years
The Alpha Group has been
developing solutions that
solve our customers’ unique
powering challenges
Alpha Modular Power System 80 (AMPS 80) – revolutionary ‘green’ powering technology.
FOCUSONSUCCESS
Company name: Alpha Technologies Ltd.Founded: 1975President & CEO: Mark W. SchnarrContact info: Phone 604-436-5900 Email: [email protected]: www.alpha.ca
❚company profile
Business in Vancouver June 14–20, 201110 Advertising FeAture
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New sunrise for sustainable energy in B.C. as pro-solar campaign launched But keynote speaker at Vancouver conference disagrees with direct subsidies for economically impractical options
By Nelson Bennett
BC’s solar energ y industry is trying
to shine a light through what it believes is a glaring gap in B.C.’s energy policies.
The Stand Up for Solar ca mpaign – of f ic ia l ly launched May 31 at the recent SolarWest 2011 conference in Vancouver – is designed to pressure the B.C. govern-ment into adopting policies that would encourage more solar energy use in B.C.
But one of the conference’s keynote speakers, Mark Jaccard – professor of sustain-able energy at Simon Fraser University, former chairman of the BC Utilities Commis-sion and author of Sustain-able Fossil Fuels – threw cold water on the industry.
If governments are going to directly subsidize renew-able energy, it makes little sense to pick the most expen-sive one, he told Business in Vancouver.
“While I support policies that will help renewables, in-cluding solar, I don’t think it’s wise to run around pre-tending that every jurisdic-tion is going to copy a policy that is extremely biased toward solar at the expense of other renewables,” Jaccard said.
Roughly 50 companies in B.C. are involved in solar energy in one form or an-other. Dave Egles is president of one of them: Victoria’s Home Energy Solutions.
Last year, the company
was commissioned to install a $1.5 million solar energy system for the T’Sou-ke First Nation. The project received some help from the B.C. gov-ernment’s Green Technology Fund.
But Egles, who sits on the Canadian Solar Industries Association (CanSIA) board of directors, said the B.C. gov-ernment’s energy policies vir-tually ignore the solar sector.
“We want to see B.C. in-clude solar energy in its port-folio,” he said. “Up until now, they’ve said they’re only inter-ested in cheap electricity, and they have put out really, really lofty goals for conservation.”
The government of On-tario directly subsidizes solar power through feed-in tar-iffs. But as Jaccard points out, those kinds of subsidies are vulnerable to political whim.
“The party that is leading in the polls for the upcoming election in Ontario says they’ll kill that thing,” he said.
And due to a glut of solar products – followed by re-ductions in feed-in tariffs in Europe – Vancouver’s Day4 Energy Inc. (TSX:DFE) has been hammered recently by falling orders and prices for its photovoltaic modules.
Jaccard said the viability of a given renewable energy is largely dependent on its re-gion. In places like the Mojave Desert – or even Kamloops – solar energy may make eco-nomic sense, whereas it might not in overcast coastal B.C.
In San Bernadino Coun-ty, California, for example, BrightSource Energy is building a massive $2.2 billion solar thermal energy plant that capitalizes on the
region’s sunny climate. It will use 347,000 mirrors
spread over 5.5 square miles focusing sunlight onto tower-mounted boilers, which will produce steam to drive tur-bines and produce 370 mega-watts of electricity.
Such a project in B.C. is unlikely, because solar power can’t compete with B.C.’s cheap, clean hydroelectric power or plentiful and rela-tively cheap natural gas. That’s especially so, Jaccard said, when industries that burn natural gas can use the atmosphere as “a free waste receptacle.”
Egles said his industry is not trying to compete with large-scale utility power generators. But he added that solar can make sense as a form of energy conservation on smaller scales, especially
given that BC Hydro’s future energy policies are largely posited on conservation.
“Seasonally, it can con-tribute, and in the not-so-far future, it’ll contribute cheap-er than anything to do with fossil fuels,” Egles said. “It will be the cheapest source of electricity that a homeowner could choose to buy.
“It’s more expensive now, but as it grows it’s clearly on a track for grid parity. Within about 10 years, solar electri-city will be cheaper than BC Hydro’s electricity.”
However, Jaccard said that such claims are counter-productive. For one thing, an MIT study that he pre-sented at last week’s confer-ence shows natural gas prices remaining cheap, thanks to abundance created from newly discovered shale gas re-serves all over North Amer-ica – something he said solar industry advocates appear to be ignoring.
Secondly, he said it lets politicians “off the hook” be-cause they conclude that the solar energy industry can compete with other forms of energy production without any government support.
Jaccard believes govern-ments need policies that encourage renewable energy. He favours policies like the one Japan recently adopted, in which all new buildings must have solar thermal ener-gy for heating water included in the building.
But he doesn’t believe gov-ernments should pick and choose which renewable ener-gy sectors to support through direct subsidies, especially the most expensive one.
“Our goal is not to have solar – our goal is not to de-stroy the planet,” he said. “And if you try to achieve your goal the most expensive way possible, you risk putting in place a policy that won’t endure.” •[email protected]
Ray Chan, project manager for Home Energy Solutions: inspecting the work he did on a 75kW solar installation for the T’Sou-ke Nation
“Within about 10 years,
solar electricity will
be cheaper than BC
Hydro’s electricity”
– Dave Egles,president,
Home Energy Solutions
June 14–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver 11Technology
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REAL ESTATE ROUNDUP
PETER MITHAMHST, rising lease rates boosting demand for office ownership; Bonnis buys Hollywood Theatre
Own or lease?Two new buildings are testing users’ desire to own or lease downtown Vancouver o� ce space.
� e acquisition of 60,000 square feet at the O� ces at Hotel Georgia by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. has broker Avison Young suggesting that strata space is as much in vogue downtown as elsewhere in the Lower Mainland.
“The transaction may signal a trend for downtown o� ce users to acquire their own space,” said Mi-chael Keenan, managing director of the Vancouver o� ce and senior vice-president of Avison Young.
Historically low interest rates and rising lease rates (compounded by the HST, which applies to com-mercial rents) are factors prompting users to consider buying space.
Susan Prins, communications director for the college, said the college has been hoping to buy space since 2002, when it recognized that it was outgrowing its former prem-ises at 1807 West 10th Avenue. It has been leasing space at 858 Beatty Street, but the introduction of the HST lent extra impetus to its quest. � e college doesn’t charge HST on licensing fees, its main source of income, and so is unable to o� set the HST it pays on rent.
� e college considered 24 build-ings in Vancouver and Burnaby before settling on the Offices at the Hotel Georgia. The premises will house o� ces and the college’s library, and ownership will help keep licensing fees lower rather than have them rise to cover rent and taxes.
Terms of the deal, which closed June 3, weren’t disclosed. � e col-lege is now the majority owner in the project’s o� ce component, which totals 71,500 square feet.
Bosa Properties Inc. isn’t being swayed by the factors in favour of strata sales, however.
Strata space at Jameson House on West Hastings that was formerly o� ered for sale is now listed for lease with Cushman & Wake� eld Ltd.
� e property has 58,000 square feet of office space, of which approxi-mately 43,800 square feet is avail-able for lease. Bosa will be moving its o� ces to the remainder.
Bosa president Greg Tylee and Daryl Simpson, the company’s vice-president, sales and marketing, were both unavailable last week for com-ment on Bosa’s reasons for leasing rather than selling the space.
Going HollywoodWord of the historic Hollywood � eatre’s sale and probable closure has been circulating for months. Now, the West Broadway landmark has indeed closed with the conclu-sion of the property’s sale to Dino Bonnis, whose Bonnis Properties Inc. is an active investor on the West Side. RealNet Canada data indicates the deal closed May 30 for $2.9 million.
� e theatre was built in 1935. Last fall, founding owners the Fairleighfamily hosted a 75th birthday party at the Hollywood that included a rousing rendition of “God Save the King” – for George V, of course, the man whose bearded visage adorned Canada’s coinage at the time the theatre opened.
� ere are no concrete plans for the property at this time.
Cycle through changeMay became June, and this columnist took the opportunity between other endeavours to slip in at the back of a couple of pres-entations discussing Vancouver’s urban fabric.
SFU’s City Program welcomed Elizabeth Macdonald, professor of Urban Design at the University of California-Berkeley on May 30 as part of an evening the city co-hosted to discuss the potential for Broad-way to become a “Really Good” street and even a “Great Street” (yes, the capitalization was in the original announcement).
Macdonald’s philosophy was that streets must be flexible and open
to a variety of tra� c types. Pedes-trians should be comfortable using all streets, but other uses should be mixed such that thoroughfares are places to drive through and places to be.
She expounded a vision of streets where, “nobody gets everything they want, but everybody gets a lot.”
No surprise, then that she was happy with “the wonderful experi-ment” the city has been conducting with separated bike lanes on Horn-by and Dunsmuir streets.
“We know it’s been controversial in the city, but we would really ap-plaud it,” she said. “We understand there’s a lot of more who feel com-fortable getting on their bikes.”
Bikes were also the pride of pres-entations to the local Urban Land Institute chapter on June 2 explor-ing land-use scenarios through 2050.
Ken Greenberg, principal of Toronto’s Greenberg Consultants, acknowledged the debate in Vancouver
around bike lanes while hoping that kids might one day ride bicycles to school again. “We’ll still have real vehicles, but they will occupy a very di� erent place in the hierarchy,” he said of cities in 2050.
Vancouver planning director Brent Toderian rounded out the presentations to ULI by noting that bike lanes are key to transporta-tion into Vancouver’s downtown. Toderian said lanes for bicycling, which is second to walking in the downtown transportation plan, are “an incredibly strategic choice” for moving people quickly and greenly through the city. •[email protected]
HST, rising lease rates boosting demand for office ownership; Bonnis buys Hollywood Theatre
to a variety of tra� c types. Pedes-trians should be comfortable using all streets, but other uses should be mixed such that thoroughfares are places to drive through and places to be.
She expounded a vision of streets where, “nobody gets everything they want, but everybody gets a lot.”
May housing starts up 70% in Metro VancouverHousing starts in the Vancouver census metropolitan area were up 70% to 1,991 in May relative to a year ago, according to numbers released by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) this morning.
“What we’re seeing mostly has been increases on the multiple-unit side of construction,” CMHC senior market analyst Robyn Adamachesaid. “So far this year, we’ve seen about a 58% increase.”
Adamache noted that, for the first five months of 2011, Richmond, Coquitlam and Surrey recorded key increases in multiple-unit housing starts. For the City of Vancouver, housing starts were up to 439 in May from 402 a year ago, with starts for multiple-family units rising 15% to 374 and starts for single-detached units dropping 20% to 65.Wednesday, June 8
UBC approves hospiceThe University of British Columbia’s board of governors on June 8 approved a 15-bed hospice on its west side Vancouver campus near a highrise condominium where many residents opposed building the facility.
The approval comes a week after the board of governors’ planning com-mittee gave the project its blessing.
The $10 million project is a joint venture between UBC’s faculty of medicine and the Order of St. Johnand would be operated by Vancouver Coastal Health. Many of the residents are Chinese and told board members in public hearings that it’s bad luck to live near the dying.
UBC spokesman Stephen Owen told media that the best place for the hospice would be integrated into the community.Wednesday, June 8
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Big storey: strata office space adjacent to Delta Land Development Ltd.’s Hotel Georgia recently sold to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C.
Daily business news at www.biv.com June 14–20, 201112 REAL ESTATE
Colliers International
1208 West Pender Street, Fls 1 & 2The Ritz Vancouver
High profile, excellent exposure retail space in Coal Harbour’s The Ritz.
Sherman Scott$27.00/SF Ted Mildon
1097 Nicola AvenueNicola Sation Port Coquitlam
32,943 SF of high quality retail space.Premium location with ideal tenant mix. $14,925,000 Sheldon Scott*
RETAIL
OFFICE
32451 South Fraser WayFraser Way Place Abbotsford
Freestanding pad or in-line CRUfrom 1,100 SF. Centrally located.
$28.00/SF Sean Ogilvie
160,656 SF. Fitness facility, cafeteria and storage. Expires March 30, 2013.
1795 Willingdon Avenue Burnaby
Rob Chasmar*Sublease Jason Mah
Up to 25,069 SF available of premium office/retail strata. Completion early 2012.
5446 152nd Street SurreyPanorama Business Centre
Sale Jason Teahen
4462-4470 Beresford StreetMetroPlace Burnaby
Strata retail units across
from the Metrotown
SkyTrain Station.
Sheldon Scott*Sale Casey Pollard
Newest office developmentwith up to 31,800 SF available.
32988 South Fraser WayEMCO Building Abbotsford
$18.00/SF/annum Jason Teahen
The first quarter of 2011 started the year on a very optimistic note as the Metro Vancouver office market experienced a significant spike in lease activity. Net absorption for the quarter totalled 260,164 square feet, the highest it has been since the second quarter of 2007, and the vacancy rate decreased from 7.6 percent last quarter to 7.5 percent this quarter.
Downtown vacancy is expected to continue to experience downward pressure in 2011 considering there will be no new supply delivered and demand is predicted to remain strong. For many of the Suburban markets, vacancy is expected to remain flat or decrease minimally throughout 2011. This may not be the case for Burnaby, however, as the market is set to receive significant amounts of space back from current tenants.
In the KnowMETRO VANCOUVER OFFICE MARKET OVERVIEW
1310-1360 West 4th AvenueHemlock Station Vancouver
1899 Rosser Avenue BurnabyMadison Centre
2511 Quebec Street VancouverOnQue
1199 Lynn Valley RoadLynn Valley Centre North Vancouver
Investment opportunity on Vancouver’s westside at 4th & Hemlock.
Various retail units available in Burnaby’s Madison Centre.
Up to 4,745 SF of new attractive retail for purchase along Broadway Corridor.
Popular Lynn Valley Mall offers excellent retail opportunities.
Sheldon Scott*$8,500,000 Casey Pollard
$32.00-33.00/SF Brent Heed
Sherman ScottSale/Lease Ted Mildon
$35.00/SF Brent Heed
984 West Broadway Vancouver Broadway & Oak
New LEED® Gold building at Broadway and Oak. Up to 95,000 SF. Lease Marco DiPaolo
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Metro Vancouver Historical Performance
Net Absorption (SF) Current Quarter Weighted Average Asking Net Rent Vacancy Rate
In Q1 2011, Colliers removed over 1.7 million square feet of non-competitive space from its inventory in order to adhere to new North American standards.In Q3 2010, Colliers began calculating its rental rates using a weighted average. As a result, Q3 rental rates appeared to jump, but in reality remained stable.
This document/email has been prepared by Colliers International for advertising and general information only. Colliers International makes no guarantees, representations or warranties of any kind, expressed or implied, regarding the information including, but not limited to, warranties of content, accuracy and reliability. Any interested party should undertake their own inquiries as to the accuracy of the information. Colliers International excludes unequivocally all inferred or implied terms, conditions and warranties arising out of this document and excludes all liability for loss and damages arising there from. This publication is the copyrighted property of Colliers International and /or its licensor(s). © 2011. All rights reserved. This communication is not intended to cause or induce breach of an existing listing agreement. Colliers Macaulay Nicolls Brokerage Inc. (Vancouver). *Personal Real Estate Corporation. PO #11059.
200 Granville Street, 19th Floor, Vancouver, BC, V6C 2R6 | 1 604 681 4111 | www.collierscanada.com
June 14–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver Daily email edition: www.biv.com 13
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Daily business news at www.biv.com Business in Vancouver June 14–20, 201114
InsIde
Weathering the storm – 16BIV talks to Kelowna Flightcraft
On the bleeding edge – 19Retailers innovate to survive
Taking all the credit – 21Companies build profits by putting people first
School of hard rocks – 25New diamond mines for HRA
Thanks for sharing – 27Co-ops’ models for success
TOp 100privaTe cOmpanieSAnnual News Report June 14–20, 2011; issue 1129
B.C.’s private evolutionInnovation key to success for B.C.’s private companies following a flat year of growth, where revenue increases showed up mostly in the financial sector
SponSored by:
By Richard Chu
The Great Recession continues to cast a long shadow over B.C.’s economy.
While many of the province’s largest companies continue to recover from the shocks of the financial crisis, the recovery has neither been as swift nor as uniform across the province’s diverse corporate landscape as many might have hoped.
Overall, this year’s list of top 100 private companies in B.C. had a modest increase in revenue in 2010. Combined revenue of the list rose 1.7% to $59 billion, up from $58 billion in 2009.
By industry, much of the growth can be found in the financial sector. B.C.’s credit unions, for example, posted a new record in profits for the co-operative financial system. Profits for the province’s 45 cred-it unions rose 29.6% to $380.4 million, up from the previous record in 2009 of $293.6 million. (See story, page 21)
B.C.’s largest credit unions contrib-uted to much of that growth. The nine credit unions on this year’s Top 100 list collectively posted a 33.4% year-over-year increase in profit in 2010 to $234.5 million from a 17% increase in revenue to $1.4 billion.
For most financial institutions, rising interest rates that led to a 75-basis point in-crease in the prime lending rate last summer contributed to their record performance. Those increases helped boost margins on most variable-rate lending products, pri-marily in mortgages.
Other financial companies reporting significant growth last year included Ray-mond James Ltd., which posted a 23.6% increase in revenue to $265.7 million, and Industrial Alliance Pacific Insurance, which posted 17.9% revenue growth to $927.3 million, making them among the fastest growing companies year-over-year.
Besides the finance sector, however, revenue growth remained relatively flat for other sectors. B.C.’s largest auto deal-ers, manufacturers and retail companies, collectively posted flat revenue between 2009 and 2010.
But while top-line revenue growth may
be hard to find, that didn’t mean B.C.’s private companies simply stayed with the status quo. B.C.’s corporate landscape con-tinued to grow and evolve last year, with several companies completing merger and acquisition deals. Among companies that grew by acquisition was Burnaby’s Golden Boy Foods, which expanded through its acquisition of Markham, Ontario-based Nutco, which produces private-label peanut butter for Canadian, U.S. and international markets.
Other big deals last year included Dollar Giant ’s sale to Cheasapeake, Virginia-based based Dollar Tree for $62 million, giving the U.S. Fortune 500 company a foothold in the Canadian mar-ket. Earlier this year, Britco Structures became a subsidiary of Vancouver’s West-ernOne Equity Income Fund (TSX:WEQ.UN), in a $93 million deal that closed in early June.
For some of B.C.’s dominant private companies, the need to stay fresh and in-novative continues to be a key to their success. At this year’s conference by the Vancouver chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG Vancouver), Karen Flavelle, CEO of Purdy’s Choc-olates, noted the importance of know-ing when to bring in fresh new ideas and energy, especially in a business that has been around for a long time.
In the case of Purdy’s, which was founded more than a hundred years ago, Flavelle’s focus is to keep the company’s brand relevant to its customer-base that spans generations.
“We need to continually hone Purdy’s image,” said Flavelle. “We never want to be ‘your grandmother’s chocolate.’ That’s something we’ve heard for years for Laura Secord, and so our effort is to continue to be relevant in graphics, design and how we position ourselves in the market.”
Key to that is ensuring its operations and sales processes continue to evolve and become more effective. This includes
bringing in new people at the right time, especially for a family business.
“Being a family business, it tends to mean that the leader of a company is in place for a long time, and I’ve seen the charts of companies that have had the same leader for 20 to 30 years, and it’s not a pretty sight because the perform-ance of the company starts to decline over time. So, I’ve been careful to bring in new people.”
Knowing what’s fundamental for a company to grow is also key. For Kari Yuers of Kryton International, having capable staff and a steady stream of new
products that fill its customers’ needs have remained vital for the company’s double-digit growth over the years.
But even more fundamental is hav-ing sound financial management for the company her father founded. “A power-ful lesson I’ve learned over the past 20 years is that revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, and cash flow is, in fact, reality. I’ve been mindful how important it is to have cash. It pays dividends with regards to being able to do what may seem like a risky thing. But when it works out, you’re a hero.” •[email protected]
By The numBers
1.7% rise in combined revenue of the Top 100 list from 2009
$59 billion: combined revenue of the Top 100 list
29.6% rise in profits of B.C.’s 45 credit unions
$234.5 million: profits of nine credit unions on the Top 100 list
“We never want to be ‘your
grandmother’s chocolate.’ That’s
something we’ve heard for years
for Laura Secord, and so our
effort is to continue to be relevant
in graphics, design and how we
position ourselves in the market”
– Karen Flavelle, CEO,
Purdy’s Chocolates
Top 10 fastest-growing private companies (2009-2010)Ranked by the percentage change in revenue between 2009 and 2010
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Top 100 private revenue (2004-2010)
$43
$54 $55$58
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2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Top 100 private companies in B.c. – 18, 20, 22, 24
Sponsor’s Message
On behalf of the Certified General Accountants Asso-ciation of British Columbia, I am pleased to congratulate all those who were selected as Business in Vancouver’s Top 100 Public Companies.
The companies who are being honoured have made important contributions to business in B.C. and they deserve to be recognized. What is even more impor-tant, however, is that each company’s success can be so far reaching. Corporations today cannot serve their own interests exclusively but must also consider their impact in the communi-ties in which they operate. This year’s honorees carry on a wonderful legacy of achievement and commu-nity involvement throughout the province and are to be commended.
CGA-BC is a proud spon-sor of these awards. On behalf of our Association’s nearly 15,000 CGAs and CGA students I would like to thank Business in Vancouver for recognizing these remark-able companies. CGA-BC represents accounting professionals who work at every level of government, in public practice and for companies throughout the province. CGAs have been a vital part of the business community in B.C. for more than 60 years and we wish all those who were honoured continued success.
Sincerely,
Bruce Hurst, FCGA Chair of the Board of Governors Certified General Accountants Association of British Columbia
BRUCE HURST, FCGAChair of the Board of
GovernorsCertified General
Accountants Association of British Columbia
Aircraft maintenance company weathers stormKelowna Flightcraft is trimming costs, buying up inexpensive parts and retaining key talent with make-work projects to keep itself strong for the future and to stay competitive
By Jenny Wagler
Meryle Corbett is CFO and dir-ector of finance for Kelowna-
based aircraft maintenance, air cargo and pilot training company Kelowna Flightcraft Group of Companies. BIV talked with her about strategies the company has used to weather the downturn and the high Canadian dollar, the importance of holding onto good talent through tough times and what’s on the horizon for 2011.
What’s your competitive edge?We compete on quality and we get an airplane out on time. Other people will charge way cheaper labour rates, but then you’re stuck in the hangar and they can’t get done on a deadline. If you’re two weeks late with a plane grounded, that’s millions of dollars to the passenger companies. So our focus is quality and timeliness. We get a plane out on time. It doesn’t matter what the barriers. Our theme is really, “Get ‘er done.” You hear that everywhere you go.
Since the recession hit in 2008, which has been toughest year for Kelowna Flightcraft?I think last year was probably our hard-est. Work dried up a little bit in the sum-mertime. But we’ve invested so much in training our employees, what we don’t want to do is have trained a guy on so many different aircraft types and specializations and then lay him off.
If he leaves, then when things ramp up in three months you’ve got to go back and retrain, you’ve got to find them, you’ve got to hire them and then you’ve got to re-invest in training. So we try to stay loyal to our employees and keep the ones that have good skills and expertise. In a downturn, we’d buy some inventory at auction and we’d re-certify it and clean it up and do those kinds of things. We try to find some make-work projects during the slow times to help out.
How is the high Canadian dollar impacting the company?We have to buy U.S. parts in order to service our planes and a lot of the planes we service are Boeing. We buy a lot out of the Seattle area and from all over the States. So that costs us on the purchasing side although we can
manage currency risk a little bit. The other thing on the Canadian
dollar is the labour rates we charge are always compared to the U.S. labour rate down in the Southern states or even down in South America, where they’ll charge $40 or $45 an hour to do the same kind of airplane labour, whereas right now, $65 to $68 is our rack rate. So there’s quite a difference. The problem [for customers] is, sometimes if you can be a little more efficient on costs, some-times you get what you pay for.
What strategies did you employ to achieve your 2010 results?We got lucky in 2010 because we were able to successfully gain a military contract for search and rescue off the coast of B.C. We do all the mainten-ance for them. So that contract was worth between $30 and $40 million and that helped absorb some of the downturn we would have normally have had where other companies were struggling.
Have you pursued any new cost-cutting measures?We’ve always been pretty cheap here. It’s the culture of the company: when you can save costs it goes right to your bottom-line profitability. And that impacts our employee bonus system so everybody’s fairly conscious of it. We went out to bid to find IT cost savings last year. We’re saving six figures on some of our IT stuff by
standardizing to one telecommunica-tions provider. Instead of four differ-ent companies supporting four differ-ent bases, one company can support all of them, streamline the processes and give us some savings. We’ve also been using our technology to under-stand our vendor patterns, where we spend a lot of money and going back and saying, “Look, we spend this many millions of dollars with you, we need better discounts or we want freight concessions or something.”
Have tough times pushed you to look at this more closely?It adds to it. It gives us that little extra incentive to do that. When you’ve got a hot market and you’re desperate to hire people because the economy’s climb-ing, there’s not enough time to always focus on that, whereas here we know we have to focus down to stay efficient. And your suppliers are more willing to receive it that way too because they’ve got to compete for their survival so they’re willing to bend a little.
We try and make it a win-win. We can lock in a long-term relationship with a supplier. They win because they know they can rely on us to keep or-dering from them. And we win because we have known costs and an ability to keep it down. To me, win-win always works better.
What do you see ahead for 2011?I think the landscape is going to stay volatile. We don’t know where the Canadian dollar is going to go. It can go from US$1.20 to US$0.90 in a
matter of months. You have to always be ready and be on your game because you never know when you’re going to get a similar kind of situ-ation. It could bounce all over the place. So we manage the risk on those things and we watch it. The business and market is picking up just slight-ly. There’s more interest in our work. We’re booked out a couple months longer than we would have been this year in terms of maintenance projects in our hangars, so that’s good news.
What are your top goals for 2011?We’ve got 600 jobs here in Kelow-na. Our first goal is that we’ve got to keep livelihoods going in the com-munity. We don’t have to make big profit when times are down. We want to keep customers happy so they remember a good experience. And then we’ll pick up later when times are better.
But what we’re doing is we’re shifting strategy to do things like go pick up better deals on the market when you can buy inventory at auc-tion and stockpile your parts so that when you need your parts in two years and the market’s gone crazy again, you got them in at a deal at the low times.
Our volume is probably going to be maybe 10% higher than last year. The HST helps a little bit. Lots of little things have just starting to pick up. But just because it’s picking up doesn’t mean you can sit back, kick your feet up and relax yet. •[email protected]
Meryle Corbett, CFO and director of finance, Kelowna Flightcraft Group of Companies: “just because [business] is picking up doesn’t mean you can sit back, kick your feet up and relax yet”
Engine shop assembly technician Kris Ramberg puts finishing touches on a recently repaired Pratt&Whitney JT8D aircraft engine used to power one of Kelowna Flightcraft’s Boeing 727 cargo freighter aircraft
Kelowna Flightcraft Air Charter is the exclusive air cargo carrier for
Purolator Courier
Daily business news at www.biv.com June 14–20, 201116 Top 100 privaTe companies
June 14–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver Daily email edition: www.biv.com 17
We see more than numbers.
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This list sponsored by Canaccord
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FINANCIAL PLANNING WEALTH CREATION TAX PLANNING RETIREMENT PLANNING PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
Top 100 private companies in B.C.Top 100 private companies in B.C.
Ranked by 2010 revenue
Company Principal(s)Majorityshareholder
Yearfounded
B.C.employees'11/'10
Assets'10/'09(000s) Primary business Partial list of subsidiaries
Revenue '10/'09 (000s)% change
1 Jim Pattison Group1067 Cordova St W Suite 1800, Vancouver V6C 1C7P:604-688-6764 F: 604-694-6917 www.jimpattison.com
Jim Pattison, managingdirector, CEO and chair Jim Pattison 1961 NP
17,889NPNP Diversified
Jim Pattison Auto Group, Overwaitea FoodGroup, Buy Low Foods, Canadian Fishing Co.,Genpak, the News Group, Pattison SignGroup, Pattison Outdoor, the Jim PattisonBroadcast Group, Ripley Entertainment,Westshore Terminals
$7,200,000$7,100,0001%
2Best Buy Canada Ltd8800 Glenlyon Pkwy, Burnaby V5J 5K3P:604-435-8223 F: 604-412-5237www.bestbuycanadaltd.ca
Mike Pratt, president andCOO
Best Buy Co. Inc.(NYSE: BBY) 1982 NP
NP$474,0001
$462,0001
Consumer electronics retailer and e-tailer (home office, home theatre,entertainment and appliances)
None$5,631,4932
$5,783,7242
-3%
3 HY Louie Co Ltd2821 Production Way, Burnaby V5A 3G7P:604-421-4242 F: 604-444-6231 NP
Brandt Louie, CEO Louie family 1933 NPNP
NPNP Wholesale groceries Marketplace IGA, Sonora Resort, London
Drugs, London Air$4,470,0003
$4,400,0003
2%
4 Westcoast Energy Inc1055 Georgia St W Suite 1100, Vancouver V6E 3R5P:604-488-8000 F: 604-488-8500 noms.wei-pipeline.com
NP Spectra EnergyCorp. (NYSE:SE) 1957 NP
NP$11,952,000$11,463,000
Natural gas gathering, processing,transmission and storage anddistribution
Union Gas Ltd., Maritimes and NortheastPipelines LP, St. Clair Pipelines (1996) Ltd.
$3,387,000$3,466,000-2%
5 HSBC Bank Canada885 Georgia St W Suite 300, Vancouver V6C 3E9P:604-685-1000 F: 604-641-2506 www.hsbc.ca
Lindsay Gordon, presidentand CEO
HSBC Holdingsplc 1981 NP
3,932$71,496,000$71,337,000 Banking and financial services
HSBC Capital (Canada) Inc., HSBC FinancialCorporation Ltd., HSBC Investment Funds(Canada) Inc., HSBC Global AssetManagement (Canada) Ltd., HSBC Securities(Canada) Inc., HSBC Trust Company(Canada)
$2,493,000$2,576,000-3%
6 FortisBC4
1111 Georgia St W Suite 1000, Vancouver V6E 4M4P:604-576-7000 F: 604-592-7677 www.fortisbc.com
John Walker, president andCEO Fortis Inc. 1897 2,072
2,0235$6,646,241$5,148,9005
Utility - Natural gas, electricity andalternative energy solutions
FortisBC Energy Inc., FortisBC Energy(Vancouver Island) Inc., FortisBC Energy(Whistler) Inc.
$1,830,014$1,686,7005
8%
7 Ledcor Group of Companies1067 Cordova St W Suite 1200, Vancouver V6C 1C7P:604-681-7500 F: 604-681-9700 www.ledcor.com
Ron Stevenson, COODave Lede, chair and CEOCliff Lede, vice-chair
Employee owned(100%) 1947 2,043
1,000NPNP Diversified construction company NP
$1,600,000$2,300,000-30%
8 London Drugs Ltd12251 Horseshoe Way, Richmond V7A 4X5P:604-272-7400 F: 604-272-7579 www.londondrugs.com
Wynne Powell, president andCEOBrandt Louie, chair
H.Y. Louie Co. 1945 NP6,000
NPNP Retail drugs and mass merchandiser TLD Computers Inc.
$1,580,0003
$1,550,0003
2%
9The Futura CorpPO Box 10017, 700 Georgia St W, Vancouver V7Y 1A1P:604-608-6600 F: 604-608-6700 www.futuracorporation.com
Amar Doman, president andCEO
Amar S. Doman(100%) 1999 1,420
1,500NPNP
Building materials distribution andmanufacturing, investments
CanWel Building Materials (TSX:CWX) (24%),Tree Island Industries (TSX:TIL-UN) (19.9%),Hardwoods Distribution (TSX:HWD.UN)(15%), Coast Wholesale Appliances(TSX:CWA.UN) (15%)
$1,400,000$1,440,000-3%
10 CHC Helicopter Corp6
4740 Agar Dr, Richmond V7B 1A3P:604-276-7500 F: 604-232-7385 www.chc.ca
Bill Amelio, president andCEORick Davis, CFO
First ReserveCorp. 1987 NP
NPNPNP
Provider of helicopter services tothe global offshore oil and gasindustry in more than 30 countries
NP$1,400,0003
$1,305,6677%
11 Univar Canada Ltd9800 Van Horne Way, Richmond V6X 1W5P:604-273-1441 F: 604-273-2046 www.univarcanada.com
Randy Craddock, presidentJoel Kallner, vice-president,finance
Univar 1950 107109
NPNP Wholesale chemical distribution NP
$1,306,000$1,314,000-1%
12 Pharmasave Drugs (National) Ltd.8411 - 200 St, Langley V2Y 0E7P:604-455 -2400 F: 604-455-2493 www.pharmasave.com
Sue Paish, CEO Co-op members 1981 70NP
NPNP
National retail drug store chainfranchisor None
$1,300,0007
$1,249,0007
4%
13 Pacific Blue Cross4250 Canada Way, Burnaby V6B 4E1P:604-419-2000 F: 604-419-2990 www.pac.bluecross.ca
Kenneth Martin, presidentand CEO NP
1997 bymerger1942
690683
$436,564$400,981
Group and individual productsinsurance carrier Brtish Columbia Life & Casualty Co.
$1,209,860$1,197,7981%
14 Kal Tire2501 48th Ave, Vernon V1T 3P9P:250-542-2366 F: 250-542-1218 www.kaltire.com
Robert Foord, presidentKen Chaun, CFO Privately held 1953 1,350
1,300NPNP
Tire and mechanical sales andservice None
$1,055,000$857,00023%
15Industrial Alliance Pacific Insuranceand Financial Services Inc2165 Broadway W, Vancouver V6K 4N5P:604-734-1667 F: 604-734-8221 www.iapacific.com
Gerry Bouwers, presidentand COO
IndustrialAllianceInsurance andFinancialServices Inc.
1951 319325
$5,578,678$4,752,777 Insurance and financial services NP
$927,272$786,74418%
16Hub International Canada West Co3875 Henning Dr, Burnaby V5C 6N5P:604-293-1481 F: 604-293-1493www.hubinternational.com
Tina OsenChad Robertson, CEOs NP 1998 870
904NPNP
Commercial, auto, marine, andpersonal insurance products andservices, as well as life andemployee benefits products andservices.
None$896,277$811,92710%
17 Colliers International200 Granville St Suite 1900, Vancouver V6C 2R6P:604-681-4111 F: 604-661-0849 www.colliers.com
David Bowden, CEO, Canada FirstServiceCorp. 1898 471
460NPNP Commercial real estate services None
$861,900$713,86421%
18 Boston Pizza International Inc5500 Parkwood Way, Richmond V6V 2M4P:604-270-1108 F: 604-270-4168 www.bostonpizza.com
Jim Treliving, co-chairGeorge Melville, co-chairMark Pacinda, president andCOO
Jim Treliving andGeorge Melville 1964 1808
180NPNP Restaurant franchiser None
$853,0009
$848,0009
1%
19 A&W Food Services of Canada Inc171 Esplanade W Suite 300, North Vancouver V7M 3K9P:604-988-2141 F: 604-988-5531 www.aw.ca
Paul Hollands, president andCEO Privately held 1956 110
95$120,210$111,448 Quick-service restaurants A&W Root Beer Beverages of Canada Inc.
$794,000$757,0005%
20Charlwood Pacific Group1199 Pender St W Suite 900, Vancouver V6E 2R1P:604-718-2600 F: 604-718-2678 www.uniglobetravel.comwww.century21.ca
Gary Charlwood, chair andCEO
Charlwood family(100%) 1972 NP
NPNPNP
Travel agency and real estatefranchiser
Uniglobe Travel International Ltd., Century21 Canada LP, Centum
$760,0003
$760,0003
0%
21 BC Ferry Services Inc1112 Fort St, Victoria V8V 4V2P:250-381-1401 F: 250-388-7754 www.bcferries.com
David Hahn, president andCEO NP 1960 4,500
NP$1,806,973$1,841,900
Ferry services along B.C.'s PacificCoast Pacific Marine Ventures Inc.
$732,305$681,8007%
22Providence Health Care1081 Burrard St, Vancouver V6Z 1Y6P:604-806-8022 F: 604-806-8303www.providencehealthcare.org
Dianne Doyle, president andCEO
ProvidenceHealth CareSociety
2000 6,3976,302
$274,472$292,095
Hospital operator and health-careprovider None
$709,379$664,3217%
23 Northland Properties Corp1755 Broadway W Suite 310, Vancouver V6J 4S5P:604-730-6610 F: 604-730-4645 www.northland.ca
Robert Gaglardi, ChairTom Gaglardi, president
Gaglardi family(100%) 1963 5,400
4,750NPNP Hotels, real estate, restaurants
Northland Asset Management, SandmanHotels Inns and Suites, Dencan RestaurantsInc., Moxies Restaurants, CHOP Restaurants,Revelstoke Mountain Resort
$611,000$549,00011%
24Mitsubishi Canada Ltd200 Granville St Suite 2800, Vancouver V6C 1G6P:604-654-8000 F: 604-654-8222www.mitsubishicorp.com
Masaru Oda, president andCEO
MitsubishiInternationalCorp. (100%)
1965 4040
NP$154,092 International trading None
$560,0003
$739,658-24%
25 The Oppenheimer Group11 Burbidge St Suite 101, Coquitlam V3K 7B2P:604-461-6779 F: 604-461-4781 www.oppyproduce.com
John Anderson, chair,president and CEO John Anderson 1858 101
102NPNP
International marketer of freshproduce None
$533,808$537,625-1%
Sources: Interviews with above companies and BIV research. NR Not ranked NP Notprovided 1 - In U.S. dollars 2 - Converted from U.S. dollars 3 - BIV estimate 4 -Combined financial figures for FortisBC Holdings (formerly Terasen Inc.) and FortisBC5 - Figures for Terasen Inc. only 6 - Acquired by First Reserve Corp. in $3.7 billiondeal in 2008 7 - System-wide sales 8 - 2010 figure 9 - System sales
Business in Vancouver June 14–20, 201118
Business in Vancouver makes every attempt to publish accurate information in The List, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Researched by Richard Chu, 604-608-5114.
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CONSTRUCTION MARINE
REAL ESTATE MANUFACTURING
CONSTRUCTION MARINE
REAL ESTATE MANUFACTURING
700 - 1901 Rosser AvenueBurnaby, British Columbia V5C 6R6
Telephone: 604-294-3301
Toll Free: 1-800-263-3313 www.cmwinsurance.com
BIV Construction Report : 1/4 page junior (4.875”W x 7.125”H) CMYK - May 25, 2011 - Version 4
Global Ability, Made in Canada
Executives on the bleeding edge of changeRetailers introduce new payment technologies and self-serve kiosks as strategies to maintain their market advantage
By Glen Korstrom
Executives at B.C.’s 100 largest private companies understand
that innovation is vital to stay in growth mode. The key, however, is to strike a balance and sometimes not take the risks that can harm those who are on the bleeding edge of change.
Retailers are eagerly watching the rapid evolution in how cus-tomers want to pay for goods and services. Access to the “digital wallet,” which Google Inc. and MasterCard Inc. announced May 26, may come to Canada sooner than many think.
Now being tested in New York and San Francisco, the program allows customers to pay for goods with a wave of their smartphone. It is set to be rolled out across the U.S. this summer among the 120,000 or so retailers who use MasterCard’s proprietary PayPass technology.
“We’ve seen, in the past three years, the unbelievable evolution of what is going on with regard to how people in [Asia] are using their cell phones,” Starbucks Corp. CEO Howard Schultz told a Vancou-ver audience on the same day that Google made its big announcement.
“I’ll make a prediction that in
two years – three years maximum – the amount of commerce that every-one in this room is doing on their smartphone is going to be close to 50% of how you are currently paying for your bills, services, products and things you are going to buy.”
Schulz did not wait to embrace the ability for his American cus-tomers to pay for goods with their iPhones.
He rolled out a program ear-lier this year that does not use Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to send bank account numbers to Starbucks head-quarters. Instead, customers use a
Starbucks app and wave their iPhones in front of a scanner while revealing a barcode that links with the customer’s Starbucks account.
“This is a time in the world when, not only can you not em-brace the status quo, but you must push for reinvention,” said Schultz, who opened his first coffee shop outside Seattle in Vancouver’s Sea-bus terminal. That was in the 1980s, and the shop was named Il Gior-nale. He later bought Starbucks and rebranded the location with that now-ubiquitous moniker.
A&W Food Services of Canada
Inc. CEO Paul Hollands counters that corporate executives’ first priority should be to think about what their customers want and not exclusively about what technology enables the company to provide.
He is closely watching the evolu-tion of digital payment technology but has opted to be more progres-sive when it comes to having self-serve kiosks inside the company’s seven new urban street-front loca-tions.
That’s something Starbucks has not done.
“We don’t want to be the lead-er in the payment technology area simply because we think it’s an area that continues to evolve and we want to make sure that the tech-nology that we do use is proven, safe, secure and what our custom-ers want,” he said.
Hollands’ self-serve kiosks allow customers to touch a screen to select their order and tailored toppings and then to pay by credit card.
The company has recently opened seven prominent street-front urban locations including outlets on Robson Street, at the Seabus terminal and on Alberni Street. Those outlets are a diversion from the company’s historic roots either in malls or as a drive-in restaurant.
The kiosks were selected for those locations because Hollands believes that the demographic who eats there is younger and more tech-nology savvy.
Mountain Equipment Co-op CEO David Labistour told Business in Vancouver that, like Hollands, his big concern about new-fangled technological payment platforms is that they may put customer person-al information at risk.
“We don’t compromise our members’ info in any way,” he said. “We’re looking at everything but we’re looking at it through the lens of, ‘We don’t want to drop the ball like Sony [Corp.]did,’” Labistour said.
That Japanese multinational recently endured the wrath of con-sumers when it had a security breach that put personal information in more than 100 million accounts, mainly in its PlayStation gaming network, at risk.
“The key is not so much innova-tion as adaptability,” Labistour said. “As markets change, opportunities exist all around you. If the rate of change outside your organization exceeds the rate of change inside your organization, you’re going backward.” •[email protected]
travelsmart.ca
TS_Ad_BIV_4.875x7.125_mech.indd 1 11-06-07 2:14 PM
A&W Food Services of Canada CEO Paul Hollands believes that executives’ first priority should be to think about what their customers want and not simply what technology enables the company to provide
June 14–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver 19Top 100 privaTe companies
Top 100 private companies in B.C.Top 100 private companies in B.C.
Ranked by 2010 revenue
Company Principal(s)Majorityshareholder
Yearfounded
B.C.employees'11/'10
Assets'10/'09(000s) Primary business Partial list of subsidiaries
Revenue '10/'09 (000s)% change
26 Seaspan Marine Corp1
10 Pemberton Ave, North Vancouver V7P 2R1P:604-988-3111 F: 604-984-1615 www.seaspan.com
Jonathan Whitworth, CEO Washingtonfamily 1898 NP
NPNPNP
Marine transportation, ship repairand construction and relatedservices
Seaspan International Ltd.; McKay CreekTechnologies; Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd.;Vancouver Drydock Co.; Victoria ShipyardsCo. Ltd., Seaspan Coastal Intermodal Co.
$500,0002
$500,0002
0%
27 Corix Group1188 Georgia St W Suite 1160, Vancouver V6E 4A2P:604-697-6700 F: 604-697-6703 www.corix.com
Brett Hodson, president andCEO
CAI CapitalManagement Co.,B.C. InvestmentManagementCorp.
1999 420365
$689,000$549,800
Products for water and wastewaterdistribution systems to turnkeysustainable multi-utility systemsmanagement
Corix Water Products, Corix Water Systems,Corix Utilities
$486,200$403,60020%
28 Creation Technologies Inc3939 North Fraser Way, Burnaby V5J 5J2P:604-430-4336 F: 604-430-4337 www.creationtech.com
Arthur Tymos, president andCEOMichael Walsh, CFOGeoff Reed, chair
Employee owned 1991 475430
NPNP
Contract electronic manufacturingservices provider NP
$479,000$408,00017%
29 Keg Restaurants Ltd10100 Shellbridge Way, Richmond V6X 2W7P:604-276-0242 F: 604-276-2681 www.kegsteakhouse.com
David Aisenstat, chair,president and CEOJim Croteau, COONeil Maclean, CFO
David Aisenstat 1971 NPNP
NPNP Steakhouse restaurants None
$461,0002
$463,014-0%
30 Inland Group2482 Douglas Rd, Burnaby V5C 6C9P:604-291-6021 F: 604-299-7819 www.inland-group.com
Leigh Parker, chairRichard McConnachie, vice-chairBill Currie, presidentLes Ziegler, CFO
Parker family 1949 517518
$286,734$290,549
North American truck and heavyequipment dealer Inland Kenworth, Parker Pacific; PacLease
$432,123$484,798-11%
31 Mark Anthony Group Inc887 Great Northern Way, Vancouver V5T 4T5P:604-263-9994 F: 604-263-9913 www.markanthony.com
Anthony Mandl, chair andCEO NP 1981 NP
NPNPNP Distributor of alcoholic beverages Mission Hill Family Estate
$425,0002
$415,0002
2%
32Vancouver City Savings Credit Union(Vancity)183 Terminal Ave, Vancouver V6A 4G2P:604-877-7000 or 888-826-2489 F: 604-877-8292www.vancity.com
Tamara Vrooman, presidentand CEO Member owned 1946 NP
2,115$14,468,165$14,410,528
Full service credit union, micro-finance, growth capital, sociallyresponsible real estate development
Citizens Bank of Canada, InventureSolutions Inc., Inhance InvestmentManagement Inc., Vancity InsuranceServices Ltd., Vancity InvestmentManagement, Vancity Enterprises
$424,0143
$381,1653
11%
33 Shato Holdings Ltd4088 Cambie St Suite 300, Vancouver V5Z 2X8P:604-874-5533 F: 604-874-2066 NP
Ronald ToigoPeter Toigo, managingdirectors
Estate of PeterToigo (100%) 1969 3,875
3,675NPNP
Restaurant operations, foodprocessing and real estate
White Spot Ltd., J.D. Sweid Foods, WinrealOperating Co., Delta Town and Country Inn,Tsawwassen Golf & Country Club,Riverhouse Restaurant and Pub
$410,000$420,000-2%
34 Black Press Ltd818 Broughton St, Victoria V8W 1E4P:250-480-3220 F: 250-480-3219 www.bcnewsgroup.com
David Black, president andCEORick O'Connor, COOJohn Walker, CFO
David Black 1969 NPNP
NPNP Newspaper printing and publishing NP
$390,0004
$390,0000%
34 Carter Automotive Group4550 Lougheed Hwy, Burnaby V5C 3Z5P:604-291-2266 F: 604-291-2204 www.carterauto.com
Joe Mitchell, president Carter/MitchellFamily (100%) 1963 NP
560NPNP Automotive dealer
Carter GM Burnaby, Carter Chevrolet NorthVancouver, Carter Chevrolet PortCoquitlam, Carter Dodge Chrysler Ltd.Burnaby, Carter Honda, Carter Motosports,Howard Carter Lease
$390,0002
$390,0002
0%
36 Polygon Homes Ltd1333 Broadway W Suite 900, Vancouver V6H 4C2P:604-877-1131 F: 604-876-1258 www.polyhomes.com
Neil Chrystal, president andCEOMichael Audain, chair
Owned by seniorofficers 1980 150
150NPNP Home building NP
$388,000NPNP
37 Daishowa-Marubeni International Ltd510 Burrard St Suite 700, Vancouver V6C 3A8P:604-684-4326 F: 604-684-0512 www.dmi.ca
Kyo Oshima, presidentMarubeni Corp.and NipponPaper Industries
1969 NPNP
NPNP Pulp manufacturing NP
$386,4774
$386,4770%
38 Vancouver Airport AuthorityBox 23750 APO, Richmond V7B 1Y7P:604-276-5600 F: 604-276-6505 www.yvr.ca
Larry Berg, president andCEO NA 1992 NP
NP$1,827,164$1,887,608 Airport management YVR Project Management, YVR Airport
Services, Vancouver Airport Enterprises$368,842$359,0933%
39 Super Save Group of Companies19395 Hwy No 10, Surrey V3S 6K1P:604-533-4423 F: 604-534-3811 www.supersave.ca
William Vandekerkhove,president
WilliamVandekerkhove(100%)
1977 680685
NPNP
Gas and propane retailing, disposalservices, propane distribution, fenceand portable toilet rentals
Super Save Gas, Super Save Propane, SuperSave Disposal, Super Save Fence Rentals,Super Save Toilet Rentals, Super Cash
$358,000$343,0004%
40 Versacold International Corp2115 Commissioner St, Vancouver V5L 1A6P:604-255-4656 F: 604-255-4330 www.versacold.com
Joel Smith, CEO Eimskip 1946 600616
$266,223$1,466,180
Public refrigerated warehousing andtransportation Various
$339,841$1,318,500-74%
41Openroad Auto Group Ltd13251 Smallwood Pl, Richmond V6V 1W8P:604-273-3233 F: 604-232-5323 www.openroadautogroup.com
Christian Chia, presidentand CEO Chia family 1978 495
473$193,209$174,000
Retail auto dealer with tendealerships and an auto body shopin the Lower Mainland
Middlegate Honda; OpenRoad Hyundai-Richmond; OpenRoad Toyota Port Moody;Richmond Lexus; North Shore Acura;OpenRoad Toyota Richmond, OpenRoadAudi-Vancouver
$338,115$344,000-2%
42 Sunrise Farms13542 73A Ave, Surrey V3W 1C9P:604-596-9505 F: 604-596-6966 NA
Peter Shoore, president Privately held 1983 825800
NPNP Food processing NP
$327,760$289,32813%
43Coast Capital Savings Credit Union15117 101st Ave, Surrey V3R 8P7P:604-517-7400 F: 604-517-7405 www.coastcapitalsavings.com
Tracy Redies, president andCEO Member owned 2000 1,900
1,833$10,407,051$11,126,844 Full-service financial institution Coast Capital Insurance Services Ltd., Coast
Capital Equipment Finance Ltd.$318,4603
$295,3323
8%
44 First West Credit Union5
303—15252 32nd Avenue, Surrey V3S 0R7P:604-501-4260 F: NP www.firstwestcu.ca
Launi Skinner, CEO, FirstWest Credit Union Member owned 1946 1,343
1,150$5,073,009$3,204,964 Full-service credit union
Valley First Financial Services Ltd. WesternInterior Financial Ltd. Valley First Insurance(50%) First West Capital EnvisionInvestment Services Ltd. Envision InsuranceServices Ltd. CU Dealerlink Ltd. EnvisionLeasing Ltd.
$292,8633
NPNP
45 Raymond James Ltd925 Georgia St W Suite 2200, Vancouver V6C 3L2P:604-659-8000 F: 604-659-8099 www.raymondjames.ca
Paul Allison, chairman andCEO
Raymond JamesFinancial, Inc.(NYSE: RJF)
1929 369NP
NPNP Full-service investment firm NP
$265,668$214,88124%
46 Mountain Equipment Co-op149 4th Ave W, Vancouver V5Y 4A6P:604-707-3300 F: 604-731-6483 www.mec.ca
David Labistour, CEO Member owned 1971 633621
$183,304$177,619
Manufacturer and retailer of outdoorclothing and equipment None
$261,374$262,056-0%
47 Imperial Parking Corp (Impark)601 Cordova St W Suite 300, Vancouver V6B 1G1P:604-681-7311 F: 604-681-4098 www.impark.com
Allan Copping, president &CEO
The Gates GroupLLC/ Babcock &Brown
1962 865865
NPNP Parking management NP
$260,5796
$263,0576
-1%
48Gateway Casinos & EntertainmentLimited4621 Canada Way Suite 300, Burnaby V5G 4X8P:604-412-0166 F: 604-412-0117 www.gatewaycasinos.com
Lorenzo Creighton, CEO NP 1992 2,4182,468
NPNP Gaming None
$257,566$248,6674%
49Kelowna Flightcraft Group ofCompanies5655 Airport Way, Kelowna V1V 1S1P:250-491-5500 F: 250-765-1489 www.flightcraft.ca
Barry Lapointe, president RainmakerIndustries Inc. 1970 540
575$452,000$396,000
Aircraft cargo, heavy maintenanceand aircraft modifications, repairand overhaul, avionics, pilot flighttraining, leasing
Kelowna Flightcraft Air Charter Ltd.;Kelowna Flightcraft Limited; Regency AeroLease, Regengy Logistics GP, Allied WingsGroup
$235,000$238,000-1%
50 Nature's Path Foods Inc9100 Van Horne Way, Richmond V6X 1W3P:888-808-9505 F: 604-248-8760 www.naturespath.com
Arran Stephens, founderand presidentRatana Stephens, COO
Stephens family 1985 NPNP
NPNP Breakfast cereal manufacturer NP
$220,0002
$215,0002
2%
Sources: Interviews with above companies and BIV research. NR Not ranked NP Notprovided 1 - Formerly Washington Marine Group 2 - BIV estimate 3 - Net interestincome and other income 4 - 2009 figure 5 - Created following the merger ofEnvision Financial and Valley First Credit Union that closed January 1, 2010 6 -Converted from U.S. dollars
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grgrgrowowowCredit unions holding strong in B.C.’s economySecond and third-largest co-operative financial institutions in B.C. prove that putting people first, whether it’s cutomers or employees, can be profitable
Tracy Redies, CEO, Coast Capital Savings Credit Union: “our purpose is now to change the way Canadians feel about banking forever”
By Jen O’Rourke
Walking the talk of being people-based
and providing simple bank-ing solutions is what ensures the success of two of B.C.’s largest credit unions, accord-ing to their respective CEOs.
Launi Skinner, CEO of First West Credit Union and Tracy Redies, president and CEO of Coast Capital Sav-ings Credit Union agree that when it comes to doing good business, the key is in offer-ing people what they need in a way that they want.
“I think credit unions offer a different f inan-cial-services model at a time when Canadians, and indeed perhaps a lot of people around the globe, are looking for something more from the companies that they do busi-ness with,” said Redies.
“It’s not just about maxi-mizing the bottom line of the company; it’s about the way they treat the people they employ, how they serve the customers that do busi-ness with them and how they work and live in the com-munities they serve.”
Both Coast Capital and First West reported record growth last year and have landed in at numbers 31 and 32 on BIV’s Top 100 private companies in B.C. list.
First West, formed in January 2010 from the merger of Penticton-based Valley First Credit Union and Langley-based Envision Financial, reported an an-nual profit rise of 17.3% to $46.3 million.
Skinner told BIV that through having a larger bal-ance sheet and employee base from the merger, First West has been able to make some important business decisions that increase and diversify several of its portfolios while still keeping things local.
“We’ve seen a number of opportunities over the past year that have presented themselves that we were able to be the financial provider for, and make the difference in the lives of our members because we had a stronger balance sheet that enabled, for example Valley First, to participate where they
wouldn’t have been able to in the past,” said Skinner.
Coast Capital reported an annual jump in profits of 20.4% to $65.4 million, with a large increase in the retail deposits and mortgages in part due the launch of its “you’re the boss” mortgage.
Redies describes Coast’s approach to banking as be-ing simple and fun while offering innovative, com-petitive products aimed at meeting the needs of the average Canadian.
“If we didn’t provide those simple, innovative products that British Colum-bians really like, I don’t think we’d have experienced the growth that we have,” said Redies.
“We’re all about trying to make banking easy and fun. All of this is about differenti-ating ourselves from the big banks. If you speak of fun and easy in banking, it’s almost an oxymoron.”
In a competitive, over-banked Canadian financial market, credit unions in B.C. are showing their strength and place in the market by taking up the first- (Van-City), third- (Coast Capital) and fifth-largest (First West) credit unions in Canada slots (excluding Quebec) in a report released in March by Credit Union Central of Canada.
In B.C., the credit union industry is comprised of 45 individual institutions that employ 8,000 people and have combined total assets under management of $49 billion.
According to Skinner, being a local entity is key for credit union business. Mem-bers have the ability to walk in the door and receive help on the spot for virtually all of their financial needs.
Unlike a bank, which typically requires processing through sending requests such as loan applications to a head office for a decision,
credit unions have the abil-ity to make most decisions in-branch.
Skinner describes the dif-ference this makes in real-world terms.
“If you walked into a local credit union, your ability to get a retail mortgage or even a small-business loan would be made by the local team in that branch versus having to go up to different levels for approval,” said Skinner.
According to Central 1, the central financial facil-ity and trade association for the B.C. and Ontario credit union systems, approximate-ly one-third of British Col-umbians do business with a credit union and a further one-third who have changed their financial institutions have made the switch to a credit union.
Redies uses a unique analogy to exemplify how credit unions such as Coast Capital differ by offering their members help rather than just advice.
“You can think about the concept of help and advice by the example of someone drowning in a lake,” she said. “Advice you get from someone on the shore who’s basically advising that person who’s drowning what the quickest way to get to shore is; help is about throw-ing them a life preserver.”
Another quality that sets credit unions apart in the financial industry is that while still competing with one another, they will come together to make decisions that work towards making the credit union system in Canada and B.C. stronger.
“We also work togeth-er co-operatively behind the scenes so that we know that even together as credit unions we’re stronger,” said Redies. •[email protected]
Launi Skinner, CEO, First West Credit Union: “it’s a pleasure and it’s fun to come to work every day”
“I think credit unions
offer a different financial-
services model at a
time when Canadians,
and indeed perhaps a
lot of people around the
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– Tracy Redies, president and CEO,
Coast Capital Savings Credit Union
Specialists in Sage Accpac Mining Solutions
Call 604.291.6311 or visit our website
www.caronbusiness/mining
June 14–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver 21TOp 100 pRivaTe cOmpanies
list Top 100 private companies in B.C.Ranked by 2010 revenue
Company Principal(s)Majorityshareholder
Yearfounded
B.C.employees'11/'10
Assets'10/'09(000s) Primary business Partial list of subsidiaries
Revenue '10/'09 (000s)% change
51 4REFUEL Canada Ltd9440 202 St Suite 215, Langley V1M 4A6P:604-513-0386 F: 604-513-0397 www.4refuel.com
Jack Lee, president NP 1995 24065
NPNP Fuel management NP
$216,166$229,626-6%
52 Sierra Systems1
1177 Hastings St W Suite 2500, Vancouver V6E 2K3P:604-688-1371 F: 604-688-6482 www.sierrasystems.com
Cal Yonker, CEOWarren Beach, CFO
Golden GateCapital 1966 337
336NPNP
Professional service solutions forbusiness re-engineering & strategy,systems integration, technologyimplementation and applicationmanaged services
NP$209,0002
$209,0000%
53 Coast Hotels & Resorts1090 Georgia St W Suite 900, Vancouver V6E 3V7P:604-682-7982 F: 604-682-8942 www.coasthotels.com
Shuhachi Naito, senior vice-president
Okabe NorthAmerica 1972 NP
NPNPNP
Hotel ownership, management andfranchising None
$208,322$191,8239%
54 Teal Jones Group17897 Trigg Rd, Surrey V4N 4M8P:604-587-8700 F: 604-581-6162 www.tealjones.com
Dick Jones, presidentTom Jones, CEO
Tom and DickJones 1947 770
NPNPNP
Logging, sawmills, planer, shake andshingle mills
Teal Cedar Products, Stag Timber, J.S.Jones, Titan Ridge, Cascade Cedar, TealCedar Lumber
$200,000$250,0003
-20%
55 Aritzia LP611 Alexander St Suite 327, Vancouver V6A 1E1P:604-251-3132 F: 604-251-6575 www.aritzia.com
Brian Hill, CEOBrian Hill,BerkshirePartners LLC
1984 NPNP
NPNP Women's apparel retailer NP
$200,0002
$200,0000%
56 Dueck Auto Group400 Marine Dr SE, Vancouver V5X 4X2P:604-324-7222 F: 604-324-4414 www.dueckgm.com
Stuart Haskins, generalmanager and vice-president Moray Keith 1926 410
440NP$144,857 Auto dealership
Dueck Lansdowne Pontiac Buick CadillacGMC Ltd., Dueck Downtown, Dueck onMarine
$197,469$206,903-5%
57 Ok Tire Stores Ltd19082 - 21st Ave , Surrey V3S 3M3P:604-542-7999 F: 604-542-7990 www.oktire.com
Greg Sims, president andCEO Licensee owned 1953 71
74$128,427$139,984 Tire and automotive services None
$187,851$209,741-10%
58Golden Boy Foods Ltd7725 Lougheed Hwy, Burnaby V5A 4V8P:604-433-2200 F: 604-433-0051www.goldenboyfoods.com
Richard Harris, presidentand CEO
Tricor PacificCapital Inc. 1973 220
300NPNP
Private-label manufacturer anddistributor of peanut butter,snacking nuts, trail mixes, raisins,dried fruits and raw baking nuts
Golden Nut Company Inc$185,000$166,00011%
59 Beedie Group3030 Gilmore Diversion, Burnaby V5G 3B4P:604-435-3321 F: 604-432-7349 www.beediegroup.ca
Keith Beedie, CEORyan Beedie, president
Keith Beedie andRyan Beedie(Privately held)
1954 126118
NPNP
Integrated industrial landdevelopment, construction andproperty management
None$185,000$95,00095%
60 Welco Lumber Corp#110 - 2925 Virtual Way, Vancouver V5M 4X5P:604-732-1411 F: 604-732-3782 www.welcolumber.com
Brad Johansen, presidentand CEO
Brad Johansen,Brian Elcock 1983 25
22NPNP Wholesale lumber distribution NP
$181,274NPNP
61Graham Construction & EngineeringInc7216 Brown St, Delta V4G 1G8P:604-940-4500 F: 604-940-4502 www.graham.ca
Bill Frost, director ofBusiness DevelopementWayne Henderson, VPCommercial
Employee owned 1926 NP120
NPNP
General contracting, constructionmanagement and design build Gracom Masonry, Gracorp Development
$180,000$220,0004
-18%
62 uniPHARM Wholesale Drugs Ltd2051 Vandyke Pl, Richmond V6V 1X6P:604-270-9745 F: 604-270-8537 www.unipharm.com
Ron Gracan, presidentDerek Desrosiers, CEOStephen Mavety, CFO
NP 1980 7878
NPNP
Wholesale distribution ofpharmaceuticals None
$173,602$183,007-5%
63 Central 1 Credit Union1441 Creekside Dr, Vancouver V6J 4S7P:604-734-2511 F: 604-734-5055 www.central1.com
Don Rolfe, president and CEORowland Kelly, COO and CFO
B.C. and Ontariocredit unions 1944 372
382$10,375,582$11,056,676
Wholesale financial services to B.C.and Ontario credit unions
Central Financial Corp. (1989) Ltd., C.U.Financial Services Ltd., Central DataSystems Ltd., Central Risk and InsuranceManagement Services Ltd., InoveraSolutions Inc., Landmark Credit
$169,5175
$226,7005
-25%
64Travelers Financial Corporation4180 Lougheed Hwy Suite 500, Burnaby V5C 6A7P:604-293-0202 F: 604-473-3816www.travelersfinancial.com
Gary ThompsonDennis HolmesJim CaseRoberto Cortese, COO
NP 1986 5545
NPNP
Automotive, aircraft and equipmentleasing NP
$165,000$161,0002%
65 Alpha Technologies Ltd6
7700 Riverfront Gate, Burnaby V5J 5M4P:604-436-5900 F: 604-436-1233 www.alpha.ca
Mark Schnarr, president andCEOJohn Kalbfleisch, COOSam Wong, CFO
NP 1975 475300
NPNP Power electronics manufacturing None
$165,000NPNP
66Fred Deeley Imports Ltd/ Harley-Davidson Canada13500 Verdun Pl, Richmond V6V 1V4P:604-273-5421 F: 604-273-2029 www.harleycanada.com
Don James, chair and CEOMalcolm Hunter, presidentand COO
NP 1917 NPNP
NPNP Motorcycle distribution NP
$162,3187
$200,9467
-19%
67Concert Properties Ltd1190 Hornby St 9th floor, Vancouver V6Z 2K5P:604-688-9460 F: 604-688-6882 www.concertproperties.com
David Podmore, Chair andCEOBrian McCauley, presidentJohn McLaughlin, CFO
Union andmanagementpension funds
1989 139122
NP$1,463,120
Development and acquisition ofcommercial and industrialproperties, rental housing, multi-family condominiums, seniors livingcommunities and resort projects
None$156,648$165,890-6%
68 General Paint Corp950 Raymur Ave, Vancouver V6A 3L5P:604-253-3131 F: 604-253-1169 www.generalpaint.com
Dale Constantinoff,president and CEO
Comex Group100% 1911 8008
800NPNP Manufacturing and sales of paint NP
$154,0002
$154,0000%
69 Sinclair Dental900 Harbourside Dr, North Vancouver V7P 3T8P:604-986-1544 F: 604-986-1543 www.sinclairdental.com
Arjang Nowtash, president Nowtash family 1971 204195
NPNP
Sales and distribution of dentalsupplies and equipment None
$152,000$144,0006%
70 HRA Group of Companies1066 Hastings St W Suite 2160, Vancouver V6E 3X1P:604-669-9562 F: 604-669-5626 www.hrausa.com
Uri Ariel, CEO Uri and Sara Ariel 1982 3546
$82,000$68,000
Diamond manufacturing anddistribution
Hyperion Resources, SGI International,HRAUSA, Crossworks Manufacturing
$150,000$135,00011%
71 ABC Recycling Ltd8081 Meadow Ave, Burnaby V3N 2V9P:604-522-9727 F: 604-522-9723 www.abcrecycling.com
David Yochlowitz, CEO David Yochlowitz 1912 155125
$49,000$41,000
Scrap-metal processor, exporter andtrader NP
$150,000$100,00050%
72 Flight Centre (Canada)9
1133 Melville St Suite 600, Vancouver V6E 4E5P:877-967-5302 F: NP www.flightcentre.ca
Greg Dixon, president Flight Centre Ltd. 1995 456451
NPNP Travel agency None
$130,000$125,0004%
73Otter Farm & Home Co-operativeAssociation3600 248th St, Aldergrove V4W 1Y8P:604-856-2517 F: 604-856-2674 www.ottercoop.com
Jack Nicholson, generalmanager Member owned 1922 300
300$49,942$53,310
Groceries, clothing, gasoline, homeand farm hardware retailer,manufacturer of animal feeds,wholesaler of bagged feeds and petfood
None$127,539$113,21213%
74 BCAA4567 Canada Way, Burnaby V5G 4T1P:604-268-5000 F: 604-268-5585 www.bcaa.com
Tim Condon, president andCEO
Registeredsociety 1906 897
1,132$241,025$225,294
Member services (including roadsideassistance, vehicle inspections androad travel services), and insurance
B.C.A.A. Holdings Ltd., BCAA Insurance Corp.,B.C.A.A. Associated Services Ltd., BCAAInsurance Agency Ltd.
$120,126$129,783-7%
75 Coastal Pacific Xpress Inc5355 152nd St Suite 105, Surrey V3S 5A5P:604-575-0983 F: 604-575-0973 www.cpx.ca
Jim Mickey, president andgeneral managerGlen Parsons, vice-president
Jim Mickey, GlenParsons 1986 NP
NPNPNP Transportation/warehousing NP
$120,0003
$120,0003
0%
Sources: Interviews with above companies and BIV research. NR Not ranked NP Notprovided 1 - Acquired by Golden Gate Capital in January 2007 2 - 2009 figure 3 -2008 figure 4 - B.C. billings 5 - Net interest income and other income 6 - Mergedwith Argus Technologies Ltd. on Jan. 1, 2010 7 - Converted from U.S. dollars 8 - 2010figure 9 - In 2008, Flight Centre North America was divided into Flight Centre(Canada) and Flight Centre (USA)
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Business in Vancouver makes every attempt to publish accurate information in The List, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Researched by Richard Chu, [email protected]
Daily business news at www.biv.com June 14–20, 201122 Top 100 privaTe Companies
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June 14–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver Daily email edition: www.biv.com 23
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Do not miss the Book of Lists, a compilation of lists featured in BIV, including biggest law firms, construction companies, biotech firms and many more. Free to subscribers ($79.95 plus HST for one year) or $35 plus HST as a separate purchase. Purchase lists as Excel files at www.biv.com/listsforsale
Business in Vancouver makes every attempt to publish accurate information in The List, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Researched by Richard Chu, [email protected]
Top 100 private companies in B.C.Ranked by 2010 revenue
Company Principal(s)Majorityshareholder
Yearfounded
B.C.employees'11/'10
Assets'10/'09(000s) Primary business Partial list of subsidiaries
Revenue '10/'09 (000s)% change
76 Arrow Transportation Systems Inc11580 Mitchell Rd, Richmond V6V 1T7P:604-324-1333 F: 604-323-7429 www.arrow.ca
Jack Charles Jr., presidentJack Charles Sr., chairmanand CEOMitchell Zulinick, COO
Charles family(100%) 1919 249
450NPNP Transportation and reload NP
$119,300$107,20011%
77 Golden Valley Foods LtdPO Box 1800, 31632 Marshall Rd, Abbotsford V2S 7G3P:604-855-7431 F: 604-855-7439 www.goldenvalley.com
Marion Juhasz, controller Privately held 1950 NP125
NPNP
Shell egg grading station andwholesaler NP
$114,894$114,8940%
78 Dollar Giant1
6464 Fraser St, Vancouver V5W 3A4P:604-338-1496 F: 604-913-3138 www.dollargiant.ca
Joseph Calvano, presidentand CEO Dollar Tree 2001 NP
650NPNP Dollar store retail chain NP
$100,000$95,0005%
79 Mainroad Group17474 56th Ave, Surrey V3S 1C3P:604-575-7020 F: 604-575-7045 www.mainroad.ca
David Zerr, president andCEO Employee owned 1988 500
450NPNP
Highway construction andmaintenance
Salvador Redi-Mix, OnTime Electrical,Mainroad Pavement Marking, G&EContracing, Mainroad MaintenanceProducts.Mainroad InfrastructureMaintenance, Mainroad Fraser Maintenance
$98,000$106,000-8%
80 B&B Contracting Ltd19429 54th Ave Suite 100, Surrey V3S 7X2P:604-539-7200 F: 604-539-7230 www.bbcontracting.com
Gary Bailey, president Gary Bailey 1948 250200
NPNP
Utility works, subdivisionpreparation, road building,aggregate sales and trenchlessconstruction
Fraser Valley Aggregates$89,000$83,0007%
81 Gorman Bros Lumber Ltd3900 Dunfield Rd, Westbank V4T 2G3P:250-768-5131 F: 250-768-2822 www.gormanbros.com
Rick Scott, CFORon Gorman, president andCEO
Privately held 1951 350320
NPNP Lumber manufacturer Oroville Reman and Reload Inc.
$85,000$75,00013%
82 Freybe Gourmet Foods Ltd27101 56th Ave, Langley V4W 3Y4P:604-607-7426 F: 604-607-7461 www.freybe.com
Sven Freybe, CEOSandy Muir, CFO Freybe family 1844 NP
400NPNP
Manufacturer of specialty deli meats,salamis, hams and sausages NP
$83,0002
$83,0000%
83Interior Savings Credit Union678 Bernard Ave Suite 300, Kelowna V1Y 6P3P:250-869-8200 F: 250-762-9581www.interiorsavings.com
Barry Meckler, presidentand CEO Member owned 1939 456
471$1,963,058$1,894,209 Full-service local credit union NP
$74,9163
$68,8903
9%
84 LMS Reinforcing Steel Group4
6320 148th St, Surrey V3S 3C4P:604-598-9930 F: 604-598-9931 www.lmsgroup.ca
Ron McNeil, co-chair andfounderIvan Harmatny, co-chair andfounderNorm Streu, COO
Privately held 1999 350250
$41,862$41,215
Supply, fabrication and installationof reinforcing steel NP
$73,550$60,18622%
85 Wolfe Auto Group19360 Langley Bypass, Surrey V3S 7R2P:604-534-0181 F: 604-575-0278 www.wolfesauto.com
Gordon Wolfe, presidentMichael Hacquard, vice-president
Gordon Wolfe 1987 110100
$27,748$18,896
Auto sales, service & in-houseleasing
Wolfe Langley Mazda, Wolfe Subaru, WolfeMitsubishi, Wolfe Chilliwack Mazda, VespaSurrey
$69,802$60,02216%
86 Coastal Community Credit Union13 Victoria Cres Suite 21, Nanaimo V9R 5B9P:250-741-3200 F: 250-741-3223 www.cccu.ca
Adrian Legin, president andCEO Member owned 2005 NP
NP$1,646,008$1,634,022 Full-service credit union NP
$69,0003
$64,1443
8%
87 Prospera Credit Union32071 South Fraser Way Suite 500, Abbotsford V2T 1W3P:888-440-4480 F: 604-864-6690 www.prospera.ca
Bruce Howell, president andCEO Member owned 1942 500
500$2,018,443$1,942,477
Banking and wealth managementservices None
$67,1273
$61,5323
9%
88Metro-Can Construction Ltd10470 152nd St Suite 520, Surrey V3R 0Y3P:604-583-1174 F: 604-583-3321www.metrocanconstruction.com
Don Voth, president Don Voth family 1985 5023
NPNP
General contractor, residentialhighrise, commercial, valueengineering
None$65,000$270,000-76%
89 Urban Barn Ltd4085 Marine Way Unit 1, Burnaby V5J 5E2P:604-456-2200 F: 604-434-2278 www.urbanbarn.com
Linda Letts, president Privately held 1990 162152
$26,974$21,531 Retail home furnishings None
$64,078$55,20916%
90 Britco Structures5
21690 Smith Cres, Langley V2Y 2R1P:604-888-2000 F: 604-888-2086 www.britco.com
Mike Ridley, presidentWesternOneEquity IncomeFund(TSX:WEQ.UN)
1977 268244
$59,381$58,445
Custom design and manufacturing ofmodular buildings None
$63,655$66,867-5%
91 Westminster Savings Credit Union960 Quayside Dr Suite 108, New Westminster V3M 6G2P:604-517-0100 F: 604-528-3812 www.wscu.com
Barry Forbes, president andCEO Member owned 1944 NP
NP$1,898,025$1,796,812 Financial institution WS Leasing Ltd.; Westminster Savings
Financial Planning Ltd.
$62,7823
$61,1723
3%
92 North Shore Credit Union1112 Lonsdale Ave, North Vancouver V7M 2H2P:604-983-4500 F: 604-985-6810 www.nscu.com
Chris Catliff, president andCEO Member owned 1941 318
273$1,863,883$1,557,314 Full-service financial institution
North Shore Insurance Services Ltd., NorcuInsurance Services, Pacific Spirit PropertiesLtd., United Mortgage Group, North ShoreCapital Corp., North Shore Leasing
$57,7983
$51,6993
12%
93McElhanney Consulting Services Ltd780 Beatty St Suite 100, Vancouver V6B 2M1P:604-683-8521 F: 604-669-5080 www.mcelhanney.com/mcsl
Chris Newcomb, presidentand CEO Employee owned 1910 319
349$18,000$17,000
Surveying, engineering, GIS andmapping and environmental services PT McElhanney Indonesia
$54,600$55,700-2%
94 STEMCELL Technologies Inc570 7th Ave W Suite 400, Vancouver V5Z 1B3P:604-877-0713 F: 604-675-7830 www.stemcell.com
Allen Eaves, president andCEO Allen Eaves 1993 300
276NPNP
Tissue culture supplies, cellseparation products, cytokines,antibodies, contract assays andresearch
4$50,000$39,00028%
95 Island Savings Credit Union499 Canada Ave Suite 300, Duncan V9L 1T7P:250-748-4728 F: 250-748-8831 www.iscu.com
Rod Dewar, president andCEO Member-owned 1951 NP
396$1,342,899$1,309,913 Credit union, full financial services ISIS Insurance
$49,3543
$42,4853
16%
96 Frontier Power Products Ltd7983 Progress Way, Delta V4G 1A3P:604-946-5531 F: 604-946-8524 www.frontierpower.com
Larrie York, president Larrie York 1983 3535
NPNP
Other Engine. Electrical PowerGeneration and Power TransmissionEquipment Manufacturing
NP$41,500NPNP
97 Securiguard Services Ltd1575 Georgia St W Suite 300, Vancouver V6G 2V3P:604-685-6011 F: 604-685-0013 www.securiguard.com
Darcy Kernaghan, presidentand CEO Darcy Kernaghan 1974 1,600
1,600$5,728$6,506
Integrated security solutions,security officers, K9, mobile, bike,remote video verification
Westguard Security Services (1986) Inc.$40,726$37,3839%
98 Canron Western Constructors Ltd6
1168 Derwent Way, Delta V3M 5R1P:604-524-4421 F: 604-521-9487 www.supremegroup.ca
Jim McLagan, vice-president NP 1912 150150
NPNP
Design, fabrication and installationof structural steel, mechanical,electrical construction services inparticular for industrial installations
Canron is part of Supreme Group$40,000$40,0000%
99 Serta - Western Sleep Products Ltd7260 Winston St, Burnaby V5A 4N2P:604-420-5333 F: 604-420-9194 www.sertacanada.com
Denis Jones, president NP 1967 NP130
NPNP Mattress manufacturing NP
$40,000$38,0005%
100Teldon Print Media3500 Viking Way, Richmond V6V 1N6P:604-273-4500 F: 604-273-6100www.teldonprintmedia.com
Michael McAdam, presidentand CEO, Teldon Media Group Employee-owned 1969 220
216NPNP Commercial printing None
$38,800$41,200-6%
Sources: Interviews with above companies and BIV research. NR Not ranked NP Notprovided 1 - Acquired by Dollar Tree in a $62 million deal 2 - 2009 figure 3 - Netinterest income and other income 4 - Also known as Lower Mainland Steel 5 -Acquired by WesternOne Equity Income Fund in a $93 million deal that closed in June2011 6 - Part of Supreme Group
>Next week: Top 100 public companies in B.C.
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Canada poised to become world’s second-largest diamond producerVancouver-based HRA Group predicts continued growth with imminent opening of three new diamond mines in Canada, as well as offices in Milan and Hong Kong
By Jennifer Harrison
HRA Group of Compan-ies president and CEO
Uri Ariel has spent 30 years working in Canada and has been involved in the Canadian diamond industry since its inception.
From the day BHP Billiton Canada Inc. opened Canada’s first diamond mine, EKATI, in 1998, and started provid-ing Canadian diamonds to the Canadian market, the HRA Group has been manufac-turing and distributing those gems for the retail and whole-sale jewelry markets.
Ariel spoke to BIV about the unprecedented growth of Canada’s diamond indus-try and his predictions for the future.
How have you seen the industry evolve since you began?The Canadian market was a small market globally and 10 years ago became the third-largest producer of rough diamonds. This is something the global diamond industry had never seen before, going from zero dollars to $3 billion in 11 years. So, this definitely put Canada on the map.
What are some key trends in the diamond sector in Canada?The Canadian consumer cares where the products are made and this is very important in luxury products such as dia-monds. There is full transpar-ency in Canada today when the consumer is buying the product. Here you get an authenticity certificate of the product, from mine to market. This model was so well received in Canada that other countries are now trying to implement the same model in their diamond industries.
What are the risks/challenges associated with the diamond industry?The investment in the infra-structure and the investment in the product is a very large one. The market is going up and commodities are going up, and we bring a value to the consumer.
It is a challenge from our perspective to compete in the global market where people are taking their production to China and India and paying
workers there less. Our com-panies are working in Canada under stricter Canadian laws so it is difficult to compete.
What are some notable opportunities in the Canadian diamond industry?We have a huge opportun-ity here in Canada. We are one of the few places in the world where new mines are coming up. We have now two mines, Gahcho Kue [DeBeers Canada Inc.] and Shore Gold [Star Diamond project] coming in, along with the Stornoway [Diamond Corp.] mine. I don’t know yet the ex-act total value of what will come from these mines but this will for sure put Canada to number two in the world in diamond production. So, it will be Botswana at number 1, Canada at number 2 and Rus-sia, number 3; and all of this done in 11 years.
Do you see continued growth in the diamond industry in Canada? What is the future?The new mines will bring more rough diamonds to the market, which wil l
provide room for us in the secondary diamond indus-try to continue to grow. We are the only company today in Canada that has three factories, one in Sudbury, one in Yellowknife and one in Vancouver. For us this is a huge, huge opportunity, with the new mines and the companies that have bene-ficiation policies we will continue to get [priority] and our allocation will grow tremendously.
Where does the Canadian diamond industry lie in context with the international diamond industry?The demand for Canadian diamonds is behind in other continents and even in the U.S. So for us, we are plan-ning to launch a program to continue to grow in Europe and Asia. We are opening a new office in Milan and in Hong Kong to give ser-vice to our customers in the Far East. This is basically to increase and satisfy demand for Canadian-produced dia-monds. Compared to other
productions, Canadian production is considered very clean and is very well- regarded.
To what do you attribute your success?As a Canadian company, I am very proud to compete with the global competition and with a low environment-al impact. Because we work so hard and support our clients in good times and bad, this is why we feel our market is very stable. And our customers are very loyal and happy that the market grows bigger and bigger on a monthly basis.
To what extent does corporate social responsibility play a role in your business?Today – I don’t know about tomorrow – we are the first one in the market to be aud-ited by SGS for the Respon-sible Jewellery Council. We will be the first major diamond manufacturer certified by this process in the world under the concept of social responsibility.
Our company is also being audited by KPMG. We believe in full transparency. Our customers will have all the information they need and the company is lead-ing in our industry in this transparency we bring to the market.
We make it a policy to be involved in every commun-ity in which we are working; we bring investment to the community and this is a big part of our success. •[email protected]
Since 2009 the HRA Group has purchased over $75 million of rough diamonds from the Victor Mine in Ontario
June 14–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver 25Top 100 privaTe companies
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Issue: September 13, 2011
Co-op business model proves successfulVancity Credit Union and Mountain Equipment Co-op maintain high profitability despite shaky economic times
By Nelson Bennett
Two companies that consistently make Business in Vancouver’s
Top 100 private companies list fol-low business models that are more like hybrids of private and public ownership models: member-owned co-operatives.
Mountain Equipment Co-op and Vancity Credit Union share one other thing in common, besides their co-operative business model: They’re highly profitable and dem-onstrated great resilience through-out the recent recession.
Last year, Vancity posted its most profitable year in its 65-year history, with net earnings of $77.4 million. It exceeded its own targets by 44% and returned $23 million in dividends to members and communities.
MEC, meanwhile, had revenue of $261 million in 2010 and paid $2.2 million in dividends to 17,000 of its members.
Vancity ranks 32nd in BIV’s Top 100 private companies list in 2010, with revenue of $424 million (an increase of 11% over 2009). MEC ranked 46th with $261 million (un-changed from 2009).
There are a total of four co-ops
and nine credit unions on the Top 100 private companies list.
Vancity CEO Tamara Vrooman credits the co-operative model for the resilience it and other co-ops and credit unions worldwide have dem-onstrated during the recent global recession.
Unfettered by the need to show short-term returns, co-ops and cred-it unions tend to take a long-term approach and make “more balanced decisions,” Vrooman said.
“It’s no accident that, if you look around the world, co-operatives have done better through the eco-nomic crisis than either privately held or publicly traded companies because they have the requirement to balance those decisions,” said Vrooman.
“We put in place some policies that really assisted our not-for-prof-it members. We didn’t go the fore-closure route. Instead, we provided extra funds to allow people to work through the economic dislocation, and as a result, we haven’t had to take that many losses.”
Not all co-operatives or cred-it unions are as successful as MEC and Vancity. Just because they follow a different business model doesn’t
mean they don’t have to follow good business practices, said MEC CEO David Labistour.
“The fact that [MEC and Van-city] are on that list of 100 means that both organizations run their businesses well,” he said.
Like many co-ops, MEC was born out of necessity. Now celebrat-ing its 40th anniversary, the co-op was founded in Vancouver by six outdoor enthusiasts who couldn’t get mountaineering equipment locally.
They charged $5 for a member-ship, which now stands at 3.4 mil-lion, and used their collective buy-ing power to buy outdoor recreation gear and clothing at lower prices. Forty years later, MEC memberships are still only $5.
The co-op now has 14 outlets Canada-wide, three of which are in B.C. (Vancouver, North Vancouver and Victoria). Its website is its fast-est growing sales channel, however, despite the fact it features a gear swap that allows members to buy second-hand gear and clothing from each other.
MEC is not without its detract-ors. Co-operatives pay no income tax on profits, which has prompted
the charge that MEC has an unfair advantage over its competitors.
On the other hand, co-ops don’t have access to capital markets. Since it can’t borrow money, all of its cap-ital has to come from its members.
“There certainly are our com-petitors that believe that we have an unfair advantage,” Labistour said. “And to them we always say, ‘Well, if we do so, let us instruct you in how to become a co-op.’ Of course
that is a bit disingenuous because none of them want to do it because the reason they’re there is to make money.”
As a business model, co-ops share some resemblance to a pub-licly traded company in that mem-bers, like shareholders, get to vote on the makeup of the board of directors and on how the business is run.
“Your shareholder, your custom-er and your staff are all the same people really,” Labistour said. “That can be a pro and a con, by the way, but it certainly allows you to focus and you don’t have competing agendas.”
One thing MEC’s members insist on is a commitment to environment-al causes. MEC donates 1% of gross sales to environmental causes.
Vancity also has a similar social mandate. Over the past 12 months, the credit union has handed out $940,000 in grants to various non-profit organizations. •[email protected]
By The numBers
$77.4 million: Vancity net revenue
$23 million: Dividends Vancity returned to members
$261 million: Mountain Equipment Co-op revenue
$2.2 million: Dividends paid by MEC
3.4 million: Number of MEC members
1%: percentage of gross sales MEC donates to environmental causes
Do
min
ic S
ch
ae
fe
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Do
min
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ch
ae
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Vancity CEO Tamara Vrooman credits the co-operative business model for the resilience co-ops and credit unions demonstrated during the recent global economic downturn
“The fact that [MEC and
Vancity] are on that
list of 100 means
that both organizations run
their businesses well”
– David Labistour,CEO,
Mountain Equipment Co-op
Mountain Equipment Co-op was founded 40 years ago by a handful of outdoor enthusiasts who never expected the co-op to grow as successfully as it has, said MEC CEO David Labistour
June 14–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver 27Top 100 privaTe compaNies
BizPharmacy
Cyri Jones and ivan surJanoviC Tech tips for staying on top of your competition
Symptom“I’m constantly feeling anx-ious that my competition is gaining ground, particu-larly on the Internet, and they’re going to outperform my company before I know it. I realize that in today’s age, you can’t keep your eye off the competition, wheth-er it’s from next door, across the world or on the web. I’m losing sleep over this, but I don’t know where to start.”
Recommended medicationsIvan: This is a typical case of “competitus infolackius.” De-pending on your condition, I’d recommend several “web pills” to try for a week and then choose those that work best to keep this dangerous disease at bay. •Monday: alexa.com will help you determine your own site’s traffic rank on the Internet and lets you compare it with your com-petition. •Tuesday: linkpopularity.com will help you see who is linking to your competition’s website. You can also test it on yourself. Generally, the more quality links you have the healthier shape you’re in.•We d ne s d ay : g o o g l e .com/trends will help you see if your competitor’s health is on the upswing or downturn. Type in the
name of any product , person or company and see if people search them more or less than in the past. For ex-ample, you’ll see that iPhone has now outperformed Black-Berry in terms of search popu-larity.•Thursday: google.com/in-sights/search is another Goo-gle treatment. It helps you compare search volume pat-terns across specific regions, categories and time frames.•Friday: archive.org allows you to see previous versions of your competitor’s website. Maybe you want to see what products used to be offered or perhaps who used to be on their staff.•Saturday: mikes-marketing-tools.com/ranking-reports will show where your competi-tors rank on search engines like Google, Yahoo, BING or AOL.•Sunday: Watch the Can-ucks, go for a stroll, even have a beer or coffee or a slice of your favourite cheesecake. You have done a good job keeping an eye on your com-petitors Monday to Saturday so you have at least one day to relax!Cyri: The good news is that, like most of the other medi-cations we recommend, this one is free. There’s no reason staying in good business health has to cost an
arm and a leg! But Ivan, I think you for-
got some of your favourite folk remedies.Ivan: How could I forget? This is one that surprisingly few people use to their advantage, but it can be very powerful in alleviating “competitus infol-ackius.”
C h o p a b u n c h o f onions, crush some garlic, mix them in a bag and attach it to your socks for a few days. While you’re doing that, sign up for an RSS reader such as Google.com/reader and sub-scribe to your competitors’ RSS feeds. If you have never used this RSS treatment be-fore, a good video resource is commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english. In a nutshell, if you see any RSS feeds on your com-petitors’ sites – usually identi-fied by a square orange broad-cast style icon – just click on them, copy the URL, click on the add subscription but-ton in Google Reader, paste in the URL and you’re off to the races. Instead of having to keep going back to your com-petitors’ websites to see what’s new, all the latest updates will get sent to you automatically.
Actually, this works just fine without the onions and garlic part but people never believe me when I say RSS alone can make such a difference.
Cyri: I also have some ancient healing tips to share.
Whenever there is a full moon, you can gain special insight on your competitors.
Go to dnscoop.com and discover when your competi-tor’s website went live and how old its domain name is. Check out domaintools.com to see who the owner of
any domain name is, where their site is hosted and how many times the domain name changed hands.Ivan: I find these tools work even when there isn’t a full moon, but it does seem magic-al how you can get so much information with just a few mouse clicks.Cyri: And finally, if you want to learn what’s going on in real time on social media, don’t forget to use search.twit-ter.com to see who is tweet-ing about your competition in real time. There are also other social media tracking
tools that you can put to use to monitor just about anything, including your competition: twellow.com, sproutsocial.com, topsy.com, wefollow.com, tweepi.com, backtype.com and websitegrader.com. New social media medications are being developed pretty much daily, but these will get you started.
PrognosisIvan: These treatment strat-egies should help you control your symptoms and soon your anxiety will be replaced with confidence, but keep your eyes open and get to know many more tools. Check out great resour-ces for competitive research such as tools.seobook.com/competitive-research-tools/ or ci.trellian.com.
Future management of this conditionCyri: You don’t get in good shape by just going to the gym for one week per year. The real key is to regularly use these tools to prevent prob-lems in the future. Think of our recommendations more like vitamins that become a daily habit.
Cost: Free for the Monday-to-Saturday prescriptions. Some of the social media tools and others listed on seobook.com and trellian.com will re-quire you to dig into your wal-let a bit.
Generic name and alternative medicineIvan: The generic name is really just competitive intel-ligence. The only difference here is that you are doing your
research 100% online. As far as alternative medicine, if you can’t discipline yourself to take these pills regularly, you can always set up Goo-gle Alerts (google.com/alerts) and get Google to regularly send you news about your competition.
Precautions/warningsCyri: The general problem with most web-tracking tools is their accuracy and reliability. Most of the above tools, like Alexa, use statis-tical estimates; by definition they’re not completely reli-able. Yet this is still better than not having any infor-mation at all. One way to ad-dress the reliability issue is by using more than one tool for each task or by combin-ing your own insights with those that you get from web tools. Also, don’t forget that monitoring your competi-tion is useless if you don’t use information to improve your strategy and decision-mak-ing. Don’t fall into “analysis paralysis.” •
Cyri and Ivan’s medication rating:★★★★
Cyri Jones teaches entrepre-neurship, project management and information technology at BCIT and Capilano Uni-versity and is the co-founder of ZedPress.com. He blogs at 24posts.com. Ivan Surjan-ovic is a marketing faculty at Capilano University and CEO of iPower Lab. He blogs at whereispuck.com and at bizpharmacy.com.
maximize meeting value and optimize results
David Gouthro/ The Consulting Edge
meetings are the bane of organiz-ational existence. How can you
increase the return on investment of all the time and money spent on them? Simple: use a facilitator.
What is a facilitator?“To facilitate” means to make some-thing easy. In business, a facilitator is a skilled professional who eases tasks involving important conver-sations with two or more persons, such as planning, problem-solving, developing teams, setting goals, re-solving conflicts, identifying corpor-ate values, creating an organizational mission or determining criteria for selecting new business partners.
Why bother using one?A facilitator creates a safe, product-ive meeting environment, allowing
for conversations that engage par-ticipants more fully. Improved effi-ciency, wiser decisions, greater com-mitment to action and, ultimately, better outcomes result. Facilitators apply flexible processes to resolve complex issues; mitigate power im-balances; allow junior participants to offer opinions without fear of repris-al; ensure that conversations focus on issues, not personal agendas; adapt to required changes in direction; move people back on task when they wan-der; and, afterwards, help ensure that clients keep the commitments they’ve made.
What to seek in a facilitatorLook for facilitators who are great communicators, observant, flex-ible, quick to learn, client-focused, politically savvy and broadly ex-perienced. They should have many proven group processes upon which to draw and be able to blend them
together seamlessly. They should have the courage to deliver tough messages that clients need to hear (even if they do not wish to). Ideal-ly, they use humour in skilful ways to energize and engage participants while they’re working toward de-sired outcomes.
Are all facilitators created equal?As in any field, no two facilitators are identical, nor is anyone appro-priate for every client. Facilitators have different strengths. One may be wonderful at rigorously follow-ing a tight, minute-to-minute agen-da, while another may have an ex-ceptional ability to shift gears quick-ly to follow issues of organizational value. Some develop depth and ex-pertise in one or two specific indus-tries, whereas others work across a wide range of industries and organ-izations. Do your due diligence by talking to a few different facilitators
ho
w-T
o
(and their clients!) to find the one who best suits your needs.
How to work with a facilitatorTo gain maximum value from your investment in a facilitator, work closely with him or her well ahead of time to ensure good understand-ing of the organization’s issues and culture and the desired outcomes for the meeting. This process may include interviews with key stake-holders. Appoint an executive com-mittee or a representative sample of the meeting’s participants to help plan and organize the meeting. Buy-in to the meeting’s purpose and process thus builds long before the meeting even begins. Allow the fa-cilitator to draw upon a wide range of his or her experiences and to rec-ommend processes and technolo-gies for helping groups reach desired objectives.
A final agenda should be mutual-ly agreed upon and distributed to participants. If you wish the facilita-tor to take on additional tasks such as reporting, follow-up or ongoing sup-port after the meeting, you should agree on such additional elements in advance.
Can’t afford a facilitator?Ask yourself whether you can af-ford the cost of fixing the mistakes that result from an unsuccessful or unproductive meeting. Weigh the cost of a facilitator against work hours lost if your team has to go back to the drawing board time and time again. Relative to the cost of bringing people together for a meeting in the first place, the in-cremental cost of a facilitator is in-variably a wise investment.
Some organizations use inter-nal facilitators to reduce costs or capitalize on corporate insights. In many cases, this decision is pru-dent. Yet when meetings are likely to involve large egos, high stakes, complexity, multiple levels of the organization, large numbers of participants, tension or low de-grees of trust, using experienced, skilled facilitators can greatly in-crease the likelihood of positive outcomes, saving you time, money and irritation. •
Originally published in BIV’s How~2 magazine – expert advice on essential business products and services.
Instead of having to
keep going back to your
competitors’ websites to
see what’s new, all the
latest updates will get
sent to you automatically
Daily business news at www.biv.com June 14–20, 201128 Business tool kit
Trouble
DISCIPLINE•British Columbia Securities CommissionAs part of a settlement agreement with the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC), TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. (TDW) has paid $30,000 for trading in securities that were subject to cease trade orders, on behalf of B.C. clients, the regulator announced June 1.
The agreement states that TDW, a Toronto-based investment dealer and member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), self-reported trades it had made in the securities of four cease-traded companies.
The companies involved were Oriens Travel & Hotel Management Corp., Flotek Industries Inc., Sungro Minerals Inc. and Lux Energy Corp.
The agreement also references two cases where TDW did not report breaches of cease-trade orders.
Commission staff notified TDW of breaches involving Kunekt Corp. and Americas Energy Company.
TDW has entered into previous settlement agreements with the BCSC for trading in cease-traded securities.
In December of 2001, TDW paid $28,923.07 to the
commission, after which the company agreed to develop and implement systems to monitor and report cease-trade orders.
In November 2005, TDW agreed to pay $20,000 to the commission in relation to trades involving cease-traded companies.
•Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of CanadaA June 2 Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) hearing panel imposed penalties against Rocco Tony Cornacchia and Northern Securities Inc. after finding that both had violated IIROC rules in the following manner:•Cornacchia facilitated the participation of 12 clients in a private placement based upon an exemption for which they did not qualify; and he failed in his know-your-client duties by not updating client account forms;•Northern Securities Inc. failed to ensure the 12 client accounts qualified for the indicated exemption required for participation in the private placement. The panel also found the firm failed to establish and maintain procedures, training and guidance regarding purchases of private placements using the exemption.
As penalties, the panel ordered that:
•Cornacchia pay a $10,000 fine and $1,768 as disgorgement of profits.Cornacchia must pay these amounts within 12 months of the panel’s order. In the same period he must also successfully complete the conduct and practises handbook course and work under terms of close supervision.•Northern Securities pay a $25,000 fine and $1,768 as disgorgement of profits. The firm must pay these amounts within 45 days of the panel’s order.
BUYER’S ALERTCompanies listed below, which are not members of the Better Business Bureau, have failed to respond, as of June 3, 2011, to Better Business Bur-eau of Mainland B.C.’s efforts to mediate complaints from May 23 to May 27, 2010. In some instances, the company may have taken care of the complaint and considered the matter closed, or may believe the complaint is unjustified; however, if the BBB has not received a response, records cannot reveal either position. Please note that BBB mem-bers must respond to cus-tomer complaints that are brought to their attention. Source: BBB.Camosun Financial Services Group, VancouverCaptain Hook Towing, KelownaCoastal Ford Sales Ltd., Vancouver
Emtech Home Services, CoquitlamEnterprise Rent A Car, AbbotsfordHowtoDJfast.com, VancouverMaynards Industries Ltd., VancouverMESH Hair Studio, VancouverMurray Scott Construction, VancouverNorthwest Boarding Kennels Ltd., North VancouverVolco Tires Ltd., RichmondThe following companies have responded to the BBB subse-quent to being published:Tili Electrical Co. Ltd., Burnaby
Who’S GETTING SUEDThese corporate writs were filed with the B.C. Supreme Court registry in Vancouver. Information is derived from notices of civil claim. Civil claims have yet to be proven in court.
Defendants: Gamma Investments Ltd. and Sukhdev Singh Sandhu aka Sukhdev S. Sandhu aka Sukhdev (Dave) Sandhu aka Dave Sandhu 204–4676 Main St., Vancouver and 2528–138 St., Surrey
Plaintiff: HSBC Bank Canada 800–885 W. Georgia St., Vancouver
Claim: $1,501,680 against
Gamma for debt; and $750,000 against Sandhu arising from a personal guarantee.
Defendant: Talisman Energy Inc. 2000–888 Third St. S.W., Calgary
Plaintiff: 812597 B.C. Ltd. dba First Choice Waterboy Enterprises 1400–510 Burrard St., Vancouver
Claim: $606,150 for debt for mobilization and demobilization services, the use of the water treatment plant and equipment.
Defendants: Canpower International B.V. aka Canpower International Ltd. and Addwest Minerals, Inc. and Mojave Desert Minerals, LLC and James Ralph Houston and John Doe Co. 1800–400 West Market St., Louisville, KY and 2394 E. Camelback Rd. Phoenix, AZ and 601–1766 Duchess Ave., West Vancouver
Plaintiff: Kilderry Holdings Ltd. 906–925 W. Georgia St., Vancouver
Claim: US$499,996 against Canpower and Addwest for debt arising from a breached agreement including denying the plaintiff a promised 5% stake in the Gold Road Mine; damages; damages against Houston for fraudulent misrepresentation; a
declaration that Gold Road Mine is held subject to a constructive trust in favour of Kilderry; an accounting, and, damages.
Defendants: Revolution Developments Corp. and Oleander Sun Properties Inc. and Randy Lim Box 11140, 2010–1055 W. Georgia St., Vancouver and 1600–925 W. Georgia St., Vancouver
Plaintiffs: Edmond Wong and Shirley Wong 6641 Grant St., Burnaby
Claim: $327,520 against Revolution and Lim for debt arising from promissory notes for financing a development project. Against the Oleander Drive Property: an equitable mortgage.
Defendants: Compression Technology Inc. and Ken Dobb and John Doe 10307 92St., Fort St. John, BC and addresses unknown
Plaintiff: Bailey Helicopters Ltd. R.R. #1, Site 7, Compound 19, Fort St. John, BC
Claim: $292,416 for damages arising from a plastic fuel container being thrown into a helicopter’s main rotor blades, causing damage.
Defendant: 0693313 B.C. Ltd. 107–20644 Eastleigh Crescent St., Langley
Plaintiff: Sandhill Development Ltd. 1220–1200 W. 73rd Ave.
After 20 years, Business in Vancouver continues to find 40 outstanding young business professionals worthy of the Forty under 40 distinction each year.
Forty under 40 celebrates the depth of business talent in British Columbia, from the rising stars of the corporate world to successful entrepreneurs, and non-profit leaders. Winners are chosen based on such values as achievement, experience, innovation, vision, leadership, and community involvement.
By nominating some one for BIV’s Forty under 40, you are supporting and developing today’s young business leaders. Winners of BIV’s Forty under 40 have gone on to shape our city and our province in many different ways!
Previous winners:Avtar Bains – 1990Peter Busby – 1991Glen Clark – 1991Rick Hansen – 1991Susan Mendelson – 1991Bev Briscoe – 1992Bob Rennie – 1992Arthur Griffiths – 1993Chip Wilson – 1993Sam Hirji – 1994Sandra Miles – 1997Gregor Robertson – 1997Brian Scudamore – 1997Wendy Lisogar-Cocchia – 1998Darren Entwistle – 2000Thane Stenner – 2000Peter ter Weeme – 2000Tracey Axelsson – 2001Christina Anthony – 2002Dave Cobb – 2002Rob Feenie – 2002Claire Newell – 2004Colin Bosa – 2005Steve Mossop – 2005Stephanie Cadieux – 2006Jennifer Podmore – 2007Chris Breikks – 2008Paul Haagenson – 2009Jill Earthy – 2010
Sponsored by:
Go to www.biv.com/40under40 to submit a nomination.Deadline: June 30th, 2011
Nominations are open!
June 14–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver 29Law
Trouble
Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society (PICS) www.pics.bc.ca • Fax: 604-596-7721
604-596-7722 Ext. 125
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Are you recruiting? Call before June 30th to register your company.Over 8000 Job seekers are expected to attend.
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Claim: $264,160 arising from a breached purchase and sale agreement for a property; specific performance of the purchase and sale agreement; and damages.
Defendant: North Kootenay Reman Ltd. (Surrey) Address unavailable
Plaintiffs: Superior Propane, a division of Superior Plus LP, by its general partner Superior General Partner Inc. 2300–550 Burrard St., Vancouver
Claim: $161,098 for breach of contract for the supply of gasoline and diesel fuel and unjust enrichment.
Defendants: F.S. 17 Enterprises Ltd. and John Doe and Jane Doe and Reza Keyvani and Bank of Montreal Addresses unknown and 1–1161 The High St., Coquitlam
Plaintiff: Royal Bank of Canada 1055 W. Georgia St., Vancouver
Claim: $150,406 against F.S. 17 for forged cheques; $74,00 against Keyvanini; an accounting; a tracing; a declaration against Bank of Montreal that the funds in Keyvani’s account are the property of the plaintiff and are held in trust for the plaintiff; and an order that the funds be paid into court by Bank of Montreal.
Defendants: S.L.H. Transport Inc. and Gregory Bach Addresses unavailable
Plaintiff: J. Perrotta Trucking Ltd. 2200–10155 102 St., Edmonton
Claim: $101,500 for losses and damages arising from a collision that created a fire and damaged the plaintiff’s tractor-trailer and cargo.
Defendants: Susan Perry and Henry Robert Menzel 7476 Prospect St., Pemberton, B.C.
Plaintiff: Terraine Construction Ltd. Box 770 Pemberton, B.C.
Claim: $85,000 for debt arising from personal loans.
Defendants: Window Stick Alarms Ltd. and Robert G. Allen Box 190, 30 Front St., Nanaimo and 109B–425 E. Stanford Ave., Parksville
Plaintiff: Royal Bank of Canada Box 5050, Station A, Mississauga, ON
Claim: $76,589 for debt.
Defendants: Cankor BBQ Ltd. and Min Suk Michael Kim 1518 Robson St., Vancouver
Plaintiff: Carmichael Engineering Ltd. 130–13751 Mayfield Pl., Richmond
Claim: $70,000 for debt for construction, equipment installation and finishing.
Defendants: Malcolm D. Lefcort and Heuristic Engineering Inc. and Access Energy Technologies Ltd. 3040 W. 5th Ave., Vancouver and 1100–1200 W. 73 rd Ave., Vancouver
Plaintiff: Robert H. Barrigar 3610 Cadboro Bay Rd., Victoria
Claim: A declaration the defendants have breached a settlement agreement; an order, or, $63,000, or, judgment for the amount due.
Defendant: Contemporary Security Canada ULC 2200–1055 W. Hastings St., Vanouver
Plaintiff: Target Management Canada, Ltd. Box 11, 1100 One Bentall Centre, 505 Burrard St., Vancouver
Claim: $62,682 for debt arising from an agreement for temporary accommodation facilities in Whistler during the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games; a declaration the defendant owes the plaintiff damages of $49,487.
Defendants: Stewart Design Group Ltd. and Gerald Stewart aka Gerald E. Stewart aka Gerald Edward Stewart and Wen Hua Zhang Stewart aka Wen Hua Stewart 221–3011 Louie Dr., West Bank, B.C. and 1121 Steele Crt., Kelowna
Plaintiff: Royal Bank of Canada Box 5050, Station A., Mississauga, ON
Claim: $48,748 for debt.
Defendant: Dean Scarpino aka Millenium Auto Centre 4997 Christie Rd., Ladysmith, B.C.
Plaintiff: Royal Bank of Canada Box 5050, Station A, Mississauga, ON
Claim: $39,584 for debt.
Defendant: Chet Constructino (1976) Ltd. aka Chet Construction (1976) Ltd. 330–522 Seventh St., New Westminster
Plaintiffs: Suncor Energy Products Partnership dba Petro-Canada 2700–700 W. Georgia St., Vancouver
Claim: $32,769 for debt.
Defendant: Pan Pacific Quadling Quarry Ltd. 22695 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford
Plaintiff: BC Hydro 333 Dunsmuir St., Vancouver
Claim: $30,812 for damage caused when the defendant trespassed on the plaintiff’s right of way and damaged BC Hydro works; and an injunction.
Defendants: Joy Select Hair Ltd. and Pho Pae Bobbie Choi 207–181 Keefer Pl., Vancouver and 8–63 Keefer Pl., Vancouver
Plaintiff: Royal Bank of Canada Box 5050, Station A, Mississauga
Claim: $30,482 against Joy for debt; and $33,207 against Choi.
Defendants: Uniwest Trading Corp. and Mahnaz Khoddami 2–1500 Marine Dr., North Vancouver and 1198 W.21st Ave., North Vancouver
Plaintiff: Royal Bank of Canada Box 5050, Station A, Mississauga, ON
Claim: $30,316 against Uniwest and Khoddami for debt; and a declaration that the security agreement is in priority to any right, title or interest of any of the defendants.
Defendants: 494743 B.C. Ltd. dba Flame Engineering & Construction and the said 494743 B.C. Ltd. and the said Flame Engineering & Construction and Sirus Familamiri and Satpal Kaur and Mehran Vakily and Darab Ahmadi 3131 B St. Johns St., Port Moody and 140–34A–2755 Lougheed Hwy., Port Coquitlam and 3088 Firestone Pl., Coquitlam and 561 St. Andrews Rd., West Vancouver
Plaintiff: Akal Plumbing & Heating Ltd. 111–13035 84th Ave., Surrey
Claim: $24,625 for debt arising from plumbing and other work; and a builder’s lien for $24,625.
Defendants: Ceres Gonzales Pajaron and Cathreen Gonzales Pajaron and Cristho Ray Gonzales Pajaron and CCP Foods & Services Inc. 9491 Blundell Rd.,
RichmondPlaintiffs: Hikmat Quaddoumi and Joyce Qaddoumi 133–12520 Horseshoe Way, Richmond
Claim: $23,500 for the sale of business assets; and $17,151 against Ceres and Cristho Ray for indemnity provisions of the assignment agreement.
Defendants: Okanagan Trucking Ltd. and Leslie Dwayne Pidwerbesky and Sharon Lee Pidwerbesky 1545 Hardy St., Kelowna and 245 Moubray Rd., Kelowna
Plaintiff: Sovereign Vehicle Leasing Ltd. 1200–805 W. Broadway, Vancouver
Claim: $11,379 for debt for a vehicle lease.
Defendants: Ara Tech Enterprises Inc. and Maryam Ebrahimi 880–1500 W. Georgia St., Vancouver and 572 Granada Cres., North Vancouver
Plaintiff: 431814 Canada Inc. 2580 Gilmore Ave., Burnaby
Claim: $7,311 for a breached credit agreement with Rona; and a builders lien for $7,311.
Defendant: Aleksandar Cuk dba Fairway Painting & Decorating 7523 Elwell St., Burnaby
Plaintiff: Vancouver City Savings Credit Union 2500–700 W. Georgia St., Vancouver
Claim: $4,767 for debt arising from a loan.
Defendants: 942252 Alberta Ltd. and Westminster Steel Inc. and Erik Steverlynck 300–906 Roderick Ave., Coquitlam and 20060 113B Ave., Maple Ridge
Plaintiff: F & G Delivery Ltd. 330-522 Seventh St., New Westminster
Claim: $3,958 for debt for transportation and crane services; and a builders lien for $3,958.
Defendants: Sukhraj Kaur Bal and Interline Motor Freight Inc. and Harmon Singh Bal 804 E. 37th Ave., Vancouver and Box 12577, 2480–1066 W. Hastings St., Vancouver and 5108–13562 Maycrest Way, Richmond
Plaintiff: Day and Knight Plumbing Heating Ltd. 506–938 Howe St., Vancouver
Claim: $3,145 against Sukrah Bal for debt for the labour and installation of a hot water boiler; orders; a builder’s lien for $3,145; and $2,625 against Interline and Harmon Bal.
Defendant: White Rock Business Improvement Association Address unavailable
Plaintiff: Cynthia Anne Richards 700–1006 Beach Ave., Vancouver
Claim: Damages for wrongful dismissal of an executive director.
Defendants: Miller Capilano Maintenance Corp. and The Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor
Daily business news at www.biv.com June 14–20, 201130 Law
Trouble
Ball that lands closest to the pin
River Green on the Green Golf Tournament
Buy Your Helicopter BallDrop Ra�e Tickets!
June 23, 2011
Venue: QGolf ClubTime: 6:30 pmTickets: $10 each
WINS 2 WESTJET TICKETS!
BC Gaming Event License #34355Chances are 1 in 1 500 to win.
Problem Gambling Help Line 1-888-795-6111www.bcresponsiblegambling.ca
Richmond Hospital Foundation7000 Westminster Hwy, Richmond BC, V6X 1A2
604.244.5252 www.richmondhospitalfoundation.com
General (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) and J. Doe and J. Roe and members of The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Her Majesty the Queen in the right of the Province of B.C. as represented by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure118 Bridge Rd., West Vancouver and 3rd f loor, 1001 Douglas St., Victoria and 5B–940 Blanshard St., Victoria
Plaintiffs: Telus Corp. and Gregory Peskett1800–401 W. Georgia St., Vancouver
Claim: A declaration the plaintiffs are entitled to indemnity and/or contribution from the defendants with respect to the settlement funds paid to Holly Jean Poupore in an action arising from a collision; a declaration that the liability be apportioned amongst the parties responsible; judgment for any amount that may be found due from the defendants; and judgment for the plaintiff ’s costs in the Poupore action.
Defendants: Antonio Russo and Jackie Russo and Nazzareno Russo and Chris Truckle and Monique Truckle and Circadian Project Management Ltd. and 652604 B.C. Ltd. and C.T. Pioneer Construction Ltd. and Cross Roads Excavating Ltd.Addresses unknown and 901–1788 W. Broadway, Vancouver and address unknown and 111 Wallace St., Nanaimo
Plaintiffs: Cape Construction (2001) Ltd. and Cape Development Corp.500–5811 Cooney Rd., Richmond
Claim: A declaration again Tony and
Nazzareno Russo, Truckle and C.T. Pioneer for liability to account for the fund arising from fraudulently authorized payments for sub-contracted services; a declaration the plaintiffs are entitled to a tracing; and damages; a declaration they are liable to account for all portions of the fund paid to them or for their benefit; payment for those portions of the fund; a declaration that the lands are subject to a lien; and orders.
Defendants: GDI Software Services Canada Inc. and IG Systems International Ltd. and Nordex Software Services Inc. and Joseph Lacascia and Ariel Dvorkin and Ronald Kadarishko and Sally Cramer and Pedro Nunes and Siong Heng Chan and Carlos Wong and Peter Smith-Gibbons and Scott Abraham and Les Sanderson and Blackbelt Media and Craig Levitt and Joshua Ofer Baazov and Egan Engel1300–1500 W. Georgia St., Vancouver and 6844 195A St., Surrey and 1077 W. Cordova St., Vancouver and 2501–1077 W. Cordova St., Vancouver and 1456 W. 53rd Ave., Vancouver and 18–6465 184A St., Surrey and 14682 59A Ave., Surrey and addresses unknown and 101–7075 Robert-Joncas Place, Saint Laurent, QC
Plaintiffs: Secured Opportunities Fund, LLC and Future Visions, Inc. and Visionary Investments Limited Partnership and SOF Management, LLC1300–777 Dunsmuir St., Vancouver
Claim: Judgment for debt owned under the loan and security documents arising from breach of contract; judgment for possession and sale of the collateral in accordance with the loan and security documents; orders; and damages against Blackbelt, Levitt, Baazov and Engel for
unlawful interference with contractual relations.
Defendants: Maicon Construction (1996) Ltd. and G & G Holdings Ltd. formerly G & G Fire Protection Ltd. and G & G Fire Protection and Keldon Electric & Data Ltd. and John Doe 1 and John Does 2-3301–1665 Ellis St., Kelowna and 22–4520 Gallaghers Lookout, Kelowna and 101–1461 St. Paul St., Kelowna and address unknown
Plaintiff: Owners, Strata Plan KAS 26762400–200 Granville St., Vancouver
Claim: Damages for breach of contract and negligence arising from the construction of the premises sold to the plaintiffs.
Defendants: Future Vehicle Technologies Inc. and EIG America, Inc. and Manzanita Micro, LLC and Car Design Co. and Car Manufacturer Co. and Car Supplier Co. and Battery Supplier Co. and Battery Distributor Co. and Battery Retailer Co. and Charger Supplier Co. and Charger Distributor Co. and Charger Retailer Co.7929 120th St. Delta and 190–2105 S Bascom Ave., Campbell, CA and 26519 Bond Rd., Kingston, WA and addresses unknown
Plaintiff: Kenmar Auto Services Ltd. dba Haney Automotive22334 McIntosh Ave
Claim: Damages for negligence causing a prototype hybrid concept car to catch fire when it was being tested on a dynamometer machine.
Defendants: West Coast Railway Association operating as Westcoast Railway Heritage Park and The District of Squamish and Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of British Columbia as represented by The Ministry of the Attorney General and Hit Entertainment Ltd. aka Hit Entertainment Inc.39645 Government Rd., Squamish and 37955 Second Ave., Squamish and address unavailable and Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Rd., London, UK
Plaintiff: Taryn Pickering1668 Golf Club Dr., Delta
Claim: Damages for injuries sustained when the plaintiff’s right hand and fingers were crushed by a train.
Defendants: William Anderson and Edward Trueman and Thomas L. Wiss202B–4059 200 St., Langley and 107–477 Peace Portal Dr., Blaine, WA
Plaintiffs: Sole Gear Design Inc. and Toby Reid3000–1055 W. Georgia St., Vancouver and 756 E. 5th St., North Vancouver
Claim: Judgment against Trueman and Anderson for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, unlawful interference with contractual and economic
relations and defamation arising from the theft of the plaintiff’s confidential information for use in a competing business; orders; judgment against Wiss for unlawful interference with contractual and economic relations and defamation; and damages against all; injunctions; and a declaration Sole Gear owns the name “Solegear Bioplastics Inc.”
Defendants: Jardine Lloyd Thompson Canada Inc. and Steve Hicks and AXA Pacific Insurance Co. and certain underwriters at Lloyd’s as arranged by Lloyd and Partners Ltd.350–4396 West Saanich Rd., Victoria
Plaintiffs: Coles Marine Diesel Repairs Ltd. and Hill’s Machine Shop Ltd. and Fleetwood Forest Products Ltd.524 Marine Dr., Gibsons, B.C.
Claim: Insurance indemnity from AXA and Lloyds arising from a fire that destroyed a property; a declaration that Jardine and Hicks failed to increase insurance limits as instructed and failed to recommend review of a wholly inadequate contents limit; a declaration that upon replacement of the building, Coles and Hill’s are entitled to indemnity for the cost of its replacement to the extent it exceeds actual cash value; and damages.
Defendants: The City of Merritt and Thompson-Nicola Regional District and VSA Highway Maintenance Ltd. and Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of British ColumbiaBox 189, 2185 Voght St., Merritt and 300–465 Victoria St., Kamloops and 4th floor, 3201 30th Ave., Vernon and 815 Hornby St., Vancouver
Plaintiff: Gaetano Dino Mario Dinicolo163 W. Kings Rd., North Vancouver
Claim: Damages for injuries sustained during a collision on a snow-covered roadway.
Defendant: Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of British Columbia as represented by the Minister of Transportation and InfrastructureAddress unavailable
Plaintiff: Artis King Edward Property Ltd.Box 48600, 1200–200 Burrard St., Vancouver
Claim: Compensation and disturbance damages arising from a land purchase agreement as part of building an overpass on King Edward Street; and reasonable costs, expenses and losses directly attributable to the disturbance caused to Artis by the transfer, dedication and licensing or use of the affected areas.
Defendant: Cedar Community Association2388 Cedar Rd., Nanaimo
Plaintiff: Lillian Glass
601–815 Hornby St., Vancouver
Claim: Damages for injuries sustained when the plaintiff sliced her finger on a piece of ragged metal on a double door.
Defendants: Multiform Harvest Inc. and Adam Ranjit Sumel aka Adam Ranjit Singh Sumel and Dr. Keith E. Bowers and Matthew Wilson3109 S. Frontenac St., Seattle and 4266 W. 8th Ave., Vancouver and 501–3811 Hastings St., Burnaby
Plaintiff: Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Inc.300–1168 Hamilton St., Vancouver
Claim: Damages for misuse of trade secrets, misappropriation of confidential information, conspiracy, intentional interference with economic interests related to a confidentiality agreement signed during acquisition discussions regarding a technology that recovers phosphorous from animal waste; an injunction; an order; an accounting; damages against Bowers; orders; damages against Wilson; orders; damages against Sumel; orders; and damages aginst Multiform.
Defendants: Dr. Shenin Mohamed and Dr. Shenin Mohamed Podiatric Corp.1873 Marine Dr., West Vancouver
Plaintiff: Lourdes Capuno
490-789 W. Pender St., Vancouver
Claim: Damages for medical negligence and breach of contractual duty arising from failed surgeries on the plaintiff’s feet, which resulted in injuries; and health-care costs.
Defendant: Nelson Tin828–8155 Park Rd., Richmond
Plaintiff: Coastal Contacts Inc.2900–595 Burrard St., Vancouver
Claim: An injunction restraining Tin from using or disclosing Coastal’s confidential information, soliciting customers or procuring any business from a customer related to breach of an employment agreement; disgorgement of any profits or other benefits acquired or received by Tin; and damages.
Defendants: Ivanhoe Cambridge I Inc. and Loblaw Companies Ltd. and Loblaws Inc. and The Real Canadian Superstore2200–1055 W. Hastings St., Vancouver and 1200–200 Burrard St., Vancouver
Plaintiff: Kushla Krishna6232 S.E. Marine Dr., Burnaby
Claim: Damages for injuries sustained when the plaintiff slipped on liquid soap or an unknown substance at the Superstore in Metrotown Shopping Centre; and health-care costs. •
LAWSUIT OF THE WEEK
Golfer sues over back-nine skewerDelta resident David Charles Campbell is seeking damages against a local golf club and several farm investors after a flagpole impaled his hand.
According to a April 14 B.C. Supreme Court notice of civil claim, Campbell’s right hand was impaled and lacerated by the tenth hole flag pole on Northview Golf & Country Club Ltd.’s Canal Course on April 24, 2009.
Northview has been named a defendant in the case, in addi-tion to Donald George Stewart, Marilyn Joan Stewart, Wendy Dawn Chanasyk, Suzanne Joan Dahl and Nancy Colleen Pollon, all of whom are described in the suit as farm investors who live in Surrey.
The notice of claim does not detail how the flagpole impaled Campbell’s hand.
Still, Campbell has alleged the flagpole was on land the defendants owned or were occupiers of, and as a result they are responsible under the Occupiers Liability Act.
Campbell further alleges the defendants were negligent in the installation, inspection and maintenance of the flagpole.
He is seeking damages against the defendants pursuant to the Health Care Costs Recovery Act.
A response to the claim had not been filed by press time.
June 14–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver 31Law
Trouble
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For more information visit: www.wilson-tagoe.com
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Claim: $264,160 arising from a breached purchase and sale agreement for a property; specific performance of the purchase and sale agreement; and damages.
Defendant: North Kootenay Reman Ltd. (Surrey) Address unavailable
Plaintiffs: Superior Propane, a division of Superior Plus LP, by its general partner Superior General Partner Inc. 2300–550 Burrard St., Vancouver
Claim: $161,098 for breach of contract for the supply of gasoline and diesel fuel and unjust enrichment.
Defendants: F.S. 17 Enterprises Ltd. and John Doe and Jane Doe and Reza Keyvani and Bank of Montreal Addresses unknown and 1–1161 The High St., Coquitlam
Plaintiff: Royal Bank of Canada 1055 W. Georgia St., Vancouver
Claim: $150,406 against F.S. 17 for forged cheques; $74,00 against Keyvanini; an accounting; a tracing; a declaration against Bank of Montreal that the funds in Keyvani’s account are the property of the plaintiff and are held in trust for the plaintiff; and an order that the funds be paid into court by Bank of Montreal.
Defendants: S.L.H. Transport Inc. and Gregory Bach Addresses unavailable
Plaintiff: J. Perrotta Trucking Ltd. 2200–10155 102 St., Edmonton
Claim: $101,500 for losses and damages arising from a collision that created a fire and damaged the plaintiff’s tractor-trailer and cargo.
Defendants: Susan Perry and Henry Robert Menzel 7476 Prospect St., Pemberton, B.C.
Plaintiff: Terraine Construction Ltd. Box 770 Pemberton, B.C.
Claim: $85,000 for debt arising from personal loans.
Defendants: Window Stick Alarms Ltd. and Robert G. Allen Box 190, 30 Front St., Nanaimo and 109B–425 E. Stanford Ave., Parksville
Plaintiff: Royal Bank of Canada Box 5050, Station A, Mississauga, ON
Claim: $76,589 for debt.
Defendants: Cankor BBQ Ltd. and Min Suk Michael Kim 1518 Robson St., Vancouver
Plaintiff: Carmichael Engineering Ltd. 130–13751 Mayfield Pl., Richmond
Claim: $70,000 for debt for construction, equipment installation and finishing.
Defendants: Malcolm D. Lefcort and Heuristic Engineering Inc. and Access Energy Technologies Ltd. 3040 W. 5th Ave., Vancouver and 1100–1200 W. 73 rd Ave., Vancouver
Plaintiff: Robert H. Barrigar 3610 Cadboro Bay Rd., Victoria
Claim: A declaration the defendants have breached a settlement agreement; an order, or, $63,000, or, judgment for the amount due.
Defendant: Contemporary Security Canada ULC 2200–1055 W. Hastings St., Vanouver
Plaintiff: Target Management Canada, Ltd. Box 11, 1100 One Bentall Centre, 505 Burrard St., Vancouver
Claim: $62,682 for debt arising from an agreement for temporary accommodation facilities in Whistler during the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games; a declaration the defendant owes the plaintiff damages of $49,487.
Defendants: Stewart Design Group Ltd. and Gerald Stewart aka Gerald E. Stewart aka Gerald Edward Stewart and Wen Hua Zhang Stewart aka Wen Hua Stewart 221–3011 Louie Dr., West Bank, B.C. and 1121 Steele Crt., Kelowna
Plaintiff: Royal Bank of Canada Box 5050, Station A., Mississauga, ON
Claim: $48,748 for debt.
Defendant: Dean Scarpino aka Millenium Auto Centre 4997 Christie Rd., Ladysmith, B.C.
Plaintiff: Royal Bank of Canada Box 5050, Station A, Mississauga, ON
Claim: $39,584 for debt.
Defendant: Chet Constructino (1976) Ltd. aka Chet Construction (1976) Ltd. 330–522 Seventh St., New Westminster
Plaintiffs: Suncor Energy Products Partnership dba Petro-Canada 2700–700 W. Georgia St., Vancouver
Claim: $32,769 for debt.
Defendant: Pan Pacific Quadling Quarry Ltd. 22695 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford
Plaintiff: BC Hydro 333 Dunsmuir St., Vancouver
Claim: $30,812 for damage caused when the defendant trespassed on the plaintiff’s right of way and damaged BC Hydro works; and an injunction.
Defendants: Joy Select Hair Ltd. and Pho Pae Bobbie Choi 207–181 Keefer Pl., Vancouver and 8–63 Keefer Pl., Vancouver
Plaintiff: Royal Bank of Canada Box 5050, Station A, Mississauga
Claim: $30,482 against Joy for debt; and $33,207 against Choi.
Defendants: Uniwest Trading Corp. and Mahnaz Khoddami 2–1500 Marine Dr., North Vancouver and 1198 W.21st Ave., North Vancouver
Plaintiff: Royal Bank of Canada Box 5050, Station A, Mississauga, ON
Claim: $30,316 against Uniwest and Khoddami for debt; and a declaration that the security agreement is in priority to any right, title or interest of any of the defendants.
Defendants: 494743 B.C. Ltd. dba Flame Engineering & Construction and the said 494743 B.C. Ltd. and the said Flame Engineering & Construction and Sirus Familamiri and Satpal Kaur and Mehran Vakily and Darab Ahmadi 3131 B St. Johns St., Port Moody and 140–34A–2755 Lougheed Hwy., Port Coquitlam and 3088 Firestone Pl., Coquitlam and 561 St. Andrews Rd., West Vancouver
Plaintiff: Akal Plumbing & Heating Ltd. 111–13035 84th Ave., Surrey
Claim: $24,625 for debt arising from plumbing and other work; and a builder’s lien for $24,625.
Defendants: Ceres Gonzales Pajaron and Cathreen Gonzales Pajaron and Cristho Ray Gonzales Pajaron and CCP Foods & Services Inc. 9491 Blundell Rd.,
RichmondPlaintiffs: Hikmat Quaddoumi and Joyce Qaddoumi 133–12520 Horseshoe Way, Richmond
Claim: $23,500 for the sale of business assets; and $17,151 against Ceres and Cristho Ray for indemnity provisions of the assignment agreement.
Defendants: Okanagan Trucking Ltd. and Leslie Dwayne Pidwerbesky and Sharon Lee Pidwerbesky 1545 Hardy St., Kelowna and 245 Moubray Rd., Kelowna
Plaintiff: Sovereign Vehicle Leasing Ltd. 1200–805 W. Broadway, Vancouver
Claim: $11,379 for debt for a vehicle lease.
Defendants: Ara Tech Enterprises Inc. and Maryam Ebrahimi 880–1500 W. Georgia St., Vancouver and 572 Granada Cres., North Vancouver
Plaintiff: 431814 Canada Inc. 2580 Gilmore Ave., Burnaby
Claim: $7,311 for a breached credit agreement with Rona; and a builders lien for $7,311.
Defendant: Aleksandar Cuk dba Fairway Painting & Decorating 7523 Elwell St., Burnaby
Plaintiff: Vancouver City Savings Credit Union 2500–700 W. Georgia St., Vancouver
Claim: $4,767 for debt arising from a loan.
Defendants: 942252 Alberta Ltd. and Westminster Steel Inc. and Erik Steverlynck 300–906 Roderick Ave., Coquitlam and 20060 113B Ave., Maple Ridge
Plaintiff: F & G Delivery Ltd. 330-522 Seventh St., New Westminster
Claim: $3,958 for debt for transportation and crane services; and a builders lien for $3,958.
Defendants: Sukhraj Kaur Bal and Interline Motor Freight Inc. and Harmon Singh Bal 804 E. 37th Ave., Vancouver and Box 12577, 2480–1066 W. Hastings St., Vancouver and 5108–13562 Maycrest Way, Richmond
Plaintiff: Day and Knight Plumbing Heating Ltd. 506–938 Howe St., Vancouver
Claim: $3,145 against Sukrah Bal for debt for the labour and installation of a hot water boiler; orders; a builder’s lien for $3,145; and $2,625 against Interline and Harmon Bal.
Defendant: White Rock Business Improvement Association Address unavailable
Plaintiff: Cynthia Anne Richards 700–1006 Beach Ave., Vancouver
Claim: Damages for wrongful dismissal of an executive director.
Defendants: Miller Capilano Maintenance Corp. and The Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor
Daily business news at www.biv.com June 14–20, 201130 Law
Trouble
Ball that lands closest to the pin
River Green on the Green Golf Tournament
Buy Your Helicopter BallDrop Ra�e Tickets!
June 23, 2011
Venue: QGolf ClubTime: 6:30 pmTickets: $10 each
WINS 2 WESTJET TICKETS!
BC Gaming Event License #34355Chances are 1 in 1 500 to win.
Problem Gambling Help Line 1-888-795-6111www.bcresponsiblegambling.ca
Richmond Hospital Foundation7000 Westminster Hwy, Richmond BC, V6X 1A2
604.244.5252 www.richmondhospitalfoundation.com
General (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) and J. Doe and J. Roe and members of The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Her Majesty the Queen in the right of the Province of B.C. as represented by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure118 Bridge Rd., West Vancouver and 3rd f loor, 1001 Douglas St., Victoria and 5B–940 Blanshard St., Victoria
Plaintiffs: Telus Corp. and Gregory Peskett1800–401 W. Georgia St., Vancouver
Claim: A declaration the plaintiffs are entitled to indemnity and/or contribution from the defendants with respect to the settlement funds paid to Holly Jean Poupore in an action arising from a collision; a declaration that the liability be apportioned amongst the parties responsible; judgment for any amount that may be found due from the defendants; and judgment for the plaintiff ’s costs in the Poupore action.
Defendants: Antonio Russo and Jackie Russo and Nazzareno Russo and Chris Truckle and Monique Truckle and Circadian Project Management Ltd. and 652604 B.C. Ltd. and C.T. Pioneer Construction Ltd. and Cross Roads Excavating Ltd.Addresses unknown and 901–1788 W. Broadway, Vancouver and address unknown and 111 Wallace St., Nanaimo
Plaintiffs: Cape Construction (2001) Ltd. and Cape Development Corp.500–5811 Cooney Rd., Richmond
Claim: A declaration again Tony and
Nazzareno Russo, Truckle and C.T. Pioneer for liability to account for the fund arising from fraudulently authorized payments for sub-contracted services; a declaration the plaintiffs are entitled to a tracing; and damages; a declaration they are liable to account for all portions of the fund paid to them or for their benefit; payment for those portions of the fund; a declaration that the lands are subject to a lien; and orders.
Defendants: GDI Software Services Canada Inc. and IG Systems International Ltd. and Nordex Software Services Inc. and Joseph Lacascia and Ariel Dvorkin and Ronald Kadarishko and Sally Cramer and Pedro Nunes and Siong Heng Chan and Carlos Wong and Peter Smith-Gibbons and Scott Abraham and Les Sanderson and Blackbelt Media and Craig Levitt and Joshua Ofer Baazov and Egan Engel1300–1500 W. Georgia St., Vancouver and 6844 195A St., Surrey and 1077 W. Cordova St., Vancouver and 2501–1077 W. Cordova St., Vancouver and 1456 W. 53rd Ave., Vancouver and 18–6465 184A St., Surrey and 14682 59A Ave., Surrey and addresses unknown and 101–7075 Robert-Joncas Place, Saint Laurent, QC
Plaintiffs: Secured Opportunities Fund, LLC and Future Visions, Inc. and Visionary Investments Limited Partnership and SOF Management, LLC1300–777 Dunsmuir St., Vancouver
Claim: Judgment for debt owned under the loan and security documents arising from breach of contract; judgment for possession and sale of the collateral in accordance with the loan and security documents; orders; and damages against Blackbelt, Levitt, Baazov and Engel for
unlawful interference with contractual relations.
Defendants: Maicon Construction (1996) Ltd. and G & G Holdings Ltd. formerly G & G Fire Protection Ltd. and G & G Fire Protection and Keldon Electric & Data Ltd. and John Doe #1 and John Does #2-3301–1665 Ellis St., Kelowna and 22–4520 Gallaghers Lookout, Kelowna and 101–1461 St. Paul St., Kelowna and address unknown
Plaintiff: Owners, Strata Plan KAS 26762400–200 Granville St., Vancouver
Claim: Damages for breach of contract and negligence arising from the construction of the premises sold to the plaintiffs.
Defendants: Future Vehicle Technologies Inc. and EIG America, Inc. and Manzanita Micro, LLC and Car Design Co. and Car Manufacturer Co. and Car Supplier Co. and Battery Supplier Co. and Battery Distributor Co. and Battery Retailer Co. and Charger Supplier Co. and Charger Distributor Co. and Charger Retailer Co.7929 120th St. Delta and 190–2105 S Bascom Ave., Campbell, CA and 26519 Bond Rd., Kingston, WA and addresses unknown
Plaintiff: Kenmar Auto Services Ltd. dba Haney Automotive22334 McIntosh Ave
Claim: Damages for negligence causing a prototype hybrid concept car to catch fire when it was being tested on a dynamometer machine.
Defendants: West Coast Railway Association operating as Westcoast Railway Heritage Park and The District of Squamish and Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of British Columbia as represented by The Ministry of the Attorney General and Hit Entertainment Ltd. aka Hit Entertainment Inc.39645 Government Rd., Squamish and 37955 Second Ave., Squamish and address unavailable and Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Rd., London, UK
Plaintiff: Taryn Pickering1668 Golf Club Dr., Delta
Claim: Damages for injuries sustained when the plaintiff’s right hand and fingers were crushed by a train.
Defendants: William Anderson and Edward Trueman and Thomas L. Wiss202B–4059 200 St., Langley and 107–477 Peace Portal Dr., Blaine, WA
Plaintiffs: Sole Gear Design Inc. and Toby Reid3000–1055 W. Georgia St., Vancouver and 756 E. 5th St., North Vancouver
Claim: Judgment against Trueman and Anderson for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, unlawful interference with contractual and economic
relations and defamation arising from the theft of the plaintiff’s confidential information for use in a competing business; orders; judgment against Wiss for unlawful interference with contractual and economic relations and defamation; and damages against all; injunctions; and a declaration Sole Gear owns the name “Solegear Bioplastics Inc.”
Defendants: Jardine Lloyd Thompson Canada Inc. and Steve Hicks and AXA Pacific Insurance Co. and certain underwriters at Lloyd’s as arranged by Lloyd and Partners Ltd.350–4396 West Saanich Rd., Victoria
Plaintiffs: Coles Marine Diesel Repairs Ltd. and Hill’s Machine Shop Ltd. and Fleetwood Forest Products Ltd.524 Marine Dr., Gibsons, B.C.
Claim: Insurance indemnity from AXA and Lloyds arising from a fire that destroyed a property; a declaration that Jardine and Hicks failed to increase insurance limits as instructed and failed to recommend review of a wholly inadequate contents limit; a declaration that upon replacement of the building, Coles and Hill’s are entitled to indemnity for the cost of its replacement to the extent it exceeds actual cash value; and damages.
Defendants: The City of Merritt and Thompson-Nicola Regional District and VSA Highway Maintenance Ltd. and Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of British ColumbiaBox 189, 2185 Voght St., Merritt and 300–465 Victoria St., Kamloops and 4th floor, 3201 30th Ave., Vernon and 815 Hornby St., Vancouver
Plaintiff: Gaetano Dino Mario Dinicolo163 W. Kings Rd., North Vancouver
Claim: Damages for injuries sustained during a collision on a snow-covered roadway.
Defendant: Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of British Columbia as represented by the Minister of Transportation and InfrastructureAddress unavailable
Plaintiff: Artis King Edward Property Ltd.Box 48600, 1200–200 Burrard St., Vancouver
Claim: Compensation and disturbance damages arising from a land purchase agreement as part of building an overpass on King Edward Street; and reasonable costs, expenses and losses directly attributable to the disturbance caused to Artis by the transfer, dedication and licensing or use of the affected areas.
Defendant: Cedar Community Association2388 Cedar Rd., Nanaimo
Plaintiff: Lillian Glass
601–815 Hornby St., Vancouver
Claim: Damages for injuries sustained when the plaintiff sliced her finger on a piece of ragged metal on a double door.
Defendants: Multiform Harvest Inc. and Adam Ranjit Sumel aka Adam Ranjit Singh Sumel and Dr. Keith E. Bowers and Matthew Wilson3109 S. Frontenac St., Seattle and 4266 W. 8th Ave., Vancouver and 501–3811 Hastings St., Burnaby
Plaintiff: Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Inc.300–1168 Hamilton St., Vancouver
Claim: Damages for misuse of trade secrets, misappropriation of confidential information, conspiracy, intentional interference with economic interests related to a confidentiality agreement signed during acquisition discussions regarding a technology that recovers phosphorous from animal waste; an injunction; an order; an accounting; damages against Bowers; orders; damages against Wilson; orders; damages against Sumel; orders; and damages aginst Multiform.
Defendants: Dr. Shenin Mohamed and Dr. Shenin Mohamed Podiatric Corp.1873 Marine Dr., West Vancouver
Plaintiff: Lourdes Capuno
490-789 W. Pender St., Vancouver
Claim: Damages for medical negligence and breach of contractual duty arising from failed surgeries on the plaintiff’s feet, which resulted in injuries; and health-care costs.
Defendant: Nelson Tin828–8155 Park Rd., Richmond
Plaintiff: Coastal Contacts Inc.2900–595 Burrard St., Vancouver
Claim: An injunction restraining Tin from using or disclosing Coastal’s confidential information, soliciting customers or procuring any business from a customer related to breach of an employment agreement; disgorgement of any profits or other benefits acquired or received by Tin; and damages.
Defendants: Ivanhoe Cambridge I Inc. and Loblaw Companies Ltd. and Loblaws Inc. and The Real Canadian Superstore2200–1055 W. Hastings St., Vancouver and 1200–200 Burrard St., Vancouver
Plaintiff: Kushla Krishna6232 S.E. Marine Dr., Burnaby
Claim: Damages for injuries sustained when the plaintiff slipped on liquid soap or an unknown substance at the Superstore in Metrotown Shopping Centre; and health-care costs. •
LAWSUIT OF THE WEEK
Golfer sues over back-nine skewerDelta resident David Charles Campbell is seeking damages against a local golf club and several farm investors after a flagpole impaled his hand.
According to a April 14 B.C. Supreme Court notice of civil claim, Campbell’s right hand was impaled and lacerated by the tenth hole flag pole on Northview Golf & Country Club Ltd.’s Canal Course on April 24, 2009.
Northview has been named a defendant in the case, in addi-tion to Donald George Stewart, Marilyn Joan Stewart, Wendy Dawn Chanasyk, Suzanne Joan Dahl and Nancy Colleen Pollon, all of whom are described in the suit as farm investors who live in Surrey.
The notice of claim does not detail how the flagpole impaled Campbell’s hand.
Still, Campbell has alleged the flagpole was on land the defendants owned or were occupiers of, and as a result they are responsible under the Occupiers Liability Act.
Campbell further alleges the defendants were negligent in the installation, inspection and maintenance of the flagpole.
He is seeking damages against the defendants pursuant to the Health Care Costs Recovery Act.
A response to the claim had not been filed by press time.
June 14–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver 31LAW
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Dean Elissat joins Engine Digital as vice-president, client engagement
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Jennifer Spencer is partner at Miller Thomson
PeoPle on the MoveEmail your For the Record information to: [email protected]. Please include a high-resolution, colour head-shot where possible.
•AdvertisingDean Elissat has joined Engine Digital as vice-president, client engage-ment. He was previously managing director at Pub-licis Vancouver.
•Associations/SocietiesBill Woodley has been appointed president of the B.C. Ringette Association. He is vice-president of Legacy Pacific Group and was pre-viously senior manager with Nintendo of Canada.
Bill Tam has been appointed president and CEO of the BC Technology Industry Association taking over for Pascal Spothelfer. Tam was previously CEO of EQO Communications, a venture partner at Spring-Bank TechVentures, vice-president business develop-ment at AT&T Canada and vice-president of product strategy and marketing at MetroNet.
•Communications/PRJessica Mori has joined Saint Bernadine Mission Communications Inc. as a copywriter. She was previ-ously a copywriter at Spring Advertising.
•energyChris Thompson and Keven Craig have been promoted to senior vice-president, project
finance; and CFO, respect-ively, at Western Wind Energy Corp. Thompson was previously CFO and Craig was previously cor-porate finance manager at Western Wind.
•FinanceDale MacLean has been appointed president and CEO of Tree Island Indus-tries and has joined the board of the Tree Island Wire Income Fund. He was previously executive vice-president and general man-ager of Taymor Industries, chair of the board of the Prince Rupert Port Author-ity and vice-president mar-keting and sales at BC Rail.
•LegalJennifer Spencer and Kevin Sorochan have been named partners at Miller Thomson
LLP. Spencer was previously an associate in commercial litigation and regulatory matters and Sorochan was previously an associate in securities.
Gina Wu has joined Rich-ards Buell Sutton LLP (RBS) as an associate in the secur-ities and corporate finance group. She completed her articles at RBS.
•ResourcesL i ng Z hu , Dav id B o and Liang Shi have been appointed CEO and dir-ector; chair and director; and director; respectively, at China Minerals Min-ing Corp. Zhu was previ-ously a senior executive with the Skyocean Group, Shi is director of Skocean Hold-ings and Bo was previously general manager, business
development, at the Ivanhoe Capital Corp.
Fred Buckingham has joined Molycor Gold Corp. as a consultant. He works with MPR Associates.
Bryan Hyde has joined Rockridge Capital Corp. as technical director. He was previously project managing director of Mirabela Nickel Ltd., group technical con-sultant to LionOre Min-ing International, chair and managing director of LionOre Australia Pty Ltd. and manging director of Tati Nickel Mining Com-pany (Pty) Ltd.
Pe g g y Wu h a s b e e n appointed CFO of Corvus Gold Inc., replacing Michael Kinley who remains as a consultant. Wu is CFO of
Indico Resources Inc. and financial reporting special-ist for the Cardero Group of Companies. She was previ-ously senior staff accountant and supervisor at Smythe Ratcliffe LLP.
Henr y Park has been appointed a director of Tin-tina Resources Inc. He is managing director of Elec-trum Frontier and was pre-viously a commodities ana-lyst at Soros Fund Manage-ment and an investment banker at Morgan Stanley.
Anna Ladd, Paul Keller, Dayle Rusk, Daniel Mar-inov and Erin Walmesly have joined Trevali Min-ing Corp. as CFO, vice-president of operations, vice-president of explor-at ion, ch ie f geolog i s t and corporate secretary,
RCH Foundation director of leadership-giving Gordon Stewart and Plenary Health’s vice-president of project development Chris Coulter
European models shown. Features and equipment may vary in Canada. MSRP of a 2011 328i Classic Edition xDrive28i Auto with Premium Package, starts at $44,100. Lease rates are those offered by BMW Financial Services Canada only on approved credit (OAC). *Lease rate of 2.5% available for up to 39 months. Lease example based on $328 a month for 39 months. Down payment or equivalent trade of $5,500. Freight and PDI and other additional fees are extra and due on signing. HST and licence fee are extra. Total obligation is $18,311.89. The residual value of the vehicle at end of term is $22,491. Annual kilometres limited to 16,000; $0.15 per excess kilometre. Excess wear-and-tear charges may apply. Additional province-specific fees, taxes, and charges may be extra. Retailers are free to set individual prices and charge administration fees, which may change the APR or the price of the vehicle. Event runs June 15, 2011 to June 19, 2011 inclusive. Delivery must be taken by July 3, 2011. Offer requires Retailer participation. Offer is subject to availability and may be cancelled or changed without notice. Certain conditions apply. See your local BMW Retailer or vancouverretailers.bmw.ca for full details. †Certain limitations apply; see Retailer for details. ©2011 BMW Canada Inc. “BMW”, the BMW logo, BMW model designations and all other BMW related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and/or trademarks of BMW AG, used under licence.
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Job Desc.: BMW Vancouver RetailersDocket: BMWVA0169Client: BMWSupplier: Type Page: Trim: 9.75" x 7.125"Bleed: Screen: Pub.: Business in VancouverColour: 4CDate: June 7, 2011Insert Date: June 14, 2011Ad Number: BMWVA0169_BIV_4C_E_EVENT
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2011 BMW Z42011 BMW 5 Series2011 BMW 1 Series2011 BMW 3 Series2011 BMW X5
For the very first time in our history, we’re offering BMW corporate demos from our full range of vehicles at remarkably reduced prices. At the BMW Ultimate Demo Event, you can get a $5,550 discount on the 2011 328i xDrive Auto with Premium Package and pay just $328 per month. But this once-in-a-lifetime event only runs from June 15 to 19 – so we suggest you don’t wait until the next one.
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Daily business news at www.biv.com June 14–20, 201132 For the record
Careers• www.employmentinvancouver.com • E-mail: [email protected] • Tel: 604-688-8828 • Fax: 604-669-2154
Adrienne Bakker, RCH Foundation president and CEO, with Bruce Hogg, branch manager and chair BMO BC/Yukon Employee Charitable Foundation, and staff of the 6th Street New Westminster location of BMO Bank of Montreal
On June 2, the 24th annual Women’s Media Golf Classic raised over $125,000 for
BC’s Special Children, Pacific Autism Family Centre & the Mediated Learning Academy!
Thank you so very much to our generous sponsors & supporters for BC’s special children!
Chair & FounderWendy Lisogar - Cocchia
Special Thanks to Our Fantastic Event Day Volunteers - who made it all Possible!!
Golf CourseDonna Allen • Ray Anderson • Lucas Aykroyd • Tanja Bartel • Maureen BellingerJason Chu • Penny Hurst • Shelley Janze • Stephen Kern • Helen Lim • Anne PustilCam Varcoe • Monica Woldring • Doris Wong • Musqueam Golf & Learning Academy Marshals • Staff of Eny’s Cafe
Team AmbassadorsJose Abundo • Ishar Barason • Bill Bymal • Sukh Chera • Greg CherniwchanBJ Chute • Wes Day • Dave Dickerson • Perry Fiedler • Troy GiengerIan Gordon • Craig Griffiths • Jeff Harris • Chris Hastings • Dave JakewayBruce Kennedy • Ed McCormick • Cory Marsden • Sean Mercer • Randy MotkulukSewa Pangalia • Jay Pruniak • Gord Robbins • Georgina Spencer • Ryan SteeleJim Stoughton • Darren Watts
BanquetNaz Degan • Marilyn Gardner • Debbie Osing • Susan Semeniw Carey Summerfelt • Sarah Summerfelt • Karen St. Aubin • Teresa AndersonNaomi Lynam • Karen Englave • Julie Vegesund
respectively. Ladd was pre-viously director of finance at Kinross Gold Corp., and CFO at Crowflight Min-erals Inc. Keller is vice-president of operations at Kria Resources Ltd. and was previously vice-president of operations for North America and gen-eral manager for Century Mining Corp. and COO of Crowf light Minerals. Rusk was previously chief of technical services for Imperial Metals and sen-ior production geologist at Goldcorp, Anglo Amer-ican and Kria Resources. Marinov was previously project exploration man-ager at Anglo American.Walmesley was previously corporate secretar y at Montreux Capital Corp. and IDIFF Indico Resour-ces Ltd. and a paralegal at Maitland & Co.
David Sidoo has been appointed executive chair of the board at East West Petroleum Corp. He is former owner of Lumiere restaurant.
Mike Martin has retired as general manager Trail oper-ations and Greg Belland has been appointed to the same position at Teck Resour-ces Ltd. He was previously manager, commercial servi-ces, raw materials manager, operating manager and sales manager at Teck.
Michael McInnis has been appointed to the board of Burnstone Ventures Inc. He is also on the board of Abacus Mining & Explora-tion Corp., Canasil Resour-ces Inc. and Victoria Gold Corp.
C a rl P i ne s h a s b e en appointed interim CEO of Alpha Gold Corp. He is associate counsel with
Owen Bird Law Corp. and was previously direc-tor and audit committee chair at Alpha Gold.
Michael Allen has been appointed CFO PMI Gold Corp., replacing Philip Gibbs. Allen was previously CFO and company secretary for Dragon Mining NL and a principal in the corpor-ate finance division of RSM Bird Cameron.
Angela Yap has been appointed CFO at Cream Minerals Ltd. She was pre-viously director of corporate accounting with the Anthem Properties Group.
Colin Andrew has joined the board of Sunward Resources Ltd. He is CEO of the company.
Bob Thompson has been appointed chief geologist at Northern Vertex Cap-ital Inc. He was previously with the Geological Survey of Canada and was senior adviser to the Deputy Min-ister of Energy Mines and Petroleum Resources.
Michael Riley and Thomas Graham Jr. have been named director and chair of the board, respectively at CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. Riley is chair of the audit committee of BC Lottery Corporation and a mem-ber of the board of Primero Mining Corp. He was previ-ously an audit partner with Ernst & Young LLP. Gra-ham has served under four successive U.S. presidents as a senior U.S. diplomat involved nuclear non-pro-liferation. He is chairman of Mexco Energy Corp. and executive chairof Light-bridge Corp.
David Michaud has been appointed executive chair of
Weststar Resources Corp. He is a consult for for Metal-lurgyInMotion Inc. and was previoulsy operations man-ager to Corriente Resour-ces Inc.
Matthew Fowler has been appointed CFO of Mari-fil Mines Ltd. He is a sen-ior consultant with Sharp Executive Associates, Inc. and was previously part-ner, CFO and CCP at Strata Partners, LLC.
Michael Maslowski has been appointed vice-president, exploration (Canada), at Golden Predator Corp. He was previously general man-ager and director of explor-ation for Coeur d’Alene Mines and chief geologist and exploration geologist for Apollo Gold Corp. and Pegasus Gold Inc.
Companies on the move• Name changeCopper Ridge Explorations Inc. has changed its name to Redtail Metals Corp. and will trade under the symbol TSX:RTZ
hats offBusiness in Vancouver wel-comes submissions from local small businesses and large cor-porations alike that demon-strate examples of corporate philanthropy and community involvement in the Vancouver area. High-resolution images are also welcome.
Teck Resources Inc. donated $1.5 million to Pacific Coast University for Workplace Health Sciences.
The Royal Columbian Hos-pital Foundation presented certificates of recognition to
the BMO Employee Charit-able Foundation for its dona-tion of $5,000 toward the funding of a second digital breast imaging machine at the hospital to help reduce wait times for breast cancer diagnoses and to Plenary Health for its bronze level support of the RCH Founda-tion’s SHINE Gala.
Moby Dick Seafood Res-taurant donated $1,615 to Peace Arch Hospital and Community Health Foundation.
ClearlyContacts.ca donated 4,500 pairs of prescription eyeglasses, reading eye-glasses and UV protecting sunglasses to local school children, adults and seniors on a recent trip to Panama through its Change the View project.
The Surrey Board of Trade’s Top 25 under 25 Awards win-ners were: Sunpreet Bains, volunteer, Surrey Memor-ial Hospital and Kwantlen Polytechnic University student l i fe promotion team; Ben Brown Bentley, founder and co-owner of Adrenaline Productions; Jennifer Boyd, volunteer at Guildford Park Second-ary’s Fresh Start Program and outside sales represent-ative for Printfastic Print-ing; Glen Chua, founder of the Surrey Film Festival; Raman Dasanjh, OfficeT-eam; Randip Gill, co-founder of Ujump; Ashish Gurung, social media con-sultant and creator and co-owner of QuikPiq; Paul Hillsdon, creator and chief editor of CivicSurrey.com; Denny Hollick, commun-ity leader, the Rotary Club Youth Leadership Program and Kwantlen’s President’s Ambassador Team; Sunny Joh a l , c o -fou nder of Ujump;. Ryan Keigher, Kwant len’s President ’s Ambassador Team and board of governors; Ameet Khabra, owner Straight Rocked Entertainment Inc. and a volunteer with Sur-rey Women’s Centre; Kyle Krystalowich, president of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) at Simon Fraser Uni-versity; Dana Miller, volun-teer at the Cloverdale Rodeo; Antony Mudim, Acting Together; Mao Murakami, program co-ordinator at the Electrical Industry Train-ing Institute; Nicole Reader, co-chair Cloverdale Rodeo
volunteer committee; Hoang Nguyen, fundraiser, Charity: water; Amanda Ovenden, marketing programs specialist for Talent Technology; Mar-cin Samiec, business analyst and privacy officer at Back-Check; Sonya Schafer, Clov-erdale Rodeo; Jamie Schreder, realtor and property manager; Anisha Virk, Surrey Memor-ial Hospital Foundation’s Youth Volunteer program; Hayley Woodin, Kwantlen’s President’s Ambassador Team; and Emily Wright, co-founder of Excel Basketball Academy.
The 2011 Architecture Insti-tute of BC Architectural Award Recipients were: Med-als - Patkau Architects for the Beaty Biodiversity Centre / Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory; and Bing Thom Architects Inc. for the Arena Stage at the Mead Centre for American Theatre. Merit - Gair Williamson Architect Inc. for the Cordova Street Stables; Walter Francl Archi-tecture Inc. and Nick Milk-ovich Architects Inc. for the Creekside Community Cen-tre; Bing Thom Architects for the SAIT Parkade; and Acton Ostry Architects Inc. for the Sauder School of Busi-ness. AIBC Special Jury Award the Woodward’s Redevelop-ment by Henriquez Partners Architects; the John Tizya Cultural Centre by Kobayashi + Zedda Architects Ltd.; and the Ty-Histanis Commun-ity Infrastructure by David Nairne + Associates Ltd. •
Martha Davis, Peace Arch Hospital and Community Health Foundation representative, and Moby Dick owners James Morrison, Monika Oswald and Ralph Oswald
Work With us & groW a career
Glacier Media Group is growing. Check our job board regularly for the latest openings:
www.glaciermedia.ca/careers
June 14–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver 33for the record
Deadline for Datebook listings is noon Tuesday for the following week ’s paper. Listings are published on a guaranteed basis for $50 per week, plus gst. Free listings will run in print as space permits. Go to www.bivdatebook.ca to post your listing. Published Datebook listings are at the discretion of BIV.
Breakfast, Luncheon, Dinner MeetingsDebunking the HST MythJune 14, 2011, 11:45 AM: Robert McFarlane, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Telus Communications, Peter Leitch, Chairman, Motion Picture Production Industry Association of B.C. and Chris Thompson, Consumer, U BC Economic s Graduate and law student. Price: $69 members and guests/$96 future-members. Vancouver
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Marriott Pinnacle Downtown, Pinnacle Ballroom, 1128 West Hastings Street. Vancouver, BC. [email protected]. www.boardoftrade.com.
Get More Leads From Your WebsiteJune 14, 2011, 5:00 PM: Join us and prepare to be energized! Expect to leave this session with insight and a passion to improve your conversion rate and ultimately get more leads and sales from your website! $55 SMEI members/$75 Non-members. Terminal City Club, 837 West Hastings. Vancouver. 604-266-0090 or [email protected]. smeivancouver.org.
A Sustainable Breakfast with Chef Robert Clark June 15, 2011, 7:00 AM: The Best of BC chefs, food, local, organic, free range, delicious. Chefs Table Society members host breakfast tables for you to mix and mingle with the stars of BC’s and Canada’s culinary world. Breakfast is made with
BC products and Rob Clark is inspiring. $50 +tax, VIP Table $1500. Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside, 1133 West Hastings Street. Vancouver. Dawn Donahue [email protected] o m ; 6 0 4 - 6 2 8 - 9 5 4 7. www.june15breakfast.eventbrite.com.
Steady Hand Uncertain Times: Mark Carney on Canada’s EconomyJune 15, 2011, 11:30 AM: Mark C ar ney, G over nor, B ank of Canada Members. $79 +HST; Non-members $110 +HST. Pan Pacific Vancouver, Crystal Pavilion, 999 Canada Place. Vancouver, BC. [email protected]. www.boardoftrade.com.
Vancouver CREW Speaker Series Luncheon: Joanne Curry - Executive Director, SFU SurreyJ u n e 1 5 , 2 0 1 1 , 1 1 : 3 0 A M : Vancouver CREW welcomes Joanne Curry, founding Executive Director of SFU Surrey Campus. Joanne will speak about the transformation and strategies
applied in the building and operation of this novel research campus. $50 members; $60 future members. Vancouver Club, 915 West Hastings Street. Vancouver. Vancouver CREW: 604-601-5107; [email protected]. www.vancouvercrew.org.
Dinner with Gordon Campbell: Economic Reflections & Lessons for the FutureJune 15, 2011, 5:30 PM: Reserve your table or t ickets today for this exclusive event and join other business leaders in acknowledging the exceptional contributions made by former premier Campbell to public policy and improving the quality of life for all British Columbians. $139.00/ticket or $1390.00/table of 10. Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. H e ath er C o r b et t : event [email protected], 604-688-0221,x525. www.fraserinstitute.org.
124th Annual General Meeting of The Vancouver Board of TradeJune 16, 2011, 11:15 AM: Lesley Stahl , Legenday Broadcast Journalist and Co-Editor, 60 Minutes. $ 129 members and guests/$180 future members (+HST ). The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, British Columbia Ballroom, 900 West Georgia Street. Vancouver, BC. [email protected]. www.boardoftrade.com.
Tri-City VWN Women’s Networking LunchJune 17, 2011, 11:30 AM: Join us for a fun, supportive and interactive networking lunch with like-minded business women. You’ll leave with an abundance of ideas and develop new contacts and resources in your community. Guests welcome! Members $25, guests $30. Vancouver Golf Club, 771 Austin Avenue. Coquitlam. Reservations required by June 14th at 5pm. Please call Joan Seaton at 604.216.7076 or email [email protected]. http://www.valleywomensnetwork.com/node/53.
Rising Dragon: China’s Influence on Economic Reform and GlobilizationJune 17, 2011 , 1 1 :45 AM: Dr. Fan Gang, Director, National
Economic Research Institute ( N E R I ) , B e i j in g ; C ha i r ma n , China Reform Foundation. $79 m e m b e r s a n d g u e s t s / $ 1 1 0 future-members (+HST). The C o a s t C o a l H a r b o u r, C o a l Harbour Ballroom, 1180 Hastings Street West. Vancouver, BC. [email protected]. www.boardoftrade.com.
TechForum: Intelligent Utilities - Building BC Hydro’s Smart GridJune 23, 2011, 11:30 AM: Join Don Stuckert, Julius Pataky and Kip Morison of BC Hydro as they discuss smart grids, te ch n o lo g y re qu i rem ent s , future plans and the economic opportunities this represents for the technology industry in British Columbia and beyond. Member $55; Non-member $80; Student $36. Sutton Place Hotel, 845 Burrard St. Vancouver. Rebecca Clark: 604.602.5241, [email protected]. www.regonline.ca/techforumsmartgrid.
How to Structure Your Financial AssetsJune 23, 2011, 6:30 PM: Learn how to coordinate your personal and cor porate inves tment strategies. Use your capital more effectively and reduce taxes. Speaker: Dave Lee, ScotiaMcLeod. Complimentary admission. 100 - 1676 Martin Drive. White Rock. Dave Lee, 604-535-4743. www.dave-lee.ca.
Vancouver AM Tourism June Association MeetingJune 24, 2011, 7:00 AM: Speaker: Deputy Commissioner Peter German, District Commander RCMP Lower Main land . $28 members; $38 non-members; $23 students. RCMP Officer’s Mess , 5255 Heather Street . Vancouver. 6 0 4-73 8- 55 0 6 ; [email protected]. www.vancouveram.ca.
First and Goal: Kicking off the Season with the BC Lions June 24, 2011, 11:45 AM: Wally Buono, General Manager, Head Coach, BC Lions and Alternate Governor, Canadian Football League $69 members and guests/ $96 future-members (+HST). The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, British Columbia Ballroom, 900 West Georgia Street. Vancouver, BC. [email protected]. www.boardoftrade.com.
Oil Sands Innovation and Technology: The Key to Current and Future Challenges June 28, 2011, 11:45 AM: Don Thompson, President, Oil Sands Developers Group (OSDG). $69 members and guests/$96 future-members (+HST). The Sutton Place Hotel, Versailles Ballroom, 845 Burrard Street. Vancouver, BC. [email protected]. www.boardoftrade.com.
Vancouver AM Tourism July Association MeetingJuly 8, 2011, 7:00 AM: Inside the brand new Bank of Montreal tent ! Speaker : Chr is topher Graze, Artistic Director for Bard on the Beach. $28 members; $38
non-members; $23 students. Bard on the Beach, Vanier Park. Vancouver. 6 0 4-73 8- 55 0 6 ; [email protected]. www.vancouveram.ca.
conferences, conventions, traDeshowsProject Management Conference and Free Career Fair Hosted by Canadian West Coast Chapter-PMIJune 15, 2011 , 7:00 AM: We a re o f fe r i n g 8 x 9 0 m i n u te sessions focusing on practical project management topics a n d 2 key n ote s . Yo u h ave a c h o ice o f 2 e d u c a t io n a l session streams. The Career Fair is FREE to all (registration is required). Recruiters have active PM positions available. $299 members or $349 for non-members. Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver, 791 West Georgia Street. Vancouver, BC. [email protected]. pmibc2011.ca/biv.
The Hundred Hired ChallengeJune 16, 2011 , 10 :00 AM: A challenge to businesses, to commit to providing real jobs to real people from the poorest postal code in Canada. This event will provide a venue to recognize employers that are helping to build a stronger and sustainable community by hiring residents. Free. 390 Main Street. vancouver BC. Tradeworks.ca/Pathways.
YES! You Can! Forum Series - IMAGE: It’s More Than Just a LogoJune 26, 2011 , 1 1 :00 AM: A must-attend event for savvy business women, this event features interactive workshops with industry professionals, n e t w o r k i n g , a n d s p e c i f i c techniques, tools and tips to assist us in creating and keeping our edge in this economy. (Did we ment ion net wor k ing? ! ) Early bird registration before June 15th - $169. Holiday Inn Express 2889 East Hastings St. Vancouver, BC. Cathy. [email protected]. http://bit.ly/fhnJ0P.
UBC Summer Institute in Sustainability LeadershipJuly 4, 2011 , 8 :15 AM: One-week professional development program designed to help you accelerate the sustainability agenda in your organization/community. Participants gain the perspectives and strategies needed to develop policies, create plans and manage sustainability plans. Prices vary. UBC Point Grey Campus. Vancouver, BC. [email protected]. cstudies.ubc.ca/sisl.
courses, workshops, seMinarsDragon Feast of the CenturyJune 14, 2011 , 12 :30 PM: 15 Dragon Chefs create a visual and
Daily business news at www.biv.com June 14–20, 201134 DatebookGuarantee the publication of your listing for $50 per issue (plus hst). 604-608-5189 or [email protected] www.bivdatebook.com
culinary feast. The Best Chinese lunch - with lobster, crab, duck, tenderloin, arctic charr, sweet and savoury. This once in a lifetime luncheon showcases the best of our award winning asian culinary team. $150. Rain Flower Seafood Restaurant, 3600 No. 3 Road. Richmond. Dawn Donahue: d a w n @ g o g o l f e v e n t s . c o m , 604.628.9547. www.dragonfeast.eventbrite.com.
Aboriginal Lunch with Chef Andrew George and Metis NationJune 15, 2011, 12:00 PM: Ten signature aboriginal foods . Meet Chef Andrew, learn about traditional aboriginal cuisine, enjoy a Pacif ic Nor th West potlatch feast , a wild game charcuterie station, juniper duck canapes, clam fritters, braised rabbit, fresh tuna salad, corn and wild r ice . $50.00. Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside, 1133 West Hastings Street. Vancouver. Dawn Donahue: d a w n @ g o g o l f e v e n t s . c o m , 604.628.9547. www.chefandrew.eventbrite.com.
Sales and Marketing Peer Group Roundtable: Winning Strategies for Complex SalesJune 21, 2011, 5:30 PM: Join in the discussion as Mike Smith, President of StrataMax Business D eve lop m ent , shares b es t practices, war stories and case histories in an effort to help you develop a methodology that will work for your product or service in your markets. Member $15; Non-member $30. Segal School of Business, 500 Granville Street. Vancouver. Rebecca C lark , [email protected]. www.regonline.ca/junesmg.
HR Metrics Benchmarking Service - Demo & OverviewJune 23, 2011, 9:00 AM: If you are looking to learn more about the
HR Metrics Service, sign up for this one hour demo. No charge. Online. 604.694.6946. http://www.bchrma.org/content/events/ls/details.cfm?EventID=035-241.
Leadership Skills for Managers & Supervisors/Managing Generational DifferencesJune 28, 2011, 9:00 AM: Learn the differences between being a great leader who develops high performing and engaged teams, and one who simply manages them, and how leaders create more prof i t . Ga in a deeper understanding of the characteristics and behaviours of the generations. $125.00 +HST for a 1/2 day, $199.00 +HST for a full day. BCIT Downtown Campus, 555 Seymour Street. Vancouver. [email protected] or 604 824-6776. https://www.dlionline.ca/seminars.php.
BCBusiness TOP 100 - See and Hear Jimmy Live!June 29, 2011, 1:00 PM: Less than 100 tickets remain to see and hear Jimmy Pattison live. For only $99, learn how to make your business better. You’ll also receive a one-year subscription to BCBusiness magazine and a copy of Peter Legge’s best selling book The Power of a Dream. $75 plus HST. Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. T im Reye s , 6 0 4 - 6 3 9 -3 79 8 . bcusinessonline.ca/top100event.
Canadian Securities Course (CSC)July 6, 2011: Have the skills and knowledge to become a licenced mutual funds salesperson with our Canadian Securities Course. Ashton College. Vancouver. 604-899-0803/[email protected]. www.ashtoncollege.com.
HR Metrics Service - Demo & Overview: ManufacturingJuly 21, 2011, 9:30 AM: Come
join us for an overview of the HR Metrics Benchmarking Service with a special focus on the Manufacturing Sector. No charge. Online. 604.694.6946. http://www.bchrma.org/content/events/ls/details.cfm?EventID=035-237.
FESTIVALSAgassiz Slow Food Cycle TourJuly 23, 2011, 9:00 AM: This tour provides an educational and culinary experience exploring many farms, some that are open to the public on these days only. This is an event that is suitable for families of all ages. $20/person. Children 12 and under are free. On the corner of Cameron and McCallum Road. Agassiz. www.slowfoodvancouver.com.
FUNDRAISERS, GENERAL EVENTSCCFCC Chefs Presidents BallJ u n e 1 5 , 2 0 1 1 , 5 : 3 0 P M : Culinary Team Canada creates a multi-course meal. This gala event presents Chef of the Year, as well as National Chefs Challenges winners, plus an amazing meal created for chefs, by chefs, honouring chefs. This is one gala dinner you should not miss. $175.00 +tax includes multi-courses and beverages. Renaissance Vancouver Hotel
Harbourside, 1133 West Hastings Street. Vancouver. Dawn Donahue, [email protected]. www.presidentsball.eventbrite.com.
Fathers Day Walk/Run for Prostate CancerJune 19, 2011, 10:00 AM: Join us Sunday June 19th at Burnaby Lake Park for the 13th Annual walk/run for prostate cancer. Fr e e fo o d , e n te r t a i n m e n t and prizes. Visit our website t o r e g i s t e r o r f o r m o r e information. $35 Registration Fee . Burnaby L ake Park a t the Rowing Pavilion. Burnaby. [email protected] a o r 6 0 4 . 5 74 . 4 0 1 2 . w w w.walktolive.ca.
GALA EVENTSWines of Chile Presents Dish n’ DazzleJune 17, 2011 , 6:30 PM: The BC H osp i ta l i t y Foundat ion and Wines of Chi le present Dish n’ Dazzle at the Fairmont Pacif ic Rim. Featuring more than 20 wineries from Chile, 12 restaurants and a cocktail co m p et i t i o n , th i s n i g h t i s sure to delight! $99 (or $90 fo r g r o u p s o f 6 o r m o r e) . Fa irmont Paci f ic R im , 1038 C a n a d a P la c e . Va n c o u ve r. kate@ccl td .ca . http://www.bchospitalityfoundation.com/.
GOLF TOURNAMENTSCCFCC Golf Tournament: Chef Convention Fabolous Country ClassicJune 16, 2011, 10:30 AM: Chefs hosting food and beverage stations, chefs golfing, power carts, lunch, dinner, prizes - pig roast for dinner, Golfing with chefs is always a delicious affair. Everyone welcome - a tradeshow booth on every teebox. A fun, scramble tournament. $250 per golfer includes everything. Furry Creek Golf Course. Furry Creek, BC. Dawn Donahue: [email protected], 604.628.9547. www.ccfccgolf.eventbrite.com.
Vancouver CREW 6th Annual Golf Tournament and Silent Auction FundraiserJuly 21, 2011, 11:00 AM: Join us at the 6th Annual Vancouver CREW Golf Tournament . The tournament includes 18 holes of golf with a golf cart, the West Coast Classic Buffet dinner, and prizes. Members $225; non-members $250. Mayfair Lakes Golf & Country Club. Richmond. Vancouver CREW: 604-601-5107; [email protected]. www.vancouvercrew.org.
Business Leaders Golf TournamentAugust 23, 2011 , 12 :00 PM: Play golf with the Vancouver
business community including senior executives, deal-makers and professionals involved in corporate growth, development, and mergers and acquisitions. A fu l l day event inc lud ing golf, dinner and great prizes! $175 BIV subscribers, ACG or TMA members/$200 for the general public. University Golf C lub, 5 185 Universi ty B lvd . Vancouver. Aly-Khan Virani: [email protected], 604.608.5197. https://www.eplyevents.com/BusinessLeadersGolfTournament.
NETWORKING FUNCTIONSMature Women’s Network: Prepare for the UnexpectedJune 25, 2011 , 1 :00 PM: An invitation to women over 40 years to our monthly meeting with talk, Being Prepared for the Unexpected! by Patricia Barrett of Canadian Red Cross, formerly Guide Guides and Provincial Emergency Services Volunteer. Learn how to get emergency information. $5.00 non-members; $4.00 members at door. 1480 West 7th Avenue ( 1 /2 block east of Granville). Vancouver. 604.681.3986 or [email protected]. http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/7210588/BC/Vancouver/Being-Prepared-for-the-Unexpected/Mature-Women39s-Network/. •
An evening full of Fun, Food & Fundraising
Project Empty Bowlpresented by Coast Capital Savings
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June 14–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver 35DATEBOOK
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Public EyE
SEAn HolmAnTax justice delayed for B.C. businesses
ThUmBs Up ThUmBs dOWN
More budget brass needed from Tory majorityThUmBs dOWN:
To a federal budget that’s still failing to adequately address the need to reduce government spending and the federal debt’s drag on the
economy and the country’s ability to compete. Note to Tory fiscal conserva-tives: the party now has a majority, so tough decisions can be made without brokering deals with NDP, Liberal or Bloc Québécois coalition forces.
It appears, however, that once the political spin starts on the fiscal front it’s tough to get off the merry-go-round.
The good news is there is talk of spending cuts – an initiative that most governments have long since removed from standard operating procedure manuals. According to federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, those cuts will trim $4 billion annually from his government’s direct-program spend-ing regime following the completion in 2011-12 of a Strategic and Operating Review.
That renders opaque any immediate window into where and what those cuts might be. The only firm detail on spending cuts thus far is the elimina-tion starting in 2012 of the $27 million in taxpayer subsidies to federal political parties. That’s already setting hair afire in opposition party ranks, but it will be some comfort to Canadians who have seen their tax dollars in past years go to fund parties dedicated to the breakup of the country.
Confidence in the Conservative government’s ability to cut has under-standably reached a low ebb. How to spend, it knows well; how to cut – not so much. For example, its 2009-10 program spending increased 13.1% – a rise that followed three years of annual spending increases in the 7% range. The
government is now hoping to keep overall program spending increases to an average annual rate of 2%. So it’s moving in the right direction, but with the majority mandate it secured in the May 2 election, the Conservative gov-ernment needs to show that it has the backbone to do more than slow over-all spending. It needs to take a leadership role similar to that of the Liberal government in the mid-1990s, which cut annual spending by closer to 10% than the 5% promised in Flaherty’s new budget. True, the federal deficit for the 2010-11 fiscal year is now pegged at $36.2 billion, $4.3 billion less than the $40.5 billion estimated in the March version of the Tory budget, but in 2011-12 it will increase to $32.3 billion from the previously estimated $29.6 billion. The government is also committed to balancing the budget by 2014, which is one year earlier than previously outlined. However, the country’s debt is pro-jected to hit $614 billion by 2014, and the Tories’ budget-balancing ambitions are heavily reliant on optimistic revenue growth and a U.S. economy that itself remains enfeebled by massive government and personal debt.
Meanwhile, much of the aforementioned revenue growth will come via personal income tax. Increases there will be hard for Canadians to swallow. As the Fraser Institute pointed out in April, “the average Canadian family spent more than 41% of its annual income in taxes in 2010, more than it paid for food, clothing and shelter combined.” Without a globally competitive tax regime, the country’s ability to compete for the talent needed to drive innova-tion will be seriously impaired.
Flaherty deserves applause in a number or areas, including maintaining his government’s planned corporate tax rate reductions, extending the 15% mineral exploration tax credit until 2012 and providing a temporary hiring credit for small business. Overall, however, the finance minister and the rest of the Tory government need to be far more bold in setting the agenda for a fiscally robust and globally competitive Canada. That’s in part why Canadians committed to providing the Conservatives with a majority mandate. The party needs to deliver on that commitment or it won’t be a majority government for long •[email protected]
And according to Jock Finlayson, BCBC’s executive vice-president of policy, the review’s steering com-mittee hasn’t even had a meeting for the past four months.
“The process sort of ran out of gas in terms of where the govern-ment was going with it,” he said,
noting four different ministers have been responsible for the file since it was first opened.
To a certain extent, that’s under-standable given the recent political turmoil in British Columbia and the government’s “preoccupation with HST.”
Nevertheless, Finalyson said, the process has been “much slower than I envisaged at the front-end.”
In the midst of that morass, the UBCM has announced it’s looking for a consultant to “determine the conditions under which munici-pal property taxes have a material effect on business decisions for major industry.”
According to a bid document quietly posted on the government’s procurement website, the UBCM is
A review of British Columbia’s industrial property taxes has
ground to a halt, nine months after a promised deadline to resolve long-standing business concerns about those rates.
But a government spokesman has insisted the province is still committed to do just that, as it helps fund yet another study into the issue.
For many years, the private sector has felt some municipalities have been gouging them, forcing businesses to pay higher property taxes so residents can pay less.
Those feelings turned into headlines in 2009 when Catalyst Paper Corp. triggered an indus-trial tax revolt by paying just $6 million of the $23 million it owed to four municipalities, challenging the fairness of that bill in court (see “Forest companies lobbying for lighter tax load” – issue 1022; May 26-June 1, 2009).
Catalyst lost that case and even-tually agreed to give three of the four municipalities their money – although it’s appealing the ruling.
In the meantime, back in March 2010, the province, the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) and the Business Coun-cil of British Columbia (BCBC) committed to come up with recommendations for a better industrial property tax system.
The deadline for those recom-mendation was September 2010. But that date has come and gone without a resolution to the dispute.
“The process sort of ran out
of gas in terms of where the
government was going with it”
– Jock Finlayson,executive vice-president of policy,
BCBC
spending $50,000 for the study – with $25,000 of that amount com-ing from the province.
The UBCM and the govern-ment have said that work is sep-arate but will inform the stalled review process. But Finlayson questioned whether that study will give local government the answers it’s looking for.
“If they want to go and do a study and get some more up-to-date information and shed some new light on this topic that’s fine,” he said.
“Although, as an economist I can tell you I think they’re going to have some challenges in actually executing the study.”
For example, it’ll be difficult to measure how much impact the uncertainty of industrial property taxes – which can shift with the makeup of a local council – has on investment.
And, in any case, the study’s results won’t change the fact that the province is ultimately respon-sible for both creating and cleaning up the present property tax mess.
After all, it’s the province that gave municipalities the power to set those rates in the first place – 27 years ago. •
Sean Holman ([email protected]) is editor of the online provincial political news journal Public Eye (www.pub-liceyeonline.com).
Peter Ladner is on vacation.
Confidence in the government’s ability to cut has understandably reached a low ebb
Daily business news at www.biv.com June 14–20, 201136 Comment
Podium
Seth KleinWhy I’m voting against the HST: the harmonized tax fails the fairness test
Podium
GreG MundenThe HST is good for small businesses too
Reluctantly, I’ll be voting against the HST this June. It’s a difficult decision (and in-
deed some associated with my organization have landed on the other side of this question).
I come to my position reluctantly because: a) I do not relish joining anti-tax campaigns (they tap into a current in political culture that ill serves us in the long term); and b) I accept the arguments that a value-added sales tax such as the HST is more economically efficient than the old PST.
That said, the economic benefits of the HST have been grossly overstated by its proponents. Many of the businesses that will most benefit from the HST (particularly in the resource sec-tor) are much more sensitive to demand-side considerations (namely the global market for their products) than to supply-side considera-tions (such as taxes) when making their invest-ment decisions.
These caveats notwithstanding, there are core design flaws in the HST that mean the tax as currently structured is simply unfair and exacerbates trends that have undermined the overall progressivity of B.C.’s tax system for the past decade.
Those trends are two-fold:•a shift in government revenue from corpora-tions to households; and •at the household level, a shift from progressive income taxes to regressive consumption taxes, such that upper-income households have seen a much larger drop in their taxes.
From the time the HST was introduced, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) economists have provided nuanced analysis highlighting key flaws, but showing how these can be fixed. Their recommenda-tions, however, have thus far been ignored. The government has stubbornly refused to fix what is broken. And in the absence of a willingness to redress these defects, I am resigned to voting against the tax.
When comparing the overall corporate tax regime in B.C. to other jurisdictions, there is simply no compelling case that the corpor-ate sector in B.C. was in need of a massive tax
reduction (the HST system, by providing rebates for taxes paid on inputs, bestows upon business-es a tax cut of somewhere between $730 million and $2 billion). As it is, corporate tax rates have been dropping for years, and global accounting firm KMPG consistently finds B.C. to be one of the least expensive places in which to do busi-ness in the industrialized world. I’m sure many businesses appreciated the tax cut, but there is no evidence they needed it.
At the household level, British Columbian consumers will be paying more (about $1.3 billion more, according to the recent report of the government-appointed HST panel). Fundamentally, the HST and its low-income credit, as currently structured, fail the equity test. The credit largely off-sets the higher HST costs for the poorest British Columbians, but its early and quick phase-out means that many modest and middle income households will be facing higher costs.
It is possible, however, to envision a reformed HST regime that I would be happy to support; changes that would see B.C. realize the eco-nomic and efficiency benefits of the HST, while adequately addressing and offsetting the equity impacts of this shift from the PST to the HST.
The HST credit should be restructured along the lines of the Canada Child Tax Benefit or Old Age Security, such that the phase-out is much more gradual. This more generous credit could be paid for by an increase in the general corporate income tax rate (equivalent to what the corporate sector is saving due to the HST). Such an approach would not affect most of the smaller service-sector businesses that have been harmed by the HST (as they are subject to the much lower small-business corporate income tax rate).
Ultimately, it is unfortunate that we will be voting on a terribly narrow referendum ques-tion that will produce no particularly positive outcome either way.
As a province, we would be much better served by a fair tax commission in which we put the entire B.C. tax and royalty regime on the table. British Columbians deserve a chance to thoughtfully deliberate on all the options and to determine together how we want to raise the revenue we need to meet our social, environ-mental and economic goals. •
Seth Klein is the B.C. Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
The economic benefits of
the HST have been grossly
overstated by its proponents
i haven’t been paying much attention to the debate about the HST – mostly
because I didn’t think that it was at risk. Even a f ter t he referendu m was
announced, I didn’t think that a vote was going to change anything. But it seems that the threat to the HST is real and I should explain why I’m going to vote to keep the HST during the HST referen-dum in June.
I am not a corporate bigwig. I own a third generation, family-owned trucking company in Kamloops that was built from the ground up by my grandparents and parents. Today, I run the company with my two brothers and our wives. I don’t make millions of dollars, but our family business provides employment to 35 staff. They have families to support, so the long-term success of our business affects a lot of people.
The HST has meant that my company could aggressively invest in new trucks. We have recently spent more money and bought more trucks than if the HST weren’t in place, because we’re able to claim input tax credits for the HST we pay for busi-ness-related expenses – including when we replace older, less efficient equipment. That means that our employees – I’m call-ing them employees, but they’re really our friends – can operate newer, trouble-free equipment with more safety features.
Newer tractors are also more environ-mentally friendly because they create far less pollution than older models. They are more reliable and require less mainten-ance, which means that our customers have all-around better service.
The trucking industry is feeling a lot of
pressure in terms of fuel prices and other business costs but, in the long-run, the HST will mean that we won’t have to raise our rates as much in the future to make a profit and keep our business healthy. It’s always a balancing act, and the HST has made this easier.
I know that the HST isn’t good for everybody. One of my good friends owns a fast-food business in Kamloops and his
business is suffering. I really feel for him, and I don’t like having to pay the HST on restaurant bills either.
But I believe that, on balance, having the HST is better than going back to the PST and having a dual tax system. I’ve got to believe that the experience of my small business is being repeated across the province, but those business owners aren’t talking about it because it’s too controver-sial and it’s easier not to.
The problem is, if we don’t talk about why we support the HST, it could very well be defeated during the referendum by people who think it doesn’t benefit anyone other than big business.
To me, the HST isn’t just about big busi-ness. It’s also about small businesses like mine, and the families and communities we support. •
Greg Munden is the president of Munden Ventures Ltd., a third-generation transpor-tation business based in Kamloops.
The HST has meant that my company
could aggressively invest in new trucks
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Golden Goals
BoB MackinCanadian Olympic Committee branding gets simpler, clearer and stronger; NHL makes Sutton the place
The Canadian Olym-pic Committee (COC)
went back to basics for its new branding. It also came back to
Vancouver for the design.Executive director of brand
marketing Dennis Kim, who managed licensing and mer-
chandising for VANOC, chose multitalented designer Ben Hulse to re-evaluate the COC look. Hulse worked under the late Leo Obstbaum and Ali Gardner (now the Vancou-ver Canucks’ vice-president of marketing) in Vancouver 2010’s creative services depart-ment and was credited with designing the official Olympic and Paralympic posters.
“We weren’t sure which way we were going to go, whether we were going to de-velop something new or be inspired by the research we did,” Hulse said. “We discov-ered how significant the maple leaf was. The use of the single maple leaf predates the Can-adian flag by 60 years.”
He added that the burn-ing cauldron/maple leaf com-bination introduced before the Salt Lake 2002 Olympics, was “over-communicating.”
So a mark reminiscent of the Montreal 1976 era, a red maple leaf above the Olym-pic rings inside an ovular border representing a run-ning or speed-skating track,
was launched June 6 when Marketing magazine hosted a sports marketing conference in Toronto.
“It wasn’t necessarily that we wanted to do a retro mark or speak to a specific era,” Hulse said. “It was looking to communicate in the simplest, most pure form.”
Hulse was assisted by Greg Durrell, Adam Bognar and Andrew Simpson on the pro-ject and directed a rebranding video that appeared on a COC microsite.
Hotel NHL The Vancouver Canucks Stan-ley Cup run brought back memories of the 2010 Win-ter Olympics on downtown streets and in its hotels.
The Sutton Place scored when the NHL was shooting in the second round for rooms in case the Stanley Cup Final came to Vancouver.
“We were lucky enough to offer one of the largest blocks for the NHL, making us the headquarters hotel,” said Sut-ton Place director of sales and
marketing Kyle Matheson.Matheson said 125 to 150
people – mainly media – stayed at the 561-room Sut-ton when the series with the Boston Bruins opened here. The hotel was festooned with NHL branding and there was even an appearance by Van-couver’s Green Men for inter-views with visiting reporters.
“I’d rather it was Canucks in four,” Matheson said, “but from a business perspective, happy to have game five.”
Canucks’ Heat waveBefore the Stanley Cup Final started, Canucks’ general manager Mike Gillis told reporters that the location of the club’s farm team next season would be solved in a few weeks.
Gillis even suggested the Canucks could be owners of their minor-league affiliate.
The Manitoba Moose are headed to St. John’s, New-foundland, with players from Winnipeg’s new NHL fran-chise, instead of Canucks pros-pects. If Canucks Sports and Entertainment is in the mar-ket to buy a team, wouldn’t the Abbotsford Heat be the most logical target?
The Canucks’ ownership is too savvy to simply buy a team and let it become a money pit.
A farm team in the Fraser Val-ley would be a certain revenue generator.
Game networkNBC agreed June 7 to pay the International Olympic Committee (IOC) $4.382 bil-lion to broadcast the Olympics through 2020. The Peacock network, now owned by Com-cast, did the four-Games deal despite not knowing who will host in 2018 or 2020. The IOC will decide in Durban, South Africa, on July 6 whether PyeongChang, South Korea, Annecy, France, or Munich, Germany, hosts winter 2018.
The broadcast bidding was delayed because of the troubled global economy. Comcast signed a 10-year, $2 billion deal for National Hock-ey League rights in April, so the league and its players’ as-sociation will be compelled to pause the regular season for Sochi 2014 and wherever the Winter Games are in 2018.
Where does that leave the Canadian rights?
“There is no set date,” said CTV Olympics spokes-woman Andrea Goldstein. “We await further direction from the IOC on bid timing for the Canadian market?” •[email protected]
twitter.com/bobmackin
Daily business news at www.biv.com June 14–20, 201138 SportS
Do
min
ic S
ch
ae
fe
r
David EnglandBy Peter Mitham
Mission: Build an
information-driven real
estate firm that connects
brokers with buyers
Assets: Strong
relationships developed
during careers in the
medical supply and
commercial real
estate sectors
Yield: A new commercial
brokerage with 10
brokers and sights on
national expansion
Shortly after he finished his bachelor’s degree at Simon
Fraser University in 1993, David England attended a lunch arranged by his father with a local businessman.
His father, Ken England, a broker for Colliers International, thought his son would benefit from the wis-dom of someone older. The younger England, like many university grads, was more keen to pursue his dreams but headed over to Yew at the Four Seasons for the lunch.
Joe Segal was waiting. Segal told the young England that if he really wanted to make his mark, he should run his own business.
The advice came back to England, now 43, when he left the medical sup-ply business in 2006 to work with his father at Colliers International. Eng-land’s long-time friend and software developer Grant Wilson offered to develop a website for the Englands.
“There really wasn’t anyone at the time that had a commercial [real estate] website,” England said.
Commercial brokers, unlike resi-dential brokers, typically operate under the wing of a brokerage house with very little leeway given to build-ing their own brand. But the quality of the leads that began rolling in for the Englands through the site Wilson designed prompted England to think a viable business might be possible if Wilson’s service could be made the basis of a new web-savvy brokerage.
“We could probably build a pretty solid business around that if we were to start our own real estate brokerage and have the business supported by this proprietary software system that happened to generate a bunch of great leads,” England said. “It all went back to that discussion I had with Joe Segal 20 years ago: how can you turn a great idea into a business?”
England provided financing to Wilson for the launch of Eco Real-ty Inc., a residential firm, in 2007. A holding company, Eco Realty Canada Inc., was incorporated in 2008, and in 2010, England joined as chairman and head of the venture’s commercial division.
The venture began attracting respected commercial brokers such as Nhi Denis and Dan Schulz (also Colliers alumni), setting the stage for this spring’s launch of HQ Real Estate Services Inc. with England as president.
The businesses now have 13,000 square feet at two locations in Van-couver and 47 brokers, including such well-known names as apartment brokers David and Mark Goodman.
The “great idea” behind the resi-dential and commercial divisions is simple.
Buyers want information and brokers want leads. Eco Realty’s software seeks to deliver both. The listings, which also draw from the MLS database, make as much infor-mation as possible available to online search engines, while inquiries from prospective clients are quickly routed to the broker responsible.
Wilson, a former residential real-tor with a clear aptitude for software development, knows buyers are looking for properties, not realtors, when they go online. But the soft-ware underpinning Eco Realty en-sures customers reach the brokers who can handle them with less has-sle. That speeds deal velocity.
“What we’re trying to do is lower our conversion ratio,” Wilson ex-plained. “We’re now down to about 68 [visits per lead], and we think we can get it down to about 55 visits for one lead.”
England touts the venture, some-what ambitiously, as the Google of real estate.
But the site also features a feed of new listings, which is what people are looking for after they’ve gone through the existing inventory, mak-ing it more like Facebook or the Vancouver-based dating site Plenty of Fish. A better metaphor might be to call it a networking site for people looking to connect with property.
With more than 2,000 visitors a day spending an average of 10 min-utes on Eco Realty’s site, and each visitor viewing about 18 listings per visit, the site excites consultants such as Ben Nyland, president of Ramp-worth Capital Services Inc. in North Vancouver.
Nyland helped develop financial projections for Eco Realty and de-velop the pitch England and Wilson made to the venture’s initial invest-ors, who have since anted up $2 mil-lion for the venture. HQ’s launch this spring is a further evolution of the initial idea.
“It’s a very promising company,” Nyland said. “They’re going to change the way commercial real es-tate is done in Vancouver.”
While most shops are relatively closed with a few key players and tight controls on information flows, Nyland said England and Wilson have harnessed their personal under-standing of the real estate industry and web savvy to open the trans-action process to greater buyer par-ticipation.
“What Eco Realty and HQ are bringing is a really solid understand-ing both of how the web works, in terms of how people are searching, as well as ... how the real estate in-dustry works,” Nyland said. “They’re doing a great job of bringing the two together in a way that just naturally fits with the way people want to find real estate and do business.”
The brokers attracted to the busi-ness bear this out, Nyland added. England’s relationships with the commercial industry have been fun-damental to garnering that support.
“He’s very well-respected in the industry,” Nyland said, citing Eng-land’s work at Colliers both with his father and on his own.
England was introduced to Rampworth through a friend of his father, while his own connections allowed England to attract many of
the brokers now working for HQ Real Estate.
England is quieter about his con-nections with investors, saying only that they’re well-known locally but prefer to maintain a low profile. He feels it’s just a matter of time before regulators require reciprocity agree-ments between the country’s 93 real estate boards, a move that would open the door to the roll-out of Eco Realty’s platform nationwide.
“We’re planning on expanding the company across Canada, and we’ll be raising more capital and bringing in more investors as we do that,” he said, optimistically. “We want to give consumers the infor-mation that they’re looking for, and we want to make it fast and easy for them to find the information that they want regarding real estate.” •[email protected]
Eco Realty chairman David England: “it all went back to that discussion I had with Joe Segal 20 years ago: how can you turn a great idea into a business?”
Property values
Eco Realty chairman David England
building a business based on
marrying buyers with information
and brokers with leads
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