Business in Vancouver 20th Anniversary Commemorative Issue by GLACIER MEDIA DIGITAL LIMITED PARTNERSHIP dba BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER

COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE

1989–2009

Celebrating two decades of and B.C.’s top business stories

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Contents Business in Vancouver at 20 Keeping score . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 MILESTONES

Hollywood North 1978-present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Softwood battles 1982-2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Light rapid transit starts connecting the Lower Mainland 1986-present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Mining boom 2006-2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Building Vancouver David Podmore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

B.C. swings back to deficit budgets as global economy sinks 2008-present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

An Olympic-sized feat Jack Poole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

20TH ANNIVERSARIES

Bob Rennie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

CEO Insights

Concert Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-11 The Fifth Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-25

Biggest B.C. organizations celebrating 20 years

Towering ambitions 1988-present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Ranked by total number of staff in BC

A Golden career Ian Telfer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

. . . . . . . . . . . . 17-19

INFLUENTIAL BUSINESSPEOPLE

An artist’s eye

China’s bull run

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Strictly commercial Avtar Bains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Captain Capital Peter Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

NDP’s second chance 1991-2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

“A millionaire in no time” Glen Clark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Disappearing acts 1993-1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Minister of everything David Emerson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Beetle bother

Telecom team leader Darren Entwistle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

B.C. finally wins Winter Olympic gold 1998-2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Mining mogul

Forestry fallout 1999-present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

B.C. biotech’s queen mum Julia Levy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

B.C. Liberals return to power 2001–present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Louie Legacy

Mercury rising

Game-industry godfather Don Mattrick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Food for thought Early 1990s-2009

1996-present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Early 2000s-present

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Michael Audain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Frank Giustra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Brandt Louie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Contained growth 2003-2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Retail play

Building bridges 2003-present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Business billionaire Jim Pattison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Sue Paish

Athletic apparel trend-master Dennis “Chip” Wilson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Dragon’s flare Milton Wong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Courting aboriginals 1990-1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Early 1990s-2008

Biotech bellwether Don Rix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Carole knows best Carole Taylor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

LIST

Rise (and fall) of the cruise-ship industry 1986–present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Power struggles 1989-present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Condo king

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

SUBSCRIBERS

George Godfrey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Rick Featherstone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Shirley Broadfoot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Axel Krieger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Nils Thaysen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Darlene Sanders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Rudy Nielsen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Robert Matthews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Julie Marzolf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Paula Keats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Mark Startup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Elsbeth Turner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Eric Martin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Brian McGavin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Santo Sandhu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Bill Dix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Mac Campbell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Sharon Bortolotto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Glenn Chalmers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Greg Whittaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Business in Vancouver

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Business in Vancouver at 20 Keeping score in Vancouver’s business community

Curt Cherewayko Like many new publications, Business in Vancouver lost money in its first years. But with unique offerings and continuous acquisitional growth, it’s now a staple in the community. Two of the newspaper’s co-founders recall how it survived and eventually thrived, growing into what is today a multi-title publishing house.

hen the premier issue of Business in Vancouver hit the streets on October 2, 1989, Beach Avenue was setting real estate sales records in Vancouver; Bill Vander Zalm’s Social Credit party was days away from losing an important byelection in the Cariboo region; and Cambie Street was Vancouver’s trendiest business corridor as rumours of a possible rapidtransit line surfaced. At the national level, businesses were grappling with how to capitalize on the new North American Free Trade Agreement; while the proposed goods and services tax (GST) was being declared dead in the water by some short-sighted business analysts. Proving that times stay the same even as they change, Vander Zalm, now a vocal opponent of the proposed harmonized sales tax (HST), is still making headlines as is the Cambie corridor – although the Canada Line hasn’t yet been the boon to businesses that had been hoped in 1989. A number of business folk who followed such issues in the pages of BIV back then continue to turn to the weekly for business news. George Godfrey, owner of Burnaby’s Fleming Decal and Sign, discovered BIV when he was contracted to design decals for the newspaper. He subscribed in the newspaper’s debut year and continues to subscribe, finding BIV – and our small-business section in particular – a good source for sales leads and coverage of Vancouver’s business community. “For a small company like mine, it’s pretty cheap market intelligence,” said Godfrey. Peter Ladner, George Mleczko and the late Art Rennison founded BIV to fill a gap in the Vancouver newspaper market. In 1989, the city had monthly business publications, as well as business sections in the dailies, but was void of weekly newspapers with a business bias. To launch the newspaper, the trio initially scraped together $800,000 and eventually brought more than 40 individual in4

vestors into the fold. As with many new publications, BIV’s first years were meagre. “We lost money for the first two or three years, as expected,” recalled Ladner. “We had to go back to our investors and get more money, which is never easy.” Nonetheless, the newspaper expanded its scope, introducing supplements and such full-format magazines as Ad Pages and the Book of Lists. BIV’s weekly lists have been staples in the newspaper since its first year. Another staple was the late John Caspar, BIV’s longtime financial columnist. He passed away October 9 after a lengthy battle with cancer. His first column appeared in BIV’s debut issue. The annual Top Forty Under 40 competition was launched in the newspaper’s second year. According to Ladner, the lists, Caspar and the Top Forty Under 40 competition all helped separate BIV from the pack early on. Today, Ladner sees a more confident newspaper with an established brand name and proven track record. “When we first started calling up people and said, ‘Tell us all your financial information so we can make a list and rank you against your competitors,’ they would say, ‘Who are you?’” Mleczko recalled that organic growth led to acquisitional growth, with BIV buying publications like Western Investor, the Employment Paper and Visitors’ Choice. “We started making money – and we used that money to purchase other products and bring them in-house,” said Mleczko. “We knew that if we ran them through our little publishing house, it would be more efficient, and the margins would be bigger.” BIV’s founders bought out most of its original shareholders by going into partnership with what is now Glacier Media Inc. Glacier, which owns a number of media assets, eventually acquired the entire entity and remains BIV’s parent today. Aside from its print offerings, BIV has instituted a number of community events and award functions, including the Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies, Top 100 Private/Public Companies, the Colour Breakfast Series and the Influential Women in Business Awards. Like Godfrey, longtime subscriber Paula Keats, a vicepresident of Vancouver’s Vivid Graphics Ltd., generates sales leads from BIV’s lists and editorial content. BIV is still feeling out how it can best position itself online,

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George Mleczko (l) and Peter Ladner, at BIV’s original headquarters on Cambie Street in downtown Vancouver, saw a gap in the Vancouver newspaper market when they launched BIV with the late Art Rennison in 1989. They’re shown with the preview issue (September 11), featuring First Generation CEO Steven Funk, and the first issue (October 2), featuring Harbour Ferries owner Graham Clarke

but Keats has nonetheless taken to its online offering: she primarily browses BIV on the computer monitor, rather than on the print sheet. Conversely, Glenn Chalmers, vice-president of local sales at Astral Media Inc.’s radio division, has rarely visited BIV’s website, but has received weekly print editions since 1989. Chalmers, who follows BIV investment columnist Thane Stenner and sales expert Jeffrey Gitomer, continues to read BIV for a simple reason. “It still delivers what I want,” he said. “Things haven’t changed with me wanting to keep up in a time-efficient manner with what’s happening in the local marketplace.” Ą Business in Vancouver

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Award-winning local business news and information every Tuesday in print, and daily online

GET IT ALL as part of your annual print & online subscription, PLUS: Ă Optional Daily and Weekly Business News email updates Ă Searchable online archives of over 15 years of local business news Ă BIV Magazines: A different industry focus every month

How to subscribe: Subscribe and save up to 60% off the newsstand price: Monthly-continuous $6.68 (+GST), 1-year subscription $79.95 (+ GST), 2-year subscription $135 (+ GST), 3-year subscription $189 (+ GST), 1-year online subscription $79.95 (+ GST)

INCLUDED: The Book of Lists – an annual collection of BIV lists (Industry focused business contact names, numbers, data). Adpages – News and commentary on the advertising, marketing and communications industries. Office Space – A guide to leasing commercial real

Call Veera Irani: 604-608-5115 e-mail subscribe@biv.com or visit our website: www.biv.com

estate in Greater Vancouver. Meeting Places – B.C.’s meeting, event and conference planning guide. BC Tech – A guide to technological innovation in B.C. Home Makeover – A guide to home renovations, fullhome makeovers and home building. Right Course – B.C.’s professional development guide. The BC Advantage – A guide to doing business in British Columbia. Green Space – B.C.’s sustainability resource. How-To Book – Business tips for B.C.

PLUS, FREE BY REQUEST, YOU CAN RECEIVE THESE OTHER VALUED BIV MAGAZINES: Life Sciences B.C. – The official annual publication of LifeSciences B.C. Property Managers’ Source Book – Specifically designed for the property management industry. To contact BIV Magazines, call 604-688-2398.

Business in Vancouver Media Group also produces: Ă DATABASES Business contacts: Generate new sales leads, new contacts, and stay in touch with directory databases from BIV Magazines. Ă OTHER PUBLICATIONS Western Investor: Western Canada’s only commercial real estate and business opportunities publication. Call for your free sample, 604-6698500, www.westerninvestor.com advertise@westerninvestor.com.

The Employment Paper: Vancouver’s only recruitment and career-training newspaper, available free at newsstands. Call 604-688-8828, www.employmentinvancouver.com employpaper@biv.com. Better Business Bureau Guide: The official consumer guide and members list of the Better Business Bureau of Mainland British Columbia. Call 604-688-2398, www.biv.com.

Visitors’ Choice, Vancouver: The city’s leading tourism publication. Three seasonal editions plus a Japanese and Chinese language edition. www.visitorschoice.com. Visitors’ Choice Publications also produces annual publications for more than 17 British Columbia communities. Contact us for a complete list. Call 604-608-5180 / 1-800-867-5141, info@visitorschoice.com.

Publisher and CEO: Tom Siba; Editor: Timothy Renshaw; News Features Editor: Baila Lazarus; Editorial Proofreader: Noa Glouberman; Staff Writers: Krisendra Bisetty, Curt Cherewayko, Richard Chu, Glen Korstrom, Andrew Petrozzi; Art Director: Randy Pearsall; Photographer: Dominic Schaefer; Production Manager: Don Schuetze; Production: Rob Benac, Don Chin, Cole Johnston, Carole Readman, Natalie Reynolds, Soraya Romao, David Tong; Director Sales and Marketing: Cheryl Carter; Group Marketing Specialist: Regan Macdonald; Advertising Sales Director: Nick Hiam; Display Advertising Sales: Janice Frome, Doug Holt, Blair Johnston, Chris Wilson, Dean Wunsch; BIV Magazines Publisher: Paul Harris; Sales Manager: Joan McGrogan; Advertising Sales: Regina Bailey, Lori Borden, Shannon Clarke, Corinne Tkachuk; Administrative Assistant: Katherine Butler; Sales Co-ordinators: Heena Chauhan, Victoria Gibson; Senior Researcher: Anna Liczmanska; Research/Verification: Caroline Smith; Director of Circulation: Dale Dorsett; Subscription Sales Supervisor: Navreet Gill; Subscription Manager: Veera Irani; Subscription Sales: Guli Adler, Gerard Veeneman; Retail Merchandising Representative: Paige Millar; Office Manager: Dennis LeBlanc; System Administrator: Les Valan; Accounting: Denise Moffatt; Credit Manager: Yvonne Posch Business in Vancouver is published by BIV Media Limited Partnership at 102 East 4th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V5T 1G2. Telephone 604-688-2398; fax 604-688-1963— For reprints: Veera Irani 604-608-5115 E-mail addresses: SUBSCRIBE@BIV.COM, ADS@BIV.COM, NEWS@BIV.COM, LETTERS@BIV.COM ISSN 0849-5017 WWW.BIV.COM KN@KK<I1 79@Q@EM8E:FLM<I Ă NNN%9@M@EK<I8:K@M<%:FD

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phone: 604-688-2398

fax: 604-688-1963

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MILESTONES

Twenty years of groundbreaking events From softwood sagas to energy power struggles to pine-beetle infestations, British Columbia’s business community has had its share of unforgettable events. Here is our editorial pick of the top 20 milestones of the last 20 years

Hollywood North Vancouver’s rise to prominence has made it the thirdlargest film-production centre in North America 1978-present ith the establishment of the B.C. Film Commission in 1978, the groundwork was set for the growth of the province’s billion-dollar film and television production industry. Despite languishing around $200 million in annual spending throughout the mid- to late-1980s, the decision by producer Stephen J. Cannell to build North Shore Studios, which opened in 1989, put Vancouver on the map. Chris Carter’s The X-Files solidified the city’s reputation as a production centre as infrastructure was put into place to deal with the rising levels of U.S. service work. Bridge Studio’s expansion followed North Shore’s opening. Vancouver Film Studios continued to grow. By 1993 production spending broke $400 million; it doubled to more than $800 million by 1998. The following year, it broke $1 billion in production spending, growing to almost $1.2 billion in 2000. While spending declined in 2001 and 2002, it rocketed back up to more than $1.4 billion in 2003, before dropping back down to $801 million in 2004. It climbed to $1.233 billion in 2005 and $1.227 billion in 2006 before dropping again to $943 million in 2007. Last year, it was back up to $1.207 billion.

Softwood battles Lumber saga pitches trading partners against each other 1982-2006 s a major Canadian exporter of softwood lumber to the U.S., B.C. found itself embroiled in what turned out to be one of the most enduring trade disputes in modern history. The U.S.-Canada softwoodlumber dispute centred on claims by U.S. lumber producers that Canadian producers were being unfairly subsidized by government and therefore required a countervailing duty tariff for lumber exported to the U.S. to offset the subsidy. Canada had rejected the claims, and after much legal manoeuvring, the latest dispute was settled with the implementation of the Softwood Lumber Agreement in the fall of 2006 when the U.S. agreed to lift duties and return billions of dollars in duty deposits. But the condition that export taxes would be collected by Canada if lumber prices dropped below a certain range led to some criticism of the deal by Canadian producers.

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MILESTONES

Light rapid transit starts connecting the Lower Mainland Vancouver’s public-transit system goes space age in 1986 1986-present Conceived of as a legacy project for Expo ’86, the SkyTrain monorail showcased the fair’s theme of “Transportation and Communication: World in Motion – World in Touch.” Starting as a demonstration project in 1983, at its official opening in January 1986 it ran from Waterfront Station in downtown Vancouver to New Westminster Station until 1990. The SkyBridge was built in 1990 to cross the Fraser River and expand service to Surrey. It was further extended in 1994. The Millennium Line, which first opened in 2002, was not completed until January 2006 with the opening of the VCC-Clark extension. The newest extension, Canada Line, which opened in August 2009, runs from Waterfront Station to Vancouver International Airport in Richmond. The role of the SkyTrain has been emphasized in the public-transit plans for the region with plans for the Evergreen Line and the Broadway Line, but funding remains an issue.

redevelop the pier into a facility capable of storing and loading wood pulp on a year-round basis and handling cruise ships during the summer. It was completed in 1995. Canada Place itself was subsequently expanded and upgraded at the turn of the millennium to handle an additional berth. The expansion came just as the industry hit its high-water mark of 1.125 million cruise passengers in 2002. More than a million passengers had been arriving annually in 2000 and 2001. But just three short years later, 2006 passenger traffic had dropped to just 837,823 passengers compared with 910,172 passengers in 2005. Passenger numbers rebounded to 960,554 revenue passengers in 2007, halting the four-year slide that started in 2003. But the resurgence didn’t last long as it dropped to 854,493 revenue passengers in 2008. By August 2009, 731,882 revenue passengers had come through Vancouver compared with 703,458 by August 2008.

Rise (and fall) of the cruise-ship industry Drawing more than one million passengers annually at the turn of the millennium, cruise industry now sailing in stormy seas 1986–present ruise ships started calling on Vancouver’s Canada Place cruise terminal in 1986 after the completion of Expo ’86. That first season saw 300,000 passengers on 233 sailings. The popular Vancouver-Alaska cruise route continued to grow, contributing much to Vancouver’s reputation as an international destination and helped develop a vibrant tourism industry as it grew throughout the 1990s. In February 1993, the Vancouver Port Corp. decided to redevelop Ballantyne Pier, which was obsolete as a cargo facility and marginal as an overflow terminal for the cruise-ship industry. The solution was to

Towering ambitions Expo land redevelopment transforms city landscape 1988-present oncord Pacific Group Inc.’s legacy as a major developer began with Concord Pacific Place, North America’s largest master-planned community, on Vancouver’s False Creek. The $2 billion mixed-use waterfront development on the former 204acre Expo ’86 site has steadily changed the city’s skyline since 1994 and

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MILESTONES

now includes more than 10,000 homes, blending in public parks, three kilometres of seawall walkway, schools and retail and commercial services. Prior to Expo ’86, most of the site was occupied by Canadian Pacific Railway’s freight operations, but two years later, policies for the False Creek lands were approved by Vancouver’s city council. The newest Concord Pacific Place project, Spectrum, is a $170 million, 32-storey retail/residential complex that opened in 2007 and includes a 147,000-square-foot Costco store and four highrise towers housing approximately 1,000 residential units.

Courting aboriginals Landmark Supreme Court of Canada rulings entrench rights and title 1990-1997 hile aboriginal rights enjoy general constitutional protection, recent court decisions have both helped clarify the nature of aboriginal rights and redefined the legal relationship between B.C. and aboriginal people. In particular, the courts have established tests for proving aboriginal rights and also aboriginal title, which, if proven, gives aboriginal people the right to exclusive use and occupation of the land in question. One of the leading cases was R vs. Sparrow, a 1990 Supreme Court of Canada decision that aboriginal rights such as fishing that were in existence when the constitution was enacted in 1982 are protected and cannot be infringed upon without justification. In Delgamuukw vs. B.C. (1997) the Supreme Court of Canada made its most definitive statement on the nature of aboriginal title, saying that it’s a right to the land itself – not just the right to hunt, fish or gather – and that the government must consult with and may have to compensate First Nations whose rights are affected.

Power struggles Commercialization of rivers energizes business, enrages environmentalists 1989-present ’s independent power plugged in as an industry in 1989 when the then-provincial government instructed BC Hydro to issue calls for proposals for private power. But projects were initially slow to advance due to institutional inertia, changing regulatory practices, sluggish domestic-electricity demand growth, and for some projects, the challenges in public perception and financing. The election of the BC Liberals in 2001 changed much of that and brought a resurgence of interest in IPPs, especially as the province was increasingly becoming reliant on electricity imports. A year later, a new government energy plan was in place, with a major cornerstone being increased opportunities for private-sector investment. Since 2001, Hydro has been buying electricity from independent power producers on an accelerated basis, mainly from run-of-river plants, which have rattled some environmentalists. But the industry has also seen interest from developers of everything from wind farms to biomass or biogas projects.

China’s bull run Asian giant’s development boom spurs resource demand Early 1990s-2008 he liberalization of the Chinese economy and foreign investment helped fuel China’s industrialization in the early 1990s, taking the Asian giant from virtual industrial-backwater status in the 1970s to a global economic force. China’s insatiable appetite for raw materials in turn helped start a new global-resource boom around 2005, with B.C.

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Vision

CEO INSIGHTS

Concert Properties high among Vancouver’s m

aving been among Vancouver’s most influential people within the real estate industry for more than three decades, Concert Properties’ chairman and CEO David Podmore has been acknowledged for his tireless efforts in giving back to the community, both personally and professionally. Involved in the development and acquisition of industrial and commercial properties, rental housing, multifamily condominium housing, resort developments and seniors living communities around British Columbia, Concert is a multi-faceted awardwinning company. While the majority of his time may be spent identifying new business initiatives, Podmore also devotes significantly to coaching and offering encouragement and support to those within the company.

David Podmore, Chairman and CEO, Concert Properties Ltd.

❚ What prompted you to start Concert Properties? As is frequently the case in life, circumstance and opportunity prompted me to join with Jack Poole in the formation of Concert Properties Ltd. At the time, we were both working with BCE Development Corporation, which, in 1989, was acquired by Brookfield Properties. This resulted in an opportunity for me to join Jack in creating a new enterprise. I was very fortunate to be invited by Jack to join him in starting Concert Properties Ltd. – the opportunity to work with an experienced and respected developer of the stature of Jack 10

Poole in creating a new real estate development and construction enterprise was too enticing to pass up, and the alternative offered by Brookfield to relocate to Toronto didn’t fit with my own circumstances and priorities at the time.

❚ What was the biggest challenge you faced in the ﬁrst year? Apart from organizing the company and raising the company’s initial share capital from a variety of Canadian pension funds and business leaders who invested in our vision, the biggest challenge was assembling a team that would

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allow the company to move forward quickly with its first developments. We were very fortunate to attract a highly skilled, very cohesive and talented group of individuals who shared our vision for the development of Concert.

❚ What has been the most stressful business situation during the last 20 years? There have been many challenges during the past 20 years, but again, supported by a competent, dedicated and committed group of professionals, we have risen to virtually all challenges calmly and with good success. One of the most difficult decisions was a decision taken in January of 2007 – at a time when the industry was enjoying

unprecedented growth – to pull back and limit our continued expansion. This decision was taken mostly on an intuitive basis as we felt we were headed toward tougher economic times where it would be more difficult to support expansion and new initiatives. The subsequent 24 months were agonizing as we watched many of our peers and associates in the industry continue to expand. In the end, however, this decision positioned Concert very well. We are on a very solid financial base, we are not over-extended and we are now once again taking on and securing new projects in a more competitive and opportune environment. We are very excited about the future prospects for this company, community and province.

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1989/2009

’s most inﬂuential for two decades ❚ How about the most gratifying? For me personally the most gratifying aspect of our business is the creation of people’s homes - whether these are homes for ownership or rental. An extension is Concert’s involvement in industrial and office property development, as well as development and operation of seniors’ living communities. In all cases, we are creating homes for people to live in, services to support individuals through their life and places to work. This for me is the most gratifying as-

pect of the development business, and we take great pride in delivering outstanding product and supporting and delivering quality service to our clients.

❚ What anecdote from the last 20 years best illustrates your business attitude and success? Jack Poole, our chairman emeritus and co-founder of Concert Properties Ltd. since 1989, has been an outstanding mentor, coach and champion for Concert’s management team and myself personal-

ly. Jack has unselfishly shared his wisdom and drawn on his experience to coach and guide the continued development of the company. Jack is known to have many expressions that provide sage wisdom in a non-intrusive and supportive manner. One of his best comments, on being presented with a new idea that may be a bit wild or off the wall, is “Let’s see if it survives the night.” Many times I’ve come to the office after Jack has presented an idea or I’ve presented an idea that we’ve both cogitated

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on the night before. We’d look at each other and say, “No, it didn’t survive the night,” in which case it was the end of discussion. Occasionally, of course, ideas do “survive the night” and we have many successes that are a testament to this.

❚ What would you do differently? I wouldn’t do anything differently, but I am so thankful that I didn’t miss the opportunity to partner with Jack Poole and lead the formation of this company. <

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MILESTONES

providing some of its mineral and metal needs – everything from coal used to fire up its steel mills to copper, molybdenum and gold. With millions of increasingly wealthy Chinese moving out of rural areas, the development boom opened up opportunities for B.C. forestproducts companies, construction and engineering companies and other exporters of goods and services. B.C. manufacturers, for decades reliant on its closest international neighbour – the U.S. – for much of their business, finally started to ride the China wave, but that came crashing down with the global financial meltdown of late 2008.

NDP’s second chance Mike Harcourt and Glen Clark lead the B.C. NDP to back-to-back election wins throughout the 1990s 1991-2001 he election of the B.C. NDP in 1991 and again in 1996 was a gamechanger for many business leaders in the province. While memories of Dave Barrett’s NDP government of 1972 to 1975 were distant for most, many businesspeople felt the NDP’s lack of focus on the traditional strengths of the provincial economy and its taxation regime hurt investment and restricted or reversed the fortunes of many businesses. Harcourt’s resignation over the “Bingogate” scandal in 1995, and subsequent fiascos under his replacement, Glen Clark, including the fast-ferries debacle, the so-called “fudge-it budget” of 1996 and Clark’s own resignation in 1999 saw the party fall out of favour with B.C. electorate. In 2001, the B.C. NDP led by Ujjal Dosanjh won only two seats out of 79.

Food for thought Collapse of B.C. wild salmon stocks spawn heated debate Early 1990s-2009 ild sockeye salmon are disappearing from the Fraser River, and while numbers have been declining for decades, the unexplained absence of millions during the 2009 run has experts baffled. With salmon returning to their spawning grounds in record low numbers, the finger of blame has been pointed just about everywhere – from pesticides and overfishing to rising river temperatures. But as scientists and ecologists waded in with clues as to the missing millions, the net has also been cast over B.C.’s salmon farms, which have grown into an $800 million industry. Farmed salmon has been the province’s top agricultural export for several years running but it’s also been blamed for infecting wild stocks with sea lice, as well as consuming them as fishmeal. The salmon-farming industry, which employs 6,000 people both directly and indirectly, began with the first farm in 1971.

12 |

Disappearing acts Companies and brands that built B.C. in the 20th century now only a memory 1993-1999 he iconic Woodward’s, the retailer started by Charles Woodward, was among the first big brands to come and go in Vancouver. Opening at the corner of what is now Main and Georgia Streets, the department store later moved to Gastown and became a famous city fixture with its giant rooftop “W” sign and 25-cent Days promotion. Despite rapid growth through to the 1950s, marked by expansion across B.C. and Alberta, the company battled through the recession of the 1980s, went bankrupt in 1992 and was sold to the Hudson’s Bay Co. in 1993 – a century after its first Vancouver store opened its doors. With roots going back to 1891, BC Telephone Co., later BC Tel, made its final call in 1999 when it merged with Telus, a telephone company operating then in Alberta, after the deregulation of the phone industry. With the merger the new Telus, now based in Vancouver, became the second-largest telephone company in Canada.

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B.C. finally wins Winter Olympic gold Province to host first Olympic Games after trying for almost 50 years 1998-2003 osting a Winter Olympic Games had been a longtime provincial ambition. The idea first officially surfaced in 1961 with the formation of the Garibaldi Olympic Development Association (GODA) that proposed hosting the 1968 Winter Olympic Games at London Mountain, now better known as Whistler Mountain. It was unsuccessful. Again in 1965, GODA made a bid to be Canada’s candidate for the 1972 Winter Olympic Games. It lost out to Banff, which subsequently lost to Sapporo, Japan. In 1968, a joint bid with Vancouver was chosen as the Canadian candidate for the 1976 Winter Olympic Games, but when the 1976 Summer Olympic Games were awarded to Montreal, the bid was doomed. In 1974, Whistler was again considered as a candidate for the 1980 Winter Olympic Games, but the provincial government withdrew the bid. It tried again in 1979, but lost to Calgary, which was subsequently awarded the 1988 Winter Olympic Games. In 1998, Vancouver-Whistler was chosen as Canada’s candidate for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. In February 2003, 46% of Vancouverites (134,791) voted on whether they supported hosting the Winter Olympic Games if awarded by the IOC. Almost two-thirds (64%) supported hosting the Games, while 36% were in opposition. In July 2003, the International Olympic Committee selected Vancouver as the host city of the XXI Winter Games.

Beetle bother B.C.’s Interior pine forests devastated 1996-present here have been four large-scale outbreaks by the mountain pine beetle in B.C.’s pine forests over the past 85 years, but the latest one first reported around 1996 is the largest ever seen in Canada. Though it’s just over six millimetres long – about the size of a grain of rice – the tiny forest insect has infested 14 million hectares of B.C. forest, an estimated 630 million cubic metres of timber. About half of the lodgepole pine in the timber-harvesting land base is affected to some degree by the beetle, which is expected to continue to kill lodgepole pine right out to the year 2020. As it’s not possible to salvage all the beetle-killed trees for traditional uses such as making two-by-fours, other uses are being found for it, including as wood pellets to generate electricity, or biofuels.

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Forestry fallout

B.C. Liberals return to power

Consolidation transforms B.C. forest landscape but leaves thousands jobless

Absent for much of the past 50 years, Gordon Campbell’s B.C. Liberals now into third term

1999-present nly a handful of larger forestry companies remain after a wave of business combinations that picked up speed in 2004. Gone are the big names of yesteryear – one-time industry giant MacMillan Bloedel Ltd., which was sold to Weyerhaeuser Co. in 1999, Slocan Forest Products (acquired by Canfor Corp.) and Doman Industries Ltd., a forest business started by legendary B.C. lumberman Herb Doman whose embattled $1 billion forestry empire fell to Western Forest Products Inc. Toronto-headquartered Brookfield Asset Management Inc., formerly Brascan Corp., bought Weyerhaeuser’s B.C. coastal operations in 2005, leaving the U.S. company a shadow of its former self in B.C. The period was also marked by the entry of funds in B.C. forestry – a Brookfield subsidiary that has a major stake in western and New Yorkbased money-manager Third Avenue Management LLC has been buying into to various forest-products companies – and the loss of more than 25,000 jobs over the past decade.

2001–present fter years in the political wilderness, former Vancouver mayor and official opposition leader Gordon Campbell and the B.C. Liberals came to power in May 2001, after pushing the provincial NDP into near extinction by winning 77 of 79 seats, the largest majority ever in B.C. politics. In 2005, the Liberals won a second smaller majority winning 46 seats. In 2009, Campbell won 49 seats compared with the NDP’s 36 seats. By the time the 2001 election was called, the NDP was on its third leader in five years. Scandals, challenging economic conditions and a regime considered unfriendly to business turned off supporters. Campbell and the Liberals were swept into office in a landslide. Campbell used his majority to push through substantial tax cuts his first year in office, followed by severe cuts to government departments and social services in his second year. B.C.’s business community generally welcomed Campbell’s more business-friendly approach to provincial politics and investment increased as global commodities prices and the general economy swung into more positive territory. By 2004, the government tabled a balanced budget, and with a second balanced budget in 2005, the party won in the spring election although Campbell’s government was reduced to 46 seats while the NDP won 33. Campbell and the Liberals were elected to a third term in May 2009.

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Mercury rising Climate concerns generate green wave

After nearly 150 years of existing separately, the Fraser River, North Fraser and Vancouver port authorities combined in 2008 to become the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, now known as Port Metro Vancouver, which handled nearly 115 million tonnes of cargo in 2008.

Early 2000s-present l Gore’s critically acclaimed 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth may have helped raise public awareness of climate change but B.C.’s environmental movement had been energized long before that. The past decade, however, is significant for B.C. in that it opened up the province’s green economy and spawned a $1 billion clean-tech cluster that’s evolved into the third largest in the world. Many of the approximately 100 B.C. clean-tech companies, some of whom are the fastest-growing businesses in the province, now operate on the global stage. They’re involved in fuel cell development, alternative-energy technology, clean transportation, alternative fuels, energy efficiency, as well as water and wastewater and environmental technologies. Government climate-change initiatives such as the carbon tax and legislated reductions in greenhouse gases have also helped fuel B.C.’s green-energy sector.

Building bridges Multibillion-dollar Gateway project aims to ease regional congestion 2003-present he Gateway program was established by the Province of B.C. in 2003 to improve the movement of people, goods and transit throughout Metro Vancouver. The details were unveiled in 2006 and called for the spending of $3 billion to open up the province’s transportation network with three roadand bridge-improvement projects, which include widening Highway 1 and building a new toll bridge at the Port Mann crossing as well as upgrading interchanges. Once completed by 2013, the project will also enable transit to cross the Fraser River for the first time in 20 years. Gateway also encompassed building a new, 40-kilometre-long South Fraser Perimeter Road along the south side of the Fraser River. The new route will directly link current port facilities, rail yards and industrial areas to highways 1, 91 and 99.

T Contained growth Containerization sweeps into B.C. to take advantage of Asia-Pacific trade 2003-2009 ore than $1.5 billion in port upgrades have been touted since 2003 to help local ports compete with U.S. ports and handle surging container traffic from China. The new $170 million Fairview Terminal at Prince Rupert opened in 2007 and was hailed as the biggest thing to hit northwest B.C. since the Grand Trunk Pacific railway first reached the West Coast. A $600 million expansion of Fairview is now planned while a $400 million expansion is nearing completion at Deltaport, the Port of Vancouver’s largest container terminal, which will increase capacity by up to 600,000 TEUs. Container capacity at TSI’s Vanterm terminal increased at the end of 2005.

Business in Vancouver

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TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY 2009 |

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Mining boom

B.C. swings back to deficit budgets as global economy sinks

Fortunes made and lost in notoriously cyclical commodities business

Slashed demand and prices for natural resources and energy crimp economic performance

2006-2008 commodities upswing driven by demand in China led to boom times for the global mining industry, and B.C. had its best year ever in 2006. Six years ago before that, the industry was in a slump, but increasing prices for base and precious metals carried net revenues and income of B.C. mining companies to levels not seen before. Net income in 2006 rose 27.5% to $2.35 billion, eclipsing the $1.84 billion in 2005, which was itself a record year. For the first time, copper surpassed coal as the largest contributor to the B.C. industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s net mining revenue. The boom led to six million hectares of land being staked â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a jump from almost one million hectares in 2005 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; as well as record investments in exploration activities and industry employment. Things started to unravel somewhat in 2007, and, by the fall of 2008, the industry was once again in a slump.

2008-present was unable to escape the economic downturn that washed ashore in the fall of 2008, as the U.S. sub-prime mortgage crisis that started in 2007 spread to the highest reaches of the U.S. financial system. Major lenders faced massive defaults as a result of overleveraging bad investments. The resulting credit freeze and collapsing U.S. construction market slashed B.C. forestry exports, reduced energy and natural-resource demand, which, in turn, took a massive bite out of government revenues, and idled real estate development projects throughout the province as infrastructure and real estate development financing dried up. Consumer confidence and spending dropped as unemployment rose. While many financial analysts see signs of recovery in late 2009 and throughout 2010, the B.C. government was pushed back into deficit budgets for at least the next three years.

| TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY 2009

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Business in Vancouver

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TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY 2009 |

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18 |

TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY 2009 Business in Vancouver

20Anniversary.indd 18

10/15/09 8:50:42 AM

LIST

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Business in Vancouver

20Anniversary.indd 19

TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY 2009 |

10/15/09 8:50:43 AM

INFLUENTIAL BUSINESSPEOPLE

Influential businesspeople

They made our monthly business lists, received Top Forty Under 40 Awards and were recognized as influential women in business but, most importantly, they made the readers’ poll and editorial picks for our most influential business people of the past 20 years

An artist’s eye

Strictly commercial

Why: Parlayed a successful career in real estate to become one of B.C.’s biggest arts patrons

Why: A consistent top performer in Vancouver’s commercial real estate space

Michael Audain Chair Polygon Homes

Avtar Bains Executive vice-president Colliers International Vancouver A high-profile real estate guru in Vancouver, Avtar Bains is consistently at the top of Vancouver’s commercial real estate heap. He received his first big break in 1987, when he sold the former Daon Building in downtown Vancouver for $55 million. He has been on a role since then, brokering the sale of B.C. landmarks such as the HSBC Bank office tower in downtown Vancouver, which sold for $140 million in 2005. Bains brokered B.C.’s three biggest real estate deals in 2002, including Ivanhoe Cambridge Inc.’s $143 million transaction for Burnaby’s Metrotown Centre. Bains has completed more than $8 billion in transactions during his career.

Michael Audain joined Polygon Homes in 1980 at the age of 43, after careers with Canadian Pacific Air Lines, as a juvenile probation officer and an agricultural economics consultant in the western U.S. Before Audain’s arrival, Polygon owned little more than an interest in a couple of apartment buildings. He resurrected the company, which today has built more than 18,000 homes throughout the Lower Mainland. His sphere of influence extends far beyond real estate into the arts. Through the Audain Foundation, he is one of the largest benefactors of B.C. artists and, in particular, the Vancouver Art Gallery. He is current chair of the Vancouver Art Gallery Foundation.

TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY 2009 Business in Vancouver

20Anniversary.indd 20

10/15/09 8:50:46 AM

INFLUENTIAL BUSINESSPEOPLE

Captain Capital

Minister of everything

Why: A chief architect in Howe Street’s development as a financial district

Why: An impressive career straddling public service provincially and federally, along with leading some of B.C.’s best-known corporate entities

Peter Brown Chair Canaccord Capital Corp. Peter Brown founded Canaccord Capital in 1968 and steered the company to a public venture that generated more than $756 million before the current economic downturn took hold. Brown built Canaccord into Canada’s largest non-bank-owned investment dealer, with 31 offices worldwide. He served as vice-chair of Expo ’86, chaired the Vancouver Stock Exchange and the University of British Columbia and is on the board of the Fraser Institute think tank and the Vancouver Organizing Committee of the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Pacific entrepreneur of the year in 2001 and 2002, Brown was chair of the B.C. Place Corporation and B.C. Enterprise Corporation, overseeing the sale of Expo ’86 assets. The B.C. Chamber of Commerce has named Brown its businessman of the year.

“A millionaire in no time” Why: Former B.C. NDP premier becomes a senior executive with B.C.’s biggest private company Glen Clark Executive vice-president Jim Pattison Group Elected as an NDP MLA in 1986, former union-organizer Glen Clark rose quickly through the party ranks, serving as finance minister under former NDP premier Mike Harcourt. When Harcourt resigned amid scandal in 1995, Clark replaced him. Calling an election in 1996, his party narrowly won a majority of seats. He would resign as premier in August 1999 under an RCMP investigation over allegations he received benefits from a friend who hoped to gain a government casino licence. In October 2000, he was charged with criminal breach of trust. He was acquitted in August 2002. B.C.’s wealthiest man, Jimmy Pattison, contacted Clark in June 2001 and hired him to operate the B.C. branch of Neon Products, which builds and maintains electric signs. Clark’s responsibilities have since reportedly grown to include many other Pattison Group divisions including Jim Pattison Lease, Canadian Fishing Company, Jim Pattison Sign Group and Ripley Entertainment. He is also president and CEO of News Group North America and a director for Sun-Rype Products Ltd. and Westar Group. Pattison reportedly liked Clark’s aggressive spirit the first time they met at a legislature reception in 1986. Pattison reportedly quipped afterward: “Send him to me. He’ll be a millionaire in no time.”

David Emerson Holds numerous directorships Between 2004 and late 2008, David Emerson was a federal member of parliament and held several ministries, including industry, international trade with responsibility for the 2010 Winter Olympics and the Asia Pacific Gateway Initiative, and foreign affairs. He was CEO of Western and Pacific Bank of Canada, as well as Canadian Western Bank. He was also president and CEO of the Vancouver International Airport Authority from 1992 to 1997 and president and CEO of Canfor Corp. from 1998 to 2004. He was recently named to the board of Stantec Inc. and is also senior adviser to Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP. Emerson began his career as a member of the public service in 1972, serving as an economist with the Economic Council of Canada. He joined the B.C. public service in 1975, where he served in various roles, including deputy minister of finance, secretary to treasury board, deputy minister to the premier and secretary to cabinet.

Telecom team leader Why: Transformed B.C.’s largest public company into a national player Darren Entwistle President and CEO Telus Corp. Soon after Darren Entwistle took Telus’ reins in 2000, he spearheaded the largest corporate transaction in Canadian telecommunications history – a $6.6 billion merger with Clearnet Communications Inc. Telus generated $9.7 billion in 2008 and had 36,600 employees. Entwistle had spent seven years in senior positions with Cable and Wireless, culminating with his appointment as president of Cable and Wireless (U.K. and Ireland). In March 2009, Entwistle received the B.C. Community Achievement Award for his contribution to philanthropic projects in British Columbia. He was recognized in 2008 by Investor Relations magazine with the award for best investor relations by a CEO. He has also been honoured with the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal, which recognizes Canadians who have made outstanding and exemplary contributions to the community and Canada as a whole. He is on a number of boards including the Canadian Council of Chief Executives. Business in Vancouver

20Anniversary.indd 21

TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY 2009 |

10/15/09 8:50:54 AM

INFLUENTIAL BUSINESSPEOPLE

Mining mogul

Louie Legacy

Why: Transforming business success into philanthropy

Why: Heads B.C.’s largest wholesale and retail empire

Frank Giustra President and CEO Fiore Financial

Brandt Louie President and CEO H.Y. Louie Co. Ltd.

Most likely know Frank Giustra for donating $100 million and half of his future earnings to the Clinton Guistra Sustainable Growth Initiative and successfully encouraging other billionaires, such as Mexico’s Carlos Slim, to do the same. Giustra’s philanthropy stems from business success. Early success came at Yorkton Securities where he became president, CEO and chair. He left to found and run Lions Gate Entertainment and capitalized on Vancouver’s growing film industry until he cashed out in 2003. More success followed when he chaired Endeavour Financial, a merchant banking firm that financed mining companies such as Wheaton River Minerals, which was sold to Goldcorp for more than $2 billion. Talent-agency entrepreneur Sam Feldman introduced Giustra to former U.S. President Bill Clinton and the two have become close friends.

Brandt Louie’s family-owned H.Y. Louie Co. Ltd. is one of B.C.’s largest privately owned companies. He is a scion of a family whose history in B.C. stretches back to the 1896, when grandfather Hok Yat Louie first arrived in Vancouver from China and established a store in Chinatown in 1903 to sell seed and fertilizer to Chinese farmers. Louie’s business generates revenue from its IGA Marketplace grocery store chain of franchised and corporate stores, the 69-store London Drugs chain, London Air Services, TLD Computers and Sonora Resort. He is a director of the Royal Bank of Canada, chancellor at Simon Fraser University and has been involved with organizations such as Duke University, the John F. Kennedy School of Government and the World Economic Forum.

B.C. biotech’s queen mum

Game-industry godfather

Why: Co-inventor of the most successful drug ever commercialized by a B.C. company and co-founder of B.C.’s highly successful biotech QLT Inc.

Why: Mattrick’s Distinctive Software Inc. was the genesis of Vancouver’s billion-dollar videogame development scene and put the city on the map for gamers and techies worldwide

Julia Levy Director of Cannasat Therapeutics, Twinstrand Therapeutics and Trillium Therapeutics and adviser to numerous companies As a former University of British Columbia professor of microbiology, with a doctorate degree in immunology, Julia Levy was a co-founder of QLT Inc. and was its chief scientific officer and vicepresident, as well as president and CEO, from 1995 to February 2002. A fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and former president of the Canadian Federation of Biological Sciences, Levy was named an officer of the Order of Canada in 2001, the female entrepreneur of the year for International Business in 1998, Pacific Canada entrepreneur of the year in 2000 and winner of the Future of Vision Award from the Foundation Fighting Blindness in 2001. In 2002 she received, along with David Dolphin, the Friesen-Rygiel prize for medical research and the Prix Galien Canada research award. Along with Gustav Huber of Novartis, she was presented with the 2003 Helen Keller Prize for innovation in eye care.

Don Mattrick Senior vice-president Interactive entertainment business, entertainment and devices division, Microsoft In 1982, at the age of 17, Don Mattrick founded Distinctive Software Inc., which was later acquired by Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) in 1991 and subsequently became EA Canada. Mattrick held various senior positions within EA, most recently as president of worldwide studios, until his resignation in February 2006. Mattrick began working with Microsoft as an external adviser to the entertainment and devices division in February 2007. In July 2007, Mattrick officially joined Microsoft in his current role. He has served on the advisory board for USC School of Cinematic Arts and the province’s Premier’s Technology Council. In 2003, Mattrick was named one of America’s top 10 influentials in Fortune magazine’s annual “40 Under 40” list for his contributions to Electronic Arts’ expansion initiatives.

| TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY 2009 Business in Vancouver

20Anniversary.indd 22

10/15/09 8:51:09 AM

INFLUENTIAL BUSINESSPEOPLE

Retail play

Building Vancouver

Why: A top Vancouver lawyer-turned-CEO who is now leaving her mark in retail and trade

Why: As the go-to guy for major Vancouver projects such as the Vancouver Convention Centre expansion and the overhaul of BC Place, the co-founder of Concert Properties still shapes the city’s skyline

Sue Paish CEO Pharmasave A former top lawyer at Vancouver’s largest law firm, Sue Paish made a bold career change in 2007 by taking on the lead role of Langley’s Pharmasave Drugs. Between 2000 and 2006, she was Fasken Martineau’s Vancouver managing partner, helping to expand the firm from one office and 130 lawyers to being part of a global legal giant with nine offices on three continents, 2,200 employees, 500 lawyers and 250 partners. Her goal is to double Pharmasave’s 392 franchised stores in five years. This year, she earned the historical distinction of becoming only the fourth women to be named chair of the Vancouver Board of Trade.

Business billionaire Why: Owner of B.C.’s largest privately held company Jim Pattison Chair and owner Jim Pattison Group Jim Pattison is B.C.’s most successful businessman thanks to his wholly owned stake in Canada’s third-largest private company. Pattison’s conglomerate generates more than $6.7 billion in annual revenue and employs more than 31,000 staff. The Saskatchewan native started working as a car dealer, but expanded to broadcasting, out-of-home signage and grocery retail before the end of the 1960s. His diversified holdings are in 431 locations, which span the globe. He is a director on several boards of companies where he holds a significant stake. He is also a director of BCE Inc., Bell Canada, Brookfield Asset Management, Telecast Canada and a trustee of the board of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. He was chair and president of the Expo 86 Corp., a position he accepted for $1 per year. His fishing buddies include ex-U.S. president George H.W. Bush and ex-British prime minister John Major.

David Podmore Chair and CEO, Concert Properties Ltd. Chair, BC Pavilion Corp. Vancouver-native David Podmore founded Concert Properties Ltd. back in 1989 with Jack Poole, current chair of VANOC. Podmore is vice-chair of the British Columbia Institute of Technology Foundation and a director of Terasen Inc. and Borealis BC Labs Inc. He is a past-president of the Urban Development Institute Pacific Region, a past member of the BC Progress Board, past chair of the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation and was a director of the Canadian Tourism Commission for eight years. Podmore began his career in 1974 as a transportation planner in the engineering department of the City of Edmonton. He returned to Vancouver in 1980 as vice-president of planning, design and engineering for the newly established BC Place Ltd. He was responsible for the urbandevelopment plan that included acquiring the Expo or Pacific Place lands, developing a master infrastructure plan to guide development of the lands through Expo and subsequent urban development, and designing and implementing the plan. As the first president and CEO of BC Pavilion Corp., Podmore was also responsible for the development and operation of the B.C. Pavilion at Expo ’86.

An Olympic-sized feat Why: Orchestrated Vancouver’s successful Olympics bid Jack Poole Chair VANOC Despite building a reputation for integrity during the collapse of real estate developer Daon Development Corp. in the 1980s, and despite having a lasting mark on the Vancouver skyline with such monuments as the Park Place tower and the Daon Building, Jack Poole will perhaps be best remembered as the orchestrator of Vancouver’s successful Olympics bid in 2003. Poole has chaired Olympics organizer VANOC since Vancouver was awarded the Games in 2010. He remains chair of Concert Properties Ltd., a real estate development firm he co-founded in 1989. Before that, Poole built Daon into the second-largest real estate investment and development company in North America, before its collapse. He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2006. Business in Vancouver

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Vision

CEO INSIGHTS

The Fifth Option: Helping make the most of human ca

ounded in 1989 and now boasting approximately 150 years of cumulative experience with captains of industry among a variety of businesses and corporate models across four continents, The Fifth Option helps companies deal with a wide range of people related challenges from training new employees to assessing their performance, setting salary levels, dealing with conflict and performance issues, to hiring top talent and dealing with your union. The Fifth Option creates an indelible link between one’s business practice and the company’s profitability. As Managing Director, Michael Povey brings a wealth of experience and personal expertise in maintaining key contributions within the workforce through the effective management of human capital. Michael Povey, Managing Director, The Fifth Option Consulting Inc.

❚ What prompted you to start your own business? When I was psychologically tested at university, it was said that I had an entrepreneurial flair. In later years, I had other assessments, all of which also mentioned this bent toward being an entrepreneur. After about 20 years of corporate life, I could no longer resist the strong calling to finally pursue this side of my personality and I decided – whether I knew how to or not - to try to run my own business.

❚

What has been the most gratifying part? One of our long-term clients was facing unionization, 24 |

which they considered would negatively affect their business. It took a tremendous amount of time to build a constructive relationship between management and employees – research, lobbying, relationship building and communication – but we were able to meet the needs of both the employer and the employees in a way that allowed the workplace to not require organizing a union. Another situation was one in which we restructured a midsized food-processing company that was facing bankruptcy, and we assisted to the point that their business was successfully turned around and is still in business today.

For the early ’90s, we took little office and spent eight some pretty creative considerhours making call after call. I ations which included tempor- went to networking and trade ary compensation and beneevents where people didn’t fits rollbacks; employees were really seem to want to hear asked to take voluntary rewhat I had to say, and I knew duced work weeks; and we reI needed to persevere. Finally, designed jobs to allow for insomeone invited me to make creased efficiencies. In fact, not a sales call. only were employees who were I asked my friends in sales, originally laid off brought back “What do I do?” and got adinto full-time employment, but vice like “You must close the the organization was able to sale before you leave” and operate profitably. “Ask for the business.” At the end of my presentation I re❚ What was the biggest membered their advice so I challenge you faced in said, “Will you allow me to your ﬁrst year? do this work for you? I feel I Keeping my spirits up when could do a great job.” When trying to develop my busithey said yes, I almost fell off ness. Every day I went to a my seat!

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Celebrating

S P O N S O R ’S M E S S A G E

1989/2009

an capital ❚

What approach from the past 20 years best illustrates your business attitude and success? “Never, never give up” – Winston Churchill. There are always solutions to even the most extreme problems. Be persistent to find the details you need to appropriately problem solve. Collect and analyze all the appropriate information before making an assessment. It is important to use theory as well as personal relationships to properly manage yourself through even the most difficult of situations.

❚ What has been your most stressful business situation during the last 20 years? The emotional or human side of downsizing organizations. Whether for clients, or as I had to do for The Fifth Option back in the ’80s during

“There are always solutions to even the most extreme problems. Be persistent to find the details you need to appropriately problem solve. Collect and analyze all the appropriate information before making an assessment. It is important to use theory as well as personal relationships to properly manage yourself through even the most difficult of situations.”

the last economic recession, it is never easy to affect the lives of others in such a foundational way. That being said, many positive outcomes came as a result of downsizing: financial turnaround for organizations, an opportunity for laid-off employees to find a revitalized or new calling and an opportunity to demonstrate corporate integrity and goodwill during difficult times for the local community and beyond.

❚

What advice would you give to someone embarking on their own business in this economic climate? Be clear on what you are selling: what is so unique about your product or service? Then you’ve got to test the market. You can do surveys or have discussions with potential clients. They may be able to identify what’s the hottest item on your shelf. You can also ask if they consider what you’re selling to be realistic. You need to find out if you can deliver on their requirements. You’ve also got to determine whether you have an “entrepreneurial flair.” You might be exceptional at delivering the service, but can you convince the potential client to buy? Once you’ve done all this, write a good business plan. This is far more important during poor economic times. <

The Fifth Option’s strategic advantage

s the worst days of the downturn fade into the past, organizations are asking, “How do we position effectively for an upturn?” Firms that have scaled-down in size may not have the inclination or resources to hire a full time human resource manager. At the same time, small to mid sized firms need to avoid having their senior manager’s time cannibalized by a multitude of people-headaches. Often, in small firms, the HR function typically goes to a CFO or Controller. These individuals may not have the background in strategic human resources to deal with “sticky” human resource issues or may be so swamped in their main role that HR goes to the back-burner. Many firms are now discovering the strong business case for outsourcing their HR. Enter The Fifth Option Consulting Inc. - a firm with a 20 year track record helping organizations run more profitably through effective human resource management. Working with firms of 20 to 200 employees, The Fifth Option tailor makes solutions for its clients. It’s a cost effective way to obtain strategic HR expertise, customized to a firm’s needs, with an objective opinion.

Says Managing Director, Michael Povey, “Because of the wide range of organizations we serve, we’re always at the leading edge of what’s happening in Human Resources. Due to our diverse experience with firms in various sectors, we’re able to identify the appropriate best practices for each particular client.” Organizations can arrange for as little or as much support as they need. Often The Fifth Option starts with an initial assessment to identify aspects of human resources where improvements would be beneficial. The analysis and recommendations are discussed and a plan drafted to meet the needs identified. Services are available on a project basis or scheduled on a part-time basis, say one or two days a week. Since The Fifth Option offers a mobile service, consultants can come to the client’s premises. Facing the challenges of human resources management requires particular skills and experience that many managers simply don’t have. Rather than learn by mistake, The Fifth Option removes the guesswork.

Most firms need to deal with a host of HR issues, from compensation, to performance management, policy manual development, dispute resolution, supervisory coaching,

Business in Vancouver

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recruitment and executive search, training, succession planning, and labour relations. These are just a few of The Fifth Option’s 30 Areas of Practice.

TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY 2009 |

10/15/09 8:51:38 AM

INFLUENTIAL BUSINESSPEOPLE

Condo king

Carole knows best

Why: He spearheaded the successful marketing strategy of pre-sales and has been involved in many of Vancouver’s largest residential condo projects

Why: Experience working at the highest echelons of provincial and federal government and holding a host of corporate, non-profit directorships

Bob Rennie Principal Rennie Marketing Systems

Carole Taylor Former B.C. finance minister and MLA; chair of the federal finance minister’s economic advisory council and governor of the Vancouver Board of Trade Torontonian Carole Taylor married former Vancouver mayor Art Phillips, cofounder of Phillips, Hager & North, in the 1970s, and would later gain experience on Vancouver city council as an alderman and as the chair of the Vancouver Port Corp., Canada Ports Corp., Vancouver Board of Trade and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. She has served on the boards of HSBC Holdings (London), Canfor and Fairmont Hotels, among others. She was recently named to the board of the TD Tank Financial Group and senior adviser for Borden Ladner Gervais. She stepped down from the CBC to run for public office and was elected to the provincial legislature in May 2005. She announced she would not run again in the 2009 provincial election and resigned in December 2008 to advise the federal government.

Bob Rennie’s Rennie Marketing Systems regularly racks up annual real estate sales between $1.2 billion and $2 billion. He spearheaded the marketing strategy of selling pre-sales and has recently represented major Vancouver condo projects such as Woodward’s, ShangriLa Hotels and Resorts, Fairmont Pacific Rim and the Olympic Village. He increasingly acts as a developer’s representative and is involved in many aspects of projects, including concept, zoning, architecture and design. He works regularly with other notable Vancouver developers such as Peter Wall and Ian Gillespie and his company’s activity has spread to Edmonton, Toronto, Dallas and Seattle. The BlackBerry addict is an ardent supporter of the arts and is building an office and an art gallery in Chinatown to house one of Canada’s largest private art collections. Rennie has attempted to influence municipal elections by buying fullpage political advertising in daily newspapers.

Biotech bellwether Why: A leading supporter of B.C.’s biotech sector and the founder of the province’s biggest medical testing lab Don Rix Chair LifeLabs Diagnostics BC Inc. Don Rix built MDS Metro Laboratories into one of the province’s largest private health-care providers before selling what is now known as Lifelabs to the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS). He also founded and chairs Burnaby’s CanTest Ltd. He sits on the Premier’s Technology Council and is well known for being an early investor in QLT Inc. among other successful B.C. life-sciences companies. The past president of the Vancouver Medical Association has chaired the Vancouver Board of Trade, been inducted into the Business Laureates of British Columbia Hall of Fame and is member of both the Order of British Columbia and the Order of Canada. The avid volunteer, philanthropist and angel investor has mentored countless young entrepreneurs. 26

A Golden career Why: A prolific miner whose career has spanned more than 25 years Ian Telfer Chair Goldcorp Inc. A wheeler and dealer in the mining industry for 25 years, Ian Telfer has played major roles in financing, developing and operating mines in a dozen countries throughout the world. In the early 1980s, he co-founded TVX Gold Inc., a shell company that under Telfer’s leadership would grow into a gold producer with a market value of $1 billion. In 2002, he became CEO of Wheaton River Minerals Ltd. and, three years later, would engineer the sale of the Vancouver upstart to Goldcorp Inc., creating the world’s lowest-cost millionounce gold producer. He retired as head of Goldcorp in 2006 after guiding the firm through the US$8.6 billion merger with Nevada’s Glamis Gold Ltd.

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INFLUENTIAL BUSINESSPEOPLE

Athletic apparel trend-master

Dragon’s flare

Why: As the mind behind athletic apparel powerhouse lululemon athletica inc., Chip Wilson’s vision of sportswear now has a global audience

Why: A top banker and beacon of Vancouver’s Chinese community

Dennis “Chip” Wilson Founder, chair and chief product designer lululemon athletica inc. In December 2005, Chip Wilson sold 48% of his interest in lululemon for $108 million. The University of Calgary economics graduate had founded the company in 1998 after selling his skate-and-surf apparel shop Westbeach in 1997. Lululemon subsequently went public in July 2007 and is now listed on stock exchanges in Toronto and New York. The first lululemon on West 4th Avenue in Kitsilano shared its retail space with a yoga studio. Its technical yoga clothes and apparel are now at more than 100 stores across Canada, the U.S., Australia and Hong Kong. Wilson’s community involvement includes the Chip’s Not Dead Yet Memorial Mile fundraiser for the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation and his charity imagine1day, which supports projects providing primary education for children in Ethiopia.

Milton Wong President and non-executive chair HSBC Global Asset Management (Canada) Ltd. The eighth son of a Cantonese farmer who immigrated to Vancouver in 1908, Milton Wong sold his firm, MK Wong and Associates, to Hong Kong Bank of Canada in 1996. At that time, the firm managed almost $2 billion in assets. With Wong at the helm, HSBC Asset Management grew to $218 billion in global assets by 2003. Instrumental in the growth of S.U.C.C.E.S.S, the Chinese-Canadian answer to the United Way, Wong also established the Vancouver International Dragon Boat Festival. He is a chancellor emeritus for Simon Fraser University, and an Order of Canada and Order of British Columbia recipient.

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Business in Vancouver

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TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY 2009 |

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SUBSCRIBERS

Twenty-year subscribers

No publication can survive without its readers, and the success of Business in Vancouver is in no small way the result of dedicated subscribers. Many of them have been getting BIV delivered to their mailboxes since our first publication. Below are a handful of 20-year subscribers

George Godfrey

Shirley Broadfoot

Nils Thaysen

General manager, Fleming Decal and Sign

President, Sierra Communications Ltd.

President, United Carpet

“H

aving had a prior relationship with Peter Ladner we did some decals for Business in Vancouver in the early days,” recalls George Godfrey of his early connection with the newspaper. “Of what I read, I particularly like to find out who’s suing who; I had a customer who owed me a few grand and kept telling me that he had no money. When I read in BIV that he got some money, I phoned my lawyer and he went right after his bank account. That was the best phone call I ever made.” Through the years, the business has remained steady, according to Godfrey. “It’s like the Three Little Pigs,” he notes. “I’m the pig who built the brick house.”

Rick Featherstone President, Tritech Machine

nother self-confessed “Day 1 guy,” Rick Featherstone has maintained a strong loyalty to BIV over the years as he “enjoys a variety of stories that I find very informative to business; that, and it’s always good to see who’s being sued as it helps us in knowing who we may or may not be dealing with.” Tritech Machine has experienced noticeable growth over its lifetime. “It has gone from a partnership situation, to where I bought my partners out, and we’ve grown exponentially from a threeman operation to a 20-man business, and been as high as 50.”

hirley Broadfoot recalls starting her business back in 1980 and proudly states, “I’ve been with BIV ever since. Whenever I didn’t get the chance to read a current issue, I would always later find out something that I wished I had read at the time. I find it keeps me abreast of what’s going on and it’s been important to me in my business; I felt it kept me connected to the people.” Sierra Communications “developed very well in the ensuing years,” she says. Though still involved, “I sold it in 1993 and I’m basically retired now.”

Axel Krieger President, Microzip Data Corp.

nother early believer in BIV, Microzip Data president Axel Krieger notes that among the various features, he enjoys focusing in to see whose being sued and by whom. “We find it particularly interesting and we’re always checking it to see if any of our clients are being sued,” he says. As for his own company’s success, “it has basically grown and contracted over the years due to the fact that we’re not a one-stop shop. We’re a data-processing company and don’t provide mailing service. It’s like being a butcher shop as opposed to being a supermarket – some people want a onestop shop.”

“P

eter Ladner and I used to belong to the same executive association a number of years ago, and that’s how I came to be involved with Business in Vancouver basically right from the start,” says Thaysen, recalling how he found himself to be among the list of BIV’s earliest subscribers. Of the current state of United Carpets, “Our Company has certainly grown some over the years; pretty steadily in fact. We deal pretty well with all products that have to do with any kind of flooring, including hardwood. We’ve certainly maintained in the areas of both retail and contract applications.”

Darlene Sanders President, Avant Gardner

“I

jumped onboard as a subscriber pretty much when the paper first came to be,” recalls Sanders of her introduction to Business in Vancouver. “I remember that because I had just started my own business as a retailer and I wanted to know as much as I could find out about the business world. As for what she most enjoys from BIV, “I pretty much enjoy it all, even if a lot of it doesn’t apply to me specifically – I still find it pretty interesting to read. “Business life has been good with some ups and downs,” she notes, “but I truck along.”

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SUBSCRIBERS

Rudy Nielsen

Paula Keats

Eric Martin

President, Niho Group

Vice-president, Vivid Graphics Ltd.

“W

Vice-president, Bosa Development Corporation

s one of B.C.’s largest private owners of recreational property and a leading expert in recreational real estate with over 35 years of experience, the Niho Group has been a subscriber for the past two decades. “I knew Peter Ladner and knew that BIV was going to be a great way of keeping us informed and current on what is happening in various business circles,” says Nielsen. “Within the past 20 years, our business has grown from one company to three companies and we’ve done that by staying innovative and by developing new ideas to keep our companies flourishing.”

Robert Matthews Matthews Campbell Chartered Accountants

e’ve been around 25 years,” says Keats, “and our involvement with BIV goes right back to the beginning. I saw Peter Ladner every week and knew what he was involving himself with so I jumped onboard right away and found it’s been a good resource for our company. It keeps us informed of events and happenings around Vancouver and it’s certainly helped us generate a number of leads over the years.” Offering a variety of services, Vivid Graphics has noticed “a very steady business over the years and has since turned worldwide with a number of our clients now in the U.S.”

Mark Startup President and CEO, Shelfspace (formerly Retail BC)

aintaining a strong presence in the Burnaby and Vancouver areas since 1976, Robert Matthews says, “This was the first publication that produced articles on small business in Vancouver. I’ve always been interested in the stories of those businesses that started small and grew to mid-sized businesses. These success stories should be the ones told as they will promote others to take the risk associated with being self-employed. Too often we hear the stories of the same big-business owners. There is nothing wrong with this except that there are thousands of successful small businesses whose stories should be told.”

’ve been a subscriber for so long I honestly can’t remember,” Mark Startup recalls. “In fact, it’s been a part of my week for a very long time. The stories I’ve liked are too numerous to mention but I really enjoy the columnists and the one that I’ve probably read and retained the most over the years is [Jeffrey Gitomer]. I find the regular contributors offer high-quality and relevant content, and my week wouldn’t be complete without Peter Ladner. Retail BC has grown exponentially and has changed dramatically over two significant rebrandings.”

Julie Marzolf

Elsbeth Turner

Principal, Marzolf and Associates

Secretary, UBS Bank Canada

onsultants in public relations, research and implementation of communication strategies, Julie Marzolf’s reasons for her BIV relationship were threefold: “I wanted a periodical with a local focus on business; I like Peter Ladner’s approach and I was friends with a columnist,” she says. “Since our business is locally based and highly relational, having a sense of what is going on in the community serves us well. BIV, being timely and local, is an important component of our overall mediamonitoring strategy.” Since Inception, Marzolf and Associates “have increased in our ability to offer the best communications counsel and services to our clients.”

“I

ikened to that of the most powerful twoperson financial firm in the world, UBS Bank Canada is a world-leading wealth-management company, global-investment bank and asset-management business. Having been on board with Business in Vancouver since its first edition, Turner says, “The publication has provided good business information, which has helped with our marketing efforts.” Over the last 20 years, UBS Bank Canada has noticed a tremendous increase in assets under management and within the past seven years, has grown from a team of five employees to 14 highly qualified financial professionals dedicated to meeting the needs of wealthy clients.

orking hard at envisioning the future in residential and commercial development, Bosa Development Corporation has enjoyed more than four decades of success. It has delivered tens of thousands of new homes across the continent since Nat Bosa started the company. “We’ve been a subscriber for years and enjoy reading BIV for a weekly overview of local business news, especially in the areas of real estate and construction,” says Eric Martin. “Over the years, the Bosa Development Corporation has grown substantially, but, more importantly, it’s diversified itself in terms of geographic locations and our business focus.”

Brian McGavin Director of marketing, MacDonald Development Corporation

aising equity financing for MacDonald Development Corporation, a company successful in developing, investing in and managing real estate since 1982, marketing director Brian McGavin acknowledges that, “We’ve been on board with BIV forever and have found it’s been helpful to us in the sense that it keeps us current by choosing topical subjects as well as provides us with good general information.” During the past two decades, the company has been active across North America, including most major Canadian cities, the B.C. Interior and Vancouver Island, as well as major centres in the United States.

Santo Sandhu Investment adviser, Wolverton Securities Ltd.

family-based western Canadian business since 1910, Wolverton Securities offers a wide range of financial services and products through a network of more than 100 investment advisers. “We became a subscriber of BIV because it was something different,” notes Santo Sandhu. “We find that it’s focused more on the various business aspects and it certainly makes us more aware of what’s happening within the various sectors of the economy and keeps us informed of new ideas coming out all the time. Our business has grown several fold over the past two decades.”

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TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY 2009 |

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SUBSCRIBERS

Bill Dix

Sharon Bortolotto

Glenn Chalmers

Vice-president international, BC Bearing Engineers Ltd.

Principal and founder, BBA Design Consultants Inc.

Vice-president, local sales, Astral Media Radio

epresenting over 200 manufacturers and with 26 locations in Western Canada, BC Bearing Engineers has been one of the earliest supporters of Business in Vancouver. “The publication certainly keeps us current within the business environment, and after all, that’s the primary benefit of being a reader in the first place,” says Bill Dix. A group of companies offering bearings, power transmissions, material handling, electrical and allied industrial products and services to a broad base of industries located throughout North and South America, BC Bearing Engineers “has grown substantially within the past two decades – certainly internationally.”

s a full-service interior-design company in the areas of hospitality, resorts and multi-family residences, BBA Design Consultants Inc. counts itself among the lengthy list of Business in Vancouver’s longtime subscribers. “We find it keeps us in touch with what’s happening,” says Bortolotto, who notes she particularly enjoys the columns and articles that offer advice to businesses. “We’ve been in business ourselves since 1985, and BIV continually helps us keep abreast of what our clients are doing. We’ve developed quite well over the years and built up a solid and steady design firm.”

eturning to Vancouver hoping to connect with the city’s business aspects to enhance his familiarity in 1993, Chalmers began his BIV subscription. “It gave me access that helped speed up the process, allowing me viewpoints on a number of industries and business categories that aren’t part of my daily work.” Radio, like most industries dealing with the speed of information access and flow, remains part of the daily routine of the majority of Canadians. “These days, we simply use it differently than 20 years ago,” says Chalmers. “The challenge we face today is identifying and adapting when change happens as quickly as it does.”

Mac Campbell

Greg Whittaker

President, Mac D Campbell Associates Inc.

General manager, Swisco Installations Ltd.

espite its location in the southeast corner of British Columbia, Mac Campbell still became an early believer in Business in Vancouver, having been part of the group helping Peter Ladner raise the initial capital. “BIV is by far the best source for business information in the province and in terms of us here in Kimberley, it gives us the opportunity to see legal issues involving folks in the East Kootenays.” For those looking to venture into their own business, Campbell advises, “Study thoroughly, plan as much of the detail as you can in advance and get lots of peer-group input into it.”

eing another of Business in Vancouver’s earliest subscribers, Swisco Installations’ Greg Whittaker explains that his interest in the publication was borne largely out of the fact that it was locally based business news. “That’s why I’ve stuck with it ever since,” he says. “It’s been a very effective paper to us over the years. I enjoy the legal section and tech columns but I also enjoy seeing two opposing views to a particular subject.” Over the course of the past two decades, as a wholesale distributor to the construction industry, Whittaker notes that Swisco has experienced continued growth. “Volume-wise, we’re up.”

| TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY 2009 Business in Vancouver

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