Business in Vancouver 2011-09-13 by GLACIER MEDIA DIGITAL LIMITED PARTNERSHIP dba BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER

Local. Business. Intelligence. September 13–20, 2011 • Issue 1142

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Dammed if we do: Site C revisited Victoria proceeding with plans for an $8 billion dam despite suspect electricity-demand forecasts, a restrictive clean-energy policy and the destruction of a valuable river valley

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Economic uncertainty not slowing growth of B.C. companies 15-34

By Joel McKay

he business plan for the province’s next mega project – the $7.9 billion Site C hydroelectric dam – is rife with problems. A Business in Vancouver investigation has revealed that the electricity forecasts the province is using to justify the project contradict historic increases in demand and the cost to produce electricity from the dam is more than what taxpayers pay for energy

Rocky labour road for Rocky Mountaineer 3 HST elimination could yield rental boon for B.C. landlords 10 Building biotech businesses 12 Social media week’s small-business bonanza 14

today. On top of that, the dam would flood an area of prime agricultural land roughly 13 times the size of Stanley Park, forcing farmers to abandon their livelihood, killing fish, destroying aboriginal burial grounds and animal habitat and increasing the risk of landslides. The Liberal government has also removed the taxpayer-funded project from the oversight of the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC), a policy that even

Site C’s supporters don’t agree with. And even though the provincial and federal environmental assessment offices have yet to complete independent assessments of the project, Energy Minister Rich Coleman has said the province is committed to building the dam. “Site C will be a project that’s going ahead,” Coleman told reporters in August. “It’s a project that we’ve already committed to.” Business in Vancouver special report – 6, 7

Absolute Software case raises cyber-surveillance concerns 35 Renshaw on B.C.’s quest for taxation complication 44 Ladner on cultivating urban farming’s new political might 44

Capstone CEO Darren Pylot’s deal-making helping limit shareholder risk in the volatile resource sector 47 Subscriber details

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Meggs on black ink from green city economics 45

Interfilm director Julia Ivanova and president Boris Ivanov have thus far bucked the trend of documentary makers abandoning the genre for the reality TV market

Filmmakers opting for reality cheque >Market squeeze pushing more documentary makers to reality TV and stifling growth of local film entrepreneurs Business in Vancouver Issue 1142

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By Jenny Wagler

’s documentary makers can’t pinpoint when, exactly, their business model began to fall apart.

But they’re virtually unanimous: the industry is in crisis. “I think it’s the worst period for documentaries in Canada in the 28 years I’ve been in the television

business producing current affairs programming,” said David Paperny, president and co-founder of Vancouver-based Paperny Films. see Documentaries, 5

Daily business news at www.biv.com September 13–20, 2011

contents Columnists Money’s Worth Kim Inglis Real Estate Roundup Peter Mitham High-Tech Office Alan Zisman Public Offerings Timothy Renshaw At Large Peter Ladner Labour Climate Geoff Meggs

Insider trading 9 BIV lists 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32 Trouble 36–39 Lawsuit of the week 37 Hats off 41 People on the move 40–42 Datebook 43, 46

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Finance 8–9 Real estate 10 Technology 12, 14 Top 100 fastest-growing companies 15–34 For the record 40-42 Law 35–39 Comment 44–45

Global problems to slow B.C. growth: Central 1

BIV Business Today Daily Online Edition

cards are close to seeing changes coming. But those new options will lead to higher costs for consumers despite claims to the contrary.

DelMar cancer drug approved for clinical trials NDP wants Victoria to release BCESIS report B.C.’s small-business optimism falters KPMG acquires one of B.C.’s largest private accounting firms

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Mining quarterly The Mining Association of BC’s Karina Brino chats with Business in Vancouver about building the industry’s “voice” in B.C.

Biggest mines in B.C. Biggest sales and management training firms in B.C.

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News

September 13–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver

Rocky Mountaineer lockout at impasse Recent passengers warn that the luxury train’s service oversights could tarnish British Columbia’s reputation as a tourism destination

Rail labour strife: Rocky Mountaineer locked out 109 onboard attendants on June 22 and replaced them with temporary workers By Glen Korstrom

a n c o u v e r- b a s e d Ro c k y Mountaineer locked out 109 staff June 22 in a dispute that threatens to continue until the luxury passenger train provider’s season ends October 6. The company and its union, Teamsters Local 31, are not only at an impasse on issues such as overtime and scheduling, they can’t even agree on how many contract offers have been discussed. Rocky Mountaineer says it has made seven offers. The Teamsters say there was only one – a proposal the union said was so poor the company must have known it would be rejected. The dispute has simmered under the radar since day 1, but it is significant for business leaders and decision-makers in B.C.’s tourism sector because it could tarnish the image of British Columbia as a vacation destination, say recent Rocky Mountaineer passengers who are unhappy with the railway’s service. “Poorly trained replacement onboard attendants actually made our intended trip-of-a-lifetime something of an ordeal to endure,”

said Gerald Binczik, who spent more than $10,000 with his wife to travel on the train in a glassdomed Gold Leaf coach a few days after the lockout started. “Their scant service was clumsy and seemingly begrudged, and their narration of our trip was so outrageously bad that it was laughable and painful in turns.” Binczik and his wife are both wildlife biologists who live in Texas. The couple, who told Business in Vancouver that they have never been in a union, said passengers should be able to cancel their trip and get a refund. Rocky Mountaineer’s executive director of communications, Ian Robertson, confirmed that his company does not offer refunds nor does it grant compensation to disgruntled customers. “We carry more than 100,000 guests within our season and, labour dispute or no labour dispute, there are always guests for whom we fail to meet their expectations,” Robertson said. “We survey guests after each trip. The guest service ratings that we have received this year are as high as previous years.” Robertson would not reveal

how much the luxury travel provider is paying its replacement workers nor whether it has hired as many replacement workers as there are locked-out employees.

“Their scant service was clumsy and seemingly begrudged and their narration of our trip was so outrageously bad that it was laughable and painful in turns” – Gerald Binczik, a Texas resident who was a Rocky Mountaineer passenger in late June

On June 15, Rocky Mountaineer workers voted overwhelmingly to strike. They were locked out by the company one week later. “We’ve put seven offers on the table – seven offers,” Robertson said. “All have been rejected by the union.” But that’s news to Teamsters Local 31 president Stan Hennessy. “I haven’t seen one offer yet. I don’t know what offers he’s talking about.” Hennessy said that during

a meeting in early July, Rocky Mountaineer CEO Randy Powell told the union that the company wanted to roll back workers’ wages 2% in each of the next three years. Powell also wanted the onboard attendants to start sharing hotel rooms with each other during overnight stays. Rocky Mountaineer’s luxury trips differ from other offerings, such as Via Rail’s Edmonton-toVancouver run, in that passengers travel during the day and sleep in hotels at night so they don’t miss any of the trip’s scenery. “When a worker is on the train for 16 hours and then they go to a basic motel for something to eat and a shower, the last thing they want to do is share the room with somebody,” Hennessy said. “Right now, Rocky Mountaineer pays no overtime. The union put a position forward to start overtime after 11 hours. For a union that’s pretty reasonable in my mind.” Saying he didn’t want to negotiate through the media, Robertson declined to provide details of his company’s offers. “Our offers have addressed some of the concerns of the union,” he said. “The offers we proposed reflected the reality of where the tourism industry is at. We continue to see a slump in the U.S. market and have not recovered to pre-2008 levels.” Robertson added that salaries for his company’s onboard attendants are at the high end of the tourism-sector pay spectrum and that the company has had little trouble finding replacement workers. Hennessy said some of the workers can make about $40,000, including tips, during the train’s six-month season. “The majority would make about half that,” he said. Hennessy vowed to tell union affiliates overseas about Rocky Mountaineer’s lockout if the dispute is not resolved by the fall. “The reason we haven’t done that so far is that we were hoping common sense would prevail,” he said. “If they don’t have customers next year, it hurts everybody. But I don’t intend to quietly go away.” • gkorstrom@biv.com

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BUSINESS TODAY B.C. clean-energy producers dispute BC Hydro report Electricity produced by B.C.’s cleanenergy sector is as cheap as, if not cheaper than, BC Hydro’s, the Clean Energy Association of B.C. (CEBC) claims. Its statement was released Wednesday in response to the Review of BC Hydro panel report, which states that clean-energy producers contract with Hydro at a price of $124/MWh. But the CEBC said the actual average price paid for electricity from clean-energy producers over the past 20 years is $64/MWh. Thursday, September 8

Great Canadian Gaming founder Ross McLeod dies Ross McLeod, founder of Richmondbased Great Canadian Gaming Corp., died September 6 at the age of 59. McLeod was chairman and CEO of the company, which he founded in 1982. “Ross will be fondly remembered as leader of over 4,000 employees across Canada, and Washington state, confidant to his executive team and a true visionary for the Canadian gaming and entertainment industry,” said Earnest Beaudin, Great Canadian’s lead director. Wednesday, September 7

Canfor reopens B.C. Interior sawmill Vancouver-based forestry giant Canfor Corp. (TSX:CFP) announced Tuesday the successful restart of its Vavenby sawmill, which had been closed for more than two years. The move resulted from a $24 million capital investment. At full production, Vavenby will add 240 million board feet of softwood lumber to Canfor’s annual capacity. Wednesday, September 7

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Daily business news at www.biv.com September 13–20, 2011

B.C. film sector holding steady, despite HST vote By Jenny Wagler

’s film industry is expecting to maintain its ground this year, despite the challenges of a high Canadian dollar and the August 26 referendum rejection of the harmonized sales tax (HST). “I think our value proposition in B.C. has been validated by the level of production we’re continuing to see,” BC Film commissioner Susan Croome said. Thirty-five productions are currently shooting in B.C. or about to go to camera, compared with 34 a year ago and 25 in 2009. “We’re up significantly over 2009, but we’re on par with 2010,” Croome said. Current productions include: •10 feature films; •one DVD feature; •10 movies of the week; •14 TV series; and •one mini/web series. A year ago, there were:

•eight feature films; •one DVD feature; •seven movies of the week; and •18 TV series. Croome added that up to the end of June, the BC Film Commission had prepared 195 location packages for foreign and local film companies compared with 147 in 2010’s first six months. The packages detail film location options around the province. Croome said the 25% spike in year-to-date activity in the commission’s production services department is a good sign, but added that there’s no clear “hit rate” predicting how many location packages will land productions. Peter Leitch is chairman of the Motion Picture Production Association of B.C. and president of North Shore Studios and Mammoth Studios. He said the service side of the industry, which supports U.S. productions filming in B.C., appears to be maintaining last year’s levels.

He said that’s good news, given the high Canadian dollar. “We’re really quite happy with where things are [on the service side].” In 2010, according to commission statistics, $778 million was spent in B.C. on foreign productions. Liz Shorten is the managing vice-president, operations and member services, for the B.C. branch of the Canadian Media Production Association. She said B.C.-based film and television producers are also seeing 2011 shape up like 2010. “We haven’t returned to the B.C.-based levels of 2007 when we were at $400 million worth of production,” she said. “We’re probably holding our own from last year and that’s due to a number of our television series returning – The Haunting Hour, Mr. Young, Sanctuary.” Commission stats show that B.C.-based producers’ total annual

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Early numbers show industry maintaining 2010 business levels in 2011

BC Film commissioner Susan Croome: “I think our value proposition in B.C. has been validated by the level of production we’re continuing to see”

spending dropped to $366 million in 2008 and $218 million in 2009 before edging up to $244 million last year. Shorten said documentaries and dramas have been hardest hit over the past few years. But Shorten noted that B.C.based producers are continuing to tap into a strong market for lifestyle shows. However, she added that lifestyle programming is lower budget and doesn’t provide the same number of jobs as a dramatic television series. Croome said B.C.’s motion picture industry is disappointed by the HST being rejected in the August 26 referendum, but that the

impacts of that decision are still a ways off. Leitch concurred that the referendum’s effects won’t hit this fall. “We expect it to be relatively status quo for the rest of this year,” he said, “but new projects that are being developed right now are going to really rethink whether they should be coming to B.C. or not because of the difference in cost.” Croome expressed measured optimism for fall production levels. “We’re still confident, but some of our major clients in Los Angeles are looking at their slate of production going forward into the fall.” • jwagler@biv.com

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10:24:23 AM

Documentaries: Loss would eliminate key proving ground for B.C.’s aspiring filmmaking talent “Once you eliminate documentary production, you eliminate the next generation of TV producers and filmmaking entrepreneurs because you eliminate a very important entry point into the business.” He said without that, young filmmakers are limited to being “directors for hire” on the higher-budget series that rule the day. “They become freelancers working for companies like mine, and I’m lucky to have these people, but it’s different than if they were on their own, starting their own business with their own vision, their own passion, their own way of doing things.” As the local industry struggles, docmakers are trying to develop new funding

from Filmmakers, 1

Paperny launched his wbusiness in 1994 when a slew of new cable channels were getting licensed and Canadian broadcasters were commissioning hundreds of documentaries a year. “Documentary was my passion and my business,” said Paperny, whose 1993 documentary, the Broadcast Tapes of Dr. Peter, was nominated for an Academy Award. “But [Paperny Films has] slowly shifted with the times in order to stay in business, from a full-on documentary production company to a company that produces lots of other factual programming – lifestyle, reality – but very, very little documentary.” Boris Ivanov is president of Interfilm Productions Ltd. His company’s documentary, Family Portrait in Black and White, won as best Canadian film at the Hot Docs 2011 film festival. Ivanov said he’s watched the market for documentaries worsen dramatically in the last three years.

“We’re definitely now thinking about series, docu-soaps, so more toward reality, because that seems to be the only thing that you can finance” – Boris Ivanov, president, Interfilm Productions

Michaelin McDermott, a director of the B.C. branch of the Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC BC) and president and director of documentary and feature film company Bedazzled Pics, estimated that DOC BC’s membership has dropped 20% in the past two years. “There are people that just can’t do it anymore,” she said. “Some people have perceptions of artists being happy to be starving artists in lofts, but nobody really wants to do that; nobody really wants to mortgage their house in order to make a film.” Among documentary sub-genres, McDermott said the top casualty is, ironically, the form that put Canadian filmmakers on the global map back in the 1950s: the point-of-view documentary, which explores an issue or story through the filmmaker’s eyes. “The creative, one-off, point-of-view

models. Paperny would like to see documentaries generate revenue through theatre distributions. Ivanov pointed to Internet sites that solicit public contributions to fund projects and others where people pay a fee to view a documentary. He added that it may fall to the next generation of filmmakers to figure out the way forward. “I’m hoping that young people will figure out a way to monetize their content on the Internet or somehow raise funding, because I don’t see documentaries recurring on television anytime soon.” • jwagler@biv.com

Paperny Films president David Paperny: “once you eliminate documentary production, you eliminate the next generation of TV producers and filmmaking entrepreneurs because you eliminate a very important entry point into the business”

documentary is totally under siege,” she said. Paperny added that the key problem doc-makers face is that the industry’s funding model – TV licence fees – hasn’t changed, despite doc slots disappearing. McDermott added that provincial policy has further disadvantaged local doc-makers compared with their Ontario and Quebec counterparts, who benefit from better tax credits. B.C.’s decision to scrap the HST, she said, is going to exacerbate the problem. To survive in the current climate, many local companies, like Paperny, have turned to hotter markets, such as reality TV, lifestyle programming and documentary series. Ivanov said that with his small company’s limited overhead, he’s managed to keep making documentaries longer than most in town. But he said that won’t be for long. “We’re definitely now thinking about series, docu-soaps, so more toward reality, because that seems to be the only thing that you can finance.” Losing documentaries, Paperny said, will hurt the whole local filmmaking industry. With their smaller budgets, he pointed out that documentaries provide a key arena for cultivating young filmmakers.

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Daily business news at www.biv.com September 13–20, 2011

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Site C project spells the end for third-generation farming family It’s smaller than previous hydroelectric dams, but B.C.’s next mega-project would still flood 5,340 hectares of prime agricultural land Ken and Arlene Boon, a third-generation farming family on the Peace River, will lose their land and home if Site C is built

By Joel McKay

en and Arlene Boon are the third generation in their family to farm the nutrient-rich land next to the Peace River known as Bear Flat. Arlene was born two kilometres from where her home sits today, in one of the province’s most productive agricultural regions near Fort St. John. In the late 1970s, BC Hydro approached her grandfather about a third hydroelectric dam the utility wanted to build a little ways downstream. The project would flood the farmer’s land, which he and his family had called home since shortly after the Second World War. “Grandpa was not co-operative with Hydro whatsoever,” said Arlene. “He had basically told them he wasn’t moving until the water was up to his knees.” Fortunately, in 1983, the B.C. Utilities Commission (BCUC) rejected the government’s plan to build the dam, citing the need for a more accurate electricity demand forecast and alternatives to the project. But in 2004, then-premier Gordon Campbell dusted off the plan, envisioning a project that would cost $3.2 billion. In 2006, the cost estimate for the project climbed to more than $6 billion. Last year, Campbell flew into Hudson’s Hope and used the massive W.A.C. Bennett Dam as a backdrop to announce that his government was again proceeding with Site C. At the time, Campbell said the project would produce some 4,600 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity per year, enough to power roughly 410,000 homes. He added that it would produce clean energy, create up to 35,000 jobs and help the province reach its goal to become electricity selfsufficient, a standard his government set in motion with the Clean Energy Act. What he didn’t advertise was that the project would wipe out 5,340 hectares of prime agricultural land and push some families, like the Boons, out of house and home. “We’ll lose our place, most of our land, probably our home, our house,” said Ken Boon. Demand forecasts At the time, the government claimed the province’s electricity

Ryan Lux/Alaska Highway News

demand would grow 20% to 40% over the next 20 years. A year later, the province upped the scale of the project again, envisioning a $7.9 billion hydroelectric dam that would produce 5,100 GWh of electricity per year, or enough to power 450,000 homes. And in spite of lagging electricity sales, the province also increased its demand forecast. In a letter to Business in Vancouver in August, Energy Minister Rich Coleman said the province’s energy requirements over the next 20 years were expected to soar 40% based on population growth in excess of one million people. But historic population growth statistics call into question the province’s claim that future electricity needs are based on more people moving to B.C. Between 1991 and 2011, B.C.’s population climbed 36% to approximately 4.5 million people. During the same period, domestic electricity demand in B.C. climbed 25% to 50,607 GWh. That means electricity demand growth actually lagged population growth, the opposite of what the government claims in its justification for Site C. In fact, over the last five years, BC Hydro’s electricity requirements have declined 11%. Even in California, the U.S.A.’s most populous state, electricity

demand increases lagged population growth between 1990 and 2010. The California Energy Commission also projects only a 13% increase in electricity demand between 2010 and 2020.

“I think there’s no question the rate of growth in demand in British Columbia is artificially high” – Marvin Shaffer, professor, Simon Fraser University

Despite repeated requests from BIV, Coleman declined to be interviewed for this story. Powering oil and gas Peace Valley Environment Association biologist Diane Culling believes that, despite the government’s claims that Site C would generate enough energy to keep the lights on for 450,000 homes, the project is meant to power resource companies. “We always talk in terms of 450,000 homes,” said Culling, “[but] no one is talking about sending this power to the Horn River Basin and the oil and gas industry.”

Around the same time the Campbell government pulled Site C out of storage, it also began to cash in on massive natural gas reserves in northeast B.C. The industry has since become a $6 billion per year cash cow and is expected to grow. When asked about the electricity demand projections, BC Hydro’s Mike Savidant said industrial activity would become a significant driver of the growth in electricity demand in the coming years. “We do see that load growth increasing much more significantly,” Savidant said. A closer look at BC Hydro’s latest demand forecast report revealed that while residential electricity sales are expected to rise 38% over the next 20 years, commercial sales are expected to climb 47% and industrial sales are expected to increase 51%. The electricity demand from metal mines is projected to jump 91% in the next 20 years, while coal mine demand is expected to increase 50%. But the real industrial growth comes from the oil and gas sector, where electricity demand is expected to soar a whopping 461%. Despite that growth, BC Hydro’s corporate customers pay less for power than the average citizen. Large industrial customers paid approximately $45 per megawatt

hour (MWh) of electricity in 2011 compared with $77 per MWh for residential customers, according to BC Hydro’s annual report. Simon Fraser University (SFU) professor Marvin Shaffer is in favour of Site C, but said the low rates industrial customers pay compared with the cost to produce the energy is the equivalent of “market failure,” creating an artificially inflated rate of electricity demand growth. “I think there’s no question the rate of growth in demand in British Columbia is artificially high,” said Shaffer. The average revenue among all customer classes, excluding foreign sales, is approximately $52 per MWh, which raises another question about Site C’s business plan. If electricity from Site C is expected to cost between $87 and $95 per MWh, how can the project be revenue-positive if customers pay far less than that amount? Savidant said that’s not how BC Hydro calculates its revenue; instead it uses a “blended cost” of all the assets in its system. Still, Site C would increase the average cost of that “blend.” BC Hydro said the business case for the project is also based on alternative power sources that aren’t as cost-effective as the dam. Savidant said Site C is markedly cheaper than Independent Power Projects (IPPs), which cost

September 13–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver

BC Hydro

full disclosure

Wilderness Committee national campaign director Joe Foy: BC Hydro’s electricity demand forecasts don’t add up

Former BC Hydro director Marjorie Griffin Cohen: favours Site C, but believes the project should be subject to a transparent BC Utilities Commission review

BC Hydro expects electricity demand to increased 40% in the next 20 years, outpacing population growth, which is the opposite of what’s happened over the last 20 years

approximately $124 per MWh. When Site C is compared against the cost of IPPs, SFU political science professor Marjorie Griffin Cohen believes it makes sense. “It seems to me that it would be a whole lot better and makes a lot more sense to build Site C than to continue plundering rivers as we’re doing now through the IPP calls,” said Griffin Cohen, a former BC Hydro director. However, Site C remains far more expensive than the spot market price for energy, which ranges between $4.34 and $52.43 per megawatt hour. But thanks to the Clean Energy Act, which requires B.C. to be electricity self-sufficient by 2016, BC Hydro can’t buy power on the market because it would have to be imported.

pointed out in their BC Hydro review “changing the definition of self-sufficiency could have the effect of mitigating rate increases.” The report also found that if the self-sufficiency definition was modified, “BC Hydro is close to being self-sufficient now.” Joe Foy, the Wilderness Committee’s national campaign director, said the government’s self-sufficiency policy isn’t feasible and forces BC Hydro to buy more power at higher prices than the province needs. He also pointed out that if the province were truly energy starved it could source between 4,000 and 5,000 GWh of energy annually from the Columbia River Treaty Entitlement. That energy is currently sold to the U.S. “If we really needed energy, why are we still taking that as money?” said Foy. But BC Hydro said that entitlement ends in 2024, when the treaty with the U.S. expires. “It’s not something we can rely on over the long term,” said Savidant. Also, that entitlement would technically be considered imported power, which would contravene the Clean Energy Act. When asked if there are any other alternatives to Site C, Savidant said the province’s energy policies require the Crown corporation

to generate electricity from clean sources, meaning that large natural gas power production is out of the question. On top of that, the Clean Energy Act also ruled out large hydroelectric dams elsewhere in B.C. It identifies Site C as “the last large hydro project BC Hydro is permitted to build,” Savidant said. That means the province’s own clean-energy policies have effectively forced BC Hydro to choose between Site C and pricey IPP contracts. Another point of contention surrounding Site C is the fact that the Clean Energy Act has removed the project from BCUC oversight. Senator Richard Neufeld was an MLA for Peace River North and the province’s energy and mines minister when plans for Site C were being unveiled to the public early last decade. Although he left provincial politics three years ago, Neufeld was more than happy to talk to BIV about the benefits of Site C. “If you’re going to build for the future, you have to build for the future,” said Neufeld, pointing out that ex-premier W.A.C. Bennett did the same thing with his hydroelectric projects decades ago. Neufeld also wasn’t afraid to defend the reasoning behind the province’s decision to remove Site C from BCUC oversight. “I’ll go back to W.A.C. Bennett,”

Clean Energy Act forces Hydro’s hand In August, senior provincial bureaucrats published a report that condemned BC Hydro’s soaring costs and ballooning employee count, but endorsed Site C based on the “need to comply with the Clean Energy Act.” Critics argue that Site C’s existence is based on a self-sufficiency policy that will end up costing ratepayers in the end. In fact, Victoria’s own bureaucrats

he said. “There was no BC Utilities Commission when he built the Peace and Columbia River system, not any. That was strictly a decision by government, and that’s exactly what has to happen here.” But cr it ics d isag ree w it h Neufeld. Foy said that without BCUC oversight the province is setting itself up for another costly mistake. “The last guys they prevented the BCUC from having a look at were the private power producers, and that shit is just hitting the fan big time,” said Foy. NDP energy critic John Horgan also believes the BCUC should have some say regarding the dam. “If this is the next best project it should be able to stand the rigour and scrutiny of a public hearing,” said Horgan. Griffen Cohen agreed, as did Shaffer and his colleague (and former BCUC chairman) Mark Jaccard. All three are in favour of Site C. They point out that, eventually, the province will need the electricity. Jaccard added that, unlike intermittent energy sources such as wind or run-of-river, Site C would generate firm, reliable power. Peace Valley impacts But back in the Peace Valley, the talk is less about demand forecasts

and government policy and more about direct impacts. In BC Hydro’s Site C project description report, the utility conceded the project would flood an area 13 times the size of Stanley Park. It also conceded that Site C’s reservoir would affect “fish … mortality … increase the risk of erosion, landslides … and may result in the loss of wildlife habitat,” affect greenhouse gas emissions, air quality and flood prime farm land. Site C proponents say the project’s impacts are a fraction of what locals dealt with when the region’s other two dams were built. “For the amount of the energy we get out of the project, the footprint is relatively small,” said Savidant. But First Nations in the area disagree. At least four native communities in the region have vowed to stop the dam from being built. Treaty 8 Tribal Association Tribal Chief Liz Logan said the dam would destroy ancestral graves as well as pioneer homes and ranches. BC Hydro has factored “mitigation and compensation” costs into the $7.9 billion price tag for the dam, but Savidant wouldn’t say how much has been set aside. For Ken and Arlene Boon it’s not about the money. In addition to farming and building log homes on their land, the Boons have restored one of the area’s original schoolhouses and a post office, and even transformed one building into a small museum. “You can’t put a price on memories … you can’t relocate and still have the same value of what you have here,” said Arlene. “It’s priceless.” But although the Boons fear that the dam will force them to leave Bear Flat, they don’t believe it will ever be built. “I think it’s political suicide,” said Ken Boon. “When it comes down to the crunch I don’t see how the government … would win with Site C. I think it’s a loser, and I really don’t think its ever going to happen.” • jmckay@biv.com

Now Open in Calgary!

Finance

Daily business news at www.biv.com September 13–20, 2011

BY THE NUMBERS

Losses are shown in brackets. Graph information by Stockwatch.

Pyng Medical Corp. (TSX-V:PYT)

▲34% $210k Revenue: $1.7m 9 months 2011

Net income 9 months 2011

Trauma tech: The Vancouver-based critical care company saw a 34% increase in revenue during the third quarter compared with the same period last year thanks to increased sales to the U.S. military as well as civilian orders. Pyng’s gross margin as a percentage of sales edged upward Earnings per share to 65% compared with 64% last year, while operating 9 months 2011 expenses dropped to 53% of sales from 72% in 2010.

$0.40

Low flow: The Vancouver-based power generator saw electricity sales decrease in the second quarter due to lower water flows at its Brandywine Creek facility. The low flows were largely the result of a cooler spring, which resulted in delayed snowpack melt. Still, it set a 5,483 megawatt-hour Earnings per share production record at the facility in June. The company 6 months 2011 finished the second quarter with $744k in cash.

$0.30

Digging deep: Energold drilled 155,300 metres in the second quarter, outpacing a precious company record of 125,800 metres recorded in the first quarter. The Vancouver company finished the quarter with $66.1m in working capital and cash and cash equivalents totalling $16.8m with no longEarnings per share term debt. Energold also saw its gross margins soar 138% in 6 months 2011 the second quarter, while net earnings were up 280%.

$0.01

$0.30 $0.20 $0.10 $0.00

Run of River Power Inc. (TSX-V:ROR)

▼8% ($836k) ($0.01) Revenue: $545k 6 months 2011

Net income 6 months 2011

$0.20 $0.10 $0.00

Energold Drilling Corp. (TSX-V:EGD)

▲120% $3.7m Revenue: $28.4m 6 months 2011

Net income 6 months 2011

$0.09

$5 $4 $3 $2

Money’s Worth

Kim Inglis Small businesses should consider securing insurance to cover loss of key personnel

Hot numbers A selection of the latest business stats collected by Ipsos Reid and Business in Vancouver.

41%

of Canadians would pick greater happiness over more money.

44%

of Canadians aged 18-34 fail to insure themselves before travelling to the U.S.

43%

of B.C. back-toschool shoppers are influenced by consumer reviews on retailer websites when deciding what to purchase.

57%

of Canadian travel reward credit card holders say they redeemed points for flights in the last three years.

35%

of B.C. business leaders believe industry sales will be higher in the next 12 months.

32%

of Canadians will focus on reducing their debt in the next year. Want more hot numbers? Visit the Ipsos News Centre at www.ipsos-na. com/news-polls.

xperienced personnel are the building blocks of a successful organization. Their knowledge and skills drive profitability; their relationships and reputations generate goodwill; and their experience ensures sound decision-making. Therefore, their loss affects the business negatively. D u e t o s i z e a nd s u c c e s sion planning, large businesses should be equipped to handle the loss of a key person. But small enterprises have limited resources and are often built around a handful of people with unique expertise or knowledge, so the impact of such a loss is greatly magnified. It can mean the demise of the business. W hen deat h or d isabi lit y takes such people out of the mix, the small business faces financial and operational instability. In addition to losing important skills inside the company, the loss may cause nervousness outside. T he re su lt c a n b e c re d it sources drying up, loans being called and customers looking elsewhere. It ta kes t i me to f i nd a nd train a suitable replacement.

Meanwhile, competition might see the temporary weakness as an opportunity to be predatory. To guard against such catastrophes, many small businesses buy insurance to protect the business in the event that key expertise or knowledge is lost through death or disability. The business buys a policy on the life of the person(s) most important to the company. If death occurs, the life insurance pays tax-free proceeds to the business, which can use the funds to meet immediate cash needs while looking for the person’s replacement. Leftover money can be used to fund other business activities, including buy/sell agreements. In the case of private corporations, proceeds over the adjusted cost of the policy result in a credit to the capital dividend account, in turn allowing for the potential for tax-free capital dividends to shareholders. Key person protection can improve relations with lenders, suppliers and creditors as they are assured the business will continue unhindered. It can improve morale by allaying the concerns of employees who may

otherwise worry about the future of the business or improve the ability of the business to retain key personnel when used as a perk.

Small enterprises have limited resources and are often built around a handful of people with unique expertise or knowledge, so the impact of such a loss is greatly magnified. It can mean the demise of the business For example, a business owner could agree that the key employee receives the cash value of an unused policy on retirement. According to Manulife Financial, insurance companies generally underwrite coverage amounts up to five times the key person’s salary, but special cases might warrant higher multiples. Although the coverage may be called life or disability, its primary purpose is to protect the

business. Therefore, in determining adequate coverage for the loss of key employees, it is important to assess the business plan thoroughly. That means determining to what extent cash f low will be affected and how long the expected disruption might last. Analysis should be done to establish how business credit would be affected. Training and recruiting costs should also be assessed. Robbie Burns said, “The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry.” That thought certainly applies to businesses, but prudent planning can help reduce the impact of the unexpected. The small-business owner shou ld t hink about key person insurance, but t here are intricacies so it is adv isable to consult with an insurance professional. • Kim Inglis (www.reynoldsinglis. ca) is an investment adviser with Canaccord Wealth Management, a division of Canaccord Genuity Corp. The views in this column are solely those of the author.

finance

September 13–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver

B.C. retail sales rise

Insider Trading

Merchants post 1.8% second-quarter gain

▲4.1% ▲3.7% ▲3.0% ▼0.6% B.C. retail sales (electronics, appliances)

B.C. retail sales (vehicles, parts)

B.C. retail sales (furniture)

B.C. retail sales (gas stations)

B.C.’s retailers posted a 1.8% (seasonally adjusted) gain in sales during the second quarter, making up for a slight (-0.8%) decline earlier in the year. While gasoline stations (-0.6%) saw receipts slip, this was offset by sharp increases among electronics and appliances stores (4.1%), motor vehicles and parts dealers (3.7%), sporting good, hobby, book and music stores (3.1%), furniture shops (3%) and miscellaneous retailers (5.4%). At the national level, retail sales rose 0.8%.

B.C. wages rise slightly Wages, salaries and benefits earned by workers in B.C. rose 1% (seasonally adjusted) during the second quarter. The increase in labour income in B.C. was slightly ahead of the national average (0.6%). Alberta (1.8%) posted the strongest growth, followed by both Manitoba (1.2%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (1.1%).

-BC Stats Infoline, Issue 11-35, September 2

Investment in residential construction rises Investment in residential construction projects in B.C. rose 1.4% (seasonally adjusted) during the second quarter, building on a slight increase (0.6%) at the beginning of the year.

-BC Stats Infoline, Issue 11-35, September 2

Food service industry revenue edges up Revenue at the province’s food services and drinking places industry inched ahead 0.5% (seasonally adjusted) in June after posting a slight decline (0.4%) in the previous month. Nationally, revenue advanced 0.9% in June, with gains recorded in every province.

-BC Stats Infoline, Issue 11-35, September 2

The following is a list of the largest stock trades made by corporate executives, directors and other company insiders of B.C.’s public companies filed by the week ending September 1. The information comes from a compilation of required reports filed with the BC Securities Commission within five calendar days of a change in an insider’s holdings. Insider: Carl Icahn, investor Company: Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (NYSE:LGF) Shares owned: 22,080,985 Trade date: August 30 Trade total: $154,566,902 Trade: Sale of 22,080,986 shares for US$7 per share in a deal where 11 million shares are purchased by Lions Gate Entertainment and 11 million shares sold to Mark Rachesky. Insider: Jim Pattison, director Company: Canfor Corp. (TSX:CFP) Shares owned: 27,499,950 Trade date: August 24, 25, 26 Trade total: $2,098,030 Trade: Acquisition of 215,100 shares at prices ranging from $9.63 to $9.89 per share via Great Pacific Capital Corp.

Insider: Amar Doman, chairman and CEO Company: CanWel Building Materials Group Ltd. (TSX:CWX) Shares owned: 14,929,733 Trade date: August 31 Trade total: $1,100,000 Trade: Acquisition of 500,000 shares for $2.20 per share. Insider: Bradford Cooke, chairman and CEO Company: Endeavour Silver Corp. (TSX:EDR) Shares owned: 1,137,837 Trade date: August 24, 26 Trade total: $549,750 Trade: Sale of 50,000 shares at prices ranging from $10.89 to $11.10 per share. Insider: Ignacio Celorrio, director Company: Extorre Gold Mines Ltd. (TSX:XG) Shares owned: 1,800 Trade date: August 8, 29, 30 Trade total: $411,592 (net) Trade: Sale of 48,200 shares at prices ranging from $10 to $10.057 per share following the acquisition of 50,000 shares for $1.45 per share through the exercise of options. Insider: Jeffrey Wilhoit, vice-

president, investor relations Company: Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) Shares owned: 1,655 Trade date: August 19, 22 Trade total: $265,750 (net) Trade: Sale of 10,000 shares at prices ranging from $51 to $53.57 per share after 10,000 shares at $25.71 per share were acquired through the exercise of options.

Corp. (TSX:FR) Shares owned: 344,040 Trade date: August 25, 30 Trade total: $238,900 (net) Trade: Sale of 30,500 shares for $23 per share following the acquisition of 100,000 shares for $4.41 per share and 5,000 shares for $4.32 per share through the exercise of options.

Insider: Barry Olson, senior vicepresident, project development Company: Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) Shares owned: 20,000 Trade date: August 29 Trade total: $261,200 Trade: Sale of 5,000 shares at $52.24 per share.

Insider: Ian Watson, director Company: Western Copper Corp. (TSX:WRN) Shares owned: 275,000 Trade date: August 5, 8, 10, 11 Trade total: $218,625 Trade: Purchase of 80,000 shares over four days at share prices ranging from $2.62 to $2.88 per share.

Insider: David Deisley, executive vice-president, corporate affairs, and general counsel Company: Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) Shares owned: 26,666 Trade date: August 15 Trade total: $255,800 (net) Trade: Sale of 10,000 shares at $50.04 per share following the acquisition via the exercise of options of 10,000 shares for $24.46 per share.

Insider: Anna Maria Tudela, vicepresident, regulatory affairs, and corporate secretary Company: Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) Shares owned: 6,500 Trade date: August 16 Trade total: $218,250 (net) Trade: Sale of 15,000 shares at $50.17 per share following the acquisition of 15,000 shares for $35.62 per share through the exercise of options.

Insider: Ramon Davila, COO Company: First Majestic Silver

rchu@biv.com

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Real estate

Daily business news at www.biv.com September 13–20, 2011

real estate roundup

Peter Mitham Apartment investors could reap benefits from HST’s elimination; Bell mum on house prices in controversial Shaughnessy development combine with an allowable rental increase this year of 4.3% to hand landlords a significant boost to cash flow over the next two years. Here’s how it works: the harmonization of federal and provincial sales taxes in July 2010 boosted the year-overyear inflation rate, which dictates the annual allowable

rental increase landlords can ask of tenants, as set by the Residential Tenancy Branch. (Provincial regulations allow landlords to increase a tenant’s rent by the inflation rate plus 2%.) A higher inflation rate in 2011 boosted the allowable rental increase for 2012 well above the 2.3% increase allowed in 2011.

Peter Mitham

HST repeal appeal It was only a matter of time before the repeal of the HST was touted as an investment advantage. John Gee, an apartment broker and vice-president, investment sales, with Colliers International, stepped up, noting that the rejection of the HST by voters will

Speaking for itself: development on the former Nichol property at Granville and West 16th Avenue in Vancouver is attracting positive buzz – a switch from the opposition that initially greeted it

But when the HST is terminated in 2013, don’t expect rents to come down. Cashhungry landlords aren’t about to give up the gains unless the bottom falls out of the rental market (unlikely). The embedded rental increase and lower operating costs when the HST disappears (assuming all previous exemptions are restored) will – according to Gee – translate into an increase on rental income of close to 6.5%. Add in low financing costs, and the gain is even greater. Gee was keen to point out these facts in light of the rapid sale of 1937 Pendrell Street, which sold within hours of being offered to the market in mid-August at $13.5 million (or a staggering per-square-foot price $588). While the HST didn’t factor into the decision of the buyer (Eclat Investment Ltd.), Gee said Eclat will benefit from the changes. Progress report A reader wa nted to k now more a b out t he

once-controversial townhouse project on the former Nichol property at the southeast corner of Granville and 16th Avenue. The 15-home project is steadily taking shape, and the first units are slated for completion by early next year. But the question that seems to be on people’s minds is: what are buyers paying for the homes? Brian Bell, president of developer Arthur Bell Holdings Ltd., deflected the answer, saying that the homes aren’t being marketed yet so there is no price. He’s waiting to complete the development before taking the homes to market, at which point he’ll offer them at current market rates. “It’s better to show something in the flesh than try to sell off paper,” he said. Preliminary research indicates that pricing the homes is going to be difficult because of the attention being paid to each detail. Moreover, the unique corner site serves

as the entrance to Shaughnessy and is at the top of the toney South Granville shopping district with its high-end shops and salons. Bell added that roof-decks on the units taking shape on the higher elevations of the property offer views toward Point Grey, downtown and the North Shore as far as Lighthouse Park, potentially boosting their value. The buzz around the development is a neat compliment for a site that stirred opposition when it was first proposed. The Shaughnessy Heights Property Owners Association argued that the project would compromise the character of the neighbourhood and set a precedent for the wholesale densification of properties surrounding “The Crescent.” “People have realized that it’s not as bad as maybe they anticipated it would be,” Bell said. “I always thought the product would speak for itself once it finally appeared.” • pmitham@telus.net

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Cecilia Tse*

Vice President | Asia Pacific DIR 604 662 2668 cecilia.tse@colliers.com

200 Granville Street, 19th Floor, Vancouver, BC, V6C 2R6 |

Tom Andrews

Cecilia Tse*

Senior Vice President DIR 604 661 0846 tom.andrews@colliers.com

+1 604 681 4111

Vice President | Asia Pacific DIR 604 662 2668 cecilia.tse@colliers.com

Simon Lim*

Executive Vice President DIR 604 661 0882 simon.lim@colliers.com

*Personal Real Estate Corporation

www.collierscanada.com

September 13–19, 2011 Business in Vancouver Daily email edition: www.biv.com

Colliers International RETAIL 900 West Hastings Street Vancouver

1185 West Georgia Street Vanouver

Floor 1 & 2 1208 West Pender Street The Ritz Vancouver

Prestigious retail corner unit in the heart of the financial district.

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In the Know 25

600 400

200 10

0 -200

-400 -600

Vacancy (%) / Net Asking Rent ($)

The Metro Vancouver office market continues to be one of the most stable markets in Canada. The vacancy rate remained unchanged from last quarter at 7.5 percent and rental rates did not experience any significant fluctuations. The most notable occurrence this quarter was the absorption of over 100,000 square feet of sublease space. This absorption led to the lowest amount of vacant sublease space in the market since the third quarter of 2008, which officially returns Metro Vancouver to a pre-recession state with respect to sublease vacancy. This is significant considering that, at the height of the recession, there were over 800,000 square feet of vacant sublease space; this quarter there are 287,250 square feet.

Metro Vancouver Historical Performance

800

Thousands (SF)

METRO VANCOUVER OFFICE MARKET OVERVIEW Q2 2011

1,000

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 #11062.

200 Granville Street, 19th Floor, Vancouver, BC, V6C 2R6 | 1 604 681 4111 | www.collierscanada.com

Technology

Daily business news at www.biv.com September 13–20, 2011

In this arena, it’s genes day every day Genome BC is investing $9 million to help five local research programs get their projects to market

enome BC recently announced $9 million in funding for a proof of concept (POC) program to help five research projects commercialize their innovations. The project is a partnership with Western Economic Diversification Canada. The five projects to receive POC funding have yet to be announced. All will involve research that has progressed to the stage where it can be developed for practical applications. “Where we’re really focused on these days is applications and translations,” said Alan Winter, president and CEO of Genome BC. “A

translation would be taking that application and actually trying to get it into the hands of someone who can use it.” The province’s share in the POC project comes from a $75 million commitment it has made to Genome BC for its five-year plan. For every dollar Genome BC gets from the B.C. government, it gets three more from other funding agencies, including the federal government, trusts and foundations and industrial partners. The $75 million Genome BC is getting from the province for its five-year plan therefore translates to $300 million. The POC program follows on the progress made

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“There are some areas of health research that are really exciting and that really apply to genomics, and cancer is one of those” – Alan Winter, president and CEO, Genome BC

under the Technology Development Innovation Fund, an earlier pilot program. One of the projects to receive funding under that program is being led by Hongsen Ma to identify and collect live metastatic tumour cells from blood. Ironically, Ma does not come from a medical background. He is an assistant professor in the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) department of mechanical engineering. But the microfluidics process he has been working on could help cancer scientists identify and collect cancer cells for research. “We think that some of my technology that I’ve been working on is applicable [to cancer research],” said Ma, “so we applied for funding from Genome BC to go and explore that.” Ma and his research team are working on a mechanical process for identifying and filtering live metastatic tumour cells from the bloodstream. He said that’s currently done with an inefficient biochemical process that kills the cells it filters out. The process Ma is developing is designed to collect live cells, which

Dominic Schaefer

By Nelson Bennett

Hongsen Ma, assistant professor, UBC’s department of mechanical engineering: “when you have a new technology that’s not proven yet, there’s a lot of resistance from traditional funding sources”

researchers can then study. “If we could figure out how many invasive cells there are, then we can tell something about the cancer, whether a particular treatment is working or not working,” Ma said. “We made a very good cell sorter. What we’re trying to do is scale up that capability so we can sort a [large] number of cells.” Ma added t hat t he $50,000 in seed funding he got from Genome BC was critical because he was able to parlay it into $500,000. “When you have a new technology that’s not proven yet, there’s a lot of resistance from traditional funding sources. When you haven’t proven that it works, it’s hard to get funding to go and try it. Ma said the Genome BC

funding allowed his program to do some prelimina r y ex periments a nd provided it with the leverage needed to secure 10 times the funding from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council) and Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Genome BC was founded in 2000 with funding from the B.C. government. Its goal was to identify and fund research in genomics (the study of genomes in organisms). Some of its more important research is in the medical field. “There are some areas of health research that are really exciting and that really apply to genomics, and cancer is one of those,” Winter said. “Another is infectious diseases.” But life sciences isn’t the

only field where molecular biology and genomics are being used to spur important innovations. B.C.’s mining sector, for example, has been investing in genomics research. Imperial Metals is funding a Genome BC-UBC project that’s exploring the use of microbes in the passive treatment of tailings ponds at its Mount Polley mine in B.C. The 80-plus projects Genome BC has thus far funded include using: •the genomics of grapes and yeast to produce better wine; •molecular fingerprints to breed disease-resistant bees: and •genomics to create fastgrowing poplar trees for biofuel. • nbennett@biv.com

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14 technology

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Reader Profile

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Alan Zisman Social Media Week offers small business a wealth of online insight

Director of operationS

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Business/Organization Name: Retire At Home Favorite Achievements: 2000% growth in the Services. first two years of business on the West Coast and growing. Business Focus/Specialty: In-Home Health Care Specialists. Goals: To become the most reputable name in Business Advantage: Comprehensive Care for Canada for providing quality in-home healthcare. our clients. Passions and Interests: Helping people from Website: www.RetireAtHomeVancouver.com all walks, volunteering for special causes and spending quality time with my family. Foundation Current Read, Author: Driven; by Robert Name: Alnawaz Ladha Herjavec E-mail: Vancouver@RetireAtHome.com Someone I Admire/Why: His Highness the Aga Occupation/Position/Title: Director of Khan, the founder and chairman of the AKDN, Operations for all his philanthropic and non-denominational What I do: Once we take over home care for our work done globally by his various agencies. clients, my job is to ensure that we reduce the Five people (of all time) I would invite to my worries of the family. Once we have achieved this dinner gathering: H.H. The Aga Khan, Steve goal I make sure we maintain the highest level of Jobs, Oprah, Larry Page, Princess Diana care and communication with our client and their Business Tip or Motto: Your Health; Your family. We do this in part by assembling highly competent care staff that follow a comprehensive Home; Your Choice. and personalized care plan designed specifically Favourite TV Show: Dragon’s Den for the client’s needs. I also assist with other Favourite Holiday Destination: Island of areas of the home such as any home adaptations Zanzibar that might be needed after a hospital stay. We Favourite Community Organization or deliver care as required by the family or the Charity: The Aga Khan Foundation & The World client while respecting the client’s dignity, Partnership Walk independence and privacy. Favourite Reason for Subscribing to Professional Background: Business Development and HR Management. BIV: Keeping on Vancouver’s Business pulse.

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know that you’ve heard of social media – services like Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Like huge numbers of Canadians, you probably have accounts at one or more of these services. But you’re probably using those accounts to keep in touch with family and friends. While you may be aware that these services can be used as business tools, most of you are a little fuzzy on just how to do that. If you’re intrigued by the idea of using social media to build your business but not sure how – or if you feel like you’re already doing a good job and want to tell your story – keep some time open on your calendar for Social Media Week (September 19-23). Besides Vancouver, the week is being held in a dozen cities from Beirut to Rio, Moscow to Chicago, with some 25 – mostly free – events organized locally. According to “instigator” Shane Gibson, they won’t be bringing in out-of-town speakers, but will instead be sharing and celebrating local social media best practices. Focus areas include legal issues, advertising and marketing, journalism, government and “social media for public good.” “Summits” (larger events ranging from keynotes to panels) include “social good,” “government 2.0” (both held September 19, morning), “enterprise 2.0” and real estate (both scheduled for September 23). “Mash-ups” are smaller, more focused events. The September 20 mash-up features “leading women in social media” while September

21 mash-ups will look at “journalism 2.0” and green issues: sustainability, clean energy and more.

Building a website for your business is one thing; keeping it up to date requires an ongoing commitment A session on September 22 will focus on social media use by advertising agencies; mash-ups on September 23 will look at mental health (both from the point of view of professionals and those whose lives have been affected by mental illness) and health promotion. Other sessions on September 19 look at social media issues for public companies and how to use these tools to build brand awareness. September 20, there will be a “litigation perspective” that will examine “the use and abuse of social meeting” and “who can be held accountable.” On September 21, a session will look at intellectual property issues and using social media to market lawyers and law firms. The following day, a session aimed at employers looks at the use of social media in hiring and firing decisions and in monitoring employees. Oh yeah, there are parties, too, or in Social Media Weekspeak, “soirées.” More at www.socialmediaweek.org. Even with the help of Social Media Week’s “Social Media 101” get-started track, though, your company might not be there yet. Google

research suggests, for instance, that about half of Canadian small businesses don’t yet have a website. Reasons, suggested Chris O’Neill, country director of Google Canada, include technophobia and cost. Together with the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIR A), the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and others, Google is offering a free service called “Get Your Business Online” (www.gybo.ca). It offers any Canadian business a “.ca” domain name, a year’s web hosting and templates, advice and resources to create the website quickly. The program also offers businesses a $75 credit toward Google’s AdWords advertising program. If you’re a small business and not yet online, it’s worth checking out www.gybo.ca – at a minimum, make sure your business is listed with Google Places. However, besides technophobia and cost, I suspect that there is another limiting factor for businesses that are not yet online or engaged in using social media: time. Building a website for your business is one thing; keeping it up to date requires an ongoing commitment. And it’s the same thing using social media as a business tool. You can do it, and do it well. But that takes regular follow-through. Social Media Week and services like www.gybo.ca can help you get started and get motivated. After that, though, it’s up to you. • Alan Zisman (www.zisman. ca) is a Vancouver educator and computer specialist. His column appears weekly.

WHERE DO 55,000 FANS GET TOGETHER TO WATCH A GAME UNDER THE STARS? Get to know the new BC Place.

bcplace.com Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/BCPlace2011

Inside PNI targets new niches — 17 Print-on-demand drives growth

fastest-growing Annual Report

Who’s who in the top 25 — 19 Resources dominate, then tech

list

September 13–20, 2011; issue 1142

No Flash in the pan — 23 Destiny Media is catching the eye of Internet industry analysts Alphabetical index

— 30

Top 100 fastest-growing companies in British Columbia – 22-32

Fortunes on the rise >B.C.’s fastest-growing companies continue to tap opportunities to expand despite global economic uncertainty >While rising metal prices boost profits for mining companies, B.C.’s tech industry continues dominance as growth generator

Gold mining companies make up six of the top 10 fastest-growing companies in B.C. in 2011

Manufacturing 7%

By Richard Chu

golden era is dawning for many of B.C.’s fastest-growing companies. Whether it’s in manufacturing, retail, services, technology or mining, many of B.C.’s fastest-growing companies are successfully tapping new opportunities to expand despite uncertain economic times. The firms on this year’s list of the top 100 fastest-growing companies in B.C. posted impressive results over the past five previous fiscal years. Combined, companies on the list posted average sales growth of 3,547%, tripling the average five-year sales growth of 1,097% on last year’s list. Major mining growth A significant portion of that growth has come from B.C.’s mining sector. The 25 fastest-growing mining companies on this year’s list posted an average 10,819% growth in revenue between 2006 and 2010. Many of these firms are gold producers who have gone into production in the past half decade and have benefited from the 25% increase in gold price to US$1,406 per ounce at the end of 2010. Higher prices have helped boost profits for the vast majority of mining companies on this year’s list. In dollar terms, Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) posted the highest profit at $1.6 billion, with a profit margin of 41.2%. But Vancouver’s New Gold (TSX:NG) and Eldorado Gold (TSX:ELD) have also posted Sponsored by

double-digit profit margins in 2010. Those profits, however, are likely to go even higher in 2011 with gold’s price rising an additional 35% to nearly $1,900 in the past eight months of the year as fears of a global recession continue. While gold gets much of the media attention as a haven against stock market volatility, silver is gaining even more investor attention. The price of silver rose 80% last year to more than $30.50 per ounce, and continued to rise another 38% in the past eight months. That upward trajectory in prices has helped boost the fortunes of many silver producers headquartered in B.C., including the nine companies on this year’s list. Companies from Silver Standard Resources (TSX:SSO) to Silver Wheaton Corp. (TSX:SLW) posted

even higher profit margins than the gold companies on the list. This year’s top company also benefited from the rising tide of metal prices. Capstone Mining (TSX:CS), Retail 6% which produces copper from its two mines in Mexico and the Yukon, posted a 20% increase in sales despite a decline in the amount of copper produced and sold in 2010. Much of the company’s top-line revenue growth is the result of a 48% increase in the realized copper price of $3.42 per pound, up from $2.31 per pound in 2009.

Technology 41%

Mining 25%

B.C. tech dominates While B.C.’s mining sector continues to benefit from global demand for see Tech, 18

Fastest-growing mining firms

Fastest-growing tech firms Company Avigilon Day4 Energy Inc Clevest Solutions Inc QuickMobile Inc DotNetNuke Corp Global Relay Communications PNI Digital Media Inc iQmetrix Elastic Path Software Domain7 Solutions Inc

Services 21%

Rank 3 10 11 12 17 19 21 24 25 30

Company Capstone Mining Corp China Gold International Resources Rusoro Mining Ltd Roca Mines Inc New Gold Inc Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp Aurcana Corp Aurizon Mines Ltd First Majestic Silver Corp Minefinders Corp Ltd

Fastest-growing service-based firms Rank 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 14 15

Company Hub International Canada West Co WesternOne Equity Income Fund Ignite Technical Resources Energold Drilling Corp EJM Construction Management Ltd Wolfgang Commercial Painters First West Credit Union Global Medical Services The Cavalry Construction Group Ltd Metro Testing Laboratories Ltd

Rank 22 26 32 48 49 52 54 63 64 66

16 B.C.’s Fastest Growing Companies

Daily business news at www.biv.com Business in Vancouver September 13–19, 2011

B.c.’s fastest-growing companies 17

September 13–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver

PNI Digital Media targets new niches Future growth relies on facilitating print-on-demand stationery and print-on-demand products for small business U.S. photo print revenue 20002014 (in billions of U.S. dollars) $9 $8

$US billions (U.S.$ billions)

$7 $6 $5 $4 $3

dominic schaefer

$2 $1 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Source: Info Trends Inc.

PNI CEO Kyle Hall: investors will get more interested in his company when they learn about new revenue streams By Glen Korstrom

ancouver’s PNI Digital Media Inc. has become a perennial entry on Business in Vancouver’s list of B.C.’s 100 fastest-growing companies. It placed on the list for the fifth-consecutive year, falling to No. 21 in 2011 from No. 11 last year. CEO Kyle Hall believes, however, that investors do not yet understand the story behind why his 138-employee software company is ready to rocket. Hall plans to fix that ignorance by embarking on an investor day in New York this month to educate institutional and other investors. PNI helps clients such as Costco Wholesale Corp. (Nasdaq:COST) facilitate the ordering of photofinishing prints and related products. “What people don’t quite understand yet are all of our businesses, which we are just launching,” Hall told BIV. “We’re getting pain a little bit with the fact that the photo industry is having some tough times.” PNI’s share price (TSX-V:PNI) has steadily declined from a high of more than $2 in late 2009 to $0.81 in late August. Hall believes that the market has not factored in that his company

will soon leave being exclusively in the consumer discretionary photofinishing print business. PNI is slated to start targeting the print-on-demand stationery niche in the next few months and the niche of servicing small-business owners’ print-on-demand needs for everything from flyers to business cards in the near future.

“We’re a transaction software company. We build software for future revenue. We don’t build software and license it, per se, or charge professional service fees for developing it” – Kyle Hall, CEO, PNI Digital Media

Americans spent slightly more than US$4 billion on photographic print services in 2010, according to Info Trends Inc. Hall believes the stationery market is three times bigger and that the small-business print-on-demand

sector is worth about US$16 billion annually. PNI charges a royalty of approximately 10% on each transaction that customers conduct to get photos printed at Costco and CVS Caremark (NYSE:CVS) stores. “We’re a transaction software company. We build software for future revenue. We don’t build software and license it, per se, or charge professional service fees for developing it,” Hall said. “Our business model is building software and being in the business with our customers. As business grows, we take a piece of it.” PNI’s newest software offering, which enables special print-on-demand stationery products, will start to launch throughout the 8,169-store Walgreen Co. (NYSE:WAG) chain next quarter, Hall said. Walgreen already uses software from PNI competitor HewlettPackard Co. (NYSE:HPQ) to facilitate the routing of customers’ photographic print orders. Walgreen executives, however, were impressed enough with PNI’s sales pitch they agreed to let PNI handle the routing of customized stationery orders at Walgreen stores.

Walgreen customers will be able to order customized stationery either via the Internet or through in-store kiosks. They then are able to pick up the order at the store that is most convenient for them, Hall said. The shift to starting to get revenue from print-on-demand stationery transactions is key for PNI because U.S. photofinishing print orders have been dropping steadily. In April, industry data-collector Info Trends estimated that 16.6 billion photo prints were produced in the U.S. in 2010. By 2015, that is expected to be 14.4 billion prints. Americans spent more than US$8 billion on those photo print orders in 2000, when digital cameras were less prominent and smartphones were in their infancy. Info Trends expects that little more than US$3 billion will be spent on such services in each of the next three years (see graph). “Hallmark came to us a couple years ago in the U.K. and said they loved how we did [non-folding glossy] photo cards. Could we do the same thing for regular cards [that are print-on-demand, folded and are on paper],” Hall said. “We built a whole engine around creating a folded card – front cover, inside

and the back.” PNI lost $76,221 in the three months that ended June 30 but Hall expects that the company will show a profitable fiscal year, which ends September 30. Its revenue was $5.3 million in the most recent quarter – down from about $5.7 million in the same quarter a year ago – though revenue would have been approximately $5.5 million had foreign exchange rates not been factored in. Indeed, analysts at Versant Partners warned in an April 19 industry update that a weaker U.S. dollar will adversely affect PNI. Approximately 60% of the company’s revenue comes from the U.S. with another 20% coming from the U.K. PNI has applied to shift later this year from the TSX Venture Exchange to the Toronto Stock Exchange. In time, Hall anticipates that the company will also shift from being on the loosely traded U.S.-based OTCBB exchange to being on the Nasdaq Stock Market in the U.S. The current obstacle is that Nasdaq requires new listings to have at least a US$4 stock price. • gkorstrom@biv.com

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18 B.c.’s fastest-growing companies

Daily business news at www.biv.com September 13–20, 2011

Sponsor’s Message

Tech: More than half of firms were profitable in 2010

This mantra is at the heart of everything we do. Whether it’s introducing innovative new designs like the new Audi A7, reinventing familiar models like with the all-new A6, or pioneering new material and production methods like Audi ultra lightweight technology, our attitude towards progress brings new levels of beauty, performance and efficiency to our vehicles and keeps us one step ahead of the competition.

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Tapping new markets key to growth For TIO Networks Corp. (TSXV:TNC), tapping a new, emerging market is one of the key opportunities it’s pursuing to further grow its business as a bill payment processing provider. Over the past five years, the Vancouver-based company, which ranked 61 on this year’s list, has focused on expanding its network of kiosk and clerk-assisted point-of-sale locations, as well as the number of

Speedometer of growth

Technology

The majority of this year’s fastest-growing companies posted growth between 100% and 500%

Services Manufacturing

40 35 30 25 20 15 10

0% <1 0

% 10

-2

% 20

-5

% -1 0 50

0, -1 1,0

resources, the province’s technology companies continue to dominate the fastest-growing list. While the number of tech companies on the list fell to 41 from 54 last year, the average level of growth inched upward to 235% from 231% for last year’s fastestgrowing tech companies. Even though emerging technology companies are thought to stay in the red for several years, just over half of the 41 tech firms on this year’s list said they were profitable in 2010. Of the 21 firms that said they were profitable last year, 11 indicated they had stayed profitable over the past five years. The remaining 10 indicated they had gone from a net loss in 2006 to a net profit in 2010. Among those that have grown to become profitable: •PNI Digital Media (TSX-V:PN), which posted a net profit of $6.8 million in 2010 compared with a net loss of $2.4 million in 2006; •Photon Control (TSX-V:PHO), which posted a net profit of $2.7 million from a net loss of $3.7 million; and •Avigilon, this year’s third-fastestgrowing company, posting a net profit of $2.4 million compared with a net loss of $2.6 million.

Progress: It’s the ability to look forward while others look back. A conviction that the status quo is never good enough. It’s the courage to have a vision, and the passion to see it to life. For over 100 years, our approach to progress has been summarized by our motto, Vorsprung durch Technik – or, loosely translated, advancement through technology.

Mining from Fortunes, 15

>1 0

Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies

Revenue growth by sector:

companies that use its payment processing system. The focus has been to provide near-instant cash-based bill payment services for Americans who don’t have a bank account. Five years ago, the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) estimated that 20% of the population in the U.S. fell into this unbanked category. An updated CFSI report released last week suggested the number has increased to 26% of the U.S. population that prefer to use cash to make payments. To date, the number of locations where TIO processes payments has grown to nearly 58,000 from less than a 1,000 in 2006. It now accepts payment for more than 10,000 different products and services from household energy bills to TV and phone bills across the U.S. and Canada. The combination of increasing locations and the number of billers accepting payment through TIO has led to consistent increases in the number

of transactions and ultimately revenue growth for the company in the past five years. In the third quarter of 2011, the company posted revenue of $9.5 million, compared with revenue of $2.3 million in the first quarter of 2006. Over the past two years, however, TIO has been focusing on tapping the growing web and mobile-based payments market that has drawn a lot of attention in the payment processing world. The CFSI report noted that 96% of U.S. consumers who don’t have a bank use a mobile phone. Steve Barha, TIO’s chief information officer, told Business in Vancouver that growing availability, affordability and acceptance of smartphones and even tablet devices are a key opportunity for the company to expand beyond its core unbanked consumer market. “Growing to 58,000 locations is a fantastic feat for our walk-up payments market [where customers

10,819% 1,912% 314% 303%

make payments at a specific location],” said Barha. “But to be able to service millions of customers through mobile and consumer websites and not worry about physical geography and the physical nature of the payment, that’s really what’s got us very excited in terms of growth and where we can go.” So far, TIO’s payment system is used by the company’s billers such as Pacific Gas and Electric and DirectTV through several payment apps. TIO’s move into mobile has not gone unnoticed. An analysts’ report by PI Financial’s Pardeep Sangha and Sharon Wang is forecasting continued double-digit percentage growth in revenue and earnings over the next year. While Barha couldn’t provide specifics, he said the move into the mobile and web-payments space has made growing contributions to TIO’s increase in transaction volume in recent quarters. “It’s evident that the last 12 months, you’ve seen an acceleration, because you’re seeing that mobile and web direct-to-customer solution we’re able to offer,” said Barha. “You always want to have a flywheel effect in a business model and be able to manifest all the different services across different channels. We’ve gone from being in a niche market to being a multi-channel company able to reach a larger population than the walk-up customer.” • rchu@biv.com

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B.c.’s fastest-growing companies 19

September 13–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver

Sponsor’s Message

Who’s who – the top 25 Resources dominate this year’s list with tech close behind

Alexander Fernandes’ Avigilon is the third-fastest-growing company on this year’s list

Capstone Mining Corp. This metal and mineral producer has leveraged increased copper prices linked to growth in emerging markets to maximize output at its mines in Mexico and the Yukon. With the acquisition of Far West Mining Ltd. and a strategic partnership with Korea Resources Corp., Capstone is poised for further expansion as it develops its Santo Domingo project in Chile and its Kutcho project in B.C. (See profile of Darren Pylot, Capstone’s CEO, page 47.) China Gold International Resources Corp. Designated as the overseas f lagship vehicle of stateowned China National Gold, the only gold producer in China, China Gold began producing gold at its Chang Shan Hao Gold Mine in July 2007. It owns the Jiama project, one of the largest copper poly-metallic mines in China, which the company recently announced will undergo major mine expansion on the discovery of increased resource output potential.

Avigilon Avigilon designs, manufactures, and markets HD surveillance systems with customers in more than 60 countries around the world. Its systems equip campuses, transportation systems, health-care providers, public venues, infrastructure and manufacturing sites with security, safety validation and compliance requirements. Rusoro Mining Ltd. Vancouver-based Rusoro operates two gold mines in Venezuela, the openpit Choco 10 mine and the underground Isidora mine, which is a joint venture between the company and the Venezuelan government. The company’s corporate strategy is to become a mid-tier, lowcost gold producer; it recently assured investors that moves to nationalize Venezuelan gold mining will have no effect on its operations and bottom line. Roca Mines Inc. Roca has leveraged its primary asset, the MAX molybdenum mine: the first new,

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jurisdictions and prolific gold and base metal regions. With stronger cash flow and profits in the second quarter of 2011, the company is dedicated to ramp up exploration efforts at eight additional properties.

Tina Osen, CEO of Hub International Canada West, which is No. 22 on this year’s top 100 fastest–growing companies list

primary molybdenum mine in Canada and British Columbia’s first new metal mine in over a decade to attain sizable growth. Although the mine, in production since 2008, was shut down for much of the last year, it has now reopened and holds promise of further expansion that will bolster the company’s revenue. New Gold Inc. Intermediate gold producer New Gold has operating assets in the United States, Mexico and Australia and development projects in Canada and Chile. The company’s ability to deliver increased gold sales at lower costs along with the continued strength in commodity prices resulted in robust financial results, and its expectations for the newly acquired Blackwater project in Canada have furthered the company’s optimism for the future. Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp. This gold producer’s growth strategy is focused on increased production at its diverse portfolio of gold, silver,

Aurcana Corp. With development complete on the company’s La Negra mine in Mexico and Shafter mine in Texas, Vancouverheadquartered junior silver miner Aurcana has projected the potential to quadruple currently established silver production to over six million ounces per year at both projects. The near-doubling of silver prices in the last year resulted in the company posting record results in the first half of 2011. Aurizon Mines Ltd. Aurizon Mines is a gold producer with a growth strategy focused on developing its existing projects in the Abitibi region of northwestern Quebec, one of the world’s most favourable mining

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zinc and copper properties in the Yukon, B.C. and Nevada. The formation of a joint venture with a Chinese investment firm to carry out early-stage exploration on new acquisitions in the Yukon only furthers YukonNevada’s aggressive growth strategy.

Day4Energy Inc. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Vancouver, Day4 is a growing, global brand that delivers photovoltaic technologies, products, services and manufacturing solutions for the production of solar modules in residential, commercial and utility-scale applications. Given the solar industry’s continued volatility with subsidy changes and fluctuations in demand and supply, the company’s focus of providing tools and knowledge through licensing agreements to cell and module manufacturers puts Day4 in a good position to manage challenges while expanding the brand’s reach. Clevest Solutions Inc. As utilities worldwide embark on the transformation to a smart-grid infrastructure, Clevest is helping them manage unique challenges of implementing advanced technologies with smart-grid deployment solutions, for example, BC Hydro with its rollout of smart meters throughout B.C. Customers are also looking to the firm for post-deployment operations systems support solutions. QuickMobile Inc. Vancouver’s QuickMobile, a designer, developer and producer of mobile applications for the meeting and events industry, recently see Spa, 20

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BRUCE HURST, FCGA Chair of the Board of Governors Certified General Accountants Association of British Columbia

On behalf of the Certified General Accountants Association of British Columbia (CGA-BC), I am pleased to congratulate all those who were selected as Business in Vancouver’s Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies. The companies honoured for 2011 have thrived during a period of challenging economic conditions and recorded superior revenue growth. What is perhaps even more remarkable is how these companies have distinguished themselves in other areas. Some have invested judiciously in research and development to achieve significant product innovations. Through charitable endeavours some have made important contributions in the communities where they operate. And some have led the way through with leading environmental policies and sustainable business practices. Corporations today cannot serve their own interests exclusively but must also consider their impact in the communities in which they operate. This year’s honorees carry on a wonderful legacy of achievement and corporate responsibility, for which they are to be commended. CGAs have been a vital part of the business community in B.C. for more than 60 years and CGABC is proud to sponsor of these awards. On behalf of our more than 15,000 members and students I 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

20 B.c.’s fastest-growing companies

Daily business news at www.biv.com September 13–20, 2011

John DeLucchi PwC Managing Partner, BC Region On behalf of PwC, I am pleased to congratulate all of the companies that were selected as Business in Vancouver’s 2011 Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies. Although BC’s economy experienced a solid rebound in 2010, with 3.7 per cent growth in GDP, it is exceptional that these companies exhibited such fortitude during a year of financial uncertainty. Their vision and commitment to sustainable growth during a tumultuous time should be commended. Much of the growth BC experienced over the last year can be attributed to an increase in consumer spending, home construction and exports. We also saw the 2010 Winter Olympics provide an additional economic stimulus that pushed us ahead of most provinces. As you can see from the distribution of results, many of the Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies come from industries that grew in spite of the economic situation in BC’s largest trading partner to the south, as their economy continued to be held back by high unemployment and low housing starts. Instead, our BC exporters were able to supply demand from emerging markets in Asia with resource goods and as a result, forestry, mining and manufacturing companies experienced strong output and job growth. The Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies resonates with PwC because we believe that success comes from growth and development as individuals and as a business. We provide industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to companies and communities in BC. PwC wishes continued success to all of the honourees. For more information on PwC, visit www.pwc.com/ca John DeLucchi PwC Managing Partner, BC Region

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Sponsor’s Message

Robert Baldock (r), president and CEO of Yukon-Nevada Gold, sees his company at No. 7 on this year’s fastest-growing companies list

George Rubin, president of Day4 Energy, which is No. 10 on this year’s top 100 fastest– growing companies list

Patrick Payne, CEO of QuickMobile, which is at 12 on this year’s top 100 fastest– growing companies list

Spa service: Skin-care joins mining and software in top 25 from Who’s, 19

announced a $2.3 million round of funding. The company counts Accenture, Disney, Google and Microsoft among its global customers and projects a 500% growth in bookings in 2011. Spa Boutique Ltd. Spa Boutique supplies skin care and cosmetics in an educational and fun shopping atmosphere online for women throughout North America. The Vancouverbased company’s mantra is to pay extra-special attention to its customers by being on the leading edge of communicating via a monthly e-newsletter, tips, online chat and a toll-free number. First Majestic Silver Corp. First Majestic is committed to building a senior silverproducing company based on an aggressive development and acquisition plan focused mainly in Mexico. The company presently owns and operates three producing silver mines in Mexico – La Parrilla, San Martin and La Encantada – projecting production at more than 7.5 million ounces of silver in 2011.

Minefinders Corp. Ltd. Headquartered in Vancouver, this company’s objective is to build a profitable miner dedicated to environmentally and socially responsible gold and silver production. Minefinders owns and operates the multimillion ounce Dolores gold and silver mine located in Northern Mexico and expects opportunities for its continued growth to be driven by a pipeline of advanced and grassroots exploration properties along with potential acquisitions. Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. Fortuna is a growth-oriented silver and base metal producer focused on mining opportunities in Latin America and, since opening its Caylloma mine in Peru, it has become one of Latin America’s fastest-growing silver producers. The company’s second asset, the San Jose project, was projected to triple the firm’s silver equivalent production when it opened in the third quarter of 2011. DotNetNuke Corp. This company is a web content management leader and the steward of the DotNetNuke open-source project,

the most widely deployed web content management platform for building websites and web applications on Microsof t.NET. The company’s mission is to create entrepreneurial opportunities by providing an open-source web content management platform that cultivates a passionate developer community as well as a prosperous commercial ecosystem. Atna Resources Ltd. Using its solid existing asset base to create a multi-mine gold-production scenario Atna has a firm base from which to grow. Gold production began at its Briggs mine in California in May 2009, and the company lists a contiguous gold project pipeline at its Reward and Pinson projects in Nevada and Columbia project in Montana. Global Relay Communications Inc. Founded in 1999, Global Relay is the expert in compliance messaging solutions, including compliance archiving, messaging, mobile and collaboration. The company delivers its services to more than 14,000 customers worldwide, including

small to large broker-dealers, hedge funds, investment advisers and public companies, as well as 22 of the world’s top 25 banks and two public exchanges. Eastern Platinum Ltd. Eastern Platinum is a leading platinum producer engaged in the development and mining of platinum group metal deposits in South Africa. With assets on both the western and eastern limbs of the Bushveld complex, which holds approximately 80% of the world’s platinum supply, the company is well positioned for future growth. PNI Digital Media Inc. Founded in 1995, PNI Digital operates a digital media platform that connects consumer-ordered digital content – whether from online, in-store kiosks, desktop software or mobile phones – with retailers for the production of personalized photos, photo books and calendars, business cards and stationery. Counting Wal-Mart, Costco and Kodak among its customers, PNI successfully generates millions of transactions each year. (See story, page 17.)

Hub International Canada West Co. Hub International is a North American insurance brokerage that provides a broad array of property and casualty, life and health, employee benefits, reinsurance, investment and risk management products and services throughout the U.S. and Canada. This satellite office headquartered in Burnaby has approximately 260 employees working in offices throughout Greater Vancouver and the Sea to Sky corridor. Eldorado Gold Corp. With six operating mines, one mine under construction, two development projects and an extensive 2011 exploration program, this Vancouver-based low-cost gold producer operates in China, Turkey, Brazil and Greece. Eldorado’s goal is to produce approximately 1.5 million ounces of gold annually by 2015. IQmetrix iQmetrix is a provider of retail management solutions for the North American wireless industry. Its software products are designed to help wireless dealers create great customer experiences by improving retail operations at back and front of house. Elastic Path Software Elastic Path’s claim to fame is a flexible, open-source option for building customized e-commerce platforms at reasonable prices. A host of widely recognizable brands – including RIM, Aeroplan and Virgin Media – rely on the company’s e-commerce strategies and solutions for selling digital goods and services online. With a recently launched strategic e-commerce consulting and advisory services business, Elastic Path is poised for further growth. •

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B.C.’s Fastest Growing Companies 21

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Daily business news at www.biv.com September 13–20, 2011

Top 100 fastest-growing companies in B.C. companies in B.C. Top 100 fastest-growing

DEKKER HEWETT GROUP Vancouver’s Trusted Wealth Management Team

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Ranked by percentage growth in revenue between 2006 and 2010 Rank '11 Company

Capstone Mining Corp

China Gold International Resources Corp4

Avigilon

999 Hastings St W Suite 900, Vancouver V6C 2W2 P: 604-684-8894 F: 604-688-2180 www.capstonemining.com 505 Burrard St Suite 1030, Vancouver V7X 1M5 P: 604-609-0598 F: 604-688-0598 www.chinagoldintl.com 1001 West Broadway Suite 101 5, Vancouver V6H 4E4 P: 604-629-5182 F: 604-629-5183 www.avigilon.com

Principal(s)

Ownership

Product/service

Year B.C. Global Net income founded staff staff '10/'06 '10/'06 '10/'06

Revenue '10/'06 5-year rev growth

Darren Pylot, president and CEO Gregg Bush, COO Richard Godfrey, CFO Xin Song, CEO Heather King, vice-president, finance

TSX:CS

Metals and mining

1987

41 10

9341 391

$74,763,5312 ($3,044,537)2

TSX:CGG

Gold mining in China

2000

NP NP

378 NP

$28,195,8232 ($8,557,079)

Alexander Fernandes, president, CEO and co-founder Wan Jung, CFO and co-founder Andrew Martz, COO Vladimir Agapov, chair Andre Agapov, president and CEO

Privately held

High-definition video surveillance solutions

2004

72 23

92 23

$2,385,000 ($2,612,000)

$310,331,5282 $394,9893 78,467% $137,180,2702 $247,976 55,220% $32,300,000 $83,000 38,816%

TSX-V:RML

Junior gold producer

2000

NP NP

($89,395,320)2 ($42,521,523)2

Rusoro Mining Ltd

Roca Mines Inc

Scott Broughton, president and CEO David Skerlec, CFO

TSX-V:ROK

Molybdenum mining and mineral exploration in B.C.

2002

NP NP

72 NP

($14,239,676) ($838,029)

New Gold Inc

Robert Gallagher, president and CEO Randall Oliphant, executive chair

TSX:NGD

Gold mining

1980

NP NP

1,270 NP

$182,244,9252 ($3,504,000)

Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp

Robert Baldock, president and CEO Graham Dickson, COO Shaun Heinrichs, CFO

TSX:YNG

Gold mining

1997

NP NP

NP 4

($95,878,541)2 ($1,379,240)

Aurcana Corp

Lenic Rodriguez, president and CEO Salvador Huerta, CFO

TSX-V:AUN

Silver mining and exploration

1998

NP NP

($6,244,442) ($2,246,865)

Aurizon Mines Ltd

David Hall, president and CEO Ian Walton, CFO

TSX:ARZ

Gold mining

1988

NP NP

115 NP

$16,133,000 ($15,036,356)

Day4 Energy Inc

George Rubin, president John MacDonald, chair and CEO

TSX:DFE

Designer and manufacturer of photovoltaic products and services

2001

97 36

116 36

($9,750,151) ($3,916,893)

Clevest Solutions Inc

Thomas Ligocki, president and CEO

Privately held

65 6

72 6

NP NP

QuickMobile Inc

Patrick Payne, CEO

Privately held

Software for utility-specific mobile 2002 field force management, smart grid deployment and post-deployment maintenance Specalizing in mobile solutions for the 2006 meetings and events sector

55 2

65 0

NP NP

Spa Boutique Ltd

Nancy Mudford, owner

Nancy Mudford

Canadian online store for skin, hair, makeup and other cosmetic products

2006

13 1

($1,272) ($20,794)

First Majestic Silver Corp

TSX:FR; NYSE:AG

Silver mining

1998

14 4

1,800 866

$36,104,945 ($5,665,886)8

Minefinders Corp Ltd

Keith Neumeyer, president and CEO Ramon Davila, COO Raymond Polman, CFO Mark Bailey, president and CEO Greg Smith, CFO

TSX:MFL, AMEX:MFN

Precious metals mining and exploration

1975

NP NP

350 NP

$6,304,0182 ($18,192,000)9

Fortuna Silver Mines Inc

Jorge Ganoza Durant, president and CEO

TSX:FVI

Silver mining in Latin America

1990

NP NP

$13,342,3552 ($4,348,000)

DotNetNuke Corp

Privately held

Web content management systems

2003

23 3

48 6

NP NP

Atna Resources Ltd

Navin Nagiah, CEO Shaun Walker, CTO Rob Chartier, vice-president of engineering James Hesketh, president and CEO David Suleski, CFO

TSX:ATN

Gold mining and development

1984

NP NP

($8,796,800) ($727,509)

Global Relay Communications Inc

Privately held

Expert in compliance messaging solutions

1999

142 10

148 10

NP NP

Eastern Platinum Ltd

TSX, AIM:ELR; JSE: EPS

Platinum group metal producer

2005

NP NP

3,160 1,736

$13,751,2252 ($4,660,000)2

PNI Digital Media Inc

Warren Roy, CEO Shannon Rogers, president and general counsel David Cohen, chair Ian Rozier, president and CEO Horng Dih Lee, CFO, vice-president, finance and corporate secretary Kyle Hall, CEO

TSX-V:PN

85 NP

117 NP

$6,851,994 ($2,446,897)

$25,356,570 $2,684,380 845%

Hub International Canada West Co

Tina Osen, CEO Chad Robertson, CEO

Privately held

904 NP

NP NP

$896,277,287 $99,200,000 804%

Eldorado Gold Corp

4,448 2,086

$212,224,2842 $3,828,0002

iQmetrix

TSX:ELD, NYSE:EGO, ASX:EAU Privately held

41 20

Paul Wright, president and CEO Norman Pitcher, COO Fabiana Chubbs, CFO Christopher Krywulak, founder and CEO

Generates and transacts personalized 1995 content orders for retailers via proprietary online, kiosk and mobile software Commercial, auto, marine and personal 1998 insurance products and services, life and employee benefits products and services Gold producer, developer and explorer; 1992 iron ore producer 1999

20 NP

120 NP

NP NP

Elastic Path Software

Privately held

2000

146 39

164 39

($124,156) $406,037

WesternOne Equity Income Fund

Harry Chemko, CEO and co-founder Gord Janzen, president and COO Mark Williams, executive vicepresident and co-founder Darren Latoski, CEO Carlos Yam, CFO

Provider of retail management solutions for the North American wireless industry Leading enterprise e-commerce solutions provider

$814,831,1332 $98,239,2402 729% $47,657,695 $5,825,922 718% $15,181,413 $1,913,040 694%

Equipment and infrastructure development in Western Canada

2006

NP NP

($5,475,587) $1,528,372

1055 Dunsmuir St Suite 2164, Vancouver V7X 1B1 P: 604-632-4044 F: 604-632-4045 www.rusoro.com 1122 Mainland St Suite 490, Vancouver V6B 5L1 P: 604-684-2900 F: 604-684-2902 www.rocamines.com 666 Burrard St Suite 3110, Vancouver V6C 2X8 P: 604-696-4100 F: 604-696-4110 www.newgoldinc.com 688 Hastings St W Suite 490, Vancouver V6B 1P1 P: 604-688-9427 F: 604-688-9426 www.yukonnevadagold.com 1188 Georgia St W Suite 1515, Vancouver V6E 4A2 P: 604-331-9333 F: NP www.aurcana.com 925 Georgia St W Suite 1120, Vancouver V6C 3L2 P: 604-687-6600 F: 604-687-3932 www.aurizon.com 4621 Canada Way Suite 401, Burnaby V5G 4X8 P: 604-297-0444 F: 604-297-0445 www.day4energy.com 13911 Wireless Way Suite 100, Richmond V6V 3B9 P: 604-214-9700 F: 604-648-9845 www.clevest.com 1008 Homer St Suite 400, Vancouver V6B 2X1 P: 604-875-0403 F: 604-875-0603 www.quickmobile.com 1155 Odlum Dr Suite 101, Vancouver V5L 2P6 P: 604-734-0943 F: 604-254-0943 www.spaboutique.ca 925 Georgia St W Suite 1805, Vancouver V6C 3L2 P: 604-688-3033 F: 604-639-8873 www.firstmajestic.com 1177 Hastings St W Suite 2288, Vancouver V6E 2K3 P: 604-687-6263 F: 604-687-6267 www.minefinders.com 355 Burrard St Suite 840, Vancouver V6C 2G8 P: 604-484-4085 F: 604-484-4029 www.fortunasilver.com 9440 202nd St Suite 211, Langley V1M 4A6 P: 650-288-3151 F: 604-881-0050 www.dotnetnuke.com 510 Burrard St Suite 510, Vancouver V6B 3A8 P: 604-684-2285 F: 604-684-8887 www.atna.com 220 Cambie St Suite 200, Vancouver V6B 2M9 P: 604-484-6630 F: 604-608-2941 www.globalrelay.com 1075 Georgia St W Suite 250, Vancouver V6E 3C9 P: 604-689-9663 F: 604-434-1487 www.eastplats.com 425 Carrall St Suite 590, Vancouver V6B 6E3 P: 604-893-8955 F: 604-893-8966 www.pnimedia.com 3875 Henning Dr, Burnaby V5C 6N5 P: 604-293-1481 F: 604-293-1493 www.hubinternational.com 550 Burrard St Suite 1188, Vancouver V6C 2B5 P: 604-687-4018 F: 604-687-4026 www.eldoradogold.com 250 Howe St Suite 1210, Vancouver V6C 3R8 P: 866-476-3874 F: 604-568-0462 www.iQmetrix.com 1045 Howe St Suite 800, Vancouver V6Z 2A9 P: 604-408-8078 F: 604-408-8079 www.elasticpath.com 925 Georgia St W Suite 910, Vancouver V6C 3L2 P: 604-678-4042 F: 604-681-5969 www.weq.ca

Sources: Interviews with above companies and BIV research. Currency conversions use the Bank of Canada's annual currency average of a given year. NR Not ranked NP Not provided NA Not applicable 1 - 2009 figure 2 - Converted from U.S. dollars 3 - Interest and other income converted from U.S. dollars 4 - Formerly Jinshan Gold Mines Inc. 5 - PO Box 378 6 - Interest and other income 7 - $2,000 8 - 12-month period to June 2006 9 - U.S. dollars

TSX:WEQ.UN

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$147,996,6302 $512,7983 28,761% $17,649,841 $65,5116 26,842% $546,310,4552 $2,746,0006 19,795% $73,503,9632 $427,431 17,097% $26,936,880 $160,5816 16,675% $178,743,000 $1,238,849 14,328% $166,600,000 $1,890,679 8,712% $6,138,116 $76,432 7,931% $1,400,000 < $25,0007 5,500% $1,411,666 $42,421 3,228% $132,172,887 $4,159,2928 3,078% $95,658,1422 $3,280,0009 2,816% $76,270,2742 $3,372,000 2,162% $7,159,528 $374,667 1,811% $30,606,900 $2,227,2596 1,274% $15,500,000 $1,300,000 1,092% $159,634,5002 $14,082,0002 1,034%

$50,252,350 $6,662,436 654%

Business in Vancouver makes every attempt to publish accurate information in The List, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Researched by Richard Chu, lists@biv.com.

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B.c.’s fastest-growing companies 23

September 13–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver

No Flash in the pan By Nelson Bennett

f Steve Vestergaard ever decides to go back to making video games for a living, he could include some convincingly real sequences in which the hero keeps taking a beating and keeps getting back up. H i s c omp a ny, D e s tiny Media Technologies Inc. (TSX:DSY), started out making those kinds of videos, after all. And it has been getting knocked down and back up for a couple of decades. Since the 1990s, Vestergaard’s company has had its applications relegated to the fringes of the Internet through a combination of bad timing, poor pricing or stiff competition. More recently, it was locked in a patent dispute with a competitor. “It was like running uphill,” Vestergaard said of Destiny’s running battle with Yangaroo Inc. “It created market confusion.

Customers were confused. It also affected our share price. It made it hard to raise money.” But things are looking up for Vestergaard’s company. Destiny grew by 20% in the last year and now employs 25 people. The company posted revenue of $1.2 million for the third quarter of 2011 – a 40% increase over the previous quarter and a 24% increase over 2010’s third quarter. Destiny’s recent growth is based on just one of its two media applications – Play MPE – with a second one, Clipstream, moving onto the launch pad. Destiny’s revenue growth has put it at No. 39 on Business in Vancouver’s top 100 fastest-growing companies, and has caught the attention of Standard & Poor’s. In mid-August, S&P analyst Jim Yin gave Destiny Media a ranking of 95 out of 99. The report acknowledged that Destiny had cleared a see Destiny, 29

Dominic Schaefer

After two decades of struggling in obscurity, Destiny Media is growing rapidly and catching the attention of Internet industry analysts

Steve Vestergaard’s company, Destiny Media, has grown by 20% in the last year and recently got a high ranking from Standard & Poor’s

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Daily business news at www.biv.comâ&#x20AC;&#x192; September 13â&#x20AC;&#x201C;20, 2011

Top 100 fastest-growing companies in B.C. Ranked by percentage growth in revenue between 2006 and 2010 Rank '11 Company

Principal(s)

Ownership

Product/service

Year B.C. Global Net income founded staff staff '10/'06 '10/'06 '10/'06

Charles Chang Formulator, marketer and 2001 (100%) distributor of premium, plant-based natural health products TSX:GPR Silver mining 1965

38 11

47 11

$1,291,436 $247,626

NP NP

$1,935,000 ($15,084,437)

TSX-V:RB

Beer brewing

1995

25 NP

NP NP

($1,365,064) ($382,508)

Shawn Neumann (100%) Privately held

Web strategy, design, technology

1996

34 5

41 5

NP NP

Power electronics manufacturing

1975

460 112

500 113

NP NP

IT staffing agency

2005

10 5

NP NP

Web-based conveyancing platform for residential and commercial real estate transactions Silver and gold mining

2002

NP 23

NP 38

NP ($4,217,394)

Sequel Naturals Ltd

Charles Chang, president

Great Panther Silver Ltd

Russell Brewing Co

Kaare Foy, executive chair Robert Archer, president and CEO Martin Carsky, CFO Andrew Harris, president

Domain7 Solutions Inc

Shawn Neumann, owner and founder

Alpha Technologies Ltd1

Ignite Technical Resources

OneMove Technologies Inc

Mark Schnarr, president and CEO John Kalbfleisch, COO Sam Wong, CFO Barry Johnston, vice-president, operations Privately held Bryce Stacey, managing director Ken Hicks, managing director Parminder Virk, CTO TSX-V:OM Martin Johnson, president and CEO

Endeavour Silver Corp

Bradford Cooke, chair and CEO Godfrey Walton, president and COO

TSX:EDR; AMEX:EXK

2002

NP NP

781 NP

$8,224,7812 ($4,148,000)

Work at Play

David Gratton, founder and CEO Andrew Brown, COO

26 8

29 NP

NP NP

Binary Stream Software Inc

Lak Chahal, president and CEO

Privately held, Digital agency specializing in design, 2002 David Gratton technology and social media (100%) Lak Chahal Developer of ERP products for 1999 Microsoft Dynamics GP and AX

29 20

$227,159 $43,338

Hypercube Technologies Corp

Bill Bilic, president and CEO Jesenka Bilic, secretary

Privately held

1999

17 7

$381,704 $177,416

Vivonet Inc

Ryan Volberg, president and CEO Kevin Falk, chief product officer

Privately held

1999

85 35

93 37

NP NP

Destiny Media Technologies Inc3

Steve Vestergaard, CEO Fred Vandenberg, CFO

OTCBB: DSNY

1991

NP NP

Engine Digital Inc

Privately held

2002

20 10

NP NP

Lululemon Athletica Inc

QHR Technologies Inc

Neovasc Inc

IPS

888 Dunsmuir St Suite 868, Vancouver V6C 3K4 P: 604-697-5400 F: 604-331-6040 www.ipsnetworks.com

Stephen Beck, creative director5 Kele Nakamura, technical director5 Richard Gallagher, creative director5 Christine Day, CEO Chip Wilson, board chair and chief innovation and branding officer Al Hildebrandt, president and CEO Charles LaFleche, executive vice-president, finance Alexei Marko, CEO Chris Clark, CFO Brian McPherson, COO Karim Ladha, president and CEO Christopher Law, general manager Santosh Nair, CTO

NewGen Technologies Corp

Lee Van Iderstine

Privately held

Silvercorp Metals Inc

Noise Digital Inc

Energold Drilling Corp

1833 Coast Meridian Rd Suite 33, Port Coquitlam V3C 6G5 P: 604-945-3133 F: 604-945-3233 www.sequelnaturals.com 1177 Hastings St W Suite 2100, Vancouver V6E 2K3 P: 604-608-1766 F: 604-608-1744 www.greatpanther.com 13018 80th Ave Suite 202, Surrey V3W 3B2 P: 604-599-1190 F: 604-599-1048 www.russellbeer.com 33820 South Fraser Way Unit 2A, Abbotsford V2S 2C5 P: 604-855-3772 F: 604-854-3349 www.domain7.com 7700 Riverfront Gate, Burnaby V5J 5M4 P: 604-436-5900 F: 604-436-1233 www.alpha.ca 355 Burrard St Suite 1295, Vancouver V6C 2G6 P: 604-687-6795 F: NP www.ignitetechnical.com 1140 Pender St W Suite 1080, Vancouver V6E 4G1 P: 604-662-8207 F: 604-647-2215 www.onemovetech.com 700 Pender St W Suite 301, Vancouver V6C 1G8 P: 604-685-9775 F: 604-685-9744 www.edrsilver.com 329 Railway St Suite 500, Vancouver V6A 1A4 P: 604-685-6418 F: 604-685-6412 www.workatplay.com 5151 Canada Way Suite 300, Burnaby V5E 3N1 P: 604-522-6300 F: 866-834-7622 www.binarystream.com 13775 Commerce Pkwy Suite 230, Richmond V6V 2V4 P: 604-241-9011 F: 604-241-9097 www.hypercube.biz 8651 Eastlake Dr Suite 200, Burnaby V5A 4T7 P: 604-215-2033 F: 604-408-4307 www.vivonet.com 650 Georgia St W Suite 750, Vancouver V6B 4N7 P: 604-609-7736 F: 604-609-0611 www.dsny.com 717 Pender St W Suite 404, Vancouver V6C 1G9 P: 604-684-3330 F: 604-685-3323 www.enginedigital.com

Enterprise software development for technology enabled education and distance learning Secure, web-based point-of-sale systems (Halo) and market sales intelligence (Zata) Secure distribution of pre-release music to radio and provider of instant play streaming video and audio Creative digital agency crafting immersive interactive experiences

Nasdaq: LULU

Yoga-inspired clothing retailer

1998

NP NP

3,219 NP

$125,490,2252 $8,892,5602

TSX-V:QHR

Enterprise management solutions and electronic medical record software Developer, manufacturer and marketer of vascular devices

1997

78 42

145 45

NP NP

2000

47 NP

49 NP

($2,630,885) ($5,483,962)

2001

24 9

31 10

NP NP

1996

20 5

NP NP

Rui Feng, chair and CEO Myles Gao, president and COO Maria Tang, CFO Lorne Waldman, corporate secretary Trevor Carr, president and CEO Mark Nishiguchi, COO, CFO and managing partner Fred Davidson, president and CEO Richard Younker, CFO

TSX, NYSE:SVM Primary silver producer with mining, 2004 development and exploration projects in China and Canada

NP NP

2,200 NP

$70,907,5852 $25,546,2842

Privately held

EJM Construction Management Ltd

Ed Mocnik, president

Privately held

Make Technologies Inc

Bill Bergen, president and CEO

Privately held

Cardiome Pharma Corp

Curtis Sikorsky, CFO

Wolfgang Commercial Painters

David Notte, CEO Kevin Parenteau, CMO

Scott Paragon Screen Printing and Sign

Robin Jacobs, president

1818 Cornwall Ave Suite 400, Vancouver V6J 1C7 P: 604-732-6124 F: 604-874-6124 www.lululemon.com 1620 Dickson Ave Suite 300, Kelowna V1Y 9Y2 P: 250-979-1701 F: 250-717-5266 www.qhrtechnologies.com 13700 Mayfield Pl Suite 2135, Richmond V6V 2E4 P: 604-270-4344 F: 604-270-4384 www.neovasc.com

1433 King George Hwy Suite 202, Surrey V4A 4Z5 P: 604-542-0616 F: 604-542-6438 www.newgen.ca 200 Granville St Suite 1378, Vancouver V6C 1S4 P: 604-669-9397 F: 604-669-9387 www.silvercorp.ca 856 Homer St Suite 200, Vancouver V6B 2W5 P: 604-689-9574 F: 604-689-9575 www.noisedigital.com 543 Granville St Suite 1100, Vancouver V6C 1X8 P: 604-681-9501 F: 604-681-6813 www.energold.com 18428 53 Ave Suite 205, Surrey V3S 7A4 P: 604-575-7780 F: 604-575-7790 www.ejmgroup.com 1188 Georgia St W Suite 1790, Vancouver V6E 4A2 P: 604-738-4999 F: 604-738-4979 www.maketechnologies.com 6190 Agronomy Rd Suite 600, Vancouver V6T 1Z3 P: 604-677-6905 F: 604-677-6915 www.cardiome.com 8056 Winston St, Burnaby V5A 2H5 P: 604-420-5552 F: 604-685-3285 www.wolfgangpainters.com

5940 No 6 Rd Suite 414, Richmond V6V 1Z1 P: 604-273-4155 F: 604-273-4200 www.scottparagon.com

Sources: Interviews with above companies and BIV research. Currency conversions use the Bank of Canada's annual currency average of a given year. NR Not ranked NP Not provided NA Not applicable 1 - Merged with Argus Technologies Ltd. on January 1, 2010 2 - Converted from U.S. dollars 3 - PlayMPE and Clipstream 4 - U.S. dollars 5 - Also partner 6 - Ownership split equally between the three partners: Chris Law, Karim Ladha, Santosh Nair

TSX-V:NVC Privately held6

Security, compliance and network infrastructure solutions IT services and solutions

A national, integrated online advertising and marketing services firm Drilling company servicing the international mining sector

1998

22 7

25 7

NP NP

1995

NP 28

1,100 400

$1,448,508 $1,086,812

Commercial, health care, seniors housing, multi-family residential highrise and lowrise End-to-end solution for application portfolio modernization

1999

12 5

NP NP

1999

92 40

95 40

NP NP

TSX:COM; Nasdaq: CRME

Cardiovascular drug development company

1992

85 88

NP ($36,147,000)

David Notte and Kevin Parenteau 50-50 Privately held

Commercial painting for the property management industry

2004

6 4

NP NP

Signs and advertising displays

1941

13 4

NP NP

TSX-V:EGD

Revenue '10/'06 5-year rev growth $23,774,907 $3,779,854 529% $42,206,000 $7,069,442 497% $8,224,740 $1,396,552 489% $2,800,000 $500,000 460% $165,000,000 $30,000,000 450% $4,359,144 $813,132 436% $2,147,597 $425,353 405% $88,725,8852 $17,768,000 399% $2,440,274 $492,322 396% $2,752,357 $559,336 392% $3,513,653 $718,200 389% $7,823,480 $1,710,000 358% $3,944,111 $884,0824 346% $1,500,000 $350,000 329% $711,703,9992 $172,706,6002 312% $19,070,900 $4,721,439 304% $4,358,825 $1,082,830 303% $8,800,000 $2,300,000 283% $2,000,000 $532,140 276% $172,330,0772 $46,141,5732 273% $4,100,000 $1,100,000 273% $54,591,578 $14,862,598 267% $4,500,000 $1,300,000 246% $9,443,000 $2,861,000 230% $68,039,3142 $20,668,000 229% $3,414,000 $1,090,000 213% $1,250,000 $405,000 209%

Business in Vancouver makes every attempt to publish accurate information in The List, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Researched by Richard Chu, lists@biv.com.

September 13–19, 2011 Business in Vancouver Daily email edition: www.biv.com

B.C.’s Fastest Growing Companies 25

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Top 100 fastest-growing companies in B.C. Ranked by percentage growth in revenue between 2006 and 2010 Rank '11 Company

Principal(s)

Ownership

Product/service

Year B.C. Global Net income founded staff staff '10/'06 '10/'06 '10/'06

Revenue '10/'06 5-year rev growth $292,863,0002 $96,036,0003 205% $710,786 $234,070 204%

First West Credit Union1

Launi Skinner, CEO

Member owned

Full-service credit union

1946

1,364 776

$32,707,000 $15,638,000

Artistech Newmedia Inc

Private/50% each Brad/Giuseppe

A digital agency helping clients clarify, conceptualize and deploy digital marketing strategies

2003

14 6

$13,505 $13,458

Sierra Wireless Inc

Giuseppe Simpatico, CEO and co-owner Brad Marshall, CMO and coowner Jason Cohenour, president and CEO

TSX:SW; Nasdaq:SWIR

1993

259 157

905 296

($15,241,490)4 $11,363,3604

Westport Innovations Inc

David Demers, CEO Bill Larkin, CFO

TSX:WPT; Nasdaq:WPRT

Hardware, software, connected services for mobile lifestyles, machine-to-machine communications Low-emission engine and fuel-injection systems that use alternative fuels

1995

181 141

244 198

($37,636,000) ($16,860,165)

Global Village Consulting Inc

Leon Salvail, president and CEO

Privately held

Computer and health informatics consulting

1995

11 5

28 5

NP NP

Silver Standard Resources Inc

TSX:SSO

Silver exploration and development

1946

NP NP

NP 250

$356,591,5464 $16,382,000

TSX: ABT

Software and services that help track, manage 1993 and protect computers

185 77

351 101

($8,153,881) ($3,940,463)

TSX-V:TNC

Multi-channel expedited bill payment processor

1997

43 45

53 45

($1,916,647) ($2,793,307)

Privately held (Byron Sheardown 90%) Privately owned by Allan Holmes (100%) Privately held

Newspaper, magazine, catalogue, flyer printing

1997

46 13

$196,000 $240,000

Provider of medical educationa programs, consulting services and automated external defibrillator distribution Hard and soft landscape installations, disposal, residential and commercial renovations

1998

14 7

$347,751 $203,450

2001

18 6

NP NP

60 61 62 63 64

15252 32nd Ave Suite 303, Surrey V3S 0R7 P: 604-501-4260 F: NP www.firstwestcu.ca 1021 Ellis St Suite 200, Kelowna V1Y 1Z3 P: 250-763-9907 F: NP www.artistechnewmedia.com 13811 Wireless Way, Richmond V6V 3A4 P: 604-231-1100 F: NP www.sierrawireless.com 1750 75th Ave W Suite 101, Vancouver V6P 6G2 P: 604-718-2000 F: 604-718-2001 www.westport.com 375 Water St Suite 350, Vancouver V6B 5C6 P: 604-608-1779 F: 604-568-5710 www.global-village.net

John Smith, president and CEO 999 Hastings St W Suite 1180, Vancouver V6C 2W2 P: 604-689-3846 F: 604-689-3847 www.silverstandard.com Tom Yip, CFO John Livingston, chair and Absolute Software Corp CEO 1055 Dunsmuir St Suite 1600, Vancouver V7X 1K8 Rob Chase, COO P: 604-730-9851 F: 604-730-2621 www.absolute.com Errol Olsen, CFO Hamed Shahbazi, chair and TIO Networks Corp CEO 250 Howe St Suite 1550, Vancouver V6C 3R8 P: 604-298-4636 F: 604-298-4216 www.tionetworks.com Byron Sheardown, president Web exPress Inc 1455 Brigantine Dr Suite 1, Coquitlam V3K 7C2 P: 604-526-8557 F: 604-526-8004 www.intwebexpress.com Allan Holmes, president Global Medical Services 1644 3rd Ave W, Vancouver V6J 1K2 P: 604-685-4747 F: 604-685-4748 www.global-medical.ca Greg Tunner, president The Cavalry Construction Group Ltd PO Box 1319, Fort Langley V1M 2S7 P: 604-551-8993 F: 604-648-8825 www.thecavalry.ca

Sources: Interviews with above companies and BIV research. Currency conversions use the Bank of Canada's annual currency average of a given year. NR Not ranked NP Not provided NA Not applicable 1 - Created from the merger between Valley First and Envision Financial that closed January 1, 2010 2 - Net interest income and other income 3 - Envision Financial information 4 - Converted from U.S. dollars

Essential Content Local Newspapers

$669,743,3974 $221,285,0004 203% $130,712,000 $43,552,377 200% $4,352,240 $1,451,000 200% $115,612,4544 $38,932,000 197% $64,100,000 $22,480,000 185% $27,771,194 $10,200,307 172% $8,000,000 $3,000,000 167% $3,978,461 $1,533,280 159% $2,800,000 $1,100,000 155%

Business in Vancouver makes every attempt to publish accurate information in The List, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Researched by Richard Chu, lists@biv.com.

Market Leadership

Business and Professional Information

Glacier Media Inc. is an information communications company focused on the provision of primary and essential information and related services through print, electronic and online media.

Investor Relations: Orest Smysnuik 604.872.8565 • Fax: 604.879.1483 1970 Alberta Street, Vancouver BC V5Y 3X4 www.glaciermedia.ca

GVC:TSX

September 13–19, 2011 Business in Vancouver Daily email edition: www.biv.com

B.C.’s Fastest Growing Companies 27

Light on weight. Heavy on performance.

The all-new A6 with Audi ultra lightweight technology. It’s lighter, faster, safer, more agile and more eﬃcient than ever before. And starting at $58,800*, it’s better value, too. Let us take you for a test drive today. Visit vancouveraudidealers.com

Audi of Richmond Richmond Auto Mall 5680 Parkwood Way, Richmond 604-279-9663 www.audiofrichmond.com

Capilano Audi 813 AutoMall Drive, North Vancouver 604-985-0693 www.capilanoaudi.com

OpenRoad Audi 2395 Boundary Road, Vancouver 604-293-2834 www.openroadaudi.com

© 2011 Audi Canada. *2012 Audi A6 3.0 TFSI quattro, base MSRP with 8-speed tiptronic automatic transmission is $58,800, which excludes freight and PDI ($1,995), license, insurance, registration, any dealer or other charges, options and other applicable taxes. European model is shown. “Audi”, “A6”, “Vorsprung durch Technik”, and the four rings emblem are registered trademarks of AUDI AG. To find out more about Audi, see your dealer, call us at 1-800-FOR-AUDI, or visit us at www.audi.ca

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Daily business news at www.biv.comâ&#x20AC;&#x192; September 13â&#x20AC;&#x201C;20, 2011

Top 100 fastest-growing companies in B.C. Ranked by percentage growth in revenue between 2006 and 2010 Rank '11 Company

Principal(s)

Ownership

Product/service

Year B.C. Global Net income founded staff staff '10/'06 '10/'06 '10/'06

Revenue '10/'06 5-year rev growth

Scott Edmonds, president and CEO TSX-V: WEW Larry Juba, COO Andrew Morden, CFO Harry Watson, president Employee Neil McAskill, vice-president owned

Turnkey wireless location-based and telematics services for vehicles

1999

116 62

228 83

($14,289,000) $1,104,000

Materials testing and engineering services

1987

185 75

NP NP

Robert Burns, president and CEO Privately held Ken Cahoon, director, business development George Paleologou, president and TSX:PBH1 CEO

Investigation, training, security 1975 consulting, protection, risk assessments and pre-employment screening Specialty food manufacturing and 1917 differentiated food distribution

180 100

253 100

NP NP

1,687 1,126

$16,250,000 $12,836,000

$41,377,000 $16,344,000 153% $21,500,000 $8,500,000 153% $20,000,000 $8,000,000 150% $535,243,000 $216,465,000 147%

Health-care technology

WebTech Wireless Inc

Metro Testing Laboratories Ltd

Canpro Global

Premium Brands Holdings Corp1

Vigil Health Solutions Inc

Troy Griffiths, president and CEO

TSX-V: VGL

1998

23 23

27 23

($409,210) ($1,235,626)

AnalysisWorks Inc

Jason Goto, president

Privately held Evidence-based management consulting 2000

10 5

NP NP

Impact Silver Corp

Fred Davidson, president and CEO Richard Younker, CFO

TSX-V: IPT

Silver mining

1987

40 30

180 25

$3,437,675 $972,822

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd

TSX:IVN

Copper, gold and coal mining

1994

NP NP

1,0913 1,169

($217,802,222)4 ($230,442,120)4

Silver Wheaton Corp

TSX, NYSE: SLW

Silver streaming company

2004

NP NP

24 9

$298,766,7814 $98,855,2004

Kicking Horse Coffee Co Ltd

Robert Friedland, founder and CEO Peter Meredith, deputy chair John Macken, president2 Randy Smallwood, president and CEO Gary Brown, CFO Elana Rosenfeld, CEO Leo Johnson

Privately held Organic, fair-trade coffee, local cafe

1996

46 14

NP NP

Gravity Computers Inc

James Kang

1995

5 3

NP NP

6S Marketing Inc

Chris Breikss, co-founder and president John Blown, co-founder5

Privately held IT support, programming, website programming and services for SMEs, managed services, consulting Privately held Internet marketing services, online advertising, SEO, web analytics, email marketing, social media marketing

2000

30 10

33 10

NP NP

4299 Canada Way Suite 215, Burnaby V5G 1H3 P: 604-434-7337 F: 604-434-5270 www.webtechwireless.com 6991 Curragh Ave, Burnaby V5J 4V6 P: 604-436-9111 F: 604-438-5317 www.metrotesting.ca 17 Fawcett Rd Suite 225, Coquitlam V3K 6V2 P: 604-517-4545 F: 604-517-4510 www.canproglobal.com 7720 Alderbridge Way, Richmond V6X 2A2 P: 604-656-3100 F: 604-656-3170 www.premiumbrandsholdings.com

4464 Markham St Suite 2102, Victoria V8Z 7X8 P: 250-383-6900 F: 250-383-6999 www.vigil.com 1385 8th Ave W Suite 650, Vancouver V6H 3V9 P: 604-739-7363 F: 604-739-7364 www.analysisworks.com 543 Granville St Suite 1100, Vancouver V6C 1X8 P: 604-681-0172 F: 604-681-6813 www.impactsilver.com 999 Canada Pl Suite 654, Vancouver V6C 3E1 P: 604-688-5755 F: 604-682-2060 www.ivanhoemines.com 666 Burrard St Suite 3150, Vancouver V6C 2X8 P: 604-684-9648 F: 604-684-3123 www.silverwheaton.com 491 Arrow Rd, Invermere V0A 1K2 P: 250-342-4489 F: 250-342-4450 www.kickinghorsecoffee.com 3820 Cessna Dr Suite 254, Richmond V7B 0A2 P: 604-872-0123 F: 604-872-0123 www.gravitycomputers.com 1120 Hamilton St Suite 402, Vancouver V6B 2S2 P: 604-642-6765 F: 604-648-8264 www.6smarketing.com

Sources: Interviews with above companies and BIV research. Currency conversions use the Bank of Canada's annual currency average of a given year. NR Not ranked NP Not provided NA Not applicable 1 - Converted from an income trust on July 22, 2009 2 - Until October 2010 3 - 2009 figure 4 - Converted from U.S. dollars 5 - Also director

$3,756,724 $1,550,291 142% $1,413,000 $586,000 141% $16,677,710 $7,005,793 138% $82,162,3324 $34,544,8004 138% $436,011,2554 $183,907,5604 137% $18,000,000 $7,600,000 137% $575,000 $250,000 130% $3,200,000 $1,400,000 129%

Business in Vancouver makes every attempt to publish accurate information in The List, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Researched by Richard Chu, lists@biv.com.

NYSE: SVM TSX: SVM

Silvercorp Metals Inc. is the largest primary silver producer in China and the lowest cost silver producer among its global industry peers. In the quarter ended June 30, 2011, Silvercorp produced a record 1.6 million ounces of silver at a cash cost of negative $6.12 per ounce. Silver and Gold (at Ag Eq.) Production - Actual and Forecast

1,2

With $230.5 million in cash & short-term investments, no debt, robust operations, and high quality development projects, Silvercorp is well positioned to grow through future consolidation, exploration and acquisition. www.silvercorp.ca | investor@silvercorp.ca | 604.669.9397

Aim to double production in 3 years Aggressive 244,000 m exploration program planned (FY2012) Management has proven strategy for long term success Development Projects in multiple jurisdictions and countries C$0.02 per share quarterly dividend

B.c.’s fastest-growing companies 29

September 13–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver

Destiny: Success in U.S., Northern Europe and Australia from No Flash, 23

up dominating the market. But just as Flash squelched Clipstream, Apple is now squelching Flash. Seventy per cent of video played online uses Flash. But Apple doesn’t support it – as owners of iPhones and iPads know all too well.

“Even our competitor, Flash, if they wanted to be on the iPad,

– Steve Vestergaard, CEO, Destiny Media

Destiny has been busy revising Clipstream, which Vestergaard believes many content users will want to use to get around the AppleFlash incompatibility issue. Since Clipstream uses a web object in the browser itself to play audio and video files, there’s no app to download, and no permission

nbennett@biv.com

daily online edition

BUSINESS TODAY Local tea maker receives startup funding Domo Enterprises, a Vancouver tea maker, is among the recipients of the 2011 Spin Master Innovation Fund. Domo’s Anne Forkutza, whose company makes a variety of tea blends, was recognized for her “creative media relations skills.” Developed to encourage young entrepreneurs to

turn their ideas into viable businesses, the Spin Master Innovation Fund – in partnership with the Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) – will provide Domo and seven other startups from across Canada with $50,000 in financing through CYBF and its affiliate Entrepreneur Gateway Canada. Thursday, September 8

Full stories and other local business news at www.biv.com/businesstoday Daily business news direct to your inbox! Sign up at www.biv.com/newsletters

When you seek an uncompromising commitment to clients’ financial interests and demonstrable dedication to the investment industry, look no further than the CFA® designation.

THE MARK OF PROFESSIONALISM

Help kids make the right choices.

patent to get there”

Canadians pay over $100,000 a year to keep an adolescent in detention while a university education in Canada costs $12,000 a year.

they could use our

needed from Apple. HTML5 will also resolve the conflict, but content creators will still need to transcode video into a variety of formats. Clipstream obviates the need for transcription into various formats, like AVI and MOV – something that downgrades quality with each transcription. “With ours they’ll be able to use the one format and it will be cross-platform,” Vestergaard said. “Even our competitor, Flash, if they wanted to be on the iPad, they could use our patent to get there.” In addition to the Clipstream audio and video application, Destiny Media will also be launching a new a playerless Internet radio app, as well as Clipstream TV. The latter will allow users to watch their own cable TV service anywhere in the world. On August 17, Destiny filed a provisional patent application for Clipstream for all web platforms, including mobile devices. •

Your donations to United Way will support after-school tutoring and summer activity programs for 42,000 school-age children across the Lower Mainland to help kids make the right choices. Thank you.

significant hurdle with the possible with CD. Followresolution of a patent dis- ing a radio première of a pute with Yangaroo. As part new track in one country, of a recent settlement, Yan- we can now service global garoo agreed to pay Des- radio stations instantly – no tiny $600,000 and grant the more manufacturing lead company licences to two of times, envelope stuffing or its patents. postal delays.” With the legal the disVestergaard believes pute behind him and Play Cl ipst rea m holds even MPE generating solid earn- greater promise than Play ings, Vestergaard is buoy- MPE. It’s actually a 16-yearant about his company’s old idea that suddenly has prospects. currency again, thanks in “We’re already doing a part to the fact Apple prodrun rate of about $4.7 mil- ucts don’t support Flash. lion in revenue and $1.3 mil“We have a bunch of lion in earnings, and we’re Clipstream products over just getting going on that the next couple of quarters one product [Play MPE],” that are all service oriented Vestergaard said. and so it’s like a phoenix risCurrently, 95% of the ing from the ashes,” Vestercompany’s revenue comes gaard said. from Play MPE, which is Vestergaard started out used by record companies in 1991 making computer to deliver prerelease music games (Darkseed II was one to radio stations and enter- of Destiny’s more popular tainment journalists elec- creations.) In 1995, the Intronically and securely. ternet took off, causing turThe application allows bulence for the video game record companies to send industry. Vestergaard got electronic press kits – in- out of gaming and started cluding audio and video developing Internet radio song samples – that can be technology as well as a web locked to specific users and browser. made to expire at specific The company came out times, all of which avoids a with an early audio playbig headache for the music er for Internet radio called industry: piracy. Radio Destiny Media playYangaroo has domin- er (still available, as Pirated the Canadian market, ate Radio, for download). but Destiny has a significant In 1995, Destiny developed foothold with American, Clipstream, which could Northern European and play audio directly in a web Australian record labels. browser without having to Universal, EMI, Warner download and install a playand Sony are among the er of any kind. 1,000 record labels now In 2000, Clipstrea m using Play MPE. video came out. Microsoft “Play MPE allows us to used it – ironically enough deliver promotional music – to advertise its Windows s e c u rely a nd on t i me , Media Player. simultaneously, around the But Clipstream never globe,” said Rhodri Flower, really took off. Bandwidth digital promotional services was so low when Clipstream manager for London-based came out that it was essenUniversal Music Group tially ahead of its time, and OF came out with International. THE MARK when Adobe “This was simply not its Flash player, that ended PROFESSIONALISM

This gold standard credential is recognized When you seek an uncompromising commitment around the world for professional mastery, a to clients’ financial interests and demonstrable to excel, and a deep and abiding dedication tomotivation the investment industry, look no devotion to the integrity of the investment further than the CFA® designation. profession.

This gold standard credential is recognized around the world for mastery, ainmotivation Toprofessional find CFA charterholders the Vancouver to excel, andarea a deep and abiding devotion to the and to learn more about the CFA integrity of designation, the investment profession. visit www.cfavancouver.com. To learn more about the CFA designation, visit www.cfavancouver.com.

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25% PARKS AND OPEN SPACE Go to Burnaby’s Economic Development Strategy 2020 online www.burnaby.ca/eds2020 or contact the Planning Department at 604.294.7400 to learn more.

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Top 100 fastest-growing companies in B.C. Ranked by percentage growth in revenue between 2006 and 2010 Rank '11 Company

Principal(s)

Glentel Inc

Daniels Electronics Ltd

Procura

Ownership

Product/service

Year B.C. Global Net income founded staff staff '10/'06 '10/'06 '10/'06

Revenue '10/'06 5-year rev growth $412,307,000 $181,188,000 128% $22,600,000 $10,000,000 126% $9,187,023 $4,100,000 124% $169,517,0001 $76,353,0001 122% $1,017,277 $459,566 121% $13,414,270 $6,090,163 120%

Thomas Skidmore, chair, president TSX:GLN Telecommunications services and solutions and CEO provider Jas Boparai, CFO Robert Small, president Privately held Land mobile radio base stations and mobiles Gerry Wight, vice-president, sales and marketing Warren Brown Privately held Software for the home and community care industry

1963

332 230

1,430 950

$24,317,000 $6,324,000

1950

65 67

NP NP

1989

29 NP

63 NP

$341,988 NP

Central 1 Credit Union

Don Rolfe, president and CEO

1944

382 347

497 347

$50,063,000 $16,603,000

FileHold Systems Inc

Larry Oliver, president

Owned by B.C. Wholesale financial services to B.C. and and Ontario Ontario credit unions credit unions Privately held Electronic document management software that empowers the paperless office

2005

8 5

13 9

NP NP

Photon Control Inc

Christopher Weston, president Stefan Farkas, general manager

TSX-V:PHO

1988

32 46

$2,715,937 ($3,699,163)

Netcetera Consulting Inc

Steve Weeks, president and CEO Sharron Weeks, partner

1999

7 8

NP NP

Pan American Silver Corp

Silver mining

1994

NP NP

7,1002 2,864

$115,938,9333 $67,518,9603

Paragon Pharmacies Ltd

Ross Beaty, chair Geoff Burns, president and CEO Robert Doyle, CFO Gordon Gooding, CEO

Steve Weeks 50% Sharron Weeks 50% TSX:PAA

Measurement technologies company specialized in OEM manufacturing, optical sensors, VIS/UV/NIR Spectroscopy, analytical instruments and optical flow meters Network technology consulting and professional technical services

Pharmacy operator

2002

NP NP

NP 355

($2,594,000) ($1,622,479)

STEMCELL Technologies Inc

Allen Eaves, president and CEO

1993

276 160

345 179

NP NP

Quadra FNX Mining Ltd

Paul Blythe, president and CEO Michael Winship, COO Robert (Don) Macdonald, CFO

Privately held Tissue culture supplies, cell separation products, cytokines, antibodies, contract assays and research TSX:QUX Base-metals mining

2002

NP NP

1,902 500

$177,612,4343 $16,742,2803

Signals Design Group Inc

Kosta Tsetsekas, principal Robyn Sussel, principal

Privately held Communications and design firm

1984

14 8

$305,000 $165,000

8501 Commerce Crt, Burnaby V5A 4N3 P: 604-415-6500 F: 604-415-6565 www.glentel.com 43 Erie St, Victoria V8V 1P8 P: 250-382-8286 F: 250-382-6139 www.danelec.com 632 Discovery St, Victoria V8T 5G4 P: 250-388-0880 F: 250-380-1866 www.goprocura.com 1441 Creekside Dr, Vancouver V6J 4S7 P: 604-734-2511 F: 604-734-5055 www.central1.com 4664 Lougheed Hwy Suite 250, Burnaby V5E 5T5 P: 604-734-5653 F: NP www.filehold.com 8363 Lougheed Hwy Suite 200, Burnaby V5A 1X3 P: 604-422-8861 F: 604-422-8418 www.photon-control.com 120 Lonsdale Ave Suite 300, North Vancouver V7M 2E8 P: 604-980-2700 F: NP www.netcetera.ca 625 Howe St Suite 1500, Vancouver V6C 2T6 P: 604-684-1175 F: 604-684-0147 www.panamericansilver.com 2604 Enterprise Way Unit 8, Kelowna V1X 7Y5 P: 250-868-8400 F: 250-868-8402 www.helloparagon.com 570 7th Ave W Suite 400, Vancouver V5Z 1B3 P: 604-877-0713 F: 604-675-7830 www.stemcell.com 1055 Dunsmuir St Suite 2414, Four Bentall Centre, PO Box 49185, Vancouver V7X 1K8 P: 604-689-8550 F: 604-689-8556 www.quadrafnx.com 27 6th Ave W, Vancouver V5Y 1K2 P: 604-732-9827 F: 604-732-9853 www.signals.ca

TSX-V:PGN

$2,162,640 $984,534 120% $650,882,3813 $296,318,5203 120% $82,918,000 $37,777,010 119% $50,000,000 $22,980,000 118% $986,293,0043 $456,178,1203 116% $1,400,000 $650,000 115%

Business in Vancouver makes every attempt to publish accurate information in The List, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Researched by Richard Chu, lists@biv.com.

Alphabetical ranking of the top 100 fastest-growing companies in B.C.

Company 6S Marketing Inc Absolute Software Corp Alpha Technologies Ltd AnalysisWorks Inc Artistech Newmedia Inc Atna Resources Ltd Aurcana Corp Aurizon Mines Ltd Avigilon Binary Stream Software Inc BioteQ Environmental Technologies Inc Canpro Global Capstone Mining Corp Cardiome Pharma Corp Central 1 Credit Union China Gold International Resources Corp Ltd Clevest Solutions Inc Coastal Contacts Inc/ Clearly Contacts

Rank 76 60 31 70 55 18 8 9 3 36 95 67 1 51 80 2 11 97

CounterPath Corp 100 Daniels Electronics Ltd 78 Day4 Energy Inc 10 Destiny Media Technologies Inc 39 Digital Payment Technologies Corp 91 Domain7 Solutions Inc 30 DotNetNuke Corp 17 Eastern Platinum Ltd 20 EJM Construction Management Ltd 49 Elastic Path Software 25 Eldorado Gold Corp 23 Endeavour Silver Corp 34 Energold Drilling Corp 48 Engine Digital Inc 40 FileHold Systems Inc 81 First Majestic Silver Corp 14 First Quantum Minerals Ltd 94 First West Credit Union 54 Fortuna Silver Mines Inc 16 Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Ltd 96

Glentel Inc Global Medical Services Global Relay Communications Inc Global Village Consulting Inc Goldcorp Inc Gravity Computers Inc Great Panther Silver Ltd Habañero Consulting Group Hanwei Energy Services Corp Hub International Canada West Co Hypercube Technologies Corp Ignite Technical Resources Impact Silver Corp IPS 44 iQmetrix Ivanhoe Mines Ltd Kicking Horse Coffee Co Ltd Lululemon Athletica Inc Make Technologies Inc. Metro Testing Laboratories Ltd Minefinders Corp Ltd

77 63 19 58 93 75 28 92 98 22 37 32 71 24 72 74 41 50 66 15

Neovasc Inc Netcetera Consulting Inc New Gold Inc NewGen Technologies Corp Noise Digital Inc OneMove Technologies Inc Pan American Silver Corp Paragon Pharmacies Ltd Photon Control Inc PNI Digital Media Inc Premium Brands Holdings Corp Procura QHR Technologies Inc Quadra FNX Mining Ltd QuickMobile Inc Roca Mines Inc Rusoro Mining Ltd Russell Brewing Company Scott Paragon Screen Printing and Sign Systems Sequel Naturals Ltd

HealtH InformatIcs and ProgrammIng solutIons

Join us! GVC is currently seeking keen and energetic Business Analysts based in a variety of areas across Canada.

Global Village Consulting Inc. (GVC) is an informatics consulting and software development company. With recognized experts in Health, Public Health and Information Management, and Enterprise Application Development, GVC focuses on providing the domain specific advice and direction required to ensure project success. We help our clients understand their information technology needs, manage the change required, and deliver on solutions either directly or as the vendor management team. GVC has a particular focus on public sector and health care clients, providing consulting services in policy, strategy, pan-Canadian consensus and collaboration, and standards. Visit our website and submit your resume at www.global-village.net/gvc/grow_with_gvc

43 83 6 45 47 33 84 85 82 21 68 79 42 87 12 5 4 29 53 27

Sierra Wireless Inc Signals Design Group Inc Silver Standard Resources Inc Silver Wheaton Corp Silvercorp Metals Inc Spa Boutique Ltd STEMCELL Technologies Inc The Cavalry Construction Group Ltd Times Telecom Inc TIO Networks Corp UNIT4 Business Software Vendtek Systems Inc Vigil Health Solutions Inc Vivonet Inc Web exPress Inc WebTech Wireless Inc WesternOne Equity Income Fund Westport Innovations Inc Wolfgang Commercial Painters Work at Play Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp

56 88 59 73 46 13 86 64 99 61 89 90 69 38 62 65 26 57 52 35 7

September 13–19, 2011 Business in Vancouver Daily email edition: www.biv.com

B.C.’s Fastest Growing Companies 31

CAYLLOMA MINE, PERU

San Jose Mine Oaxaca, Mexico

BUILDING THE FOUNDATIONS OF A

LEADING SILVER MINER >> 6 MILLION OUNCES SILVER EQUIVALENT PLUS BASE METAL CREDITS BY 2014 >> PROVEN OPERATORS AND MINE BUILDERS IN LATIN AMERICA >> STRONG ORGANIC GROWTH POTENTIAL

Caylloma Mine Caylloma, Peru

CORE ASSETS San Jose Ag-Au Mine, Mexico: Company changer - 100% owned - Processing plant expansion to 1,500 tpd by 3Q 2013 - Life of mine cash cost per Ag Eq oz of US$7.84

Caylloma Ag-Pb-Zn Mine, Peru: Low cash cost silver producer - 100% owned - 1,250 tpd underground operation - Consistent cash generation

TSX: FVI / www.fortunasilver.com / Lima Stock Exchange: FVI

List

Daily business news at www.biv.com September 13–20, 2011

Top 100 fastest-growing companies in B.C. Ranked by percentage growth in revenue between 2006 and 2010 Rank '11 Company

Principal(s)

Ownership

Product/service

Year B.C. Global Net income founded staff staff '10/'06 '10/'06 '10/'06

Revenue '10/'06 5-year rev growth

UNIT4 (100%)

Enterprise resource planning software

2000

69 32

3,500 72

$2,422,431 ($656,664)

$20,940,291 $9,794,272 114% $121,931,876 $58,018,078 110% $22,900,000 $11,020,000 108% $11,412,462 $5,633,893 103% $3,913,414,0203 $1,983,600,0003 97% $2,449,308,1803 $1,245,840,0003 97% $8,744,237 $4,519,728 93% $257,566,000 $133,342,000 93% $153,166,000 $81,013,951 89% $44,528,000 $23,753,662 87% $18,582,949 $10,000,000 86%

UNIT4 Business Software

Shelley Zapp, president

Vendtek Systems Inc

Doug Buchanan, president and CEO TSX-V:VSI Nurez Khimji, CFO

Develops and licenses software for global prepaid and financial services markets

1998

NP 22

NP 25

($327,787) $750,934

Digital Payment Technologies Corp

Privately held

104 50

NP NP

Habañero Consulting Group

Designer, manufacturer and distributor of 1997 multi-space parking meters, management software and online services Western Canadian IT consulting services 1996 and solutions firm

100 50

70 47

83 37

$1,842,491 $849,567

Goldcorp Inc

TSX:G

Gold mining

1994

NP NP

11,5061 9,3082

$1,612,926,3903 $473,628,0003

First Quantum Minerals Ltd

Andrew Scott, CEO Christopher MacPhail, CTO Laura Colwill, CFO Steven Fitzgerald, president Elliot Fishman, executive vicepresident Ian Telfer, chair Charles Jeannes, president and CEO Clive Newall, president Philip Pascall, chair and CEO

TSX:FM

Copper mining

1996

NP 11

6,904 5,630

($56,026,560)3 $463,304,0003

BioteQ Environmental Technologies Inc

TSX:BQE

29 25

67 33

($16,470,000) ($1,748,591)

Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Ltd

Water treatment company solving water treatment problems in the resource and power generation industries Catalyst Capital Gaming Group

1998

Brad Marchant, CEO David Kratochvil, president and COO Lorenzo Creighton, CEO

1992

2,468 1,600

2,979 NP

NP $40,019

Coastal Contacts Inc/Clearly Contacts

Roger Hardy, founder and CEO Glen Kayll, CFO

TSX:COA

355 105

499 164

$3,102,000 ($1,336,419)

Hanwei Energy Services Corp

6 NP

NP NP

($65,666,000) ($4,608,963)

Times Telecom Inc

90 NP

275 NP

NP NP

100

CounterPath Corp

49 47

72 51

NP NP

4420 Chatterton Way Suite 201, Victoria V8X 5J2 P: 250-704-4450 F: 250-704-4492 www.unit4software.com 1952 Kingsway Ave Suite 507, Port Coquitlam V3C 1S5 P: 604-944-9330 F: 604-944-0812 www.vendteksys.com 4260 Still Creek Dr Suite 330, Burnaby V5C 6C6 P: 604-688-1959 F: 604-629-1867 www.digitalpaytech.com 1111 Melville St Suite 510, Vancouver V6E 3V6 P: 604-709-6201 F: 604-709-6073 www.habaneros.com 666 Burrard St Suite 3400, Vancouver V6C 2X8 P: 604-696-3000 F: 604-696-3001 www.goldcorp.com 543 Granville St 8th Floor, Vancouver V6C 1X8 P: 604-688-6577 F: 604-688-3818 www.first-quantum.com 355 Burrard St Suite 1100, Vancouver V6C 2G8 P: 604-685-1243 F: 604-685-7778 www.bioteq.ca

4621 Canada Way Suite 300, Burnaby V5G 4X8 P: 604-412-0166 F: 604-412-0117 www.gatewaycasinos.com 2985 Virtual Way Suite 320, Vancouver V5M 4X7 P: 604-669-1555 F: 604-669-6855 www.coastalcontacts.com 595 Howe St Suite 902, Vancouver V6C 2T5 P: 604-685-2239 F: 604-677-5579 www.hanweienergy.com 5811 Cooney Rd Suite 400, Richmond V6X 3M1 P: 604-279-8787 F: 604-279-8775 www.timestelecom.ca 505 Burrard St Suite 300, Vancouver V7X 1M3 P: 604-320-3344 F: 604-320-3399 www.counterpath.com

Sources: Interviews with above companies and BIV research. Currency conversions use the Bank of Canada's annual currency average of a given year. NR Not ranked NP Not provided NA Not applicable 1 - Includes full-time staff, hourly workers and contractors 2 - Includes all employees and contractors 3 - Converted from U.S. dollars

Privately held

Leading direct-to-consumer retailer of 2000 contact lenses, eyeglasses and related vision-care products Fulai Lang, chair, president and TSX:HE High-pressure fibreglass-reinforced plastic 2005 CEO oil pipes, wind power and coal power Rick Huang, CFO products Terry Bahar, president Key West Global Long distance, mobile phone, Internet, 2002 Alan Yong, CEO TeleVoIP, conferencing, billspay, eRemit, communications mobile eLoad, remittance, TV Berhad (100%) Donovan Jones, president and CEO TSV-V:CCV; Desktop and mobile VoIP software 2002 OTCBB:CTPS products and solutions 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.

>Next week: Biggest mines in B.C.; Biggest sales and management training firms in B.C.

$8,256,5613 $4,619,000 79%

Business in Vancouver makes every attempt to publish accurate information in The List, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Researched by Richard Chu, lists@biv.com.

September 13–19, 2011 Business in Vancouver Daily email edition: www.biv.com

B.C.’s Fastest Growing Companies 33

Risk Mitigation. That’s code for safety. And security. And peace of mind. For your workplace, your staff, your clients... As one of the Top 100 fastest growing companies in BC, we are the leaders in risk mitigation providing Investigations, safety & rescue, pre-employment screening, risk consulting, security support services and more. We continue to grow… Canpro Global and King-Reed & Associates LP come together to form Canada’s Canpro King-Reed LP, with 26 offices across Canada, 7 offices internationally. That means we have more people and wider reach to take care of your needs.

A Canpro King-Reed LP Company 1.800.661.9077

| info@canproglobal.com | www.canproglobal.com

34 B.C.’s Fastest Growing Companies

Daily business news at www.biv.com Business in Vancouver September 13–19, 2011

© 2011 KPMG LLP, a Canadian limited liability partnership and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. KPMG and the KPMG logo are registered trademarks of KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity.

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KPMG Enterprise can help you build value in your private company

Law 35

September 13–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver

Absolute Software steps over legal line Surveillance of a woman during cybersex as part of a theft investigation raises concerns about privacy in the digital age By Nelson Bennett

recent court decision in the U.S. against a Vancouverheadquartered company that makes computer tracing software underscores how easy it is to invade someone’s privacy in the digital age. It also demonstrates how illequipped traditional law enforcement is when it comes to computer-related crime. Susan Clements-Jeffrey, a 52-year-old Ohio woman, was given the green light August 22 to sue Absolute Software Inc. – the American subsidiary of Vancouver-based Absolute software Corp. (TSX:ABT) – over allegations the company invaded her privacy when it recorded sexually explicit images of her as part of its attempts to retrieve a stolen laptop. On September 6, the woman and Absolute reportedly reached an outof-court settlement for an undisclosed amount. The trial was slated to begin September 12. Absolute CEO John Livingston did not return calls. However, a company spokesman told Business in Vancouver, “It’s Absolute’s policy not to comment on active legal cases.” On August 22, the Ohio District Court rejected Absolute’s application for a summary judgment that its theft recovery agent acted properly when he recorded Clements-Jeffrey naked as part of its investigation. The decision cleared the way for Clements-Jeffrey to sue for invasion of privacy. According to the written judgment, Clements-Jeffrey bought a laptop from one of her students for $60 in 2008. She claimed she was unaware that the laptop had been stolen from the school district where she worked as a substitute teacher. The hard drive had been wiped clean, which is why she thought it was being sold so cheaply. She was able to have the operating system restored.

Remote protection The school district that owned the device had a contract with Absolute to protect its computer with LoJack for Laptops, which allows Absolute to trace and monitor a lost or stolen computer. When the computer is used to log on to the Internet, Absolute’s security unit can identify the IP address and can remotely lock it up, erase files or monitor any communications. Once the company has the IP address, it can forward the information to police. But in the recent Ohio case, Absolute’s theft recovery officer, Kyle Magnus, went further than that. According to Justice Walter Herbert Rice, Magnus infringed on Clements-Jeffrey’s privacy when he recorded sexually explicit web chats between her and an old boyfriend she had recently reconnected with.

“I don’t think the fact that the computer is stolen would give anyone, let alone a third party, the right to use it to undertake surveillance of the people who are using the computer” – Sara Levine, privacy lawyer, Alliance Lex

Magnus also recorded computer keystrokes and websites ClementsJeffrey had visited. He also took three sexually explicit screen shots of Clements-Jeffrey while she was chatting with her former boyfriend. When Springfield, Ohio, police showed up to arrest her for possessing stolen property (the charges were dropped), they brandished the lewd photos Absolute had provided. She sued both Absolute and the Springfield police. Absolute argued that ClementsJeffrey should have known the laptop

was stolen and therefore had no legitimate expectation of privacy. Rice disagreed. “It is one thing to cause a stolen computer to report its IP address or its geographical location in an attempt to track it down,” he wrote. “It is something entirely different to violate federal wiretapping laws by intercepting the electronic communications of the person using the stolen laptop.” Rice said Absolute “crossed an impermissible boundary when they intercepted Plaintiffs’ instant messages and webcam communications. A reasonable jury could also find that such conduct would cause a person of ordinary sensibilities to suffer shame and humiliation.” Dale Jackaman, a private investigator and president of Amuleta Computer Security Inc., which specializes in cybercrime and computer security, said an IP address alone may not be enough to locate a computer. It could be the IP address of a firewall with several computers behind it, he said. Once armed with an IP address, it should have been up to Springfield police to take it from there and conduct the investigation. In reality, law enforcement agencies may not have the time, manpower or technical wherewithal that a company like Absolute or Amuleta has to collect the information needed to conduct a proper investigation. Police in the U.S. also are required to obtain warrants for things like wiretaps – something they might not even bother applying for if it’s simply a case of retrieving a stolen laptop or smartphone. “Private companies have a lot more ability to do these sort of things

and get away with it,” Jackaman said. “We’re getting a lot of cybercrime-related stuff because law

enforcement is just not answering the call. They just don’t have the resources or facilities or the people to do it, so we’re getting dragged in more and more.” Canadian judgment Sara Levine, a Vancouver lawyer specializing in privacy and freedom of information law, said she believes that if Absolute had been caught doing surveillance on a Canadian citizen, a Canadian judge would very likely have come to a similar ruling as Rice did in the U.S. “I don’t think the fact that the computer is stolen would give anyone, let alone a third party, the right to use it to undertake surveillance of the people who are using the computer,” Levine said. “It is clearly

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an invasion of privacy and an unauthorized collection of personal information.” Canadians’ rights to privacy are set out in provincial and federal acts: B.C.’s Personal Information Protection Act and the federal Personal Information and Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). Anyone who breaches those acts can be sued in civil court and the complainant does not have to prove injury. “There are privatesector laws that would give people rights to make claims against any company that would collect their personal information in this manner,” Levine said. Absolute’s software is used to track and protect 5.8 million computers worldwide. Apart from the privacy concerns the Clements-Jeffrey case raises, privacy groups also have raised concerns about companies using tracing software to monitor employees’ private communications either during work or in off hours but using company computers and devices. Companies do have the right to monitor email and other communications of its employees on company time and company devices. However, it has to be reasonable, says Micheal Vonn, policy director for the BC Civil Liberties Association. A company that intercepts a private email between an employee and his or her spouse about a doctor’s appointment, for example, might be crossing the line. “You obviously don’t have the same amount of privacy protection you have in your private life in an office environment,” Vonn said. “But it has to be justified and proportional.” • nbennett@biv.com @nbennett_biv

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Law

Daily business news at www.biv.com September 13–20, 2011

Trouble

DISCIPLINE •British Columbia

Securities Commission

As part of a settlement agreement with the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC), a mortgage broker based in B.C. has paid $7,000 for trading without registration, the regulator announced August 31. The agreement states that Don Maxwell provided promotional information to one of his mortgage clients about investing in GoldQuest, a company with offices in Las Vegas, NV, that claimed to be involved in foreign exchange trading. The client invested a total of USD$223,000. In addition to the $7,000 payment, the BCSC has also ordered that Maxwell cease trading any securities or exchange contracts, except that he may trade: • securities in accounts in his own name with a person registered to trade in securities under the Act; and • non-syndicated mortgages as long as he is registered under the Mortgage Brokers Act. Maxwell is also prohibited from becoming or acting as a registrant, investment fund manager or promoter, acting in a

management or consultative capacity in connection with activities in the securities market or engaging in investor relations activities for a period of five years.

•Law Society of B.C.

A Law Society hearing panel has ordered the suspension of Kelowna lawyer Douglas W. Welder for 45 days for his deliberate and prolonged failure to co-operate with Law Society investigators during an investigation, the regulator announced September 1. Welder was found to have failed to respond to questions in letters from the society and to respond to a request to provide details of bank accounts. These failures amounted to professional misconduct, and Welder will not be permitted to practise law during the suspension, which takes effect October 1, 2011. The Law Society is mandated to protect the public interest and will continue to pursue ongoing investigations. To that end, if a lawyer does not co-operate with an investigation, he or she may face disciplinary action, as in this case. The ongoing investigation by the Law Society involves an allegation that Welder

participated in a fraudulent investment scheme. The probe has faced obstacles because of Welder’s failure to co-operate. Welder has now complied with the Law Society’s requests for information. The investigation into Welder’s alleged participation in the fraudulent investment scheme has been slowed by his misconduct but the society is working to bring it to a conclusion.

BUYER’S ALERT Companies listed below,

which are not members of the Better Business Bureau, have failed to respond, as of September 2, 2011, to Better Business Bureau of Mainland B.C.’s efforts to mediate complaints from August 22 to August 26, 2011. 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 members must respond to customer complaints that are brought to their attention. Source: BBB. Bang On T Shirts Ltd., Surrey Bugden Audio, Kamloops Cana Creek, Vancouver

Canadian Tire, Vancouver CashX LLC, Vernon Cheeki Cherry, Chilliwack dvdlink.ca, Surrey Graoch Associates, Vancouver Iris Optometrists & Opticians #688, Richmond Kai Mei Trading Ltd., Burnaby Kokanee Beach Resort Motel, Winfield Kustom Works, Quesnel Lingerie Surplus, Burnaby Little Shop of Beauty, North Vancouver Lucinda Jewellers, Surrey Lucky Star Motors, Vancouver Our Little Secret Corp., Vancouver Pricks Of The Trade, Coquitlam Star Rebates, Burnaby The Pretty Boutique, Vancouver Tubmasters, Port Coquitlam The following companies have responded to the BBB subsequent to being published: Jolly Days Fashion, Burnaby Valley Blinds Inc., Surrey

Who’s Getting Sued These 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: Interpac Forest Products Ltd. and Inter Coast Towing Ltd. and DRM Coast Towing Ltd. and Elkin Creek Ranch Ltd. and David Milne and Susan Milne 9701 201st St., Langley and 10362 Allard Cres., Langley Plaintiff: Bank of Montreal 20th floor, 250 Howe St., Vancouver Claim: $3,768,852 against Forest Products and DRM Holdings for debt; $2,000,000 against Inter Coast Towing as a guarantor of the debt; $3,000,000 against Elkin Creek as a guarantor; $2,650,000 against David Milne and Susan Milne as guarantors; a declaration the general security agreement is in default; a declaration the bank is entitled to a security interest in Interpac’s present property; enforcement of the security interest created by the general security agreement by sale; possession of Interpac’s property, rights, assets and undertakings; and appointment of a receiver-manager of the collateral of Interpac with all proper powers and authorities. Defendants: Delta Pacific

Lumber Sales Inc. and Interpac Forest Products Ltd. and DRM Holdings Co. Ltd. and Elkin Creek Ranch Ltd. and Semiahmoo Lumber Co. Ltd. and John Lewsley and David R. Milne 106–15585 24th Ave., Surrey and 9701 201st St., Langley and 10362 Allard Cres., Langley and 1908 Ocean Wind Dr., Surrey Plaintiff: Bank of Montreal 20th floor, 250 Howe St., Vancouver Claim: $891,125 for debt; a declaration the general security agreement is in default; a declaration the bank is entitled to a security interest in Delta’s present property; enforcement of the security interest; possession of Delta’s property, rights, assets and undertakings; and appointment of a receiver-manager of the collateral of Delta with all proper powers and authorities. Defendant: International Eco-Fuels Inc. 916 2nd Ave., Beaverlodge, AB Plaintiff: Global Spectrum Facility Management LP 700–686 W. Broadway, Vancouver Claim: $227,804 pursuant to a suite licence agreement. Defendants: Aly B. Mawji

Law 37

September 13–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver

Trouble the Province of British Columbia 1301–865 Hornby St., Vancouver Claim: $51,034 for bridge damage.

Lawsuit of the week

Truck driver sues B.C. rancher over highway cattle collision An Okanagan man is suing a cattle rancher for letting his livestock stray onto a B.C. highway. According to a July 19 B.C. Supreme Court notice of civil claim, Dean Buse, a truck driver from Oyama, B.C., was travelling along Highway 20 near Alexis Creek on Sept. 24, 2009, when cattle strayed onto the road in front of him. The claim alleges that ABC Ltd., an unidentified company believed to be the owner and operator of the ranch, is responsible for the cattle and at fault for letting the cattle stray onto the road. Buse alleges that his truck collided with the cattle, resulting in neck, shoulders, arms, back and chest injuries. Buse is seeking general and special damages as well as healthcare costs from the cattle rancher for the incident. A statement of response had not been filed by press time.

a.k.a. Aly Mawji and Yasmin Babu Husein Mawji a.k.a. Yasmin Mawji 627 Kenwood Rd., West Vancouver and 624 Chapman Ave., Coquitlam Plaintiff: KDB Investments Ltd. 200–8120 128th St., Surrey Claim: $200,000 for a property sale agreement; a declaration the properties are owned by the defendants and subject to a constructive trust in favour of the plaintiff, or, a declaration any sale proceeds from the property are subject to a constructive trust; an order, or, damages for unjust enrichment. Defendant: MABE Canada Inc. 600–12220 Stony Plain Rd., Edmonton Plaintiff: Glaswegian Enterprises Inc. 700–401 W. Georgia St., Vancouver Claim: $148,739 for debt related to the breach of a supply services agreement, or, damages. Defendant: City of Port Moody 100 Newport Dr., Port Moody Plaintiff: Graham Infrastructure 7216 Brown St., Delta Claim: $112,893 for delay of Noons Creek Bridge construction; and damages for breach of contract and

negligence. Defendant: Brofort Inc. 2161 Thurston Dr., Ottawa Plaintiff: Pipeline Mechanical Inc. 1800–1095 W. Pender St., Vancouver Claim: $89,835 for debt for labour and materials; and orders. Defendants: Len Ioffe a.k.a. Leonid Ioffe a.k.a. Leo Iosse carrying on business as Campus Cuties also carrying on business as International Beauties 5588 1 Ave., Delta Plaintiff: Canpages Inc. 200–145 Schoolhouse Rd., Coquitlam Claim: $81,429 for debt related to advertising services. Defendant: Stephen Foster aka Stephen Neil Foster dba Gas Plus II 211 Grouse St., Port Clements Plaintiff: North Arm Transportation Ltd. 2582 Kent Ave. S. E., Vancouver Claim: $69,247 for debt related to diesel and gasoline sales. Defendants: Try-Max Transport Ltd. and John Alan Baikie 4166 Middle Point Dr., Campbell River and 2705 Island Hwy. N., Campbell River Plaintiff: Her Majesty the Queen in right of

Defendant: Pungun Holdings Ltd. 9202 Young Rd., Chilliwack Plaintiff: Board of Trustees of the Healthcare Benefit Trust 1200–1333 W. Broadway, Vancouver Claim: $43,588 for the exit levy pursuant to the Trust Agreement. Defendant: Waddell’s Haven Guest Home Mission Ltd. 15255 Marine Dr., White Rock Plaintiffs: Board of Trustees of the Healthcare Benefit Trust 1200–1333 W. Broadway, Vancouver Claim: $33,037 for the exit levy pursuant to the Trust Agreement. Defendant: Garry T’s Neighbourhood Pub & Restaurant Ltd. a.k.a. Celtic Times Neighbourhood Pub & Restaurant and Manjit Dhanda a.k.a. Manjit Kaur Dhanda 5668 Manitoba St., Vancouver Plaintiff: GFS British Columbia Inc. previously known as Neptune Food Service Inc. 1700 Cliveden Ave., Delta Claim: $32,059 for debt related to food products. Defendants: Mellie Excavating & Construction Inc. and Balvendar Singh Malhi and Devinder Singh Chhina 13750 88th Ave., Surrey and 6856 Kilburn Pl., Surrey Plaintiff: Paccar Financial Services Ltd. Box 49314, 2600–595 Burrard St., Vancouver Claim: $31,572 pursuant to a vehicle lease agreement; and damages. Defendants: Peter Darwin and Probyn Log Ltd. and Inlet Towing Ltd. Box 727, 9435 Carnarvon Rd., Port Hardy and 217– 713 Columbia St., New

Westminster and Box 1391, 9435 Upper Carnarvon, Port Hardy Plaintiff: Westview Towing Ltd. 140–11880 Hammersmith Way, Richmond Claim: $27,300 for debt for loading and delivery of logs. Defendants: Dream Catcher Heliskiing Ltd. and Interpac Forest Products Ltd. and DRM Holdings Co. Ltd. and Elkin Creek Ranch Ltd. and Mark Whalen and David R. Milne Box 1483, Prince George and 9701 201st St., Langley and 4027 Cormack Cres., Prince George and 10362 Allard Cres., Langley Plaintiff: Bank of Montreal 20th floor, 250 Howe St., Vancouver Claim: $23,679 for debt; a declaration the general security agreement is in default; a declaration the bank is entitled to a security interest in Dream Catcher’s present property; enforcement of the security interest created by the general security agreement by sale; possession of Dream Catcher’s property, rights, assets and undertakings; and appointment of a receiver-manager of the collateral of Dream Cather with all proper powers and authorities. Defendants: EC Environmental Control Inc. and Michael Dawes aka Michael Travers Dawes and Leslie Dawes 202–5501 Kingsway, Burnaby and 5882 Eagle Island, West Vancouver and 6467 Bruce St., West Vancouver Plaintiff: HSBC Bank Canada 1600–925 W. Georgia St. Claim: $19,857 for debt pursuant to a line of credit agreement. Defendants: I.D.S. Management Ltd. carrying on business as Melissa Park Lodge and Melissa Park Lodge 211–1015 Austin Ave., Coquitlam Plaintiffs: Board of Trustees of the Healthcare Benefit Trust

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38 Law

Daily business news at www.biv.com September 13–20, 2011

Trouble 1200–1333 W. Broadway, Vancouver Claim: $15,015 for the exit levy pursuant to the Trust Agreement. Defendants: The Edge Social Grille & Lounge Ltd. and Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association and Chateau Granville Inc. and 556947 B.C. Ltd. and Chateau Granville Ltd. Partnership and Chateau Granville Holdings Ltd. and John Doe 1700–666 Burrard St., Vancouver and 1000–595 Burrard St., Vancouver and

address unavailable Plaintiff: Monica Demsky 1800–401 W. Georgia St., Vancouver Claim: Damages for injuries sustained when Demsky, who was not on the guest list for a Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association event, was forcibly ejected from The Edge Social Grille & Lounge by a doorman. Defendants: Ladysmith Maritime Society and Harold Moy Box 1030, 614 Oyster Bay Way, Ladysmith and 15–245 Oyster Cove Rd.,

Ladysmith Plaintiffs: Robert Meek and Karen Meek 10801 Guilbride Dr., Saltair Claim: Damages for a fire at a marina operated by Ladysmith Maritime Society that destroyed the plaintiffs’ boat. Defendant: Toby’s Pub & Grill Ltd. and James McLean and John Doe 201–585 16th St., West Vancouver and 2733 Commercial Dr., Vancouver and address unavailable Plaintiff: Michael Eddy 302–1224 Hamilton St., Vancouver

Claim: An order the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) produce and deliver to the plaintiff a copy of the originating 911 call whereby the VPD was summoned to Toby’s, following an argument at a liquor store; an order; and damages. Defendants: Fibreco Export Inc. and CV Technology Inc. and Firefly AB Box 48600, 1200–200 Burrard St., Vancouver and 15852 Mercantile Crt., Jupiter, FL and Box 92201, 102 09, Stockholm Plaintiffs: Premium Pellet Ltd. and Pacific BioEnergy Corp. 2400-200 Granville St., Vancouver Claim: Damages caused by a flood resulting from a malfunctioning fire suppression system. Defendants: Illahae Dairy Farms Ltd. and Janbar Enterprises Ltd. and

Jasmine-Jade Leasing Ltd. and Mission Chip Loading Ltd. and Timberwood Marine Ltd. and Timberwood Equipment Inc. and Kalvan Gill dba Timberwood Equipment and Kalva Gill 33467 Broadway Ave., Mission and 8054 Sykes St., Mission Plaintiff: MNP LLP 2400–200 Granville St., Vancouver Claim: Judgment for debt for accounting, professional bookkeeping and tax services; or, damages. Defendants: Paul Lepik aka Paul Lepic and Yuriy Bespalov and Valentyna Bespalov and Colliers International aka Colliers Macaulay Nicolls Inc. and Vancouver Police Department Addresses unavailable Plaintiffs: Gina Pamela Briggs and Gregory Walter Peter Petrigo

406–1155 Beach Ave., Vancouver Claim: Damages for a drug lab inspection at Briggs’ and Petrigo’s home that was in breach of the Residential Tenancy Act. Defendants: Misti Dawn Snihor and Her Majesty the Queen in right of the Province of British Columbia as the Ministry of Transportation and Highway and Mainroad East Kootenay Contracting Ltd. 4874–305 Pinewood Stanley S., Radium Hot Springs and 970 Blanshard St., Victoria and 33695 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford Plaintiff: Gurdarshan Kaur Parmar 7481 Revelstoke Ave., Radium Hot Springs Claim: Damages for the death of Parmar’s husband, Gurmail Singh Parmar, who was struck and killed by a vehicle.

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Business in Vancouver celebrates B.C.’s most influential business women every year. Past winners over the past 12 years include some of B.C.’s most talented business leaders, whose career paths and individual achievements continue to inspire business people throughout the province.

Nominations are open. Go to www.biv.com/iwib Nomination Deadline: December 2, 2011 Issue: February 2012 Awards Luncheon: March 2012 Sponsors: Sponsorship opportunites available. Call 604.688.2398

Law 39

September 13–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver

Trouble Defendants: Drake Towing Ltd. and Michael Richard Matheson 1553 Powell St., Vancouver and 604–1122 Gilford St., Vancouver Plaintiff: Mladen Jovanovic 2020–650 W. Georgia St., Vancouver Claim: Damages arising from an assault. Defendant: 0443372 B.C. Ltd. formerly known as 443372 B.C. Ltd. 115B–19705 Fraser Hwy., Langley Plaintiff: Elaine Patrice Kwong and George Cui Kwan Kwong 1833 William St., Vancouver Claim: An order the defendant holds its interest in the property in a trust for the benefit of the Kwongs, arising from the unpaid upkeep and restoration of the Commercial Street property; a declaration the defendant has been unjustly enriched by the time, labour and monies contributed to the benefit of the property, or, an order; an accounting; and damages. Defendants: Sea to Sky Hospitality Ltd. and Sea to Sky Hospitality Ltd. operating as AuBAR Night Club and AuBAR Night Club and John Doe’s #1-4 674 Seymour St., Vancouver and addresses

unavailable Plaintiff: Kudratvir Singh Jhaj 1793–595 Burrard St., Vancouver Claim: Damages arising from Jhaj’s violent ejection from AuBAR and assault. Defendants: BC Ferry Services Inc. and British Columbia Transportation Financing Authority and Jane/John Doe 500–131 Blanshard St., Victoria and Box 9850 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria and 54556 Ferry Terminal, Horseshoe Bay, West Vancouver and address unavailable Plaintiff: Fortunata Sacco 5655 Buchanan St., Burnaby Claim: Damages for injuries sustained when Sacco tripped and fell in a hole or depression on the pavement at Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal. Defendants: Cam Comeau and Summit Middle School and Board of School Trustees and School District No.43 (Coquitlam) 1450 Parkway Blvd., Coquitlam and 550 Poirier St., Coquitlam Plaintiff: Yasaman Ghane, an infant by her litigation guardian, Hamid Yazdani 2020–650 W. Georgia St., Vancouver Claim: Damages for injuries sustained when a physical

education teacher tackled Ghane during a soccer game in gym class. Defendant: RDH Building Engineering Ltd. 20th Floor, 250 Howe St., Vancouver Plaintiff: Beverly Ramsay 2400–200 Granville St., Vancouver Claim: Damages for damage to the plaintiff’s apartment as a result of a tarp that fell and carried debris. Defendant: Japan Airlines Co. Ltd. 2900–595 Burrard St., Vancouver Plaintiff: Ahmet M. Kadioglu 1751 Berkley Rd., North Vancouver Claim: Brought under the Class Proceedings Act: a declaration the representation of the thirdparty tax contravenes the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act; an injunction; an order; and entitlement to revenue from the tax. Defendants: Sukhdev Singh Dhaliwal and Harvinder Paul Singh Dhaliwal and Balraj Singh Toor 14530 59th Ave., Surrey and 70–20176 68th Ave., Langley and 13317 89th Ave., Surrey Plaintiff: 6063 Holdings Ltd. 22717 119 Ave., Maple Ridge Claim: Damages for breach

of the lease agreements related to a blueberry farm. Defendants: Rimrock Developments Ltd. and Westrim Plumbing and Heating Ltd. and Uponor Inc. and Oetiker Ltd. 1495 Marine Dr., West Vancouver and 12011 Third Ave., Richmond and 5925 148th St. W., Apple Valley, MN and 203, Box 5500, Alliston, ON Plaintiff: 472720 B.C. 1100–505 Burrard St., Vancouver Claim: Damages for breach of a construction contract related to plumbing defects; and damages. Defendant: Bliss Unltd. LLC 1120 Ivy St., Junction City, OR Plaintiff: Mario’s Gelati Ltd. 1100–505 Burrard St., Vancouver Claim: A declaration the defendant has infringed the plaintiff’s “Bliss” bar trademark; a declaration the defendant has passed off its wares as the plaintiff’s; a declaration the defendant has depreciated the value of the trademark; an injunction; an order; damages; an accounting; appointment of a receiver; and disgorgement or equitable compensation for unjust enrichment. •

ost m d t an s e g ar the l t a Bui men o ld re w f ds o lationshi ps with thousan

FACTS

isions. ll purchase dec a f o % 5 8 e c n r influe Women make o ips : Reach one sh n o ti la re n o to buy based or network. Women prefer ach 28 others in her circle u re Woman and yo over 5 years ! % 0 0 3 y b d r 25,000. ce has increase Show attendan ected attendance is now ove Annual exp tions lebrity presenta ons. e c ve li s, e g ta s emonstrati Multiple show and hands-on d ond ntre is the sec g e C n io it ib h x E ade & servin The TR ADEX Tr its kind in British Columbia ople. f o pe largest facilit y et area of over 2.4 million a mark milies Fraser Valley fa ada. f o e m o c in n and media rea in Can The population an any other metropolitan a th is rising faster

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For the record

People on the Move Email your For the Rec-

ord information to: fortherecord@biv.com. Please include a high-resolution, c ol our he a d shot wh e re possible.

•Advertising

Kevin Bird has joined Red Rocket Creative Strategies as account manager. He was previously document adv iser at Xerox, accou nt execut ive at McCallum Printing and senior account manager at RR Donnelley.

•Development/ Construction

L e s Fove ny i h a s b e e n appointed CFO of LMS Reinforcing Steel Group. He was previously CFO a n d v i c e - p r e s i d e nt o f finance at Pinnacle Internationa l Rea lty Group Inc. M i ke L ong h i, Shaw ne Derr y and Kristi Scott have been appointed the following at the McGregor Group: v ic e -pre sid ent and senior general manager; genera l ma nager, B.C. Interior and Alberta; a n d g e n e r a l m a n a g e r, McGregor & Thompson Vancouver, respectively. L ong h i wa s prev iously general manager at Hovik Industries Ltd., McGregor Hardware Distributors a nd Hol me s & Br a kel

BC Inc. Scott was previously branch manager at McGregor & Thompson Kelowna and Derry was corporate sales manager with McGregor & Thompson Vancouver.

•Energy

John C a rson ha s been appointed CEO of Alterra Power Corp., replacing Ross Beaty, who remains as executive chair. Carson was previously executive vice-president of Alterra.

•Finance

S a m C ol l i ns ha s b e en appointed executive vicepresident, retail, at Union Securities Ltd. He was prev iously a par tner at Trimor Capital Corp. Harri Jansson has been appointed a senior strategic adviser to Crelogix. He was previously COO of Prospera Credit Union, CEO of Richmond Savings and Coast Capital Sav i ngs a nd exec ut ive vice-president, commercial and retail banking, for the Bank of Montreal.

•Human Resources

Kim Campbell has b e en app oi nte d d i re ct o r, i n d u s t r y h u m a n resou rce de velopment , at Go2, replacing Peter L a ro s e , w ho h a s b e e n appointed director, policy and research. Campbell was previously director of human resources for the Vancouver Organizing

Daily business news at www.biv.com September 13–20, 2011

Committee for the 2010 Winter Ga mes a nd a compensation consultant at Towers Perrin.

•Legal

Laurelly Dale has joined Dye & Durham Corp. as manager for court registry support services, Vancouver oper at ions a nd i n-hou s e c ou n s e l . S he was previously an associate at Pyper Law Group a nd Dav id Gibson & Associates. Michael Fink has joined O ye n W i g g s G r e e n & Mutala LLP as an associate. He was called to the B.C. bar in 2011.

•Manufacturing

Bruce Fleming has been appoi nted president of CD Nova Ltd. group of compa nies, replacing Don Bealle, who remains board chair. Fleming was previously vice-president of the company.

•Non-Profit

Fiona Douglas-Crampton has been appointed CEO of t he Miner va Foundation for BC Women. She was previously director of membership ma rket i ng a nd executive director of the Wo m e n ’s L e a d e r s h i p Ci rc le at t he Va nc ouver Board of Trade and acting director of f und development at Y WCA Metro Vancouver.

Michael Fink joins Oyen Wiggs Green & Mutala as associate

Fiona Douglas-Crampton is CEO of the Minerva Foundation for BC Women

Bruce Fleming is appointed president of CD Nova group of companies

•Resources

consultant to both companies. Lotz was previously CFO of Prophecy C oa l C or p. Tod hu nter was prev iously f ina nce manager at Sacre-Coeur and African Queen.

Mining,and vicepresident, development, for Santa Fe Gold.

Andre Douchane has been appointed CEO of THEMAC Resources Group Ltd., replacing Barrett Sleeman, who has retired but rema i n s a s e xe c utive director. Douchane is chair of North American Palladium Ltd. and was previously president and CEO of Starfield Resources Inc.

Paul Robertson has been appointed CFO of Eco Oro Minerals Corp., replacing David Newbold. Robertson is managing partner of Quantum Advisory Partners LLP.

Mark Lotz and Jennifer To d hu nt e r h a v e b e e n appointed CFO and director, and vice-president, financial administration, re sp ec t ively, at S acre Coeur Minerals, Ltd. and A f r ic a n Q ue en M i ne s Ltd. Lotz replaces Limor Rubin, who has resigned but remains a f inancial

Michael Surratt has been appointed to t he board of Astur Gold Corp. He was previously founder, pre sid e nt a nd C E O of Mercator Minerals Ltd., pre sid e nt a nd C E O of Aurex Resources, director a nd v ice-president, operations, at Miramar

G a r y Brow n h a s b e en appointed to the board of Redzone Resources Ltd. He is senior vice-president and CFO of Silver Wheaton Corp. and was previously CFO of TIR Systems Ltd. Bob Carmichael has been appointed vice-president, ex plorat ion, at NGEx Resources Inc. He was previously general manager, resource exploration, at Lundin Mining Corp. and vice-president, exploration, for EuroZinc Mining Corp. Steven Jones ha s been appointed vice-president

Metro Vancouver BMW Retailers

vancouver retailers.bmw.ca

The Ultimate Driving Experience.®

2011 BMW 750i shown.

LIKE THE BMW 7 SERIES ITSELF, THIS IS AN OFFER THAT CAN’T BE IGNORED. The 2012 BMW 750i xDrive was created for those who have always known where they’re going. Advanced systems like BMW ConnectedDrive provide everything from Park Assist cameras, to Bluetooth audio streaming, to BMW Night Vision and Head-Up Display. The 4.4-litre, TwinPower Turbo V-8 engine and Integral Active Steering deliver exhilarating power, while the xDrive® All-Wheel Drive ensures outstanding handling. Don’t miss your opportunity to experience the 2012 BMW 750i xDrive. Visit your nearest BMW Retailer for details. Offer ends October 2.

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Brian Jessel BMW 2311 Boundary Road, Vancouver (604) 222-7788 www.brianjesselbmw.com

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LEASE rAtE

3.9 % 39 months

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Down payment does not include Freight and PDI and any additional fees.

Park Shore Motors Northshore Auto Mall, North Vancouver (604) 985-9344 www.parkshorebmw.com

Auto West BMW 10780 Cambie Road, Richmond (604) 273-2217 www.autowestbmw.com

BMW Langley 6025 Collection Drive, Langley (604) 533-0269 www.bmwlangley.com

European model shown. Features and equipment may vary in Canada. MSRP of a 2012 BMW 750i xDrive All-Wheel Drive starts at $110,300. Lease rates are those offered by BMW Financial Services Canada only on approved credit (OAC). *Lease rate of 3.9% available for up to 39 months. Lease example based on $998 a month for 39 months. Down payment or equivalent trade of $9,988. Freight and PDI of up to $1,995, licence, insurance, registration, taxes, EHF tire, filter, and battery fees and similar taxes levied on the manufacturer (if charged by the Retailer), and PPSA are extra. Additional province-specific fees, taxes, and charges may be extra. Total obligation is $70,868. The residual value of the vehicle at end of term is $47,429. Annual kilometres limited to 16,000; $0.15 per excess kilometre. Excess wear-and-tear charges may apply. Retailers are free to set individual prices and charge administration fees, which may change the APR or the price of the vehicle. Offer expires October 2, 2011. Delivery must be taken by October 2, 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 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.

for the record 41

September 13–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver

Anita Kumar, Lisa Rostoks, Darla MacKay, Renata Hamagami and Margaret Walton of LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services and Rory Green, revenue development co-ordinator, Canadian Cancer Society, B.C. & Yukon

Sylvia Kerfoot, RBC Foundation representative, and George Laverock, program director, MusicFest Vancouver

of exploration at Gryphon Gold Corp. He was previously chief mine geologist and principal geologist for Kennecott Exploration.

•Technology

Randy Turner has been re-appoi nted president a nd C E O of C a nter r a Minerals Corp., replacing former president and director, David Clarke, who has resigned. Turner is CEO and president of Silver Quest Resources Ltd. and Galena International Resources Ltd. Jaime Quijandría Salmón has been appointed to the board of Panoro Minerals Ltd. He is a pa r t ner at Laub & Quijandría Consultores y Abogados and was previously the minister of energy and mines a nd m i n i s ter of e c onomy and finance in Peru and executive director of the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. John Downes has been appointed CFO at Petra Petroleum Inc., replacing Peter M i l ler, w ho ha s stepped down. Downes is CFO for American Vanadium Resources Corp. and Canadian Phoenix Resources Corp. and vicepresident , f i na nce, for Ionic Management Corp. He was previously manager of financial reporting for Sprott Resource Lending Corp. and a manager for P r ic eWat e r hou s e Coopers. Dav id McMi l lan a nd

Minaz Dhanani have joined the board of Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd. McMillan is chair of the boa rd of Ca nada Rare Earths Inc. Dhanani is CFO and corporate secretary of Barkerville. Enzio Garayp has been elected to t he board of Brazil Resources Inc. He was previously exploration manager for Kinross Gold Corp. and country manager, Brazil, at Teck Cominco. George Gorzynsk i and Fred Davidson have joined the board of Defiance Silver Corp. Gorzynski was previously vice-president of exploration for IMPACT Si lver Corp. Dav idson is president and CEO of IMPACT and Energold Drilling Corp. A nd re w L e e h a s b e e n appointed vice-president of Megastar Development Corp. He is a director of the company and was previously vice-president of corporate development. Gary Musil has resigned as CFO and corporate secretary; he is replaced by Za ha ra Ka nji-Aquino, who is founder of Zahara Kanji-Aquino & Co. and CFO of Soldi Ventures Inc. and was previously CFO of NMC Resource Corp. and Ashburton Ventures Inc. Jack Mi l ler ha s been appointed to the board of Argentex Mining Corp. He was previously COO for Quadra FNX Mining Ltd.

Jay Na lbac h h a s b e en appointed chief marketing officer at Naturally Advanced Technologies Inc. He was prev iously brand director at Adidas G r oup Jap a n K K a n d global head of men’s lifestyle footwear for Reebok International.

Companies on the Move • Name change Range Energy Resources Inc. has changed its name t o Haw k stone E ner g y Corp. and will start trading as CNSX:HEC.

Buy a taBle! October 19, 2011 5:30 pm – 9:30 pm A Fun, Sassy, but Classy event in support of KIDS UP FRONT

Rocky Mountaineer Station • Unique golf & spa event • 14 fun Activity Stations • Silent/Live Auction • 3 course sit down dinner

Tables: $1500 604 266 5437 kidsupfrontvancouver.com Please join us at Vancouver’s most fun fundraiser!

Help change a child’s life Since 2004, Kids Up Front has provided arts, culture, sports and recreation to local kids in need.

The BIV Media Group is proud to help! one little ticket, one big lift!

42 for the record

Hats Off Business in Vancouver wel-

comes submissions from local small businesses and large corporations alike that demonstrate examples of corporate philanthropy and community involvement in the Vancouver area. Highresolution images are also welcome. The 16th annual Peter Legge Charity Golf Classic, hosted by the Vancouver Golf Club and presented by Glentel, raised $52,000 for St. John Ambulance, the Salvation Army and the JIBC Foundation. Kiewit Flatiron donated $50,000, the proceeds of its golf tournament, to SHARE

Careers

Daily business news at www.biv.com September 13–20, 2011

Family and Community Services. The 2011 Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon and 5K Charity Challenge helped raise $19,820.09 for the Adoptive Families Association of BC and $19,185.94 for the BC Cancer Foundation. Telus and its employees donated $17,178 to Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland to support the agency’s mentoring programs and services for girls ages 7 to 17. The funds were donated through the Team TELUS Charitable Giving Program. T he R BC Fou nd at ion donated $15,000 to support MusicFest Vancouver’s Community Access

Andrew von Rosen, principal, Andrew von Rosen Creative and Jeff Mooney, co-owner, Vancouver Canadians

program, which allows a range of charities to provide concert tickets to their membership. The Envision Financial

• www.employmentinvancouver.com • E-mail: employpaper@biv.com • Tel: 604-688-8828 • Fax: 604-669-2154

Work With us & groW a career Glacier Media Group is growing. Check our job board regularly for the latest openings: www.glaciermedia.ca/careers

Community Endowment, housed with the First West Foundation, awarded a $15,000 grant to PoCoMo Youth Services Society. The funding supports Project Reach Out, a mobile drop-in centre and outreach program for youth.

Georgia Tsoromocos, communications manager, Kiewit Flatiron; Ryan Tones, project manager, Kiewit; Lynn Pelletier, board chair, SHARE; Martin Wyant, CEO and chair, SHARE; Bill Murphy, project director, Kiewit; and Corey Johnson, general structures superintendent, Kiewit

LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services donated $11,210.63 to the Canadian Cancer Society. Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd., Port Coquitlam, donated $10,000 to the Zajac Ranch for Children, which provides a safe and fun camp experience to children with serious and chronic illnesses and disabilities. Andrew von Rosen Creative donated $1,775 to the Vancouver Canadians Baseball Foundation, whose mandate is to help local children find opportunities in their local community to play baseball among friends and dedicated coaching staff. •

Bruce MacKenzie, assistant warehouse manager, Costco Wholesale Canada, Port Coquitlam; Mel Zajac, founder and chair, Zajac Ranch for Children; Dianea Lehman, marketing representative, Costco Wholesale Canada, Port Coquitlam; and James Hastings, administration manager, Costco Wholesale Canada, Port Coquitlam

Giving Guide

2012

Regional PhilanthRoPic oPPoRtunities

Giving Guide

2012

A guide to British ColumBiA's philAnthropiC Community • Non-profits • Foundations • Cultural organizations

Regional PhilanthRoPic oPPoRtunities

Publication Date October 27, 2011

Promote your corporate giving philosophy and the non-profits you support to B.C.’s business leaders

Call today: For more information please contact Katherine Butler at 604-688-2398 or kbutler@biv.com.

Business In Vancouver Media Group, publishers of Business in Vancouver newspaper, Western Investor and more than a dozen business-related magazines, are delighted to launch an exciting new print and digital publication called Giving Guide – Regional Philanthropic Opportunities. This informative glossy, full-colour magazine will showcase the diverse range of non-profit associations and the organizations that so generously support them here in B.C. Giving Guide provides both sponsors and non-profits with a great opportunity to share their story with the region’s business leaders. Non-profits play a huge role in improving the quality of life of residents throughout the region. This new essential reference tool – with year-long presence in print and online will showcase a non-profits compelling mission, progress, governance and many other initiatives and encourage other business leaders to support non-profit associations in our region.

Reserve your ad space today Deadline September 27

Datebook

September 13â&#x20AC;&#x201C;20, 2011â&#x20AC;&#x192; Business in Vancouver

Guarantee the publication of your listing for $50 per issue (plus hst). 604-608-5189 or datebook@biv.com Deadline for Datebook listings is noon Tuesday for the following weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paper. Listings are published on a guaranteed basis for $50 per week, plus hst. 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 Meetings Success Through Motivation: How an Inspired Workforce Helps your Bottom Line September 20, 2011, 11:45 AM: Tracy Redies, President and CEO, Coast Capital Savings. Individual tickets: $69 members and guests/$96 future members. The Sutton Place Hotel, Versailles Ballroom, 845 Burrard Street.Vancouver, BC. reservations@boardoftrade. com. www.boardoftrade.com. Business in Vancouverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s BLUE breakfast Panel: Investment in Marketing September 21, 2011, 7:00 AM: The upcoming BLUE breakfast panel will be discussing what companies are doing with their marketing budgets in this era of rapidly changing marketing solutions . Subscrib er $ 49 ; N o n - s u b s c r i b e r $ 5 9. S F U Segal School of Business, 500 Granville Street (at Pender). Vancouver.Azadeh Hollmann: 604-608-5197, ahollmann@biv. com. http://www.biv.com/colour/ index.asp. Help Your Business Client Navigate the U.S. Tax System S eptember 21, 2011, 11:00 AM: Chartered Accountants in Canada can learn how to help clients looking at U.S. business opportunities in this seminar. $25 (includes lunch). Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel, 15269 104th Avenue. Surrey. Mary Doherty, VSH Marketing Coordinator : 36 0 -305- 61 7 7 or doherty@vshcpa.com. http://vshvancouverseminar. eventbrite.com/.

How to Close Larger Deals More Quickly September 22, 2011, 5:00 PM: Learn specific actionable things you can do to increase the dollar size of your deals, and how you can close large deals more quickly! The presenter for this session is Rob Malec who has 23 years in sales and business development experience. SMEI members $55/Non-members $75. Terminal City Club, 837 West Hastings. Vancouver. 604266-0090 or vancouver@smei. org. smeivancouver.org. Business Women Dinner Meeting and Speaker S eptember 29, 2011, 6:00 PM: Burnaby Business Women invite women to a monthly social, dinner meeting and speaker. Join us for a relaxing and interesting evening. Nonmembers welcome. Door prizes donated by attendees. Reservations required. $24.00 non-members, $21.00 members. ABC Country Restaurant, 6500 East Hastings. Burnaby. Sharon at 604-434-7221 or sharon@ donndean.com. http://upcoming. yahoo.com/venue/93820/BC/ Burnaby/Burnaby-BusinessWomen-One-to-One/. One Night by Lora Frost - Success Party October 19, 2011, 7:00 PM: A unique oppor tunity for entrepreneurs to embrace their power. Guests attending the One Night party will arrive as the person they want to be in five years. They will act as though they have already achieved their goals. $150. Shangri-La Terrasse. Vancouver. Marion Houchard at mhouchard@ karranfinlaymarketing.com. www.onenightbylorafrost.com. Boughton/BCLI Great Debate October 26, 2011, 5:00 PM: The GREATdebate offers a fun, engaging evening of dinner and light-hearted debate. This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s debate resolution: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Resolved that the torts of champerty and maintenance should be abolished in British Columbia.â&#x20AC;? $145 per person; $1,100 per table of 8. Pan Pacific Waterfront, 300 - 999 Canada Place. Vancouver. Elizabeth Pinsent: 604-8220142, epinsent@bcli.org. http://

www. bcli. org/news/even ts/ great-debate-2011. Boundary Bay Airport Land & Business Opportunities Expand September 14, 2011Â , 11:30 AM: Deltaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Boundary Bay Airport is developing land for aviation and non-aviation use. Mayor Lois Jackson explains how the airpor t â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s potential has increased. Alpha Aviationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lynda Hogarth explains how the land can be developed for a wide range of businesses. $35 member/$45 non-member. Boundary Bay Airport, Main Terminal Building, Athabasca St. off Churchill St. Delta, BC. Delta Chamber of Commerce: admin@ deltachamber.ca, 604-946-4232. www.deltachamber.ca.

Conferences, Conventions, Tradeshows The World MoneyShow Vancouver September 19, 2011, 8:30 AM: Learn how to best position your por tfolio for profit in 2011 and beyond. As this new era of investing unfolds, s m a r t i nve s to r s k n o w i t â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s imperative to stay informed and educated. Free admission. Vancouver Convention Centre, 1055 Canada Place. Vancouver. 8 0 0 - 9 70 -4355. http://www. moneyshow.com/tradeshow/ vancouver/world_moneyShow/ main.asp?scode=023199. 7th Annual Connections to Employment Job Fair September 21, 2011, 10:00 AM: Exhibitors include WorkSafeBC, Sears, Staples, Canada Safeway, Home Depot, London Drugs, Dairy Queen/Orange Julius, Coast Plaza Hotel, Edgewater Casino, T & T Supermarket, Natural Factors, UPS Canada, Spectra Energy, JW Research, and TD Canada Trust. Admission i s f r e e . Va n c o u v e r P u b l i c Library, Library Square, 350 West Georgia Street. Vancouver. C a ro l C o rd ei ro , M a r keti n g Specialist, PICS Vancouver: 604324-7733, carol.cordeiro@pics. bc.ca. www.pics.bc.ca.

iTech Infrastructure Technology Summit September 22, 2011, 8:30 AM: Featuring a comprehensive conference program, large exhibitor area and live product demonstrations, iTech Summit offers the educational content IT professionals need to maximize their business operations. Passes valued at $295 are free for qualified IT. Vancouver Convention Centre, 1055 Canada Place. Vancouver. Jennifer Wittkopp, 905-9480470.www.itechsummit.ca. Internet Marketing Conference - IMC Vancouver O c to b e r 3, 20 11, 7: 30 AM: Expand your knowledge, improve your skills and become a better manager of digital media, marketing and communications. Connect with an international community of digital marketers. 2-day pass $995 until Sept 9th; $1195 after.Renaissance Vancouver Hotel: 1133 West Hastings St. Vancouver. Registration Support: regvancouver@risingmedia. com, 1-877-883-7345. http://www. internetmarketingconference. com/vancouver/event-home. HR Tech Group: Human Capital Symposium October 26, 2011, 8:00 AM: Tech industry event on best HR practices to grow your business (revenue, talent , lea der s). Featuring keynote Don Bell, Co-founder of Westjet Airlines: $275 before Sept 30th; $350 after. Sutton Place Hotel, 845 Burrard St. Vancouver. Allison Ruther ford, HR Tech Group: 604-874-2653, arutherford@ h r te c h g ro u p . c o m . www. hrtechgroup.com.

Courses, Workshops, Seminars CTT+ Train the Trainer Course S e p te m b e r 19, 20 11, 8 : 30 AM: Anybody who needs to train groups of people in an effective and efficient manner can benefit from this course. Fo r th o s e lo o k in g to sh ow instructional presentation skills

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Daily business news at www.biv.com September 13–20, 2011

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Timothy Renshaw B.C. a leading light in taxation complication

till savouring B.C.’s forwardinto-the-past choice in the August 26 harmonized sales tax (HST) referendum, Lotus Landers will be happy to know that increasing taxation complexity is one of the country’s lesser appreciated hobbies. In a recent report on the country’s Income Tax Act, the Certified General Accountants of Canada (CGA) illustrated that national passion for taxation obfuscation by pointing out that what began as an 11-page Income War Tax Act in 1917 now runs to 2,800 pages. For Canada’s small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) that adds up to much more than some impenetrable nighttime reading. According to CGA figuring, the country’s businesses pay around $12.6 billion a year to comply with that 2,800-page tribute to bureaucratese – and that’s in addition to the taxes companies have to pay. So lovers of the redundant layers of taxation headed our way with B.C.’s fright-night production of “PST/GST: The Sequel” will be disappointed with the CGA’s push for taxation simplification. Cynics might also wonder why accountants would want less-complex tax rules – they making much financial hay out of untangling those rules for companies that don’t have math geniuses in their bullpen. But as the CGA points out in “The Need for Tax Simplification – A Challenge and an Opportunity,” tax complexity is expensive to administer and maintain for everyone in the country, including the government, which is already under enough fiscal strain trying to keep nose above water line in the latest deluge of depressing global economic news. It points to other jurisdictions that have awoken from extended tax complacency slumbers. Down Under, for example, Australia’s Future Tax System Review determined that 90% of the country’s revenue came from 10 of the government’s 125 different taxes. That begged the question: how cost-effective are the other 115 and why does the country have them?

Speaking of taxation, the movement to ensure that the super-rich are hauling their fair share of the world’s tax load is gaining momentum. Even some members of that elite are nodding heads on this one. Warren Buffett, for example, has been quoted in the daily press as conceding that he and other members of his country’s super-rich have been “coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress.” Out our way, the good sense of an additional tax on the super-rich is becoming more apparent.

Cartoon by Rice

The CGAs illustrated our

At Large

national passion for taxation

Peter Ladner

obfuscation by pointing out

Urban farming’s growing political power

that what began as an 11-page Income War Tax Act in 1917 now runs to 2,800 pages For one, it would help show those who aren’t super-rich that people with lots of money earned not always by honest sweat pay taxes; for another some occupants of that elite earnings bracket are providing ample evidence that they’re not putting their money to good use. Public finger-wagging over the 13 drivers nabbed street racing along Highway 99 in Ferraris, Lamborghinis and other luxury vehicles is but one example. As much as the incident points to the need for stricter driver training rules for the empty-headed in the monied classes, it underscores the reality that the owners of the cars and/or their offspring have too much money and not enough common sense. Government can do something about the former. But powers higher than those possessed by mere mortals will be needed to do anything about the latter. • Timothy Renshaw (trenshaw@biv. com) is the editor of Business in Vancouver. His column appears every two weeks.

What’s your opinion? BIV welcomes readers’ opinions. All letters, including those sent by e-mail, must include the author’s name, address and daytime telephone number. Business in Vancouver, 102 East 4th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V5T 1G2. Fax: 604-688‑1963. E-mail: news@biv.com. We reserve the right to edit for brevity, clarity and legality.

oliticians and candidates be warned: ridiculing urban farming is a no-win strategy. Food security is marching up the priority list in cities around the world, and Vancouver should be leading, not resisting, this movement. Growing more food in our cities harms no one, and spins off myriad benefits: better diet, lower health-care costs, beautification, safer neighbourhoods, safer food, inter-cultural and inter-generational integration, increased food security, exercise, increased property values near community gardens, less hunger and, yes, commercial enterprises. The commercial potential is greatest in desperate, shrinking cities like Detroit, but that isn’t stopping cities everywhere from promoting urban farming any way they can. Citizens, schools, community centres, seniors’ centres, hospitals and neighbourhood groups, architects, planners and a new breed of commercial urban farmers are jumping into local food growing with a vengeance. Politicians should be making this good work easier, and respecting it in every way possible. Fighting this tide could land you in the mud. While Victoria has joined a growing list of cities that allow commercial sales of produce grown on city lots, Lantzville, near Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, has attracted international outrage for persecuting urban farmers. Lantzville resident Dirk Becker

and his partner Nicole Shaw live on a 2.5-acre residentially-zoned lot and make $20,000 a year at farmers’ markets selling produce grown on their property. While Becker has lovingly restored the property by piling up sawdust and compost to replace the original soil that was mined and sold by the previous owner, his neighbour prefers the manicured estate look of the golf course that abuts both their properties. The neighbour has the ear of the local council,

Lantzville, near Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, has attracted international outrage for persecuting urban farmers which last fall ordered Becker and Shaw to “remove all piles of soil and manure” from their property and boulevard and “cease all agricultural activities.” The order was based on a bylaw that states, vaguely, that residentially-zoned properties cannot “grow crops.” Becker’s case has drawn hundreds of his supporters to public meetings and attracted international attention, positioning Lantzville as a gross aberration of a sustainable town, where petty partisan process trumps common sense. Why would a town on an island

where 95% of food is imported not do everything possible to encourage local food production? The mayor counters that he and his council are concerned about manure and woodchip deliveries to the property, encroachment on the neighbour’s property, traffic and water supply contamination – all non-issues from what I can tell. The dispute is, unbelievably, headed for the courts. I drove down the dead-end road to Becker’s semi-rural property last month, and found it to be neatly kept, odourless and alive with squash, beans, chard, raspberries, carrots, potatoes and myriad other foods. Vancouver politicians with legitimate concerns about sloppy civic spending should be wary of the lessons from Lantzville. Attacking urban agriculture these days is a mug’s game. “Most of us in the well-fed world give little thought to where our food comes from or how it is grown,” wrote Charles Siebert in the July 2011 issue of National Geographic. “We steer our shopping carts down supermarket aisles without realizing that the apparent bounty is a shiny stage set held up by increasingly shaky scaffolding.” People are responding by growing more, not less, food in cities everywhere. Successful politicians will be out in front of this parade, not jeering from the sidelines. • Peter Ladner (pladner@biv.com) is a founder of Business in Vancouver and a former Vancouver city councillor. His book, The Urban Food Revolution: Changing the Way We Feed Cities, will be published by New Society in October 2011.

President and Interim Publisher: Paul Harris; Editor: Timothy Renshaw; News Features Editor: Baila Lazarus; Editorial Proofreader: Noa Glouberman; Online Editor : Nelson Bennett; Staff Writers: Nelson Bennett, Richard Chu, Jennifer Harrison, Glen Korstrom, Joel McKay, Jenny Wagler ; Art Director: Randy Pearsall; Photographer: Dominic Schaefer; Production Manager: Don Schuetze; Production: Rob Benac, Carole Readman, Natalie Reynolds, Soraya Romao, Annette Spreeuw; Director S ales and Marketing: Cher yl Car ter; Marketing & Events: Azadeh Hollmann, Paige Millar; Advertising Sales Manager: Kerry MacDonald; Display Advertising Sales: Janice Frome, Blair Johnston, Michele MacKenzie, Pia Tomlins, Chris Wilson, BIV Magazines Publisher: Paul Harris; Managing Publisher: Gail Clark; Editor: Naomi Wittes Reichstein; Sales Manager: Joan McGrogan; Advertising Sales: Lori Borden, Corinne Tkachuk; Administrator: Katherine Butler; Senior Researcher: Anna Liczmanska; Research/Verification: Caroline Smith; Manager, Reader Sales & Service: Deborah Hamilton; Subscription Sales Supervisor: Navreet Gill; Circulation Manager: Veera Irani; Subscription Sales: Gerard Veeneman; 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 TWITTER@BIZINVANCOUVER • Www.biv.com • www.bivinteractive.com

comment 45

September 13–20, 2011 Business in Vancouver

Labour Climate

Geoff Meggs How the greening of Vancouver is helping the city’s economy

ho says regulations a re job-k i l lers? A new ban on sending mattresses to landfill generated 45 new private-sector recycling jobs – and yes, those are “green” jobs – in less than eight months, according to a recent Metro Vancouver news release. The three new businesses jump-started by the ban deconstructed each one of 47,000 mattresses, enough to create a pile one-anda-half times the height of Everest, diverting 95% of the materials from landfill. Is this the kind of job to expect from Vancouver’s new Greenest City Action Plan, one goal of which is “to double the number of green jobs over 2010 levels by 2020?” Yes it is, according to John Tylee, economist at the Vancouver Economic Development Commission (VEDC), but a green job is any job that contributes to greening of the economy by reducing carbon

and pollution generally. (The plan has a much fuller and more comprehensive definition.) While only 3% of the city economy, this sector is growing at more than double the rate of the economy as a whole, Tylee said. Construction, like transportation and warehousing, accounts for 4% of the economy but is growing at less than half the rate of the green sector. The VEDC estimates there are about 11,000 such jobs in the city now. That number increases to 14,000 if local food businesses that contribute to wider green city goals are included. The goal includes sophisticated clean-tech jobs like those at Westport Innovations (TSX :W PT), which sells highly efficient natural gas buses, and the professiona l a nd intellectual skills of Vancouver’s growing crop of green building specialists, including everyone from the

tradesmen to the architects and developers. Given the clear need to reduce carbon emissions right across the economy, this is a growth area that should weather global economic uncer taint y and enjoy long-term demand. The mattress regulation saves taxpayers money by extending the life of the landfill, but it also generates wealth by creating a reliable stream of recycled

City procurement policies should also support green business goals materials for other uses. What, besides regulation, can the city do to foster green jobs? Ensuring an adequate supply of industrial land and job space in existing neighbourhoods is one key task, said Tylee, and a green business zone, which brings related businesses together

to share expertise and demonstrate their products is another. City procurement policies should also support green business goals. The toughest challenge may be changing the attitudes of business leaders. Despite recent provincial reports indicating large areas of the Lower Mainland will be f looded by the year 2100 if climate change is not halted, corporate commitment to green objectives may be waning in the face of economic turmoil. For s ome c or p or ate leaders, green initiatives are a frill to be cut in tough times. But increasing numbers of executives are discovering that “greening” their businesses is not just a “good thing to do,” but a critical competitive edge when it comes to streamlining business processes and reducing costs. The people doing that

analysis are performing green jobs, too. The green economy goal is not the only initiative in the Greenest City Action Plan, which sets objectives for cleaner water, air and many other benchmarks. Each of these will have green economy consequences as the region invests in rapid transit and waste management Nor is the green jobs plan the sum total of the city’s economic strategy, which is building on the $300 million in new activity secured during the 2010 Olympic Games in areas as diverse as tourism, film, digital arts and clean

technology. More detail on initiatives in those areas and others will be forthcoming when the VEDC unveils its larger economic development strategy. But the green jobs goal does cha llenge t he cit y to consider what it will take to be competitive in a turbulent global economy where environmental risks are casting a longer shadow over stability and growth. • Geof f Meggs, a longtime senior labour communications specialist, is a City of Vancouver councillor and the president of Tideline Communications.

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BIV Salutes BC’s Fastest Growing Companies Business in Vancouver is pleased to be hosting the 2011 Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies Awards Dinner. Coinciding with the publication of the Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies List on September 13, this event brings together the top executives of these businesses to honour them for making it on the list as well as providing a great networking opportunity for those who attend. This event provides a fantastic opportunity to meet and mingle with some of BC’s fastest Growing Companies.

For more information and to purchase tickets visit www.biv.com/events

Date: September 27, 2011 Winner’s reception: 5:30pm – 6:15pm General reception: 6:15pm – 7:00pm Awards Celebration Dinner: 7:00pm – 9:00pm Location: The Fairmont Waterfront Hotel Price: Subscribers $125 Non-subscribers $149 Corporate Tables of 10 including logo recognition $2,250