Business magazine Fall 2016

BUSINESS

SUNSHINE COAST

Fall 2016 • Vol. 03 No. 02

MAGAZINE

Vancouver & the Sunshine Coast Two Worlds Apart

PAGE 6

Signature Dishes on the Sunshine Coast PAGE 16

Business

Giving Back a unique retirement

PAGE 20

Local Celebrity

Pioneering Filmmaker, Feminist and Author PAGE 23

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Gibsons and Area ...everything you need and more

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The Town of Gibsons has the highest population density on the coast, and is the commercial and services hub for a regional population of 13,000.

Along with its proximity to the ferry, this makes Gibsons a strategic location for business success.

TOWN OF GIBSONS

• Custom Residential Design • Marine Design & Inspections P.O. Box 23009 840 O’Shea Road Gibsons, B.C. V0N 1V0

604-886-4743 info@suncoeng.com www.suncoeng.com

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We love building quality homes on the Sunshine Coast!

Sound Construction Ltd. has been involved in the construction business on the Sunshine Coast for the past 28 years.

Connect with your local WorkBC Centre...

• • Self-employment • • Career Career planning planning Self-employment planning planning • • Job • • Job Job search search workshops workshops Job boards boards • • Resume • • Internet/phone Resume writing writing Internet/phone access access • • Interview skills • Career planning Self-employment Interview skills • Placement Placement support supportplanning • Funding forworkshops • Short-term search boards occupational • Job Funding for training training • Job Short-term occupational • • Wage subsidies Resume writing • training Internet/phone access • Wage subsidies training • Interview skills • Placement support FOR MORE INFORMATION: • Funding for training • Short-term occupational FOR MORE INFORMATION: Gibsons • Sechelt Wage subsidies training Sechelt

Connect with your local WorkBC Centre...

Gibsons 5674 Cowrie St www.secheltesc.ca Unit 25-900 Gibsons Way 5674 St www.secheltesc.ca Unit 25-900 Gibsons Way (604) Cowrie 885 3351 info@secheltesc.ca FOR MORE INFORMATION: (604) 886 7729 (604) 885 3351 info@secheltesc.ca (604) 886 7729 Sechelt Gibsons Visit WorkBCCentres.ca or call (604) 660 2421 5674 Cowrie St WorkBCCentres.ca www.secheltesc.ca Unit Visit or call (604) 66025-900 2421 Gibsons Way The Employment Program British Columbia (604) 885 3351 info@secheltesc.ca (604)of886 7729 is funded by the Government of Canada and The Employment Program of British Columbia

the Columbia. is funded by of theBritish Government Visit WorkBCCentres.ca orProvince call (604) 660 2421 of Canada and

the Province of British Columbia.

The Employment Program of British Columbia is funded by the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia.

We have worked on a wide variety of projects, including new house construction, renovations, additions, workshops, garages and decks.

Our firm is led by Laurie Lacovetsky who has been an active member of the building community since 1985.

His extensive experience in all aspects of residential construction from design to completion is an important asset.

Together with his experienced crew they get the job done right.

1494 Henderson Road, Roberts Creek, BC P: 604-885-2887 • C: 604-741-7766 www.soundconstructionlimited.com Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

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CONTRIBUTORS...

Publisher, Editor Susan Attiana is Publisher of the Local Weekly and the Sunshine Coast Business Magazine. She has 30+ years experience in the newspaper, media and magazine industry in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.

She lives in Sechelt.

FROM THE PUBLISHER’S DESK...

Contributing Writer, Editor Rik Jespersen is a journalist, editor and television producer who has worked with various print, online and broadcast media across Canada over the past 30 years. He lives in Roberts Creek.

Production, Graphic Design Christina Johnstone is a Graphic Designer with 11+ yrs experience in the news industry. She produces the White Rock Real Estate Advisor, the Local Weekly, & the Sunshine Coast Business Magazine. She divides her time between Sechelt & White Rock.

I

Contributing Writer Caitlin Hicks is an author, international playwright, and acclaimed performer.

Her debut novel A THEORY OF EXPANDED LOVE was published in 2015. She worked as a writer for CBS & NBC radio & has performed her fiction & non-fiction for CBC national radio.

Contributing Writer Donna McMahon has wideranging writing experience which includes freelance journalism, business plans, plain language legal publications, newsletters, novels and short fiction.

She lives in Elphinstone.

Contributing Writer Anna Nobile is a local writer, editor and art lover. In addition to writing the arts and culture column for The Local Weekly, she is the Prose Editor for Plenitude Magazine and curates the annual LGBTQ art show during Pride on the Coast.

Contributing Writer Brian Coxford is a well known, respected and award winning TV News Journalist who recently retired after reporting his stories on Global BC and BCTV for close to 40 years.

Brian recently moved to Sechelt.

t has been reported recently by Sunshine Coast Tourism that we hosted an additional 30,000 visitors this past summer. Visitors from the USA, from the Island, from other locales, but the majority it seems were from other parts of BC. We all know why. Many tell us that we live in paradise, with our warm climate, our spectacular views, our close to year round arts and culture community, our outdoor lifestyle, our closeness to mainland Vancouver, our affordable housing and our thriving retirement community.

Flip the coin however and we can tell you that even in our own province a lot of people and businesses have never heard of the Sunshine Coast to this day. In 2008 my husband and I decided to visit searching for a weekend place closer to Vancouver. We travelled to the interior, to the Island and to the USA to find our retreat, but within two weeks of finding this place called the Sunshine Coast, we purchased our first weekend getaway. That was in 2008. Word wasn’t out yet I guess about this gem.

Fast forward to 2016 and lets review the current stats. January 2016, according to reports, showed real estate sales matching traditional June numbers, and by June the inventory was quite low including rental properties. Those who were renting their properties out decided to sell to capitalize on the over-asking sale prices. Why the spike? Overflow from the bursting Vancouver market overcome by buyers who are overseas investors? Local Vancouverites priced out of the market? Our affordable housing? Our attractive lifestyle? It’s hard to say.

This leads me to Viewpoint and some re-

search by investigative reporter Brian Coxford who joined the Sunshine Coast Business Magazine this edition to talk about market demand versus delays in development and construction. Brian reached out to key developers in our towns for their opinion and also to local decision-makers in the political arena. While respectful management of our resources and infrastructure play a key role in managing growth the view is that growth is inevitable, Let’s get started.

On a lighter note Sunshine Coast Business Magazine introduces you this edition to some treasures we have found along the way. These treasures are some of our celebrity residents and other locals giving back to community. Our Local newspaper Arts & Culture writer, Anna Nobile, introduces us to Bonnie Sherr Klein, a Roberts Creek resident. And if you know Dr. Bruce Woodburn, do you know what he is doing with his retirement years? Rik Jespersen reveals all. And another treat within the magazine is Caitlin Hicks and Gordon Halloran who were treated to some Signature Dishes on the Sunshine Coast. Delicious!

We take great pride in our work here at the Local and the Sunshine Coast Business Magazine. We would love to hear from you about other treasures on the Sunshine Coast for our next edition and when you have visitors please give them a copy of SCBM to take home! We are sure they will spread the word!

A special thank you to Mike Zanchetta and Bev Coxford in sales and John Gibbs in editorial for their valued contributions.

Susan Attiana, Publisher

THE SUNSHINE COAST BUSINESS MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED TWICE A YEAR BY THE LOCAL WEEKLY NEWSPAPER.

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Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

WHAT’S INSIDE? >> TABLE OF CONTENTS

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VIEWPOINT Vancouver & the Sunshine Coast Two Worlds Apart

12 BUSINESS PROFILE GM Projects Ltd. 14 COAST CABLE’S COAST TV The Community Channel has Launched Many Programs… and TV Careers 15 BUY ART FEED KIDS & OYAS FOR THE GREENHOUSE Two Groups Create Community Abundance Around Food & ART 16 SIGNATURE DISHES On the Sunshine Coast

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18 WILD MUSHROOMS Renewable Bounty 20 BUSINESS GIVING BACK Envisioning a Unique Retirement 23 LOCAL CELEBRITY Pioneering Filmmaker, Feminist And Author 25 TEMS SWIYA MUSEUM First Nations Museum in Sechelt 27 BUSINESS PROFILE Central Coast Concrete 29 SC COMMUNITY FOUNDATION Ahead of the Curve

#213 - 5710 Teredo Street, Sechelt, BC, V0N 3A0 Phone: 604-885-3134 Fax: 604-885-3194 Email: publisher@thelocalweekly.ca www.thelocalweekly.ca This material written or artistic may not be re-printed or electronically reproduced in any way without the written consent of the Publisher. The opinions and statements in articles, columns and advertising are not necessarily those of the Publisher or staff of the Local Weekly. It is agreed by any display advertiser requesting space that the ownerʼs responsibility, if any, for errors or omissions of any kind, is limited to the amount paid by the advertiser for that portion of the space as occupied by the incorrect item and there shall be no liability in any event greater than the amount paid for the advertisement.

The Sunshine Coast Business Magazine is published twice a year by The Local Weekly Newspaper.

Cover Photo courtesy of: Rik Jespersen Featuring: BC Ferries - Queen of Coquitlam Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

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Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast - Two Worlds Apart

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ust a forty minute scenic ferry ride from Metro Vancouver, one of the hottest real estate economies, is the Sunshine Coast. A coastal paradise that is not on the radar of most people and businesses in BC. Why it is still virtually undiscovered boggles the minds of those who have found it.

Is it poor marketing?

Vancouverites generally think of the Okanagan or Vancouver Island when they wish to expand their businesses or wish to retire.

While a large number of residents may want it to remain a secret, businesses and many locals are hoping the Sunshine Coast will blossom and find itself in the BC economy.

Maybe it is because growth has been ignored or even discouraged, depending on Written by: the attitudes and politics that play out at town and district halls. Community residents Brian have largely been divided up the middle on Coxford favouring change or favouring the status quo, which means not wishing to change the quiet, rural and beach lifestyle they enjoy. Mention a “fixed link,” bringing more people to the Sunshine Coast, and you will provoke a heated debate.

elt Mayor Bruce Milne stated recently that council moves slowly in Sechelt and this is frustrating a group of mostly local developers who want to move their community forward.

Sechelt has the second oldest per capita population in BC, yet two seniors projects, Ocean Stories and Westbrook by the Sea, with 225 units combined, worth close to $75 million, employing at least 50 people, have been waiting patiently to be approved. About his frustrations related to the approval of his Ocean Stories Seniors Project, Doug Spani a long time local developer says the bureaucracy is getting so big, it is getting so hard to do anything. There are burgeoning opportunities but the transportation industry, ferries, road networks and governments aren’t keeping up.”

Two boutique hotels, Porpoise Bay Resort and Blue Ocean Golf Course Hotel, over $150 million in development, are also waiting.

Ian Macdonald, of Vaka Marketing is the marketer for both projects.

Ian says, “From an economic demand perspective, we are in the best position we have ever been – there are opportunities in front of us

Just as Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast are worlds apart in their thinking, so it seems are the councils and residents in the town of Gibsons and Sechelt, the largest communities on the Coast.

In Gibsons, the council has approved or is about to approve four large developments. Mayor Wayne Rowe thinks they are game changers for his community. In Sechelt, there are six big projects that are sitting at various stages of approval. Five have been on the books for some time now. Just recently, a proposal by RTC Developments came forward to build a six-storey, 48-unit townhome project on the water. It is near the downtown core and could conform with Sechelt’s density town plan. By his own admission, Sech-

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Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

Artist rendition: Ocean Stories, Spani Seniors Project, Sechelt, BC.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SPANI

PHOTO BY RIK JESPERSEN

banging on the door – the Sunshine Coast has never marketed itself in any strategic way in Vancouver. If it did, it would change things dramatically.”

Also on the books, is an ambitious plan to build Sechelt Sustainable Community. SSC is 170 hectares of sustainable development proposed for east Porpoise Bay. It would take up to 20 years to complete. It is a development that includes affordable housing, an age in-place seniors’ community, agricultural food production and a live-in next generation secondary school, accommodating 600. At build-out, the proposal calls for homes for 1,360 dwelling units and bring at least 500 new jobs.

The SSC team are eager to get started and want to build affordable housing first because it is badly needed on the coast.

They are aspiring to be North America’s most sustainable community and will have their own water source, and be less dependent on city services.

Mayor Milne of Sechelt rebuffs the claims that he and his council are anti-development, suggesting the development proposals that are before them are “great opportunities that we haven’t seen in over 20 years.” He stated, “there is no reason to believe these projects can’t go ahead in some fashion sooner than the end of our mandate.” Milne predicts a historical high growth rate of 2.5 percent over the next five years. It will be stable growth with mid-life families including trades people finding a reason to stay. In 10 years he thinks Sechelt will be a community similar to now, but with higher density downtown and in the suburban areas. He would like to see over 300 homes built next to the high school and further north, and some parts of the SSC project built.

If real estate sales and prices are an indication, a change is in the wind. The market is hotter than it has been in years. Detached home sales on the Sunshine Coast in August rose 16 percent over last year and prices have jumped 26 percent.

In Gibsons, several development opportunities are well underway whereas proposed development in Sechelt is hanging in the long approval process. It’s worth noting however, that in Gibsons, it took 11 years in the approval process before the controversial George boutique hotel, conference and wellness center on the waterfront broke ground. It will bring 150 jobs paying on average $30 thousand to $40 thousand, 116 rooms, 39 condos, and pump over $100 million dollars in construction and development costs into Gibsons economy. The George owner, Klaus Fuerniss, admits that there were many times that he almost gave up. “Fortunately the majority of the people voted for it. A small group don’t want change, and I respect their opinion.” Site preparation for The George is underway. Four of the five older homes removed from the waterfront have been recycled to be used elsewhere in the community.

Fuerniss, who is well respected in the convention and hospitality industry, honed his expertise as an executive in Expo 86. There will be a teaching facility at the resort in conjunction with Vancouver Community College, offering courses in health and wellness, and various disciplines in the hospitality industry. The George will cater to conferences with some convention participants ferrying over from Vancouver. It will have two restaurants, and 21 treatment rooms for better health. Feurniss says that the 11 year approval process has been “exhausting, frustrating and very expensive.” However he is glad that the current Gibsons council is moving ahead, offering the community choices and seeing to attract a younger demographic.

Also well underway, but delayed somewhat due to a lack of “trades” is the Gibsons Public Market set to open this fall. It is a mini-Granville Market, with a distinctly different feel. Twenty five construction workers are building a two–storey aquarium which

Mayor Milne of Sechelt rebuffs the claims that he and his council are anti-development, suggesting the development proposals that are before them are “great opportunities that we haven’t seen in over 20 years.”

He stated, “there is no reason to believe these projects can’t go ahead in some fashion sooner than the end of our mandate.” will be a focal feature of the market. The Marine Education Center will be a teaching and tourism catalyst drawing people of all ages to the market and to Gibsons. The project is a unique non-profit social enterprise involving volunteers, corporate and private donors and the town. Gibsons Mayor, Wayne Rowe, says “ Our council views this project as an important stimulus for our town.” Rowe may be best described as a cautious, progressive mayor. “The knock is, it takes forever to get rezoning. It is a valid criticism, but I think we are taking steps to expedite the process. We encourage development it has to fit – we are still undiscovered, and some people want it that way. Controlled change is the key phrase. We don’t want to be a Langley, or a suburb of Vancouver. I am quite excited by the opportunities – I am of the firm view we have reached a tipping point where there ...continued on page 8 Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

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continued...

Waterfront of SSC Properties’ 170 hectares proposed sustainable development, east Porpoise Bay.

PHOTO BY SSC PROPERTIES

is really going to be a surge of interest on the Sunshine Coast.”

Dave Longman is an entrepreneurial local developer who wants to be part of that opportunity. The longtime Gibsons resident is steps away from final approval for his coast distillery and brewery restaurant. He says his multi-million dollar entertainment facility with over a dozen new jobs is what we need if we are going to attract a younger workforce. With three percent of millennials leaving Vancouver escaping the housing and rent crunch, Longman believes that the Sunshine Coast is a perfect landing spot. Today’s demographics show just over half of Gibsons population is 24-64 years old and they want places to go.

Longman believes the tough slogging, the sometimes disingenuous costly approach to development is turning around. “The potential for new development has never been better—there is a feeling that something is different---I am excited. The school population is rising and the coast has one of the most educated populations in Canada.

Artist rendition: the George Hotel & Residences, Gibsons, BC.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Artist rendition: the George Hotel & Residences, Gibsons, BC.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

William Baker, Gibsons Chamber of Commerce President, says the Sunshine Coast needs millenials, new families and tech-oriented companies. “We do not want to be just a retirement community – we are trying to attract those people and smaller companies who move for lifestyle.”

It seems most businesses and community leaders agree, the opportunities in front of them have never been better. They are there for the taking if the town councils in Sechelt and Gibsons are sincere in their commitments to move forward.

The obstacles in the way are the old enemies; A fixed link, which most agree won’t be here anytime soon, and more reliable increased ferry access. Nevertheless, the Sunshine Coast and the lifestyle it provides would seem to have a bright future ahead.

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Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

Thinking of Expanding or Building your Business?

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Contact us for resources and information about moving, buying or starting a business, or working from home.

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Gibsons & District Economic Development Data about our region www.gibsonsanddistrict.ca

Gibsons Visitor Information Centre Open year round - 417 Marine Drive (across from Molly’s Reach) www.gibsonsvisitorinfo.com visitorinfo@gibsonschamber.com 1-866-222-3806 / 604-886-2374 Gibsons & District Chamber of Commerce Open weekdays, 10 to 2, in Sunnycrest Mall 604-886-2325 exec@gibsonschamber.com

www.gibsonschamber.com

2016 Board of Directors.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE GIBSONS & DISTRICT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

GIBSONS CHAMBER SEES OPPORTUNITY IN GROWTH, CHANGE

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n March of 2017, the Gibsons and District Chamber of Commerce will be celebrating its 70th anniversary. For seven decades, through economic booms and downturns, the Chamber has maintained its focus: to build a better community, create a positive business environment, and help its members compete in an expanding and changing global marketplace.

In the past decade, the Coast has experienced unprecedented growth, and our economy’s direction has moved from the resource sector into the service-based industries. Recognizing the challenges faced in this time of change, the Gibsons Chamber has partnered with other business organizations in our wider Coastal community to deliver a series of workshops designed to keep our businesses competitive while improving the bottom line for all.

This time of change offers an opportunity to grow our economy in a new direction. As the economic development representative for the Town of Gibsons and SCRD Areas E and F, the Gibsons Chamber developed a comprehensive website as part of its outreach strategy (www. gibsonsanddistrict.ca) and is working closely with the Sunshine Coast Economic Development Organization to partner on future strategies.

And with tourism moving to the forefront of our Coastal economy, the Gibsons Chamber has strengthened ties with the Sunshine Coast Tourism Partnership. The Chamber welcomes visitors to the Coast at its Visitor Information Park near the top of the Lower Gibsons Bypass. This is a very visible point with maps and signage introducing our destination. Travellers are also directed (via our on-board Ferry Ambassadors) to the Visitor Centre in Gibsons Landing where they are welcomed with maps, brochures, and a wealth of information on attractions, facilities and events. The Gibsons Visitor Centre, operated by the Chamber since 1983, is open year-round, as the “tourist season” now seems to be starting in March or April and ending in late October or early November.

There are many benefits available to Chamber members besides our comprehensive insurance programs – discounts on hotels, gas, automotive servicing, airport parking and travel to name a few. Find out more at our website (gibsonschamber.com) or call Chis Nicholls at 604886-2325.

William Baker

President Gibsons & District Chamber of Commerce Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

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Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

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GM PROJECTS: THE RIGHT CHOICE FOR YOUR NEXT HOME OR RENOVATION PROJECT: Gary McPhie, the owner and founder of G.M. Projects, LTD, has been building custom homes, commercial buildings, and restaurants in the greater Vancouver area and Vancouver Island since 1975. After moving to the Sunshine Coast 20 years ago, the company is proud to be based in Roberts Creek.

Our home building and renovating philosophy is to respect the land first as we believe that a home should be in harmony with nature. This creates an atmosphere of beauty and tranquility that nourishes the soul.

From initial ideas, walking the property , all the way to the completion of your new home or renovation, we build fine homes to be enjoyed for generations.

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Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

As building professionals, we have extensive knowledge and many years of experience working on challenging building sites. Working with the same professional trades people for many years provides our company with the consistent quality and attention to detail that shows in all of our projects.

Our company has been privileged to have had opportunities to build challenging, unique and beautiful, new and renovated homes for very interesting and satisfied clients.

We have long lasting relationships with our customers and are always available for consultation.

For More information about our company, please visit our website: www.gmprojects.ca

CONTACT: Gary McPhie GM Projects Ltd. 604-220-1946 www.gmprojects.ca

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Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

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COAST CABLE ’S

CoastTV

The community channel has launched many programs… and TV careers

W

e might grumble about the cost of cable TV in this country, and in fact Canadians do pay some of the highest service fees in the world. But when it comes to Sunshine Coast companies that also give back to the community, it’s hard not to put Coast Cable close to the top of the list.

That give-back—or more aptly a “reflect-back”—comes in the form of Coast TV, the powerhouse little channel that, in many ways, shows the Sunshine Coast community to itself.

Coast TV—on cable 10 if you’re a Coast Cable subscriber—produces broadcasts of everything from live league hockey games to cooking shows; from parades to politics. Much of the programming is produced live from the company’s eight-camera truck. If there’s a marathon, a high school grad ceremony, a community meeting or any number of other kinds of events, Coast TV will often be there, as will the channel’s manager, Steve Sleep.

“We’re on the air 24/7,” noted Sleep, the bornand-bred Coaster who was trained at CBC in Written by: Vancouver and, now 57, has held the manager’s job for more than 30 years. Sleep runs the Rik operation with just one other employee, BrittaJespersen ny Broderson, but also with the help of a corps of dozens of volunteers, from teens to seniors.

Sleep is quietly proud of everything the channel manages to get done, but gets especially enthused about some of the newer programming.

“We have a weekly program which we’re shooting right now called ‘Nail It Or Fail It’ [in which Broderson tries out new gadgets to see if they actually work]” said Sleep. “We have a new program called ‘The Plant Powered Kitchen.’ It’s a vegan cooking show and we’re shooting that with a volunteer producer and chef named Deb Gleason. We’ve got another new show this fall called ‘Fran Coast,’ produced by a young high school student from Chatelech Secondary, who’s doing the whole show in French.”

Some of the locally produced Coast TV productions, like “That Wilderness Survival Show,” are also rebroadcast at the partner cable system in Delta, and on other the local channels within the cross-country system run by the parent company, Eastlink.

But along with its range of competent, low-cost programming, there’s another side to the Coast TV story that’s just as crucial to its integration into the community: Since it first became a part of the local cable system in about 1980, Coast TV has been based in Elphinstone Secondary School, where students can choose broadcasting courses as electives.

“The broadcasting program was started by Marta Mackown, who was a teacher here in the school,” Sleep said. “Marta got together with Maryanne West, a community volunteer who had been doing some work with the CRTC (the federal broadcast regulator) and

Coast TV Manager Steve Sleep.

PHOTO BY RIK JESPERSEN

knew the requirements for community television. Marta and Maryanne approached the cable company and said, ‘Can we have access to the channel?’”

The company eventually said yes, thus launching a new iteration of Coast TV, with students learning the ropes in a broadcasting course where they produced local content for the channel.

Elphinstone’s broadcasting courses, in turn, have launched many students into TV and film production careers.

“If you visit a film set in Vancouver, you’ll find one of our former students, almost guaranteed. If you visit a television station in Vancouver, you’ll find one of our students there,” Sleep said. “If you watch the ‘Ellen DeGeneres Show,’ the TD (technical director) is a graduate of this program. He’s the same guy who was the TD for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Vancouver Olympics.”

The success stories don’t end there.

“We have students who’ve worked for the BBC, we have students who sell programs for national networks. There’s three graduated Elphinstone students working in news at CTV in Vancouver,” he added. “BCIT (the BC Institute of Technology, in Burnaby) knows our students well. We’ve had a student accepted into the BCIT Broadcasting Program, which is a hard program to get into, just about every year since I’ve been here. We have two there now.”

Sleep attributes the Elphinstone program’s reputation to its level of training.

“I was trained at the CBC, so the standards that I came to this program with were high, and the standards that Marta had were extremely high for the students,” he said.

Coast TV: community channel and educator, has set its own admirable standard of giving back.

From the left, Coast TV’s Brittany Broderson, Steve Sleep and show host Deb Gleason.

PHOTO BY RIK JESPERSEN

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Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

Two groups create community abundance around food & ART

Buy

Art Feed Kids

T

he unmistakable rise in the cost of living on the Sunshine Coast, most notably in housing and food, impacts everyone, especially young families. It’s difficult to find rental accommodation within a limited budget (the average two bedroom home now costs $1,600 per month), and the cost of groceries continues to climb up, up, up. Last year a family of four had to pay an average of $1,000 per month for groceries. It’s no wonder that for lower-income families, buying fruits and vegetables is often considered a luxury.

In this reality, low income working families are having to make difficult trade-offs – apples Written by: or chips? Cabbage or chocolate bar? Organic or Caitlin pesticide residue? When you’re buying in terms of calories per dollar, unfortunately junk food alHicks most always wins out.

In response, some families are maximizing the use of their garden space to grow their own nutritious food, and others are chipping in, creatively.

Buy Art-Feed Kids is a newly formed social enterprise on the Sunshine Coast. Initiated by local artist Dana Caple, its mission is to support young families, especially mothers, by providing them with food vouchers for nutrient dense fruits and vegetables to feed their children. Buy Art-Feed Kids recognizes that more than anyone, newborns, infants and children need nutrients for proper brain function and early growth and fine motor development to help get them on the right path to live a healthy productive life.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

The enterprise provides food vouchers for fresh, healthy, local produce so that kids can get the nutrient dense foods they need. Proceeds go directly to the ‘Bellies and Babies’ program within Sunshine Coast Community Services (serving low income families here since 1974).

Buy Art-Feed Kids invites those who have enough for themselves to buy art from their online gallery at http://buyartfeedkids.com. The first 50 per cent goes directly Bellies & Babies program to help young families bridge the gap. It’s a new model of social enterprise because the remaining 50 per cent earned from the sale of artwork goes back to the artist. What’s new here is that artists, routinely asked to donate their artwork for fundraisers, are being recognized as having to pay the grocer like everyone else.

For further information contact: buyartfeedkids@gmail.com

Oyas for The Greenhouse at Davis Bay Elementary

I

n another philanthropic project, art and community work together around food to make life better for families and children.

During the Sunshine Coast Art Crawl, Davis Bay Elementary and Sechelt Sustainable Community (SSC) are co-fundraising for a greenhouse which will be used for educating students about how to grow healthy food. Oyas for The Greenhouse at Davis Bay Elementary event at Art Crawl will take place at SSC Properties during the Art Crawl weekend, Friday – Sunday, October 21, 22 and 23.

Once Davis Bay Elementary gets their greenWritten by: house, students can learn about biology, agriculture, water management, seed-saving and Caitlin more, while getting their hands dirty growing Hicks delicious and healthy vegetables. But the potential for The Greenhouse at this elementary school reaches much further, bringing the entire school and community together in collaborative school projects.

The Greenhouse Project is evolving and will be made possible due to the combined efforts of many parent volunteers, ongoing fundraising, and an assortment of private contributions. These sig-

nificant commitments already include the structure itself, many of the required materials, delivery of the structure and materials to the site, land clearing, and construction coordination. The end result will take a currently unused portion of the school property and turn it into a significant asset for the school and community.

In preparation for the fundraiser at the Art Crawl, Sechelt Sustainable Community has purchased a number of Oyas from a Wilson Creek manufacturer, Alexander Goods. Oyas are large bottles made of terracotta clay, designed to be partly buried in the ground in the center of a garden and filled with water. This encourages the plants to grow deep roots as the water seeps through the clay, providing irrigation at a time of drought and saving water.

At Art Crawl, funds will be raised by the sale of student decorated and designed Oyas. This will help to fund The Greenhouse.

Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

15

Signature Dishes on the SweetWater Bistro

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Red snapper with white wine & dill beurre blanc.

Daphne Mediterranean Kitchen

PHOTO BY GORD HALLORAN

still, end-of-August Tuesday at dusk. A serene view of the blue waters of Howe Sound from the deck at SweetWater Bistro and an abundance of soft felt blankets for the slight chill in the air. It’s early but the restaurant already buzzes with a jazz music kind of evening. I’m here to taste their ‘signature dish’ and it’s going to be red snapper “from our waters”.

I confess, I’m not a fish lover, but it sounds gourmet-delicious: fresh local red snapper with white wine, dill beurre blanc, served with green pea and corn risotto as well as mixed vegetables. As the Maitre’d welcomes his regular customers, I learn that the chef has been here since noon baking and prepping. Frederick Haut-Labourdette, an original from France, has worked under two Michelin-starred award-winning chefs. He and his apprentice make all their own pastries from scratch.

I snitch a glimpse of the tiny kitchen. A man in a white chefs’ jacket arranges food on a plate, looking into the dish tenderly as if it were a beloved thing.

Co-owners Andrew Stead and Brigitta Luettge have been a tagteam, working the room for the past 7 years. “We never left the restaurant with employees,” she says with her understated pride.

The food arrives, hot and mouthwatering. My guest has ordered the chicken (usually my favorite) but the lightness of the fish in my mouth makes me understand why this is the anointed ‘signature’. The exquisite risotto shares the plate with cooked-to-perfection broccoli and cauliflower.

Chef Frederick Haut-Labourdette, SweetWater Bistro.

PHOTO BY ANDREW STEAD

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Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

Grilled Halloumi cheese from Cypress with heirloom tomatoes.

PHOTO BY GORD HALLORAN

A

bustling Sechelt hot spot for dinner, where the tasty fare is either ‘local or imported’. Daphne’s formerly Greek menu has recently expanded to include eclectic Mediterranean dishes served to share, mezzethes. Owner Andreas Zervas, three months ago recruited chef Scott Robertson from the top Vancouver Greek restaurant (The Greek by Anatoli in Yaletown) where Robertson had opened only a short year and a half before receiving ‘the top Greek restaurant’ prize. Now, at Daphne’s, he’s expanding the menu to include smaller dishes designed to be shared. We enjoyed Halloumi cheese, (a grilled white cheese imported from Cypress in a dish with sliced heirloom tomatoes, mint, basil, olive oil and warm pita bread).

Next was Kebab, (a beef, pork and lamb ground mix) created by Robertson with a light and lovely taboulleh, using couscous instead of bulgar wheat. This dish, paired with homous and a crisp yet soft pita had Arabic, Turkish and Greek influences with the mix of mint, tahini, garlic, lemon, dill and lime. It has been years since I ate meat at all, but savored every bite of this signature dish.

For real Greek authenticity, Elianna (Andreas’ mother) provides staple Greek dishes such as the delicious homous, the more familiar mousakka, taramosalata (a tangy carp caviar dip) and keftedes (traditional Greek meatballs). Robertson is adding dishes and tweaking an already popular menu.

Chef Robertson serves kebabs with taboulleh (made with couscous).

PHOTO BY GORD HALLORAN

Sunshine Coast Written by: Caitlin Hicks

Painted Boat, Madeira Park

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beautiful, crisp first day of fall, and the view from Painted Boat is spectacular: the restaurant sits above the harbor, the water, the hills sparkling in the September sun. We’re early and today the modern restaurant is empty; it feels like the moment before everyone arrives. We’ve had a few very delicious meals in this restaurant in the past; today the entire menu has been redesigned to reflect a Mediterranean ‘fresh forward’ flavour, a menu sophisticated enough to cater to high end tourists as well as be accessible to locals, with prices ranging from $9 (Small & Sharing Plates) to $35 (8 oz NY Striploin).

Chef Steven Doucet, in kitchen whites, approaches us with a ‘large plate’ bowl of Porco à Alentejana “Pork and Clam” (French / Portugese influences): Savary Island Clams, Pimento Grilled Pork Tenderloin, Baby Yukon Potatoes and a Spicy Broth. The dish had been marinating and cooked down, with red peppers, tomatoes, cinnamon, fennel and salt-soaked lemon in a process that started a day and a half ago. He’s deglazed the clams with red wine instead of white. The pork is tender:

Porco à Alentejana “Pork and Clam”, Painted Boat.

PHOTO BY GORD HALLORAN

just under cooked before being finished in the steaming broth. One taste of the broth reveals a smooth, spicy, layered flavour. I have a forbidden bite of the pork; it’s succulent and delicious.

Doucet’s signature dish reflects his Gramma, who imbued him with a love of the kitchen, and 22 years of working in the industry; in Montreal, immersed in its vibrant culinary scene; in Whistler at Hilton and in Lyon, his ‘early stage’ with French-trained Portugese chefs. His touch is Mediterranean.

Chef Steven Doucet.

PHOTO BY GORD HALLORAN

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Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

17

WILD MUSHROOMS:

Renewable Bounty

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David Piasta of SHROOM (the Society for the Hunting and Recognition and Observation of Mushrooms) identifies oyster mushrooms. PHOTO BY DAVID PIASTA.

s autumn clouds gather over the Sunshine Coast and rain pelts down, visitors close up their summer cottages, and most residents retreat indoors grumbling. But mushroom aficionados have been looking forward to this soggy season all year long.

Wild mushrooms flourish along the Pacific Coast from July to November, and savvy pickers comb the rainforest in search of chanterelles, king and queen boletus, pine mushrooms, pigs ears, cauliflowers, Turkey tails, lobster mushrooms, and chicken of the woods.

The local mecca for Written by: mushroom gatherers is the Mushroom Festival Donna held in Pender Harbour McMahon by SHROOM (the Society for the Hunting, Recognition and Observation of Mushrooms) each October. Events include a public show, forays, presentations, and, of course, cooking. Local restaurants also get in on the act, such as Ruby Lake Resort’s wild mushroom feast.

Mark Wilkes, chef of the Gumboot Restaurant in Roberts Creek, not only gathers and cooks mushroom, he also cultivates them and sells mushroom growing kits.

“I have learned over the years that mushrooms are the most unpredictable thing on the planet,” he said. But with proper harvesting techniques and cultivation, they are a

18

sustainable resource.

The gourmet and medicinal properties of mushrooms are well known, but not many people are aware of their use in making dyes. This year, enthusiasts from all over the world are coming to Pender Harbour for the 17th Annual International Fungi & Fibre Symposium.

Fibre artist Anne Harmer of Bluff Hollow Artworks in Garden Bay is part of the fibreshed movement which promotes local fibre, dyes and artisans. Commercial synthetic fabric dyes are very toxic, and concerns about pollution have led to renewed research into natural alternatives. An astonishing array of soft and rich colours can be produced from mushrooms.

Chanterelle mushroom. PHOTO BY MYKODEN

Beautiful fabric dyes can be made from mushrooms.

PHOTO BY ANN HARMER.

Chef Aldo Cogrossi of La Trattoria Italiana restaurant at Ruby Lake Resort displays a recent find from Dakota Ridge, a giant porcini (a.k.a. king bolete) mushroom weighing in at 2.76 kg, which was a part of La Trattoria’s 4th Annual Wild Mushroom Feast. PHOTO BY SASHA HUNT

“As people become more and more interested in what can be done with what’s on hand locally, the profile of mushroom dying will increase,” said Harmer.

Mushroom pickers tend to be a cagey bunch, closely guarding the secret of their favourite harvesting spots. While most collect only for their own use, a few sell to mushroom

Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

The orange “skin” of the Lobster mushrooms produces a brilliant fabric dye and the white flesh is edible.

PHOTO BY ANN HARMER

buyers, whose signs sprout by the roadsides in fall. The buyers in turn wholesale the product to national and international distributors.

No statistics are kept on this industry, but one academic study estimated annual exports of 200,000 to 500,000 kilos, mostly to Europe and Asia. Morels, chanterelles and pine mushrooms are popular. Harvests fluctuate dramatically from year to year with

growing conditions, demand, and international prices. Most picking is done on Crown land. Picking in provincial and regional parks is not permitted.

For those who are keen to learn about wild mushrooms, a newly launched business, Murphy’s Forest Tours and Fly Fishing, offers courses on finding and identifying wild forest mushrooms.

“I love collecting them and I’ve done a lot of study,” said proprietor, Stephen Murphy. “I started to realize the importance of mushrooms in the ecosystem, and thought this would be a nice thing to share with people.”

Most species of wild mushrooms have never been successfully cultivated, so the mushroom harvest depends on mature temperate rainforest. Fungi co-exist with trees and help to recycle forest nutrients.

Responsible pickers cut or pick mushrooms carefully so as not to damage the subsurface mycelium, and do not disturb the duff on the forest floor.

“As the old growth forests are logged, the habitat for these mushrooms are destroyed and won’t come back for 50 or 60 years,” noted Harmer.

For more information about mushrooms on the Sunshine Coast, visit shroom.org.

David Piasta supports his nephew Eric Piasta in harvesting oyster mushrooms from a tree. PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID PIASTA.

Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

19

Business Giving Back

Envisioning a unique retirement:

To keep doing your best can benefit the most

D

r. Bruce Woodburn has a new and unusual business plan.

Its primary goal: “Don’t make any money.”

The 61-year-old ophthalmologist’s Sechelt practice does generate a considerable income. He just doesn’t take a penny of it for himself. After paying his office expenses, he donates everything that’s left over to Seva Canada, a Vancouver-based charitable organization with a mission to restore sight and prevent blindness in the developing world.

It’s Woodburn’s unique and deeply satisfying “retirement” project.

He gets to spend three days a week in his medical office doing what he loves, living comfortably off a nest egg, all while making the world a better—and literWritten by: ally brighter—place for people who might otherwise suffer blindness.

Rik

Jespersen

Woodburn started to contemplate retiring two years ago, but couldn’t figure out how he wanted to spend all that free time. He said he thought about it for a long while, then woke up from a deep sleep one morning realizing, “Oh, I know what I’m going to do.” The business plan was born.

Dr. Bruce Woodburn in his Sechelt medical office.

RIK JESPERSEN PHOTO

“I realized I really enjoyed coming into the office, and I enjoyed talking to the patients and I enjoyed the people that I work with and I enjoyed the clinic, and I enjoyed doing other things as well,” Woodburn recalls. “I wondered, ‘Why would I stop doing that, if I enjoy it?’”

He said it would especially be a waste, given his expertise in a healing profession: “If you still wanted to be in the game and help people, why wouldn’t you?”

Woodburn sees crucial distinctions in the way people can help others. While volunteering is one important form of contributing, money can be more effective.

“Many retirees donate volunteer time to charities. But often the charity would benefit more if individuals donated the proceeds of their ‘career time’ instead,” he said.

Born and raised in Vancouver, Woodburn worked as a family doctor in Queen Charlotte City for eight years before he opened his specialty practice in Sechelt in 1993. Over the next two decades, he performed more than 4,000 cataract operations at Sechelt Hospital (then St. Mary’s).

But, because a cataract operation can be performed in the developing world for about $50, his donations have actually helped accomplish even more than he did in his career here.

20

Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

These two elderly Nepalese patients were completely blind before having Seva-sponsored cataract surgery the day before the picture was taken. BRUCE WOODBURN PHOTO

“Since I started my ‘non-profit’ practice, I have funded more cataract surgery in Nepal than I performed in 20 years in Sechelt,” Woodburn said.

Brian Coxford Media Works:

Seva (pronounced “say-va”), is a Sanskrit word for service, and Woodburn has lived up to that by donating his time as well as money. Last winter, he travelled to Nepal for the charity for three weeks, helping establish a glaucoma prevention program in a rural hospital district.

A well told story with video can define a company, giving it credibility and purpose...

“They’re doing all sorts of really good work, but they’re just not addressing glaucoma. It’s like the last unaddressed problem in the developing world for ophthalmology. Glaucoma is just a really difficult problem from a public health point of view.”

How can your Corporate Story increase your business?

The condition, which affects about two per cent of the human population, is caused by a subtle buildup of pressure in the eyeball that can only be detected in a medical test. Unless it’s found and treated early, nerve damage from glaucoma causes untreatable blindness some 20 years later.

Woodburn developed a glaucoma screening program that will be implemented over the next 10 years.

“I’d like to visit other places that Seva works in and do a similar thing,” he said.

Woodburn said he’s sharing his story because it could be helpful for others near-retirees in a similar quandary.

“I’d recommend doing this for anybody who’s lucky enough to be in a position to retire, but enjoys what they do. It doesn’t matter what it is. Enjoy what you’re doing. If you can benefit somebody else, why not keep doing it?”

Helping Businesses Tell Their Story.

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Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

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Local Celebrity

Bonnie Klein Pioneering Filmmaker, Feminist and Author

P

ioneering filmmaker, feminist, author, activist, Officer of the Order of Canada, Seth and Naomi Klein’s mother (yes, that Seth, that Naomi). But when I arrive at the home of Bonnie Sherr Klein in Roberts Creek, she’s just Bonnie, and invites me onto her deck with its stunning view of the Salish Sea. “It’s such a beautiful day,” she smiles. “Let’s enjoy it.” Klein, along with husband Michael, who himself became a Member of the Order of Canada this past June, is thinking about legacy. “There’s a turning point,” Klein says. “You suddenly are in a position where you can review your life and impart whatever parts of it have relevance for people.”

Educated at Barnard College and Stanford University, Klein had plenty of experience when she joined the National Film Board’s Anna Studio D in 1975. The Kleins were then livNobile ing in Montreal. She directed and produced a number of films, but is best remembered for her pioneering documentary, Not A Love Story: A Film About Pornography. “I went to a corner store with Naomi who was nine or 10,” recalls Klein. “I saw the [porn] magazines around and thought, ‘what could she make of this?’” When a “bureaucratic mishap” at the NFB suddenly meant she had money to make a film, Klein took on pornography.

Written by:

The film takes an investigative approach, trying to define pornography and its effect on people’s relationships. “It was shooting from the hip,” says Klein of the film’s style. “It was so personal. It took a toll on everybody involved.” Klein’s camera isn’t shy. In addition to interviews with feminists and porn industry insiders, there are scenes from inside strip clubs and peeps shows and contains graphic footage from porn films themselves. For its time, it was ground breaking. The film was banned by the Ontario censor for showing the very images it was trying to draw attention to as demeaning to women. “It’s a fraught subject,” understates Klein of the controversy that followed the film’s release in 1982. “Men felt accused…We used to find women in the washrooms crying after screenings.” Not A Love Story may not be without its flaws, but it remains a transformative Canadian film and one of the NFB’s most viewed and successful projects.

Klein’s career continued until she suffered two catastrophic strokes in 1987. They left her paralyzed and experiencing locked in syndrome, conscious and aware, but unable to move or speak. Klein now gets around on a scooter and a three-wheeled bicycle. In fact, she’s just returned from a “fabulous” cycling trip where the entire family covered 60 kilometres of the Galloping Goose Trail on Vancouver Island. But in the days after the stroke, Klein was experiencing panic attacks. “I felt incredible frustration and fear,” she says. “I

Bonnie Klein on the patio of her Roberts Creek home.

PHOTO BY ANNA NOBILE

was fortunate to have a lot of support and people who knew how to talk me down.” Over four years of therapies, risky surgery and recovery awaited her. In her straightforward manner, Klein wrote about the strokes and their aftermath in Slow Dance: A Story of Stroke, Love and Disability. Like her film work, the book gives voice to many perspectives, including statements from family and friends, along with medical reports and excerpts from Klein’s diary chronicling those challenging days. It won the Vancity Book Prize in 1998. “It’s one of the best things I’ve done,” says Klein of her book.

Klein went on to become one of the founders of the Society For Disability Arts and Culture and a producer of KickstART! a festival celebrating disability arts. “I was fascinated with all the creativity with which people met their challenges, seeing blind artists and wheelchair dancers,” says Klein. She partnered with the NFB again to make the film SHAMELESS: The ART of Disability, released in 2006, an intimate look at five artists with disabilities. “[It] has to do with people putting their own voice and image out as they want to,” explains Klein. “Instead of being misrepresented or stereotyped by other well-meaning folks.”

These days, Klein is working on a children’s book. “It came out of my own experience with grandkids and their different feelings about me in a scooter,” says Klein. She’s also informally involved in a project she calls Virtual D. At a recent conference Klein became aware that young people in media today hadn’t heard of Studio D. She’d like to see its content stored online and create a space where those veteran women filmmakers can dialogue with those coming up the ranks “[Studio D] was a huge part of my life,” Klein says fondly.

It’s just the kind of space that would reflect the collaborative approach Klein emphasized throughout her body of work and be just one part of a lasting legacy.

Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

23

The many great reasons to join the Chamber of Commerce.

T

he Sechelt & District Chamber of Commerce’s main role is to help your business or organization succeed. Not only do we focus on traditional business issues but also on the overall financial health and well-being of our community. We provide marketing and other informational services for our members as well as offer educational programs such as seminars and workshops for both members and non members. In October we offer Small Business Speaker Series & Seminars for businesses to learn about saving money, protecting their business or non profit and planning for the future. One of the most popular reasons to join the Chamber is their access to affordable health insurance which includes benefits for sole proprietors and their families. Networking is also a member benefit in small towns; it is important to develop relationships with other members of the business community, as word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool. Members and Non Members are welcome to attend

regular meet-ups so be sure to check our website or social media pages for the next meet-up near you. In addition, we host two major annual events, the Business Excellence Awards and the Wine & Taste Gala.

These events are designed to recognize local businesses and organizations for their commitment to our communities. Members are encouraged to participate. Doing so not only creates friendships and support networks, but it also gives one a sense of belonging within their community.

The Sechelt & District Chamber of Commerce will continue to work hard for you by partnering with organizations such as the Sechelt Downtown Business Association, Community Futures, SCRD and the Sunshine Coast Economic Development team to attract and maintain business, create a vibrant and unique experience for shoppers and develop policies to ensure a sustainable and viable business community. Join the movement by becoming a member today. www. secheltchamber.bc.ca

Theressa Logan Sechelt & District

Chamber of Commerce

Executive Director Sechelt and District Chamber of Commerce

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Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

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Tems Swiya Museum

PHOTOS BY ANNA NOBILE

h’elkwilwet Raquel Joe has a long to-do list. “I just take it one day at a time,” says the affable Cultural Interpreter for Tems Swiya Museum. Joe’s passion for her work is evident in the way she talks about the history of the shíshálh people, the plans she has for the Museum, and the warm welcome she gives to everyone who comes through her door. Joe has only been on the job since April, but she is full of ideas for expanding public programming and raising the Museum’s profile.

Joe is uniquely qualified for her position, having spent approximately seven years listening to and watching over 400 audio and video tapes of elders’ oral history going back to 1960. “They talk about our history, our culture, where they used to live and how they used to live,” says Joe. “I have firsthand knowledge from our elders that directly relates to everything in the Museum.”

Tems Swiya first opened its doors in June of 1996 and has welcomed thousands of Written by: visitors since, some from as far away as Germany and New Zealand. “Local people don’t Anna come,” notes Joe. “Unless they are bringing Nobile someone from out of town.” Indeed, some long-time residents of the Coast don’t even know there is a First Nations museum, despite its location next door to Raven’s Cry, Sechelt’s only movie theatre. “I need better signage,” admits Joe, no doubt mentally adding another item to her list. The 840 square foot museum houses hundreds of artifacts found up and down the Coast. “Back in the 1700s, early 1800s, we were 25,000 plus here on the Sunshine Coast,” says Joe, referencing the Nation’s early population. “That’s how many people are on the Sunshine Coast now, native and non-native. So you can imagine how big our shíshálh Nation was back in the day. Our artifacts are everywhere.”

Just this summer construction of a new home on a lot at the corner of Wharf Avenue and Porpoise Bay Road had to be suspended when archeological artifacts were discovered. “They found animal bones, arrowheads, and the remnants of a longhouse,” says Joe. Working with In Situ Consulting, the Nation recovered the artifacts which are currently being accessioned and will soon become part of the Museum’s collection.

PHOTO BY ANNA NOBILE

The oldest piece on display at the Museum is an 11,000 year old spearhead, but with more and more items discovered seemingly every day, there just isn’t enough space to exhibit everything. “What’s on display is just a drop in the bucket of what we have,” says Joe. “In the jewellery case you can see granite stone beads. We have over 500,000 of those. We have big boxes of arrowheads that haven’t even been catalogued yet, and every day we get donations and our archaeologist finds something new.” Perhaps a bigger space needs to be at the top of Joe’s to-do list.

For now, Joe is preparing for a new round of group bookings, with ElderCollege and the Spider Program from Roberts Creek Elementary already booked in for fall. Tems Swiya is also participating in the Sechelt Arts Festival (October 13-23) and the Sunshine Coast Art Crawl (October 21-23), as part of Joe’s master plan to raise the Museum’s profile in the local community. But people are welcome to drop by anytime during the Museum’s hours, Monday to Friday, 9am to 4:30pm. Admission is by donation. “We want people to come in and not have something [a fee] that stops them coming,” says Joe, who provides free tours to visitors. “I love talking about our history and culture and seeing [visitors] getting more and more intrigued and engaged and asking questions. That’s top of my list.”

Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

25

Personal Real Estate Corporation

MAKING DREAMS HAPPEN ON THE SUNSHINE COAST Pender Harbour / Madeira Park government wharf (old forestry boat rendezvous)

A

s the Pender Harbour and District Chamber of Commerce reviews what was an energetic and successful year, I realize how fortunate we are on the Sunshine Coast to have so many active people volunteering their time and financial resources to make this an attractive community.

We have a vibrant cultural scene and a great network of trails, public beaches and community wharves that make our beautiful natural environment accessible. We faithfully maintain our community centres, museums and public gardens, and we support our health, education and social service organizations. These social benefits exist only because of the efforts of volunteers and notfor-profit organizations who quietly, year after year, give their time and very often their money to make this small community what it is.

But it isn’t going to last unless we get two important things: more young families and more young adults with jobs. Seasonal tourism, a mainstay of the economy on the Coast, must be supplemented by decent year-round work opportunities that pay a living wage. The public sector jobs are not enough to sustain us.

Unless free enterprise generates more basic employment for a population of young workers, our demographic will continue to age while businesses become ever more dependent on part-time residents and the weekend getaway crowd.

Growing the economy means change, and change is hard. It is easy to think that we have paradise here now and more people are just going to wreck it. But we cannot pull up the drawbridge and close the gates. That means doing nothing, and if we do nothing, we die.

Our Chambers of Commerce use web sites and social media to attract new businesses. We work on major economic development initiatives such as improvements to the ferry service, upgrades for Highway 101 and a possible fixed road link with the Lower Mainland. We are helping create more local public amenities such as hiking trails and access to the ocean and lakes. We support Community Plans that encourage growth and new business infrastructure.

As we start our new fiscal year, the Pender Harbour and District Chamber of Commerce is reviewing all our active and proposed projects. We will continue trying to do what is right for our community by encouraging a healthy mix of new and old people and businesses.

Long time resident and REALTOR® Gina Stockwell knows the beauty and magic that the Sunshine Coast offers. She has helped so many new residents and locals capture what the rugged coastline and community are all about.

Gina shares “I often receive calls from out of town residents who have decided to come and explore the Sunshine Coast – I arrange appointments for them to view homes and tour our magnificent coast. More often than not, that first visit eventually leads to a whole new lifestyle change, where my clients become new members of The Sunshine Coast.”

Here is a story of one North Vancouver couple who made their dream a reality in just one day…

“February 28th, 2016 is a day that we would will never forget. We set out to explore the Sunshine Coast, and we arranged to meet with REALTOR®, Gina Stockwell, to view a home in the Wakefield Beach Development. We were captivated by the spectacular ocean front views, miles of shoreline, and this magnificent house, and before the day was over, we worked with Gina to make the possibility of living the dream become a reality. Life was about to change, fast.

Gina was instrumental in helping us make the transition from city life to the coast as seamless as possible. Gina’s local market knowledge and negotiation skills were invaluable. We relied on her mentorship, and most importantly – she was available anytime we needed her and arranged multiple visits to our new home, so we could properly prepare for our arrival. Waking up to panoramic views, endless miles of water and the sound of nature, we await the sunsets and storms of our first fall on The Sunshine Coast.”

Brian and Bev Coxford October, 2016

Please visit our web Site at: www.penderharbour.ca Follow us on facebook at: www.facebook.com/penderharbouranddistrict

Leonard Lee,

President

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Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

Personal Real Estate Corporation

W

hen you are looking for the best, most consistent quality Concrete your only stop on the Sunshine Coast is Central Coast Concrete.

We are conveniently located in Sechelt and deliver our Ready-Mix Concrete, anywhere on the Sunshine Coast and surrounding islands. We are capable of producing 150 cubic meters per hour with precision, so it doesn’t mater whether your job is large or small.

Because Concrete is a natural composite material it can vary from mixture to mixture but not at Central Coast Concrete. Our ready-mix Concrete is consistent throughout. Our mixing procedures using the newest computer technology with solid green solutions are guided by the skilled hands of two veteran batch technicians who have been making concrete for 50 years. We use made in BC cement powder which meets all government construction standards. Because we use computers to blend every ingredient, our ready - mix formula is never compromised. Every batch maintains its premium consistency from the plant until it is poured at your job site. Our efficient methods save builders time and money and that makes CCC an industry leader.

The Sunshine Coast produces the best sand and gravel in BC and almost nothing on the coast or in Metro Vancouver is built without it.

What you get with CCC is trust and quality.

It is part of a family owned operation that includes Stockwell Sand and Gravel. Bill Stockwell and his father before him have been mining sand and gravel on their Sechelt property for over a decade. Their customers are contractors and home builders, friends and we have been there serving them since the beginning.

Only select production materials, natures ingredients, sand and aggregate go into our Concrete. They are regularly tested by independent technicians at a provincially certified laboratory and they exceed CSA standards.

Our company offers an extensive product line, including aggregate ingredients for use in landscaping, subdivision development, construction, road building and specialty and custom products.

We are proud of the projects we have brought to life on the Sunshine Coast: • Sechelt’s Waste Water Treatment Plant • Mem7iman Child Development School shíshálh Nation • Grasshopper Pub and Pender Harbour Hotel • Retail Centre Madeira Park • Upper and Lower Bear Creek Clowhom upgrade projects (Regional Power) Our happy customers speak proudly of their work and relationship experiences with Central Coast Concrete:

“CCC since their first day on the Coast has always been the most consistent and reliable for provision of quality Concrete and admixtures.” --- Jesse Waldorf - Spani Developments “NZ Builders Ltd. Specializes in high performance building methods and requires specialized concrete mixes in the majority of our applications. Central Coast Concrete Inc. Exceeded our expectations.”

--- Damon Gray - NZ Builders “They have always exceeded our specified mix designs for various types of architectural concrete walls. They have the ability and knowledge in providing the best service and product for all Concrete applications.” --- Erik Lincoln - Grasshopper Pub Central Coast Concrete and Stockwell Sand and Gravel are the trusted names for all your commercial and residential construction needs on the Sunshine Coast.

We deliver quality products..

We look forward to working with you, making your project the best it can be.

*CHECK US OUT* www.centralcoastconcrete.ca and find us on Facebook Call Bill Stockwell at: 604-885-8235 Dispatch: 604-885-2486

Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

27

COMMUTERS AND TOURISTS IN THE AIR AND ON THE WATER WITH

A

JOSH RAMSAY

s the owner and operator of Sunshine Coast Air, I spend almost every day in the air and on the water, connecting people from Vancouver, Vancouver Island, and beyond, to the Sunshine Coast. Although the Coast is connected to the mainland, you can only get here by plane or ferry, which means our classic six-seater de Havilland beaver, once used to transport loggers and gear to remote coastal camps, now spends the majority of its time transporting tourists and commuters to and from their destinations. My passion is flying and so in 2014 I decided to start a local seaplane business in Sechelt.

I have lived on the Coast for about ten years and have been flying for more than 17 years. Sunshine Coast Air is 100% locally owned and operated which means your hard earned dollars stay in our community.

I think it is important for people to recognize the positive impacts of shopping local, as every dollar spent here multiplies exponentially within the community. SCA offers regular scheduled flights to Nanaimo and Victoria and are excited to be connecting the Coast to Vancouver in the Spring of 2017. SCA works with several tourism operators offering unique ‘flightseeing’ experiences including trips to Phantom Lake, Chatterbox Falls as well as Fly & Dine during the summer months over the Skookumchuck Rapids to the West Coast Wilderness Lodge.

WHY FLY WITH SUNSHINE COAST AIR? LOCALLY OWNED & OPERATED We are the only 100% locally owned and operated seaplane business on the Sunshine Coast offering scheduled flights to Nanaimo and Victoria. That means your hard earned dollars stay in your community.

SAFE & EXPERIENCED Our two pilots have over 40 years combined flying experience.

AFFORDABLE Early Bird Fares of $79 to Nanaimo when you book in advance and discounted rates for Seniors and Children RELIABLE We add extra flights on long weekends so you can enjoy time with family and friends.

CONVENIENT We offer FREE day and overnight parking

Be sure to download the SUNSHINE COAST AIR APP for Seat Sales to Vancouver, YVR Airport, and other West Coast Destinations.

SPRING 2017 Sunshine Coast Air will be connecting the Sunshine Coast to Vancouver. Stay Tuned! Call 604-740-8889

WWW.SUNSHINECOASTAIR.COM

YMCA Camp Elphinstone

S

ince 1907, YMCA Camp Elphinstone has been providing quality outdoor programming on its 144 acre oceanfront property near the Langdale ferry terminal. Over the years, the property has grown from an overnight summer camp to a year-round, full-service outdoor education and retreat centre. With five halls ranging in capacity from 50 up to 300 people, and cozy accommodation for more than 450, YMCA Camp Elphinstone is the perfect location to host day or overnight use groups.

YMCA Camp Elphinstone’s newest building, Exploration Hall, boasts a state of the art audio-visual system, catering facilities, a covered patio and plenty of natural light.

28

YMCA Camp Elphinstone’s newest building, Exploration Hall, boasts a state of the art audio-visual system, catering facilities, a covered patio and plenty of natural light.. © JENNIFER STRANG PHOTO FOR YMCA OF GREATER VANCOUVER

“We’ve had the pleasure of hosting business meetings, conferences, Christmas parties, a celebration of life and other gatherings in Exploration Hall,” says Pam Chater, who manages the facility. “We’re really looking forward to hosting more meetings, banquets and gatherings from our local businesses here on the Coast,” continues Chater.

Meeting space at YMCA Camp Elphinstone is only surpassed by its beautiful shoreline and lush forests, which is what really brings people back time and time again. Businesses and groups can consummate meetings and

Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

events with specialized outdoor programming like rock climbing, archery, ropes courses, kayaking, paddle boarding or more—a great way to bring a group together.

Whether the goal is professional development, training, teambuilding, celebrating or just plain fun, highly trained staff at YMCA Camp Elphinstone are able support a group’s every need and help create lasting memories.

Dates fill quickly, so contact 604-886-2025 or elphinstone@gv.ymca.ca soon to secure your dates. For more information, visit the YMCA’s website (gv.ymca.ca/elphinstone).

SUNSHINE COAST COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

Ahead of the Curve

M

ost British Columbians are familiar with the Vancouver Foundation--the largest community foundation in Canada--but few realize that BC also has 50 other community foundations. The Sunshine Coast Community Foundation (SCCF), established in 2003, is one of the smaller ones, but is making its mark as a leader of small foundations in Canada.

“Our main objective in creating the Foundation was to try to keep charitable money on the coast,” said Don Basham, a founding member of SCCF. “And our very first donor was the business community.”

The Sunshine Coast Credit Union stepped forward with a $100,000 endowment to get the ball rolling. Thirteen years later, SCCF has grown to 48 endowments totalling over $4 million, and has so far granted a half million dollars to local charities.

“We exist because we’ve got donors,” says Karen Esplen, Treasurer, a recently retired acWritten by: countant with deep ties in the community.

“We’ve had the luxury since our inception of Donna business people in the community being very McMahon generous in giving donations. They obviously see the benefit of the Foundation.”

In addition to giving out grants, the Foundation strives to provide leadership to the community. In 2008, following the example of larger foundations, SCCF decided to produce a Vital Signs report--a social and economic snapshot of the Sunshine Coast.

“We were the first small community in Canada to do Vital Signs,” said Basham. “The big cities said small community foundations would never be able to do it. We were the first and it opened the door. There are now 35 to 40 in Canada who do Vital Signs.”

What the big cities hadn’t appreciated was the dedication of local volunteers. Board members Basham and Catharine Esson put in many long hours to make the report possible. SCCF has now produced three full Vital Signs reports (2009, 2011, 2014) and is planning another for 2018.

They have also produced smaller updates. This October they published a two-page report entitled “A Community Perception of Where We Live.” This was made possible when the Vancouver Foundation conducted a province-wide survey this summer, and Sunshine Coast residents responded in large numbers.

L TO R - Vicky Dobbyn, Vice Chair; Catharine Esson, Board Secretary and Vital Signs Co-manager; Karen Esplen, Treasurer; Shelley McDade, Chair; Don Basham, Vital Signs Co-Manager. PHOTO SUBMITTED

Barrie Wilbee (centre) with Community Futures co-Executive Directors Brian Smith and Janice Iverson. PHOTO SUBMITTED

The Foundation is particularly proud of its newest endowment created in honour of longtime coast entrepreneur, Barrie Wilbee.

The Barrie Wilbee scholarship, administered through Community Futures, will be awarded to residents furthering their education in community economic development, entrepreneurship and business skills.

Wilbee, who has served on the board of the Foundation since 2008, has been a key volunteer with Community Futures Sunshine Coast since the organization started in 1987. A long time resident of Pender Harbour, he is widely known and respected as a community volunteer and mentor to people in the business community.

Another recent endowment was created in memory of local musician Daniel Kingsbury, who died in 2015 at the age of 28. According to Vice Chair Vicki Dobbyn, this endowment has been growing through fundraising events organized by his friends. “These events have really engaged young people and they’re learning to be fledgling philanthropists,” said Dobbyn.

The next big milestone for the Sunshine Coast Community Foundation, will be gaining full accreditation through Imagine Canada.

This is an ambitious undertaking for a small organization, but the board is confident of success.

“We feel really accountable to our donors who have entrusted us with these funds,” said Dobbyn. “We want to ensure that we’re operating in a fully professional and consistent way.”

SCCF also seeks out new opportunities by collaborating with other BC community foundations and their senior partner, the Vancouver Foundation. Lidia Kemeny, Director of Partnerships at the Vancouver Foundation noted that SCCF board members “are always willing to work on shared projects and use their experience to help and guide others.”

“I deeply appreciate the contribution the SCCF has made and applaud the important work they support to contribute to healthier and more vibrant communities along the Sunshine Coast,” said Kemeny.

Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

29

Sechelt Rocks!

We are proud to be part of the Sunshine Coast.

30

Sunshine Coast Business Magazine • Fall 2016

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