Business Examiner Victoria - April 2019

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APRIL 2019

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HarbourCats Team Up With Island-Based Brewers Red Arrow Brewing Company Creates Unique HarbourCats Brew

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VICTORIA Inn at Laurel Point’s Ian Powell Named BC’s Hotelier of the Year

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INDEX News Update

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Digital Marketing

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Greater Victoria

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Sales 10 West Shore

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ICTORIA - The Victoria HarbourCats and Duncan’s Red Arrow Brewing Company are teaming up this season, creating the HarbourCats Ballpark Blonde.

As part of a three-year arrangement with Red Arrow, this beer will be the featured brew at the HarbourCats’ home field, Wilson’s Group Stadium along with some other great beers from Red Arrow.

The HarbourCats beer is set to hit liquor stores at the end of may, and will be on tap around Victoria in pubs & restaurants.

“The HarbourCats Ballpark Blonde presents a great opportunity for both companies to create a more enjoyable experience in the ballpark,” says Jim Swanson, coowner and General Manager of the HarbourCats. “This community is not as interested in run-of-themill, domestic-type beer. Craft breweries - and the better flavour that comes with craft beer - works well in our park, and Red Arrow

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Opinion 22

Canadian Publications

BY ROBERT MACDONALD

SEE HARBOURCATS | PAGE 16

(Left to Right) Chris Gress, Brewmaster at Red Arrow Brewing Company, and Jim Swanson, coowner and General Manager of the HarbourCats

Knappett Nets Construction Leadership Award

Awards Honour Province’s Best as Part of BC Construction and Skilled Trades Month

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ICTORIA – Industry leader Knappett Projects Inc. was honoured with a BC Construction Leadership Award by the BC Construction Association (BCCA).

Knappett Vice President Roger Yager received the award on behalf of the company at the Annual Construction Leadership Dinner, held at the Royal BC Museum on

April 8.

“We are excited and honoured to have won this prestigious construction industry award,” says company President John Knappett. “It is a wonderful milestone in the 36 year history of our firm and gives us new energy and confidence in our path as we build on new opportunities and relationships in the coming years.

“With an incredible team of young and enthusiastic site and office staff, tempered with the experience of well recognized industry veterans, we look forward to meeting the challenges of the 21st Century.”

Knappett Projects received one of six awards handed out that night. Other winners included: Iain Elder, Technical Customer

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SEE KNAPPETT PROJECTS | PAGE 9

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NEWS UPDATE

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APRIL 2019

VICTORIA Victoria-Based Tech Company Acquires Pixel Union

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Tiny, a Victoria-based technology holding company, has acquired a majority stake in Pixel Union, a major Shopify partner.

Though the purchase price was not disclosed, Tiny has allocated $25 million to acquire other companies in the Shopify ecosystem.

Pixel Union is known for designing custom themes for online platforms, buildbuilding custom sites and stores, and performing a wide range of web services.

Pixel Union was founded

by Tiny in 2009, which sold a majority stake of the company to Teligence Capital in 2014. Earlier this month, Tiny led a round of investment that also included Freemark Partners, Saltwater, and Syrus Partners to reacquire Teligence Capital’s shares in Pixel Union.

“It’s clear that ecommerce is the future, but many people miss just how early in the story we still are.

In 2018, only 14 percent of total retail sales happened online,” Andrew Wilkinson, chairman and managing partner of Tiny told BetaKit, a Canadian Startup news organization. “That volume is set to more than double in the next decade, and we want to help make that happen.”

Tiny starts, acquires, and invests in internet businesses, investing in companies such as Vancouver-based MediMap and Victoria-based Checkfront, as well as international public and private startups.

“Shopify is the best ecommerce platform in the market and is well-positioned to help bring more retailers online,” Wilkinson told BetaK it. “We could not be more excited to throw our full weight behind the platform and to continue to invest our time, energy, and capital into making Shopify the number one choice for online retailers.”

Pixel Union’s CEO, Ben Moore, who also contributed to the recent round, will continue to manage the business.

“I couldn’t be more excited to have this renewed mandate from Tiny and the other shareholders as we pursue our strategy of developing integrated products and services that empower Shopify merchants,” Moore told BetaKit. “We believe strongly

in Shopify’s mission, its team and its product, and we are committed to supporting both Shopify and its customers as they continue to build the future of ecommerce.”

VICTORIA Affordable Housing Projects V i c to r i a C i t y C o u ncil has committed $1.835 million from its Housing Reserve Fund towards the development of two proposed affordable housing projects.

These two projects will provide 138 homes for seniors, single working adults, people with disabilities and families. “ We ’ v e h e a r d f r o m residents and businesses that affordable housing is desperately needed,” said Mayor Lisa Helps. “This contribution which leverages significantly higher i nvestment from other level s of gover n m ent, will create new affordable housing in two Victoria neighbourhoods.”

In the James Bay neighbourhood, the Capital Region Housing Corporation is proposing to redevelop an existing three-storey, 62-unit building into a four-storey building with 98 u n its of a f ford able housing for seniors, adults with disabilities, working singles and families. The City has committed $1.395 million towards the project, subject to development permit approval. The land is already zoned for the re-development.

In the Hillside Quadra neighbourhood, the Greater Victoria Housing Society proposes to create 40 units of affordable housing in a new five-storey building by redeveloping an existing three-storey,19-unit building in Quadra Village the society purchased from the private market.

The new building will provide housing for seniors, working adults, adults with disabilities and families.

The City has committed $440,000 towards the project, subject to rezoning and development permit approvals.

If the projects are approved, ten a nts i n t he ex isti ng bu i ld i ngs w i l l receive compensation and relocation support from the two housing providers consistent with the City’s Tenant Assistance Policy and will pay affordable rent in their new homes.

VICTORIA Tourism Industry Face Shortage Greater Victoria’s tourism industry is starting 2019 strong, with early numbers suggesting the region is in for another record year.

Numbers compiled by Chem ist r y Con su lt i ng show year-to-date hotel occupancy and revenue per available room are both ahead of last year’s pace.

Average occupancy was 57 per cent in the first two months of this year, up 0.43 per cent, while revenue per available room was up 34 cents to $78.32.

Chem istry pri ncipa l Frank Bourree said it is “absolutely going to be a strong year, and again we are going to be dealing with a need for more hotel rooms.”

Last year, a shortage of hotel rooms led to high daily rates and a shortage of beds (there were days when online booking sites reported the entire city was sold out) during the height of the tourism season. In 2018, Victoria hotels had a 76.43 per cent occupancy rate and revenue per room of $140.77 The other shortage is in people.

Bou rree sa id a strong economy coupled with a limited labour pool could spell trouble for some tourism businesses. “I’ve never seen the [labour situation] this bad,” he said of a region with an unemployment rate of 3.2 per cent. “And there’s no end in sight.”

Bourree said with affordable housing still a problem and the tourism sector often at the bottom of the pecking order after hightech, construction and the public sector when it comes to hiring, there could be shortages.

There was a slight drop in ferry traffic through the first two months of this year, with BC Ferries reporting a 2.16 per cent drop in vehicle traffic and 2.14 per cent drop in passengers on its busiest route between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay. Victoria International Airport had a slight drop in passenger numbers with a 2.82 per cent reduction compared to the first two months of last year.

Victoria Conference Centre has 7,389 delegate days booked, compared to 13,461 at the same time last year.

SEE NEWS UPDATE | PAGE 3

NEWS UPDATE

APRIL 2019

NEWS UPDATE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

VICTORIA Coastal Communities Social Procurement Initiative Victoria is one of the many communities across Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast that will benefit from an initiative to change how local governments purchase goods and services. The Coastal Communities Social Procurement Initiative (CCSPI) aims to better leverage tax dollars to achieve positive social outcomes for communities throughout the coast.

“T h is i mporta nt i n itiative allows local communities to strengthen our economies and get good value for taxpayer dollars,” said Mayor Lisa Helps and Tofino Mayor Josie Osborne, Steering Committee Co-Chairs.

“These funds are spent as a matter of regular local government operations, but the way they are allocated can have significant and long-lasting positive impacts on communities throughout Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast.”

Every year, local governments on Vancouver Island and coastal communities award contracts for goods and services valuing approximately $1.5 billion. Social procurement means that at the same time as this money is spent on improving communities, local benefits delivered through procurement will be increased through economic development, local employment, increased affordability and greater access to services. Industry partners that provide services to government also stand to benefit from social procurement.

The CCSPI includes industry partners like the Vancouver Island Construction Association.

“The construction industry plays an important role in social procurement because we can provide employment and training opportunities for a wide-variety of populations,” said Rory Kulmala, CEO, Vancouver Island Construction Association.

“This can benefit communities by promoting apprenticeship and skilled labour opportunities while diversifying the available employment options for disadvantaged peoples in your community.”

A l l loca l govern ments a nd First Nations communities on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast are eligible for membership. The inaugural CCSPI participating communities and partners include: Communities: City of Victoria; District of Tofino; Town of Qualicum Beach ;Cowichan Valley Regional District; City of Campbell River; Town of Ladysmith; Village of Cumberland; City of Powell River; Town of Gibsons

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COLWOOD Colwood to Develop More Affordable Housing A new redevelopment will bring 82 new affordable rental homes to the community of Colwood, benefiting families, seniors and people with disabilities.

“These new homes represent new opportunities, security and peace of mind for families, seniors and people living with disabilities,” said Mitzi Dean, MLA for Esquimalt-Metchosin.

“Our government is committed to delivering affordable homes across the province that are safe and foster a sense of community.”

T he redevelopment, called Helios, is located at 2006 Sooke Rd. in the Colwood Lakes neighbourhood, and replaces 12 aging townhouses.

T he redevelopment creates more homes for low- to moderate-income households and is near community amenities, schools, retail areas and transit.

“In Colwood, we recognize that the strongest communities are those that offer a range of housing options to meet the needs of people at every age and stage of life,” said Rob Martin, mayor, City of Colwood. “These bright and welcoming homes at Helios in Colwood will allow people to build the life they envision for themselves and their families.”

H e l io s i n c lu d e s h o m e s of varying sizes, from studios to three-bedrooms units. Helios includes pedestrian walkways, a playground and community gardens. Operated by Pacifica Housing, rents range from $862 to $1,570 per month.

“All of us at Pacifica Housing are proud to work every day to find solutions to the housing crisis,” said Jaime Hall, president and board chair, Pacifica Housing. “The Helios project is a great example of our partnerships with the Province and municipalities to ensure more people can look forward to a roof over their head and a place to call home.”

People began moving into their homes earlier this month.

VICTORIA April 16 Marks Beginning of 2019 Cruise Ship Season The arrival of the Celebrity Eclipse on Tuesday, April 16 marked the beginning of Victoria’s 2019 cruise ship season.

The vessel is the first of more than 260 ship calls scheduled to visit Victoria, BC this year.

SEE NEWS UPDATE | PAGE 4

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APRIL 2019

NEWS UPDATE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

T he season includes a series of highlights and i naug u ra l ca l ls for the city, i nclud i ng t he a rrival of Royal Caribbean International’s Ovation of the Seas, Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth, Azamara Quest, and Norwegian Joy, sister ship of the Norwegian Bliss. This year will also see an increase in full-day, mid-week calls. In addition, the city will welcome the eighth millionth cruise sh ip pa ssenger i n M ay 2019.

T he term inal is set to welcome 700,000 passengers and close to 300,000 crew to Victoria during the seven-month season.

The final ship to call to Victoria will be the Grand Princess on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019.

“T he start of the seas o n b r i n g s a f lu r r y of exciti ng activ ity to a l l our cruise-related opera t i o n s ,” s a y s L i n d s ay Gaunt, Director, Cruise D evelopm ent, Greater V i c to r i a H a r b o u r A uthority. “Everything from infrastructure upgrades and new paint to in-person transportation flow discussions with all our operators is required in

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advance of welcoming our first ship.”

This winter, Greater Victoria Harbour Authority continued its multi-year capital improvement project on three deep-water berths. Between November 2018 and March 2019, the organization completed: the installation of five new 200-tonne bollards used to tie up ship lines; construction of two additional information kiosks for volunteer greeters; an updated and enlarged facility for crew, sponsored a nd r u n by Lig hthouse Ministries; and the installation of seagull deterrent netting on the warehouse roof.

A d d i t i o n a l o n -t h e g rou nd i mprovement s include improved wayf i nd i ng for a l l v isitors with an emphasis on pedestrian movement.

VICTORIA Songhees Honoured

by Camosun T he Board of Governo r s o f C a m o s u n C o llege a n nou nc e d t h at the Songhees Nation is the recipient of the 2019 Award for Innovation and

Community Partnership.

“T he pa rtnersh ip bet w e e n C a m o s u n C o llege a nd Song hees is long-term, specia l a nd m u l t i-f a c e t e d ,” s a y s Ca mos u n B oa rd Ch a i r Ron Rice. “On behalf of the Board of Governors, I am very pleased that Songhees Nation will be the recipient of this award, in recognition of their commitment to innovation and educational excellence.”

“This award recognizes the strength and wisdom of our people and our many innovative accomplishments,” says Songhees Nation Chief Ron Sam. “We look forward to continuing to develop a community vision that is focussed on the future a nd that works closely with valued partners like Camosun College.”

“Our partnership with Songhees is unique and is greatly valued by both s i d e s,” s ay s Ca m o s u n President Sherri Bell. “For well over a decade, we’ve worked closely together developing and delivering joint education programs, learning from Songhees elders and promoting a mutually beneficial partnership that focuses on SEE NEWS UPDATE | PAGE 17

DIGITAL MARKETING

APRIL 2019

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HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE GOOGLE Quality Critical For Offsite SEO Success

DIGITAL MARKETING JOHN MACDONALD “Show me who you run with and I’ll show you what you’re like.”

Some real life relationships matter more than others, a tough pill to swallow some times. The same is true for being found online.

One of the best descriptions I’ve heard about increasing search engine rankings is that ‘the internet is like one big high school popularity contest.’

Yo u w a nt to h ave a lo t of friends, but some friends matter more. But in this instance we’re not talking about literal friends, but links connecting your website to others around the internet – backlinks -- to be specific.

Backlinks are a critical component of your offsite Search E ng i ne O pt i m i zat ion (SEO) strategy. You can use a listings manager or service to manually or automatically build citations, but Google, Bing and Yahoo don’t weight all backlinks the same.

While citations are a critical component of any SEO strategy -- they are 100 per cent necessary – when your business is in a competitive space (like plumbing, HVAC, law, retail, etc.) you’re going to need more than just the bare minimum effort to get a website into the coveted first

page of Google.

To put the importance of your search engine rankings in perspective, think about this: The organic links on the first page of Google receive 90 per cent of all internet traffic related to someone’s search. On that first page the top three organic links receive 61 per cent of all clicks related to that search.

Who you run with, or the quality of those backlinks, really does matter.

To develop your own quality backlinks you have two options.

You can focus on organic link development.

Create fantastic, engaging content on your website for others to share and consume. Invest in a listings or citations manager or service. Work on your public relations and get featured and linked to on other websites.

Alternatively you can take the Algorithmic Approach and quickly plug directly into an existing network of high quality websites that are well respected by Google’s crawlers (or indexing robots).

Algorithmic SEO combines the development of onsite content with a link exchange plugin, instantly connecting a business’s website to thousands of other industry and topically related sites.

This strategy automatically generates, audits and maintains a high quality link profile that is relevant to a specific business.

It’s complemented by the creation of relevant content with targeted keywords that are added to a website’s pages to better optimize search results.

As businesses look to grow, either by adding new locations or expanding their product and

service offerings, standing out online is critical.

Make sure that no matter what your business does, you’re easy to find.

John MacDonald is the Director of Business Development with the Business Examiner News Group.

Connect with him directly at john@ businessexaminer.ca, by calling 866.758.2684 ext. 130. or online at: www.bedigitalmarketing.ca

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GREATER VICTORIA

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APRIL 2019

BUSINESS-LED INNOVATION KEY TO MITIGATING CLIMATE CHANGE

GREATER VICTORIA CATHERINE HOLT

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ocal governments make decisions that directly impact our daily lives. From maintaining sidewalks in front

of our homes and businesses, to setting property tax rates and making rezoning decisions that can profoundly affect the character of our neighbourhoods.

It’s important work, though too often the tasks at hand don’t seem to be enough for some councillors.

Take the widely publicized decision by Victoria Council to champion a lawsuit against the oil and gas industry. The idea was to have industry pay for costs attributed to climate change. This was an outsized overstep that played well to the choir but prompted everything from eye rolls to outright anger outside the echo chamber.

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THE CHAMBER MAY EVENTS • Tuesday, May 7 AGM & A n nu a l M ayora l Address 11:30 am to 1:30 pm @ Hotel Grand Pacific • Thursday, May 9 Jo i n t B u s i n e s s M i x e r & Mingle 5 to 7 pm @ The Strathcona Hotel • Thursday, May 16 Greater Victoria Business At the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce, we expressed ou r concern w ith a letter to council asking them to rethink their decision.

First and foremost, launching a lawsuit against industry is not a good use of city taxpayers’ money.

Victoria council recently went through its first budget since last year’s civic elections. One third of council is brand new to the job, so we can understand their enthusiasm. But turning to legal action to try and fulfil your political mandate is not good leadership.

Lawyers are expensive, and going through the courts is a time-consuming process that

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will, barring a miracle, take longer than council’s current term. A l l that, a nd the outcome is far from certain — in other jurisdictions, similar attempts at litigation have been dismissed.

To her credit, Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps acknowledged as much even before the city’s resolution to consider litigation against fossil fuel companies was soundly struck down at the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities convention on April 14.

Secondly, our region’s econo m y b e n e f i t s f ro m b e i n g a welcoming destination for all Ca nad ia ns, i nclud i ng those from Alberta whose livelihood

depends on revenue generated from the oil patch. Having a major source market threaten to boycott our region should give the city a pause — especially as they don’t speak for the residents of the other 12 municipalities that make up Greater Victoria.

The thing is, Victoria has already identified a way forward.

In the City’s Climate Leadership Plan, Mayor Helps states that her vision for Victoria will see us driven by amazing entrepreneurs who “leapt at the challenge to innovate and invent the goods and technologies needed for a clean-energy future.”

The Chamber agrees that the answer lies in innovation led by business. We will continue to encourage all levels of government to focus on supporting the investments required to bring about the technological advances and societal uptake needed to become a low carbon society.

Business wants to be part of the solution, and the best thing all levels of government can do is create the conditions that enable innovation. When it comes to climate change, we are all in this together.

Catherine Holt is CEO of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce

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REAL ESTATE

APRIL 2019

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Victoria Real Estate Market Still Adjusting To Federal Government Changes

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total of 640 properties sold in the Victoria Real Estate Board region this March, 7 per cent fewer than the 688 properties sold in March 2018 but a 52 per cent increase from February 2019. Sales of condominiums were down 7.1 per cent from March 2018 with 196 units sold but were up from February 2019 by 51.9 per cent. Sales of single family homes were down 4.5 per cent from March 2018 with 322 sold.

“We continue to see a somewhat static local real estate market through March,” says Victoria Rea l Estate Boa rd President Cheryl Woolley. “Like in February,

realtors have been busy showing properties and discussing strategy with buyers and sellers, while the sales numbers themselves continue to be relatively flat when compared with last year.

These market conditions are not a surprise. Consumers continue to adjust to the B20 mortgage qualification rules and the longterm, low inventory of homes.

The good news is we have seen a month-over-month increase of active listings on the market though we remain well under the ten-year average of 3,403.”

There were 2,435 active listings for sale on the Victoria Real Estate

Board Multiple Listing Service at the end of March 2019, an increase of 14.3 per cent compared to the month of February and a 37.9 per cent increase from the 1,766 active listings for sale at the end of March 2018.

The Multiple Listing Service Home Price Index benchmark value for a single family home in the Victoria Core in March 2018 was $867,900. The benchmark value for the same home in March 2019 decreased by 2.8 per cent to $843,600, lower than February’s value of $845,900. The MLS® HPI benchmark value for a condominium in the Victoria Core

area in March 2018 was $501,500, while the benchmark value for the same condominium in March 2019 increased by 1.0 per cent to $506,500, slightly higher than February’s value of $502,800.

“The mortgage stress test continues to put further pressure on lower-priced properties by reducing the borrowing power of many prospective buyers and pushing a lot of buyers into an already compressed price bracket with limited inventory,” adds President Woolley. “This means that even though sales are slower than the peak in 2016, many buyers can expect to encounter

multiple offer situations as competition increases at lower price points. The federal government recently announced a CMHC shared-equity mortgage program, which aims to reduce first time home buyer payments. However, this program applies only to properties $480,000 or less, and will put even more pressure on lower priced homes and condominiums.

These current market dynamics make it increasingly important for our region to continue to find ways to create more affordable housing options to avoid price pressure on the lower-priced properties.”

LEADERSHIP

HR CHRISTINE WILLOW

T

he leadership style of business owners, managers and even parents, sets the tone for and impacts the day-to-day activities of everyone in the leader’s sphere of influence. The definition of a leader means different things to different people.

For me, leadership is about demonstrating the behavior that is expected, being there to provide support as needed, allowing people to have small failures but knowing when to step in to assist, and having the courage to make hard decisions when required.

Throughout my career in the hospitality and consulting industries, and as a business owner, I have always held firm to the belief that I do not need to be the best at something to be able to lead effectively; rather, a key contribution that

I can make is to bring out the best in others.

I believe it is important to understand my team’s strengths and skills, to recognize gaps, and to assess how I can best support my team to reach objectives. I confess that it does not always come easily to me to sit back and observe my team in action, particularly when I know how to do a task better or quicker. However, by not interfering, I’ve learned that my team may have ways of getting the job done that are just as effective as mine, plus I’ve allowed people the chance to grow and reach their potential.

As a leader, it is my role to ensure that people have the tools they need to do their job.

My team knows that I am there for them to discuss issues or bounce ideas off. And, when things don’t go as planned, we work together to find out why, and how to correct or avoid it altogether in the future. I believe that creativity is hindered if people feel they are not allowed to make mistakes. What is important is how mistakes are dealt with after the fact – have lessons been learned and corrections made? As a leader I also make mistakes and, when I do, I need to be able to say “I

was wrong”.

Leadership also means recognizing when it is time to make a staffing change. Even with support, not everyone will be successful. It can be as simple as the right person in the wrong position. If you avoid staffing decisions that are difficult or unpleasant and allow either bad behaviour or performance to continue, it will negatively affect everyone and, ultimately, your business.

I believe that employees look to their leaders to have the courage to make tough decisions - but in a professional manner.

So, what does leadership mean to me? Walk the talk, create an environment of trust which allows people at all levels the opportunity to contribute, take corrective action when needed, and be willing to adjust your style to suit your team and business circumstances. Having said all this, after six decades of living, I know I still have much to learn about being a great leader.

Christine Willow is a Partner with Chemistry Consulting Group and GT Hiring Solutions. She can be reached at c.willow@ chemistryconsulting.ca or 250.382.3303 ext. 206

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APRIL 2019

“It is a wonderful milestone in the 36 year history

KNAPPETT PROJECTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

of our firm and gives us new energy and confidence

“We are honoured and privileged to be selected for this award,” comments Yager. “It is gratifying and humbling to receive this award from an industry Association that is comprised of our peers. It means a great deal to be recognized by our industry partners for the work that we do for the betterment of the industry. We do not volunteer our time for the accolades but to participate in making the industry better for the talented and professional men and women that work within our construction community.”

The gala dinner is one of many festivities taking place held by the BCCA to celebrate Construction and Skilled Trades Month in BC. “O n beh a l f of ever yone at BCCA, and our dinner and BC Construction and Skilled Trades Month sponsors, I want to congratulate our deserving winners tonight for so ably representing the nearly one quarter million women and men in construction who are helping build a better BC,” said Chris Atchison, President, BCCA in a press release.

“T hese awards and BC Construction Month are a chance to showcase individual industry success stories like tonight’s winners and how they’re using innovation and best practices to

in our path as we build on new opportunities and relationships in the coming years. With an incredible team of young and enthusiastic site and office staff, tempered with the experience of well recognized industry veterans, we look forward to meeting the challenges of the 21st Century.”

JOHN KNAPPETT PRESIDENT, KNAPPETT PROJECTS INC.

Left to right: Dan Behrens (Vice President), John Knappett (President), and Roger Yager (Vice President) grow their businesses, diversify our workforce, and support our communities.”

The Knappett Group of Companies was founded in 1983, and remains family-run to this day.

Headquartered in Victoria, with an additional office in Courtenay, the company has built nearly 700 projects over the last 36 years. These projects include public institutional buildings, civil works, major industrial buildings, multi family and social housing, heritage building renewals, building additions & upgrades, and Building Envelope Repairs.

Knappett Projects Inc. is a wellknown and respected Vancouver

Island company, and is one of the most experienced local construction companies. Their past projects have been some of the largest and most complex projects on Vancouver Island and the surrounding Gulf Islands.

Knappett Projects Inc. leverages its expertise in all areas of the Construction Community to ensure that all obligations are met or exceeded. Achieving the performance objectives on schedule and on budget are the fundamental measures of a successful project.

Knappett prides itself on providing a variety of services to an owner of a project. They can provide the services of a Design

Builder, General Contractor and Construction Manager or a Construction Manager at Risk.

“Knappett has always been an Industry leader through the various industry associations with members sitting on and chairing many boards and associations,” says John. “We also enthusiastically support local charities both corporately and through the efforts of our amazing staff.

Examples include the United Way annual corporate drive for which our Staff raised $200,000 to date to events such as the annual Canstruction for the Mustard Seed and Hungry Hearts for Our Place Society, and many others. www.knappett.com

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SALES

APRIL 2019

LONG-TERM SUCCESS = DISCIPLINED HIRING SALES activities like secret shop- within the talent pool of your JOHN GLENNON

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he hot labor market is stressing hiring managers and their organizations like no other job cycle in the last 20 years.

Despite the mounting pressure of filling an open role, organizations that remain true to their hiring standards will win in the long term.

As tempting as it may be to cut corners and quickly fill a position, that short-term view will only feed into your organization’s vulnerability to the cycle of turnover and poor productivity. Below are some tips in this tough labor environment which can increase the odds of long-term growth and success.

Proactively Source: Why are you waiting for candidates to come to you? This passive approach only ensures that you’ll have a pool of candidates which are ... just “OK.” Many of the most successful hiring/recruiting managers have a bench list of potential candidates that are sought out proactively.

Getting creative in finding talent includes a variety of

ping to see potential talent in action or actively participating in industry networking events to build a pool of potential candidates.

Standardize the Interview Process: Have a standard interview format that can be used during the process which will help in comparing candidates more efficiently and accurately.

Back-up Plan: During the selection process, maintain relationships with secondand third-choice applicants.

Keep in communication with them on the position’s status and ensure they know exactly when they may hear back from you. This way, if your first choice turns you down, you’ll have other individuals who are options to make an offer.

Stay True to Your Standards: It’s imperative that you avoid the urge of cutting out a step or two to get to a quicker offer in hopes of filling an opening sooner.

Eliminating crucial steps in the process like background checks or behavioral assessments creates voids of valuable information which will only lead to mediocre productivity

organization.

As the battle for talent continues to escalate, it’s the organization who is willing to work harder at finding talent that succeeds. Don’t simply accept your fate of being captive to a tight labor market by thinking, “This is the best we can get.” Great talent is out there, yet it rarely finds you on its own. It’s not time to simplify your process to accommodate the tight labor market. More so, it’s time to get aggressive and review your approach to talent acquisition which will help you determine if you are positioned to win in this labor market. These organizations will increase their odds of success both in terms of winning the talent war now and building a highly successful business for years to come.

Copyright 2018 Sandler Training and Insight Sales Consulting Inc. All rights reserved.

John Glennon is the owner of Insight Sales Consulting Inc, the authorized Sandler Training Licensee for the Interior of British Columbia.

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WEST SHORE

APRIL 2019

11

A HUGE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY

WEST SHORE JULIE LAWLOR

F

or many years, the City of Langford has provided a focus in the WestShore for sports. This has been a deliberate strategy by Mayor and Council who saw the opportunity to grow sports tourism as a part of Langford’s economy.

Residents across the region have had an opportunity to get involved in rugby, cycling and tennis, and in April you also have the opportunity to access boxing and soccer.

From April 23rd-27th, Boxing BC will be holding the 2019 Super Channel Championships in partnership with the City of Langford, The Westin Bear Mountain Resort Community, and Boxing Canada. The nation’s premier showcase of

Olympic Boxing, this event features the best boxers from across the country who will compete to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

These championships were last held in BC ten years ago so if you follow boxing you will not want to miss the opportunity to attend, sponsor and/or volunteer!

You can go to boxing.bc.ca for more information, and if you are a member of the WestShore Chamber there a re sponsorsh ip packages tailored specifically to you. You’ll find these at westshore.bc.ca/member-2-member-discounts Westhills Stadium will be the destination for soccer fans on April 28th when Pacific Football Club plays its first ever match. The Canadian Premier League’s newest team, Pacific FC will face off against the Halifax Wanderers FC in an east coast versus west coast contest. There will be thirteen more home games taking place at Westhills from May to October and boxes, season tickets and match tickets are now on sale. You can learn more at pacificfc.canpl.ca I am aware that this is sounding more like a sales

pitch than a business column due to my enthusiasm for having both of these initiatives out in the WestShore. However everything is interlinked because sports tourism has a positive economic impact – sometimes a huge impact – on the communities that surround an event. In 2014, Statistics Canada estimated that of the $90 billion tourism industry in Canada, $5 billion was spent by both national and international sports tourists. According to the Canada Sport Tourism Alliance, this was more than $6.8 billion in 2017.

In addition to the City of Langford, the Greater Victoria Sport Tourism Commission is actively seeking opportunities for our region and I predict that in the years to come we will see an increase in national and international sporting events over and above what we’ve seen in the last five to ten years.

Watch this space! Or better yet, take this opportunity to watch a match.

Julie Lawlor is the Executive Director at the WestShore Chamber of Commerce.

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Op�ons for transi�oning your business Category 1 for Print for April 2019 Placement There is no one size fits all solu�on for how to best transi�on out of your business.

Understanding and evalua�ng the op�ons that are available to you as a business owner is a cri�cal component to planning and execu�ng your ideal transi�on.

It is difficult for any business owner to plan a transi�on without first taking into considera�on both their own, personal values and their family’s best interests. It is important to ask yourself what the ideal transi�on looks like, and to combine that awareness with an evalua�on of the available op�ons in order to find a solu�on that best fits your needs.

Fortunately, there are more alterna�ves than simply selling your business to a third party or transi�oning ownership within your family. Depending on your needs, priori�es, and thinking around what you want to achieve, there will be a transi�on op�on that aligns with your objec�ves.

A business transi�on through family succession allows the least amount of disrup�on to stakeholders and the highest likelihood of maintaining the business legacy. A family transi�on also allows the owner to maintain a degree of control over the business. However, it must be considered that both the valua�on on these transac�ons as well as the liquidity to the transi�oning owner is typically low.

Another op�on for transi�on is a leveraged recapitaliza�on, which refers to replacing some of your personal investment with borrowed debt. For many business owners, the value of their company can reach over 90% of the value of their total net worth. As you begin to plan for a transi�on, it is important to consider diversifying some of that risk.

Alterna�vely, a sale to a third party on either a minority or majority basis is another op�on for owners. The acquirer could typically be a financial sponsor or private equity firm u�lizing their resources to increase the value of the business for a poten�al resale. This can allow the owner to realize a greater return on their remaining shares when they decide to liquidate.

A sale of some or all of the shares to members of key management can have many of the benefits of a family transi�on with the added poten�al for liquidity. Selling to a management team can result in a quicker transac�on with less of a requirement for due diligence, as the employees are already familiar with the business, its customers and suppliers.

Lastly, in a strategic sale, the owner markets the business broadly, seeking to a�ract a wide variety of poten�al buyers and ul�mately have more than one interested party at the nego�a�ng table. This enables the owner to achieve the highest possible price or choose the buyer that they deem appropriate.

Once you have iden�fied the key objec�ves in your business transi�on, there will be a solu�on that can accomplish them. We can help you iden�fy some of the key considera�ons that may impact your business transi�on strategy and the market appe�te for your business. For further informa�on and guidance, contact Paul Holmes at Sco�a Wealth Management.

SAANICH PENINSULA

12

APRIL 2019

CONNECTING WORKERS AND EMPLOYERS

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here is a term for the situation when employees can’t or don’t live where the jobs are located: economists call it “spatial mismatch”.

In some cities this condition is very pronounced.

Think San Francisco. Boston. New York City. And to a lesser degree, Vancouver, Victoria, and the Saanich Peninsula. When housing costs are prohibitive, workers, especially those who a re lower-i ncome earners, are forced to live further and further away from their jobs.

We are beginning to see significant consequences of this mismatch. In the

San Francisco area, some re s t au ra nts c a n’t h i re servers so, by necessity, they have gotten creative a nd have put thei r patrons to work. There are fine dining restaurants that have become selfserve. Diners find their own tables, get their own water, order drinks and food at a counter and often bus their own dirty dishes.

Perhaps not surprisingly, more people are opting for take-out than eating-in.

Locally, a lack of available staff has resulted in Help Wanted signs popping up and some businesses have had to reduce the hours they are open.

I n recog n it ion of t he g ro w i n g d iv i d e, s o m e cities and regions have developed strategies to connect low-wage workers to good jobs. Many of the jobs that go unfilled are those in the service industry. Employees are more likely to travel longer distances for a position t h at pay s comp et it ive wages and offers a benefits package. Employers are creating entry-level jobs and demonstrating

the potentia l for those positions to lead to a career. Wherever possible, housing is being created adjacent to jobs and transit. Employers are offering predictable and regular hours that coincide with transit schedules and are providing employees complimentary bus passes.

Connecting workers and employers across our region will remain an issue for the foreseeable future.

Addressing this lopsided supply will require local governments and companies (and organizations like ours) to innovate a Saanich Peninsula solution.

Denny Warner is the Executive Director at the Saanich Peninsula Chamber of Commerce.

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APRIL 2019

Sooke-Based Company Announces MultiYear Agreement with Major League Soccer SendtoNews Adds MLS to Professional Sports League Partners

S

OOKE – Sooke-based digital video distribution platform SendtoNews (STN) announced a multi-year agreement with Major League Soccer (MLS) that gives STN exclusive distribution of MLS video content to local digital publishers across North America.

“SendtoNews is excited to add Major League Soccer to our roster of professional sports league partners which includes MLB, NFL, NBA, PGA Tour and dozens of other content creators,” says Matthew Watson, CEO of SendtoNews.

“With our video distribution platform, we are able to help expand Major League Soccer’s digital offerings and provide more places for fans to engage with their content.”

As part of the agreement, SendtoNews receives d ig ita l r ig hts to d ist r ibute MLS highlights, interviews and more to STN’s more than 1,600 local publishing partners.

“Major League Soccer is constantly seeking new distribution opportunities to bring our content to more fans in more places,” says MLS SVP of Media, Seth Bacon. “SendtoNews’ relationships with local media partners will undoubtedly of fer more dest i n at ion s for fa n s to experience MLS.” To learn how you can add Major League Soccer highlights and video content on your website, please visit sendtonews. com or email publishers@sendtonews. com for more information.

SendtoNews ow ns a nd operates North America’s largest sports video distribution platform, supplying more

than 1600 digital sports news properties w ith revenue, prem iu m content a nd adva nc e d v id e o pl ayer te ch nolog y.

The company is the video distribution pl at for m for over 75 spor ts content creators and leagues, including the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NASCAR and the PGA TOUR. SendtoNews’ video platform and AIpowered Smart Match player technology i ncrea ses v iewer engagement, w it h publ i shers seei ng 3.1 t i mes more impressions, 3.9 times longer time on page, and up to 1100 per cent digital revenue g row th a f ter deploy i ng SendtoNews’ video platform on their site.

SendtoNews is a key partner to publishers like Gannett, Tribune, McClatchy, USA Today, and thousands of other newspaper. coms, broadcast.coms, radio.coms, and native digital sites.

He a d q u a r tere d i n New York C it y, Major League Soccer features 27 clubs t h ro u g h o u t t h e U n i te d S t a te s a n d Ca nada, i nclud i ng futu re ex pa nsion teams in Nashville, Miami and Austin.

T he League plans to have 28 clubs in the coming years. For more information about MLS, visit MLSsoccer.com

B

The Spirit of British Columbia was the first of the two Spirit Class vessels to switch to greener technology. The conversion to natural gas required replacement of four main e n g i n e s w i t h n e w d ual-fuel engines, installation of a large LNG tank beneath the main deck, and development of an innovative fuel bunkering system.

“By using natural gas to fuel the two Spirit Class vessels, BC Ferries expects to reduce CO2 emissions by 12,500 tonnes annually, which is the equivalent of taking approximately 2,500 vehicles off the road every year,” Collins adds.

BC Ferries is an industry leader when it comes to adopting new technology t h at lowers em i ssion s.

The Salish Class vessels, introduced in 2017, were the first passenger vessels

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BC Ferries Wins Award For Converting Ferry To LNG C Ferries has won the Shippax Retrofit Award for completing the conversion of a large passenger ferry from diesel to liquefied natural gas (LNG). The award, received last month at the Shippax Ferry Conference, recognizes the innovative work performed on t he Spirit of British Columbia, which is among the largest passenger ferries ever to be converted to natural gas propulsion. It is also the first passenger ferry in the world to refuel LNG via delivery on a fully enclosed vehicle deck.

“We are honoured to receive this award and to be recognized by our peers for ou r i n novat ion a nd com m it ment to adopting clean technology that reduces BC Ferries’ environmental footprint,” s a i d M a rk Col l i n s , B C Ferries’ President & CEO.

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in the world to refuel LNG on an open vehicle deck using proprietary tanker truck technology. BC Ferries and its partners developed both of these innovative solutions.

T he Spi rit of British Columbia’s conversion to LNG took place during its scheduled midlife upgrade between the fall of 2017 and early 2018, at Remontowa Ship repair Yard in Poland. T he ferry’s sist e r s h i p, t h e S p i r i t o f Vancouver Island, completed its upgrades a nd natural gas conversion a few weeks ago, and will re-enter service between Victoria (Swartz Bay) and Vancouver (Tsawwassen) this spring.

T h e S h i p p a x Aw a r d s recognize and celebrate new concepts, creativity and innovation within the ferry, cruise, and shipping industry.

14

APRIL 2019

HollyWeed North Signs Multi-Year Agreement With World-Leading Cannabis Company Crease Harman LLP Victoria’s First Law Firm Crease Harman, the longest-established firm in British Columbia with a continuous presence in Victoria since 1866, is pleased to welcome David Aujla and Sarah Goodman, two well-experienced Canadian immigration lawyers, to the firm.

David Aujla

David will lead the firm’s Immigration and Citizenship Group and brings with him over 40 years of experience in immigration law. He has assisted international clients from over 100 countries with their immigration, citizenship and settlement needs.

Sarah Goodman

Sarah Goodman has practised in all aspects of Canadian immigration law for over 10 years in Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria. She has presented cases before the Immigration and Refugee Board and Federal Court of Canada, and will be assisting clients with their immigration and citizenship matters.

Crease Harman welcomes inquiries pertaining to Canadian immigration including temporary and permanent residence, foreign workers, business investment, provincial nominee, citizenship and immigration litigation.

800 - 1070 Douglas Street | Victoria, BC 250.388.5421, Ext. 201 www.crease.com

2019 CARE Awards Call For Entry

Canopy Growth Announces Multi-Year Extraction Agreement With Victoria-based Company

V

ICTORIA - Canopy Growth Corporation and HollyWeed Manufacturing & Extracts Inc. announced a multiyear processing and extraction agreement Victoria-based HollyWeed North Cannabis Inc., the parent company of HollyWeed Manufacturing & Extracts Inc., operates several subsidiaries specializing in the growth, manufacturing, licensing, and production of cannabis and other pharmaceutical grade products.

Under the terms of the twoyear agreement, HollyWeed Manufacturing & Extracts Inc. will process dried cannabis provided by Canopy Growth, in their advanced manufacturing facility in Victoria and will return the high-quality oil and resin back to the Company.

The increased supply of this contracted extraction throughput adds to the Company’s in-house capacity and supports Canopy

Growth with additional throughput, as it brings a suite of new products to the market later this calendar year.

The extraction services provided by HollyWeed will build on the Company’s own in-house manufacturing and production based in Smiths Falls, Ontario and will extend Ca nopy Grow th’s production commitment in British Columbia, where it currently has more than three million square feet of fully operational grow space (located in Delta and Aldergrove).

“This is an opportunity for Canopy Growth to build a strong partnership with another high-quality Canadian company. The cannabis resin we get from HollyWeed will be used for our current offering of oils and softgels, as well as our future advanced manufacturing products,” said Bruce Linton, Chairman and co-CEO of Canopy Growth. “Ensuring we

The Managing Director Of Inn At Laurel Point & Paul’s Motor Inn Is Recognized As BC’s Hotelier Of The Year

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continue to offer the highest quality cannabis oil and resin will be essential for our entry into the edibles market and supports our overall goal of making a wide variety of high-quality products available to our customers.”

“We are very excited to provide extraction services to Canopy Growth, a global leader in cannabis production,” remarked Renée Gagnon, CEO of HollyWeed North Cannabis Inc. “We are incredibly proud that the quality of our proprietary extraction process caught the eye of an industry leader l i ke Ca nopy Grow th and will amplify their own world-leading extraction abilities. This is definitely a new and exciting chapter for HollyWeed.”

HollyWeed and Canopy Growth expect the first shipment of product for extraction will occur in fall 2019 and anticipate being able to leverage the resin shortly thereafter.

an Powell, a hotelier w it h over 4 0 ye a rs i n the i nternationa l hospitality industry and who became a priest in the Anglican Church of Canada later in life, was named hotelier of the year last night during the BC Hospitality Summit in Kelowna, BC. T he a n nu a l i ndu s t r y award recognizes an individual displaying the management, leadership and communication skills at the h ighest levels of excellence along with a commitment to employees, community and the industry at large.

The Reverend Ian Powel l, ma nag i ng d i rector of Paul’s Restaurant Ltd. and general manager of Inn at Laurel Point, began studying tourism and hospitality in England before embarking on a 40+ year career, including stints r u n n i n g t h e Fa i r mont Palliser in Calgary, the Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria and the Fairmont Hamilton Princess

Reverend Ian Powell PHOTO CREDIT: CHRISTCHURCHCATHEDRAL.BC.CA

Hotel in Bermuda. Powell’s desire to become ordained brought him back to BC to commence his theological studies at Vancouver School of Theology. He was ordained into the Anglican Church of Canada in November 2008. Leading up to this additional career path, Powell joined Victoria based Paul’s Restaurants Ltd in 2006.

“I am deeply grateful for this recognition and clearly, I must be getting old,” says Powell “My path to the present has been quite the ride and I wouldn’t

trade a single minute of it.

I’m delighted I get to share my experience with the next generation of hotelier’s coming up the ranks.”

“Mr. Powell’s hallmark laug h ca n reg u la rly be heard echoing throughout our offices,” says Judy Elder, Powell’s long time Executive Assistant. “We have so enjoyed his leadership style and not to mention his hospitality and life experience which guides us all daily.”

T h is recog n ition a lso c o m e s at a t i m e wh e n the Inn at Laurel Point is undergoing a major renovation of its ground floor and surrounding gardens.

The goal is to complete the original vision of the late, Paul and Artie Arsens who commissioned world renowned architect Arthur Erickson for the hotel’s first renovation in 1989. It has been Powell’s longtime dream to complete this dream before his retirement. This renovation project is set to be complete by the summer of 2019.

15

APRIL 2019

Legasea Wins VIREB Commercial Building Awards 40 Projects Celebrated At 12th Annual Gala April 4 In Courtenay

C

OURTENAY – Legasea, a mixed use condom i n iu m project i n Departure Bay in Nanaimo, was named the Judges’ Choice best overall entry in the 12 th A nnual Vancouver Island Real Estate Board Commercial Building Awards April 4 at the Florence Filberg Centre in Courtenay.

There were 40 finalist projects in the competition, wh ich celebrates the best in commercial, community and industrial buildings north of the Malahat on Vancouver Island, which were completed between January 1 and December 31, 2018.

“I was so honoured and humbled to accept these awards,” says Legasea developer Tony Harris, as the project also won the Mixed Use category.

“It was my pleasure to work with so many on this project. Collaboration, thoughtfulness, patience and persistence d rove the success of th is project.”

T his was the second time that Courtenay hosted the awards, which h ave ta ken pl ace i n Na n a i mo a nd Parksville.

“T he Comox Valley was an excellent host for the event, and we are very pleased w ith the tu rnout a nd support,” notes Mark MacDonald of Business Examiner Vancouver Island, which coordinates the event. “T he bu i ld i ngs were a mazi ng th is yea r, and that’s what makes this event so great – it celebrates the people behind the scenes that take the risks to make them become reality.”

A team of independent judges chose the winners in the 10 categories of t he se awa rd s: R enovat ion , Mu lt i Fa m i ly Tow n home, Mu lt i Fa m i ly Apartment, Multi Family Non Market, Institutional, Civil, Community, Mixed Use, Industrial and Retail.

G old spon sors of t he event were Re/MAX Commercial, MNP LLP and Coastal Community Credit Union.

Category sponsors were NAI Commercial, Yellow Sheet Review, Herold Engineering, Colliers International, I nve st Com ox Va l ley, CI B C , BD C (Business Development Bank of Canada) and Berk’s Intertruck. Black Press was the Media Sponsor.

Legasea featu res si x tow n houses and a coffee shop in Departure Bay,

Person a l elevators i n re s id ent i a l suites, Roof decks were designed for hot tubs and fire pits, and the project includes a green roof, roof deck, custom planters, rainwater collection and non potable landscape irrigation.

Westma rk Constr uction wa s t he General Contractor, Raymond de Beeld Architect the Architect/Designer, and Herold Engineering Ltd. the Engineer.

V I R EB 2019 Awa rd of Excel lence Winners: Renovation - Best Western Cowichan Valley Inn of Duncan. Developer was Eco Construction Inc., and Architect/ Designer Alan Lowe Architect Inc. T he hotel underwent a $4 million makeover, as each of 42 existing rooms were taken to bare bones and refurbished brand new, including an elevator and additional floor to boost the total number of rooms to 64.

Multi Family Townhome - Glacier View Townhomes of Comox (Owner/ Developer and General Contractor: AFC Construction; A rch itect / Designer: James Matthew Design Ltd.) and Magnolia Apartments of Nanaimo (Owner/Developer: Magnolia Apartments Ltd.; Architect/Designer: Rafii Architects Inc.; General Contractor: Saywell Contracting Ltd. Glacier View includes a variety of units that complement the neighbourhood, and is nestled into the landscape by retaining many existing site trees and tricky site constraints.

Magnolia provides Nanaimo’s rental market access to a unique product that offers more privacy than the average rental. The elegant complex is separated into two buildings, each building containing 18 two-storey townhouse style units.

Multi Family Apartment - The Lookout of Campbell River.

Ow ner/ Developer/G enera l Contractor: Crowne Pacific Development Corp.; Architect/Designer: Wensley Architecture Ltd. T he Lookout overlooks Discovery Passage and includes six penthouse suites with expansive outdoor living spaces and numerous amenities, including a leisure gathering room, gym facility and secured underground parking and bike storage.

Multi Family Non Market

- Nuutsumuut Lelum of Nanaimo.

Developer: Constructive Management; Architect/Designer: DYS Architecture; General Contractor: Saywell Contracting Ltd. The primary sustainability goal for the project was to reduce rental housing energy use, which was achieved with the Passive House standard, the highest step on BC’s new Energy Step Code. It is the first multi-family Passive House built on Vancouver Island.

Institutional – Vancouver Island University Centre for Health and Science of Nanaimo.

Architect/Designer; Perkins + Will A rch ite ct s; G e n e r a l C o n t r a c to r : Ledcor.

T h i s i s a m o d e r n , f o u r-l e v e l , multi-purpose post-secondary health and science learning facility, designed to accommodate 888 students and 80 faculty and features 10 lecture rooms, 14 labs and other amenities.

Civil - Campbell River Water Supply Centre of Campbell River.

General Contractor: Knappett Projects Inc. SEE VIREB | PAGE 23

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APRIL 2019

Red Arrow Brewing Company Creates Unique HarbourCats Brew

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Since their beginnings in 2013, the HarbourCats have broken multiple West Coast League attendance records

HARBOURCATS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

provides a perfect match for what we do.

“Having the co-branded product in liquor stores and on-tap will be a great opportunity for us and Red Arrow to spread our wings and become even more well known in Island communities.”

Red Arrow brewmaster Chris Gress created the beer earlier this year, in collaboration with the HarbourCats marketing department.

“We had a lot of discussions about what people were looking for,” says Gress. “The Island is a really ‘crafty culture,’ so we wanted to create something that appeals to that market while identifying with the culture surrounding the ballpark.

We wanted consumers to taste the ballpark and be able to bring the ballpark home. The result is a very approachable, easy to drink product with lower alcohol content, aimed to create an enjoyable outdoor baseball experience.”

T he Ha rbou rCats a re owned by four partners: John Wilson (owner of Wilson’s Group of Companies), brothers Jim and Ken Swanson, and Rich Harder.

Founded in 2013, the organization is one of 12 teams in the West Coast League, a summer collegiate baseball program.

“We’ve had a high number of players make it to professional baseball, including Nick Pivetta with the Phillies, and three others in AAA,” says Swanson.

Since its beginning, the HarbourCats have broken multiple league attendance records, leading other teams by almost 1,000 attendees per game. They set the one-game attendance record with 5,240 fans just last year.

A high number of HarbourCats players have made it to professional baseball leagues “The HarbourCats are expanding their presence up the Island over the next few years,” says Swanson.

“On July 2, we will play an exhibition game in Duncan against the Ladysmith Pilots, a Sr. Men’s team, and before that, we’ll play a game in Serauxmen Stadium in Nanaimo. We have an expansion team in the works for Nanaimo, which will hopefully have its first season in 2020.”

“Part of the goal of this partnership is to grow the HarbourCats brand north of Victoria,” says Travis Peterson, Sales Manager at Red Arrow. “Situated between Victoria a nd Na na imo, we’re in a perfect position to service both clubs. It’s an exciting time for us to be involved.”

O p en i n g its do ors i n June, 2015, Red Arrow is approaching its own era of expansion.

“We’ve got some exciting things coming up,” says Peterson. “We’re in the midst of acquiring a lounge license, expanding our patio, and putting some finishing touches on an outdoor sports court at Red Arrow for the whole community to enjoy.”

“We have a lot going on,” Gress adds. “We want to become more of a destination. It’s an exciting time in the industry - by the end of

2019, it’s projected that BC will be home to about 200 craft breweries. It’s a great time to be in business, and a great time to get involved with a local partner as well known as the HarbourCats.”

With nearly 14 years of brewing experience under his belt, Gress leads the brewing team, creating six core beers that are available year-round, and about one single-batch limited brew per month.

The Red Arrow team works hard to listen to community members, creating brews that work well with regional tastes. So far, this strategy has paid off, with many single-batch beers selling out within days of release.”

“We chose Red Arrow, first of all, because they make a great beer,” Swanson remarks. “The company has also done a great job of developing the HarbourCats Ballpark Blonde, as well as their own brand. They’re making a strong name for themselves, and I see people wearing their hats and shirts all the time.”

“We are very excited about this partnership,” says Peterson. “This product is a great beer, and a great way to support a local sports team that does so much for the community.” www.redarrowbeer.ca www.HarbourCats.com

NEWS UPDATE

APRIL 2019

NEWS UPDATE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

innovation in the community and through shared educational initiatives.”

The essence of the award is to acknowledge individuals or partners who approach projects, initiatives, relationships, work or service in new and innovative ways. The Songhees Nation has demonstrated leadership on many exciting and innovative initiatives, including: • The development of the 55,000 square foot stateo f-t h e - a r t S o n g h e e s Wellness Centre, opened in 2014; • The creation of the Songhees Innovation Centre to assist in the development of business and technology opportunities for the nation’s youth; • Lau nch a nd success of the Songhees ‘Seafood & Steam’ food truck, highlighting delicious local Indigenous cuisine; • Revenue generation and entrepreneurship through space rental, community fitness programming, gift shop, food truck and cafeteria catering to the general public and local partners.

I n add ition, Song hees a nd Camosun have collaborated on many ground-breaking joint partnerships, including: • The new joint Aboriginal

Culinary A rts Tourism and Hospitality Managem ent prog ra m f u nd e d through the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training. Camosun students fundraise for program bursaries with the annual “Cooking for Reconciliation” dinner at the Songhees Wellness Centre; • New Math a nd Engl ish upgrading programs for students pla n n i ng to e n te r p o s t-s e c o n d a r y education; • I ntroduction to trades prog ra m s ta rgeted at youth interested in joining Camosun trades training; • Entr y level sh ip repa i r as part of the Aboriginal marine training and employment program.

The award was presented during a ceremony on Thursday, April 4 from 6:30-8:30pm in the Farmer Family Student Commons (Atrium) of the Centre for Trades Education and Innovation (CTEI) at Interurban campus.

BC Damen Shipyards Launch Hybrid Vessels for BC Ferries After just a few weeks of preparation, two 265-foot ferries

have been launched at Damen Shipyards Galati and are now being fitted out ahead of entering service with BC Ferries next year. Once operational they will be capable of carrying up to 300 passengers and crew, and 47 vehicles.

The ferries have been built to Damen’s Road Ferry 8117E3 design and the order was secured following an extensive, multiphased, international tender process.

BC Ferries is currently undertaking a fleet renewal program that will see a number of new vessels operating in British Columbia. The twin Damen Road Ferry 8117E3s w i l l serve the Northern Gulf Islands off the coast of Vancouver, replacing vessels that are now over 50 years old.

The tender process initially attracted interest from numerous

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In his speech at the launch, Paul Catsburg, director of the vessel replacement program at BC Ferries, said, “This class of vessels is very important for BC Ferries as it represents our newest vessel type, introducing

17 a state-of-the-art, diesel-electric, hybrid propulsion system.

The ships’ hybrid design is important for two main reasons; firstly to improve environmental stewardship and secondly to reduce operating costs by evolving to full electric propulsion.”

He also offered his sincere congratulations to all those involved in building the second hu l l a nd i n pa r t ic u l a r re cog n ized the efforts that the management and workers of Damen Galati had made to reach this important milestone.

Damen is working to a fixedpriced contract that provides BC Ferries with substantial guarantees related to delivery dates, performance criteria, cost certainty and quality construction.

Building two identical vessels w ill also deliver capital and operating cost savings and additional efficiencies. After-sales warranty support will be provided by Point Hope Shipyards in Victoria, British Columbia, in an agreement with Damen.

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18 WHO IS SUING WHOM The contents of Who’s Suing Whom is provided by a thirdparty resource and is accurate according to public court documents. Some of these cases may have been resolved by publication date.

DEFENDANT 1053290 BC Ltd 2239 Ara Ave, Nanaimo, BC PLAINTIFF Westana Equipment Leasing Inc CLAIM $243,723 DEFENDANT Alan Jones Construction Lmited 202-1007 Fort St, Victoria, BC PLAINTIFF Pacific Truss CLAIM $31,141 DEFENDANT Aviso Yacht Sales Ltd 6188 Raphael Dr, Nanaimo, BC PLAINTIFF Davis, Trevor Crombie CLAIM $20,950 DEFENDANT Cobble Hill Collision 1123 Stuart Cres, Cobble Hill, BC PLAINTIFF

WHO IS SUING WHOM BMW Nanaimo CLAIM $15,766 DEFENDANT Crane Canada Co 2400-745 Thurlow St, Vancouver, BC PLAINTIFF Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company CLAIM $35,216 DEFENDANT Crane Canada Co 2400-745 Thurlow St, Vancouver, BC Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company CLAIM $35,176

Shawnigan Lake, BC PLAINTIFF Versatile Technologies Inc CLAIM $5,741 DEFENDANT Infonet Technology Corporation 1100-505 Burrard St, Vancouver, BC PLAINTIFF 672606 BC Ltd CLAIM $347,225 DEFENDANT Ironclad Developments Inc 26 Bastion Square, Victoria, BC PLAINTIFF SLA Freight Inc CLAIM $134,451

DEFENDANT Forged Construction Ltd 9423 47 St NW, Edmonton, AB PLAINTIFF Dayton Superior Canada Ltd CLAIM $116,323

DEFENDANT Island Community Mental Health 125 Skinner St, Nanaimo, BC PLAINTIFF Gondor, Darian CLAIM $9,144

DEFENDANT Heatherbrae Builders Co Ltd 5811 Cooney Rd, Richmond, BC PLAINTIFF Canem Systems Ltd CLAIM $280,638

DEFENDANT Jasper Constructors Ltd PO Box 99 STN T, Calgary, AB PLAINTIFF Gallop, Stephen CLAIM $29,556

DEFENDANT Horsman Trucking Ltd 3-1760 Shawnigan Lake Rd,

DEFENDANT Lowes Companies Canada 1959 Upper Water St, Halifax, NS

APRIL 2019

PLAINTIFF Frayne, Erin CLAIM $15,661

PLAINTIFF Formaggia, Laura Felisa CLAIM $35,156

DEFENDANT Mid Island Aggregate 2013 Ltd 602-732 Broughton St, Victoria, BC PLAINTIFF 1064799 Alberta Ltd CLAIM $130,012

DEFENDANT Rodgers Fishing Lodge 200-1260 Shoppers Row, Campbell River, BC PLAINTIFF Sysco Canada Inc CLAIM $12,208

DEFENDANT Park Forest Holdings Inc 402-707 Fort St, Victoria, BC PLAINTIFF SLA FREIGHT INC CLAIM $134,451 DEFENDANT Picture This Today 3D Inc 34 Carly Lane, Victoria, BC PLAINTIFF Kathirkamanathan, Naren CLAIM $18,216 DEFENDANT Quadra Management Ltd 200-1260 Shoppers Row, Campbell River, BC PLAINTIFF Sysco Canada Inc CLAIM $12,208 DEFENDANT Remax Camosun 4440 Chatterton Way, Victoria, BC

DEFENDANT Rolling Tides Construction Inc 1929 West Shawnigan Lake Rd, Shawnigan Lake, BC PLAINTIFF Sherwin Williams Canada Inc CLAIM $14,622 DEFENDANT Seabrook Developments Ltd 200-7169 West Saanich Rd, Brentwood Bay, BC PLAINTIFF Tidy Ground Services CLAIM $20,903 DEFENDANT Viking Marine Outdoor Ltd 7455 Island Hwy West, Bowser, BC PLAINTIFF Davis, Trevor Crombie CLAIM $20,950

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

APRIL 2019

19

Business Examiner Gold Event Sponsors

Western Speedway has submitted a proposal to more than double their beer drinking areas from 1,004 patrons to 2,219.

About one-quarter of the grandstands are currently licensed. The expansion would take place in the seating area as well is in the concourse below.

MacDonald Realty celebrates 75 years in the real estate business.

Sooke Oceanside Brewing will be expanding, looking to establish a second location that will also be used as a manufacturing facility allowing for increased production.

Roya l Bay Second a r y School of Colwood is undergoing construction to increase capacity from 1,000 students to 1,400 students. The project is budgeted for $29.9-million and expected to be completed by August 2020.

The area expects to grow by 300 to 400 students per year for the next ten years.

Pacific Coastal Airlines will be adding a second non-stop daily flight from Victoria to Prince George starting June 23rd.

The Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society has put forth a proposal to build a commemorative teahouse and community centre in Esquimalt Gorge Park using the McLoughlin Amenity Funds.

Royal LePage’s March top producers are: Nell Bosdet, Tammi Dimock, Jacob Dimock, James Liu, Tasha Medve, Gina Sundberg, Mike Hartshorne, Justen Lalonde, Jean Dunn, Brenda Russell, Sarah West, Paul McDonald, Mark McDougall, Jenn Raappana, Tim Ayres, Jackie Adkins, Brian Corfield, Cheryl L a id law, Nate Ver ra n , David Stevens, Rosemarie Colterman, Saira Waters, Mike Vanderkruyk, Morley Bryant and Shaunna Jones.

Pacifica Housing

Advisory Association has appointed Acting Executive Director Margaret Eckenfelder as Executive Director for an additional year. A formal process to establish a permanent executive director will get underway in the fall, according to Jaime Hall, Pacifica’s president and board chair.

Two new directors have b een app oi nted to t he Sooke Regional Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Ryan Chamberland, owner of Vancouver Island Lodge and President of the Sooke Region Tourism Association and Pierre Lacombe, owner of Privateer Factory Tee Shirt Printing.

Pierre is also on active duty as a Naval Electric Sensor Operator and Master Seaman on board the HMCS Calgary.

M ig rat i o n B o ut i q u e , owned by Sara Patterson is celebrating 15 years in business. The boutique is a permanent artisan fair where you can find handmade gifts from over 60 local artists.

March 2019 sales leaders for RE/MAX Alliance are: Ron Neal, April Spackman, Robin Gooch, Layne Britton, Jason Leslie, Laura McCollom, Ruth Hop k i n son , M a np re et Kandola, Ryan Fach and Steve Duben. Top Producers at RE/MAX Camosun are: Blair Veenstra, Oliver Katz, Craig Walters, Jordan Campeau, Tony Joe, Michael McMullan, Geoff McL ean, Nicole Pelan, Andrew Holenchuk, Noel Hache, Mark Roozendaal, Karl Leong and Deedrie Ballard.

Reliance Properties has proposed a project with 47 residential rental units and commercial space for the Northern Junk site near the Johnson Street Bridge. The building would be six storeys on the waterfront and five storeys on the Wharf Street side, half the size of the previous proposal in 2018.

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Graeme de Goutiere Ruffell & Brown Window Fashion welcome Jason Frank and Graeme de Goutiere to their sales team.

The Victoria Clipper has announced a new class of service in between the Economy a nd Com for t Classes. Vista Class is located on the upper deck of Victoria Clipper V and includes spacious, leather seats; additional legroom for w i ndow row seats; panoramic views plus easy access to outdoor viewing deck; and, table/group seating in select areas.

The Greater Victoria Harbour Authority has a 12year deal with Norwegian Cruise Lines guaranteeing a Pier A South berth at the Victoria Cruise Terminal.

The Norwegian Bliss and Norwegian Joy will stock local products including Phillip Brewing Company beer.

Limona Group has put forth a proposal for affordable housing on the former Thetis Lake Campground.

The Thetis Lake Apartments 152 multi-family SEE MOVERS & SHAKERS| PAGE 20

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MOVERS AND SHAKERS

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MOVERS AND SHAKERS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19

residential units would consist of two six-storey rental buildings.

Katie Norie, registered audiologist, has returned to Peninsula Lifetime Eyecare in Sidney.

Diamond Optical Eyecare has opened in Langford at 104-755 Goldstream Ave.

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S ave-o n-Fo o d s a nnounced the opening of a new store in Greater Victoria. The 36,000 square foot Langford store marks the seventh location in the region. The new facility was designed with a focus on fresh foods, including fresh-made sushi, hot meal options, a wing bar, and hand-stretched pizza. Its frozen yogurt bar is the first of its kind for BC Saveon-Foods stores.

BC Transit’s board of directors welcome four new members, who are joining three continuing members. This includes Lisa Helps, mayor of Victoria.

Helps will join three other members from the Greater Victoria Area: Catherine Holt, Susan Brice, and Wendal Milne. The members are four elected local government officials and three other individuals appointed by order in council.

The BC Transit board of directors is responsible for supervising the management of BC Transit and appointing the chief executive officer.

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The Saanich Peninsula Chamber of Com merce announced their new board of directors. They include: Andi Hook, President (Hook & Hook Renovations); Hillary Brown, First Vice-President (Island Savings - A division of First West Credit Union); Gordon Benn, Past President (Pearlman Lindholm Barristers & Solicitors); Richard Flader, T reasu rer (Flader Chartered

APRIL 2019

Professional Accountant); Doug Walker, Secretary (Cambium Leadership Inc.); Marc Bourdon (Chambers Group Insurance); Andrew Bradley; (Itty Bitty Sign Shop); Art Finlayson (Finlayson Bonet Architecture); Don Gulevich (Coastal Heat Pumps); D’Arcy Hipwell (The Bottle Depot); Joe Jansen (Wilson’s Group); John Juricic (Juricic Real Estate Team); Tara Keeping (Tiger Lily Events); Katie K roeker (Pacif ic R idge L a nd sc ap e s Ltd.); Reg Mooney (Penta Resources Corp.) Lifetime Member; Janine Morris (Hughesman Morris, Chartered Professional Accountants); Krista Sears (Bank of Montreal); Fraser Sim (BMT Group Services Ltd.); Angus Todd (Investors Group); and John Treleaven (The Treleaven Consulting Group).

COWICHAN VALLEY

Kim Johannsen K im Johannsen of Joh a n n s e n G r o u p R e a lty was presented with a Diamond Award and a 25 Years of Service Recognition Award from RE/MAX Western Canada at a recent ceremony. The Johannsen Group also made the list of Re/Max Western Canada Top 100 Teams for the first 2 months of 2019.

The BC Forest Discovery Centre celebrates the grand opening of its new exhibit “Forests Forever” on April 24th. The exhibit will feature new, immersive and interactive exhibits that illustrate the lifecycle of a tree from seedling to finished product. The BC Forest Discovery Centre is at 2892 Drinkwater Road in Duncan.

The British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) appointed Laurie Stewart as GameSense advisor at Chances Cowichan. The role is designed to ensure players at Chances Cowichan have healthy-gaming habits and refer those facing challenges to the support resources they need. BCLC

is the crown corporation responsible for commercial gaming in the province.

Community Futures Cowichan (CFC) has named Dana Thorne as its Volunteer of the Year for 2019.

Thorne is the associate director of housing for Cowichan Tribes and is a member of its board of directors.

Speaking of Cowichan Tribes, the Band is leading a partnership that plans to open the first legal cannabis shop in the Cowichan Valley on April 15th. The shop called Costa Canna will be located in the Duncan Mall. The shop is the first retail outlet opened by the partnership which hopes to expand across Vancouver Island and eventually into growing and distributing cannabis.

Greg’s RV is celebrating its 20th anniversary at 5267 Boal Road in Duncan.

Discovery Honda a nnounces that Joe Graham and Trevor Sheck are its top stars of the month for March. The dealership is at 6466 Bell McKinnon Road.

Pemberton Holmes congratulates its top agents for 2018 from Duncan. They are Ray Little, Dan Johnson, Grant Scholefield, Ken Neal, Jason Finlayson, Sarah Doyle, Catherine Hobbs, Helena Bowen, Renee Russell, Wendy Hitton, Shannon Norris and Melinda Banfield. The agency also saw Shannon Norris and Paul Gala named leading new agents for 2018.

Habitat for Humanity’s Cowichan Valley branch celebrates the 1st anniversary of its ReStore outlet on Government Street in downtown Duncan.

The Board of Education a n nou nced that Robyn Gray has been selected as the new Superintendent of Learning and CEO of the Cowichan Valley School District. Gray comes to the Valley from the Nanaimo Ladysmith School District, where she was assistant superintendent.

Costco’s Langford location unveiled a half dozen new self-serve checkouts.

The company began re-introducing self-serve checkouts at its Nor th American stores in 2018 following a decision to nix the concept. The Langford store’s six new checkouts are situated next to existing tills in the store.

Sooke’s SEAPARC Leisure Complex on Phillips Road is set to undergo a 5,150-square-foot addition.

SEE MOVERS & SHAKERS| PAGE 21

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

APRIL 2019

MOVERS AND SHAKERS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20

T h e $ 3 . 4-m i l l i o n e xpa n sion w i l l i nclude a 3,600-square-foot gym, a 1 ,55 0-s q u a r e-fo o t movement studio and a 380-square-foot child care room. The space is expected to be completed by early 2020. The project received a $1.24-million grant from the Strategic Priorities Federal Gas Tax Fund.

The Sooke School District is preparing to build a new elementary school on the southern slope of Skirt Mountain. The school will target children in the northern Langford communities of Bear Mountain and Skirt Mountain and the site has been levelled and prepped for construction.

No facility has yet been announced or funded.

Shoppers Drug Mart will relocate into a Douglas Street retail space at 1212 Douglas Street formerly occupied by Chapters in the first week of May. Shoppers is relocating from 1222 Douglas Street and will have the new store feature grocery items in its new multi-level 20,000-squarefoot space. Chapters has relocated to the recently expanded Mayfair Shopping Centre north of downtown Victoria. There is no word on who will occupy the former Shoppers space, though there is speculation that it will be redeveloped.

Refuge Tap Room is a new tap house proposed for downtown Victoria’s Harris Green neighbourhood. The establishment is currently seeking approvals to expand seating capacity from 24 patrons to 66 and extend operating hours from 11AM to midnight daily, with a 1AM closing on Fridays.

Pending approvals, the new taproom is expected to open by mid-2019 at 832 Fort Street.

Galaxy Motors is preparing to relocate its flagship lot to Westshore Parkway’s industrial plaza at Sooke Road. Construction on the space is expected to get underway later this year and be completed in mid2020. Langford’s newly opened Westshore Parkway is a dual-lane road spanning approximately 4.5-kilometres between the TransCanada Highway at its northern terminus and Highway 14 to the south.

T he op erators of t he Trees chain of cannabis

dispensaries are preparing to open Trees Restaurant at 537 Johnson Street. Federal approval for serving cannabis-infused food products is expected to be in place in 2020. The restaurant plans to serve cannabis as an ingredient once approvals are in hand.

CMM Industries is nearing a construction start of a four-storey office and industrial complex at Dupplin Road and Tennyson Avenue in Saanich. The complex called Dupplin Block is a 42,000-square-foot office building slated to rise in a primarily industrial area of Saanich. The project is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2020.

Victoria-based cannabis retailer Original FARM has secured the City of Victoria’s first municipal and provincial approvals to sell cannabis products.

The company’s shop at 1402 Douglas Street is set to open at the space formerly occupied by an Aveda salon.

The location has undergone tenant improvements in preparation for approvals and opening.

Chinese tea and bubble tea chain royaltea is opening a Victoria location along the 1,600-block of Douglas Street between Cormorant and Fisgard streets. The chain is known for its authentic beverages infused with a variety of ingredients. The new outlet is expected to open this spring.

Big O Tires is moving into an expanded space at 1321 Quadra Street. The location is the former home of downtown Victoria’s Ming’s restaurant, which closed just over a year ago following a Vancouver Island Health Authority inspection. The takeover of the space by Big O Tires will give them space for a more comprehen sive automotive repair centre.

The expansion is expected to get underway this year with completion likely in 2020.

Floyd’s Diner is opening its third location in the former Olive Grove restaurant space at 4496 West Saanich Road. The company has a location in Westshore along Station Avenue in Langford and Victoria’s James Bay neighbourhood on Menzies Street at Superior Street.

The new owner of Sooke’s Evergreen Centre is seeki ng approva l to build a single-storey,

6,400-square-foot addition at Sooke Road featuring a drive-thru Tim Hortons restaurant as the anchor tenant. Skyline REIT, an Ontairo-based real estate development trust, is behind the expansion plan that could include retail or office tenants. Though construction timelines have not been confirmed, the project is likely to get underway by year’s end or by early 2020.

Construction of the Bellewood Park condominium and townhome project is underway along Victoria’s upper Fort Street corridor.

The project led by Abstract Development’s comprises 74 one, two, and three-bedroom units between two buildings and nine townhomes. The development is on a two-acre parcel in the historic Rockland neighbourhood known for landmarks like the Government House and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.

Construction is expected to take roughly 30 months with completion expected in late 2021.

After a decade of operations on the 600-block of Tyee Road in Victoria West’s Upper Ha rbou r Place II building, Goodlife Fitness will shutter the business this July. The decision to close the Vic West location reportedly stems from leasing negotiations that failed to land on mutually agreeable terms. A future tenant for the space has not been announced by the building owner.

The Maritime Museum of BC announces the opening of a new art show titled Spirit of Canada: An Artist’s Journal of the Canadian Landscape by John Stuart Price, on now until August 29, 2019. The exhibit can be found at 634 Humboldt Street.

Helijet is pleased to announce that it has renewed its dedicated air medical contract with British Columbia Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) for an additional four years, effective April 1, 2019. Helijet will continue to supply four Sikorsky S-76 model helicopters for the B.C. Ambulance Service which is operated by BCEHS. Under the new agreement, a current Sikorsky S-76A helicopter used as a backup aircraft will be replaced with a newer model Sikorsky S-76C, to provide consistency throughout the air ambulance fleet.

21

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OPINION

22

APRIL 2019 A division of Invest Northwest Publishing Ltd. 200-3060 Cedar Hill Road, Victoria V8T 3J5 Fax: 1.778.441.3373 Toll free: 1.866.758.2684 Website: www.businessexaminer.ca

PUBLISHER/EDITOR | Lise MacDonald SALES | Josh Higgins – josh@businessexaminer.ca,

John MacDonald - john@businessexaminer.ca WRITERS | Beth Hendry-Yim, Kristin Van Vloten, Val Lennox, Robert MacDonald

MINIMUM WAGE HIKES HURT BUSINESS OWNERS AND LOW-INCOME EMPLOYEES

MARK MACDONALD

P

ol iticia ns, pa rticu la rly those on the left side of the spectrum, love to tantalize voters with promises of an increase in the minimum wage.

It’s obviously a winner at the ballot box, as those on the bottom end of the earning scale see a hike as not only something they want and need, and in many cases, believe they deserve. So they vote for the person who promises them more money.

Here’s the problem. It’s a mirage. The paycheque gains only make a difference for the first few months, until the market catches up.

I ate at a popular restaurant last week, which was packed with hungry customers. The server in front of me was, it turned out, the co-owner, and I asked her “How is business?”

Hers was an obvious answer – “great” – but a second later, added that she and her husband

were going to have to raise prices to keep up with the increase in the minimum wage.

They are already feeling it.

Their profits are down. Time to raise prices to recoup their losses.

And so it goes, again: a real life example of who pays for the minimum wage increase? Customers, as usual.

And if the customers don’t pay, then the employees do, as their hours are cut back.

In the United States, where the economy is in full gear with no end in sight, a Fox News article noted, “small business owners across the country are beginning to feel the pinch as more states move toward a $15 minimum wage.”

The piece continues: “It’s the ugly side to the highly touted wage hikes, economists say, adding that the bumps can unleash a ‘payroll tsunami’ for smaller businesses already stretched thin from rising rents and soaring health care costs.

“For some of these businesses, the minimum wage hikes tip the balance between staying in business and going out of business,” Panos Mourdoukoutas, professor of economics at LIU Post in New York, wrote in Forbes.

The story goes on to give examples of a nearly 200 year old restaurant in Boston closing because the owners couldn’t keep

up with hikes in wages and health care premiums.

Investor’s Business Daily reports that 4,000 workers lost their jobs at full-service restaurants in the last three months of 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. By the end of the year, there were fewer restaurant workers in New York than in November, 2016, the story stated.

Maryland became the sixth state to approve a gradual increase to $15 an hour, and the American Action Forum predicts the move “could cost the state 94,600 jobs.”

It is compelling, and chilling reading. This is where the rubber meets the road.

Here’s a better solution that will actually work: If people want more money and a wage hike, go back to school.

Get some training. Acquire more skills. Sell more. Do more.

Minimum wage jobs are minimum for a reason. They aren’t intended to be – and cannot be – family supporting incomes.

They are starting positions, filled in many cases by students or as secondary household incomes. In most cases, it’s not skilled work.

For those who eschew training to better themselves and their opportunities, they’re missing a tremendous chance to move forward. We’ve been told for two decades that a skill shortage was

coming, and it’s now in full bloom – and we’re still short. Companies are snapping up new trainees as soon as they graduate, and many times before then, as they clamour for skilled help to meet their contractual obligations.

North American society seems to have a built-in assumptive attitude that every business owner is “rich”. Nothing could be further from the truth despite the fervent lobbying of some educators and the mainstream media.

50 per cent of businesses fail to make it to their fifth year of operation. 85 per cent of restaurants fail.

I remember well when we started our company 15 years ago. We were greeted by congratulations from well meaning friends: Those who assumed we’d suddenly won the lottery and would live leisurely, happily, and rich, ever after. And those who knew better. . .because they were in business for themselves.

Successful business friends had a knowing look in their eye when they shook my hand, as in “welcome to the club”, and “now you’re on of us”. And in some cases, there was a little twinkle that I have since learned may have meant: “Now you’re really going to work hard.”

And we have. My wife, Lise, and I have never considered ourselves to be sluggards. But

little did we know what the new meaning of “hard work” was.

Not that it hasn’t been worth it, because it has. But there have def i n itely been t i mes when both of us technically worked for “minimum wage” as market cycles revolved.

The interviews I’ve done over many years revealed stories of how business owners managed to survive and thrive to keep their companies moving forward and profitable – for without profits, there is no business. One of my favourites was a man who ran his hands through the bottom of his couch looking for spare change to help him meet payroll. Not the piggy bank – it was empty.

T hat’s what ca n happen i n the “real world” while owning a business. And if margins are tight already, and along comes a politician with a great idea to increase the wages of their voting supporters, what must an owner do? Raise prices, or cut costs, and unfortunately, that often means the hours of those who can least afford it.

The scariest words a business will ever hear are these: “We’re here from the government, and we’re here to help.” Their voter-friendly promises not only hurt owners and may permanently drive them out of business, but they also negatively affect those they intend to help.

SNC-LAVALIN REMINDS US THAT BIG GOVERNMENT INVITES BIG SCANDALS

THE FRASER INSTITUTE VINCENT GELOSO

T

he SNC-Lavalin scandal, which continues to domi nate head l i nes across Canada, has many moving parts.

It’s hard to disentangle everything so as to assign blame. But the situation provides an important lesson that seemingly many have forgot: big government

invites big scandals.

Political power can be misused for personal gain. It can be wielded in ways that favour a party’s electoral prospects or personally enrich government officials. The greater the powers, the scale and the scope of governments, the greater the temptation to misuse power.

In that regard, there’s a rich economic and political literature that ties size and scope to corruption and political opportunism. Most of it relies on the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World index, which captures the two main mechanisms that allow for the misuse of power.

The first mechanism hinges on the fact that government restricts economic activity via regulation. When this happens, there’s an incentive for corrupt officials to ‘grease the wheels.’

T he idea is that, because of

regulations, firm owners will pay to speed up the process (permit approvals, for example). The index can test the relationship between corruption and regulation. One paper, using a large international sample, found that some regulations tend to increase corruption – especially those related to restrictions on property rights. Other studies have confirmed this idea, noting corruption involving restrictions against importing foreign goods.

The second mechanism relies on government spending. Political actors can direct spending towards privileged parties that have corrupted them. For example, government contracts going to party friends or favoured firms. For this, there’s some empirical evidence.

However, scandals from this mech a n i sm, u n l i ke reg u l atory mechanisms, are found in electoral machinations. As

governments can decide where to allocate spending and to whom, political actors have an incentive to use that power in ways that favour their re-election (or even their personal wealth). Here, the economic history literature is rife with examples.

For example, during the Great Depression in the United States, the poorest states hit the hardest by the crisis received very little of the public spending meant to alleviate the crisis. These states, largely in the south, were already solidly in the column of states that would vote for the president’s re-election. As a result, dollars spent there would yield little electoral rewards. Most of the spending went to electorally important states. Another study, using the same historical episodes, noted that the same thing happened at the congressional level, whereby those with political clout were able to redirect

spending their way.

Finally, there’s a recent Canadian example to corroborate this point. When the last federal government enacted a stimulus package, a disproportionate share of the spending went to electoral districts crucial to the acquisition of a majority position in Parliament.

T his wide body of research suggests that if we want fewer scandals, we ought to find ways to scale back government to limit the temptation to indulge in scandalous behaviour.

If anything positive comes out of the SNC-Lavalin scandal, perhaps it will be a reminder of this important fact.

Vincent Geloso is a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and visiting professor of economics at Bates College who earned his PhD from the London School of Economics.

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23

APRIL 2019

VIREB CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15

T he new water supply centre is the largest infrastructure project in City of Campbell River history. It was delivered within a strict and tight timeline, while incorporating a design that highlights the natural beauty of the area.

C o m m u n i t y - C e nten n i a l Pa rk Covere d Mu lt i-P u r p o s e Co u r t Building of Nanaimo.

G enera l Cont ractor: CANbuild Solutions Inc.; Architect/Designer: Finlayson Bonet Architecture Ltd. T h e o n e-of-ak i nd open str uctu re multi-purpose court is a complementary addition to Ha rewood Centennial Park, providing an all-weather location for lacrosse, several other court sports and community functions.

I n d u s t r i a l - Herring Gull Warehouse of Parksville.

Owner/Developer/ G enera l Cont ractor: Parhar Group; A rch itect / Desig ner: Ellins Architect.

This commercial space in central Parksville is

a g re e n , e c o-f r i e n dly project that uses high efficiency lighting throughout.

Retail - Quality Foods Harewood of Nanaimo.

Owner: Kelland Foods Hold i ngs; A rch ite c t / D e s i g n e r: Da r you sh Fi rou zl i A rch itectu re Inc.; General Contractor: Windley Contracting Ltd. This new store required demolition of the existi ng structu re i n order to build the new 51,000 squ a re foot g rocer y store, which has all of the amenities of other Quality Foods stores, as well as a restaurant in the deli with patio seating, and A Step Above retail store and restaurant.

Awards of Merit went to: Mi xe d Use: Inter Island Design Centre of Parksville.

Industrial: Parhar Business Park of Duncan.

Retail: Harbourview Autohaus of Nanaimo.

Renovation: Building Envelope Remediation Construction Service of Nanaimo.

Mult i-Family Tow nh o m e: Brow nstone Townhomes of Campbell River.

Multi-Family

Apartment: Harbour City Flats of Nanaimo.

Multi-Family Non-Market: Tla-o-quiaht Demonstration Container Housing of Tofino.

Institutional: Brentwood College Athletic Facility of Mill Bay, and Comox Valley Child Development Centre Autism Centre for Excellence of Courtenay.

Civil: Meade Creek Recycling Facility of Lake Cowichan.

C o m m u n i t y : A r b utus Park Washrooms of Youbou.

Honourable Mentions went to: Mixed Use: Lucky House of Tofino.

Retail: La-Z-Boy Furniture Gallery of Nanaimo.

Renovation: Lions Valley View Estates of Courtenay.

Institutional: Berwick Comox Valley of Comox.

Community: Faye Smith Memorial of Qualicum Beach.

The Official Souvenir Book for the Awards can be v iewed at: https:// issuu.com/businessexaminer/docs/2019_vireb_book_lr_final_v3_bc The official video for the event is at: https:// youtu.be/BtLn72ig6Rw

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