With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1127329
JULY/AUGUST 2019 BCBUSINESS 47 As of Aug. 29th, 2018 CAPTION HERE; Forestry worker thinning a forest to prevent large forest fires in BC CHRIS THORN X 2, MAYA TREUHEIT, ANNIE SCHROEDER, ANDREW STRAIN start small businesses. The incentives were signi…cant: the opportunity to purchase a house for a fraction of Lower Mainland costs (prices have since risen, but this spring, three-bedroom single family homes still averaged about $250,000 to $300,000); a $17-million investment by Telus Corp. in fast-connectivity Žibre optics that makes working remotely much easier; strong employment prospects in tourism and health care; a community that punches above its weight in cultural opportunities; and, of course, easy access to some of the province's most beautiful scenery, includ- ing the Sunshine Coast Trail. The age balance of migrants slowly started to shift, and in 2018, half of all new residents of Powell River fell into the more youthful category, with the other half made up of traditional retirees. People arrive from all over, with most incoming from the Squamish-to-Hope corridor. (Randolph tells me that Squamish alone lost 40 families to Powell River last year, pushed out by ris- ing costs and changing demographics as Vancouver commuters trade o between the daily drive along the Sea-to-Sky High- way and the lower home prices to be found farther north.) The campaign found its groove in social media, where the city leveraged the enthu- siasm of locals into in—uential shares in signi…cant numbers across personal and professional networks, with videos of recent arrivals enthusing about their new lives. Market forces One name that comes up again and again when talking about the regeneration of Powell River, and speciŽically Townsite, is Steven Brooks. A senior computer pro- grammer and analyst with 30 years of experience consulting, building and over- seeing the mainframe architectures of Crown corporation and provincial ministry systems, Brooks fell in love with the neigh- bourhood two decades ago while looking around for real estate investments. Five years later, he bought a derelict apartment block in Townsite, gradually moving out the drug addicts who had taken up residence as the area became more and more rundown. He's been splitting his life between his West Vancouver home and Powell River ever since, but with the open- ing of the market, he's now almost full-time in Townsite, living in a mock Tudor heritage building erected by the Bank of Montreal. He leases out the ground level of the for- mer bank to a yoga studio/gallery space at the front, with 32 Lakes, a coee roasting company started by transplants from North Vancouver, Margot and Nathan Jantz, rent- ing the back. Brooks lives upstairs in the airy, beautifully preserved former bank manager's residence. "This one was a present to myself," he says, smiling. After Brooks began renovating the POWELL TO YA (Clockwise from top left) Attractions like shops on Main Street, the Sunshine Coast Trail, the Patricia Theatre, Base Camp café and Townsite Brewing are making Powell River hard to leave