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/1351663
ON THE RADAR ( the informer ) ADAM BLASBERG S cott Jacob has worked in construction for 30 years. He's seen a few recessions. But never the kind of meteor hit that hap- pened last March, when pan- demic lockdowns and panic arrived in B.C. The company he and his brother run, Jacob Bros Construction, had a dozen contracts for various improve- ments—parkades, asphalt aprons—at Vancouver Inter- national Airport. They were cancelled instantly, stopped mid-project with an urgent re- quest that Jacob get his crews offsite as fast as he could. The Surrey-based com- pany's other big specialty was hotel projects. "It was cease and desist any new work im- mediately," Jacob recalls. "If anyone had told me our two anchor clients would disap- pear in a couple of days, I would have laughed." Almost a year later, Jacob Bros is afloat. It has kept on its 100 salaried staff and hourly workforce of about 200. It handed out bonuses at Christ- mas. But that took some claw- ing for any hold on the cliff face. Figuring out how to keep everyone safe on worksites. Go- ing after jobs in new areas. Bid- ding on little contracts that the company hadn't considered before—and even losing out on some, as more than two dozen builders fight for the smallest scraps, like half-million-dollar suburban utilities projects. Jacob's experience is just one illustration of the erratic and rocky times facing B.C. businesses in an economic hurricane that has wreaked havoc like no other. It's one where the usual laws of down- turns didn't always apply. Typically in a recession, consumers pull back on buy- ing tangible things, though they keep spending on certain services. But during the pan- demic, because the federal and provincial governments turned on the income-support taps and because of the way COVID-19 affected behaviour, people ditched services and blew loads of money on things: TVs, cars, bikes, camping gear, An Uneven Year On the anniversary of B.C.'s coronavirus lockdown, the pandemic has left some industries languishing while others forge ahead by Frances Bula C OV I D -1 9 APRIL 2021 BCBUSINESS 9 CHANGE OF PLANS COVID forced Scott Jacob's construction company to pivot while keeping staff safe At j 1.3% or 33,600 jobs, B.C. ranked No. 2 among the provinces for the smallest decline in employment from February-December, the Business Council of B.C. reports RECOVERY MISSION In a January survey of Greater Vancouver Board of Trade members, 62% of respondents said they were still suffering decreased sales because of the pandemic 49% forecasted that in 3-6 months, revenue would still be lower than pre-COVID Although roughly 4/10 expected to shrink investment in their business over the next 12 months, 6/10 said they planned to spend more on digital technology of member businesses polled by the BC Chamber of Commerce in December said they were using government support programs, g from 65% in July WHAT EXTRA GOVERNMENT SUPPORT WOULD HELP BC CHAMBER MEMBERS THE MOST? 73% 45% GREATER TAX RELIEF 40% MORE SUPPORT FOR WAGES 32% MORE/ MORE EFFECTIVE CASH- FLOW RELIEF