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/1406705
12 BCBUSINESS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 PORTRAIT: ADAM BLASBERG E veryone has their own definition of success. For Carl Hansen, it's about the journey. "Success is really not a desti- nation," says the CEO of AbCellera Biologics, who appears on our cover as a winner of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year's Pacific Region program for 2021. "If you're an entrepreneur, fundamentally you're trying to create some- thing that is unique and valuable, and some- thing that will ultimately make the world a better place in some way." Calling success the "act of productive cre- ation," Hansen spoke of being pushed to the limit of one's abilities. "You're forced to get bet- ter and better, but you're still feeling that there's progress, so that you can go home at the end of the day and still feel like you left everything on the court," he says. "And also to feel like I'm creating the opportunity for others to feel like that as well. And that's the sense of community." On that generous note, we're pleased to honour Hansen and the other EOY winners for their success by profiling them starting on page 51. We're also glad that the long-running competition is back after stepping away for a year during the pandemic— with a new format that sees not one but seven local champs move on to the national finals in November. Congratulations to all of the winners. And, as always, thanks to Lui Petrol- lini, EOY's Pacific Region program director, for partnering with us to share their stories. By many standards, the B.C. real estate sector is also a success, having generated untold wealth for those smart—and lucky—enough to invest in it. Surveying the property market's ever-changing landscape in "New Territories" (p.36), Frances Bula explores how COVID and other forces are transforming it, while stressing the urgency of the province's hous- ing shortage. Success in the face of adversity is the theme of "The Best Catastrophe That Ever Happened to Us" (p.72), Michael McCullough's look at small and midsize companies that found ways to thrive during the COVID-19 pandemic by changing their business models. As it turns out, those pivots worked so well that they've made them permanent. Amid dire warnings from scientists about the global climate emergency, local transportation businesses are also succeeding at developing greener ways to get from A to B. You can read all about them in "Going Places" (p.27), co-writ- ten by editorial interns Pallavi Rao and Saphiya Zerrouk. For all our sakes, here's hoping those innovators' efforts breed even more success. Nick Rockel, Editor-in-Chief bcb@canadawide.com / @BCBusiness ( editor's desk ) Some of B.C.'s top business minds share their thoughts on leadership post-COVID I N NOV E M B E R / DE C E M B E R Success Stories C ON T R I B U T OR S A reporter for 35 years and an instructor with UBC's journalism program, Vancouver-based Frances Bula covers urban issues and city politics. Bula, who has written for BCBusiness since the 1980s, favours deep dives with long-form pieces like real estate feature "New Territories" (p.36). "I got to talk to people who are having trouble finding housing and people who are making decisions about whether they're going to work in the office or at home, so you get to bring those reports to life." After getting laid off from her HR job at a big corporation during the COVID-19 pandemic, Samantha Potyok turned her interest in photography into a business. The Fort St. James resident put authenticity first when shooting Lori Fell at her trailer home outside Vanderhoof for "New Territories" (p.36). "We just talked about her life," says the full-time mom and photographer, "where she came from, how she got where she is."