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/1490198
30 BCBUSINESS.CA JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023 Continuing with a post-pandemic theme of resiliency, our ninth annual ranking of B.C.'s best cities for work sees the return of a top pre-COVID contender and shines a spotlight on the economic dynamism of B.C.'s small cities. As the province emerges from the pandemic, our assessment of its 50 largest communities reveals how local businesses and top performers from three regions are adjusting to the new state of normal. RESILIENT CITIES in 2023 B.C.'s Most Economically BEST CITIES FOR WORK IN B.C. W hen Christine Coletta and husband Steve Lornie bought their first recreational property in Summerland in 1999, they were preparing to spend their retire- ment years enjoying an idyllic, smalltown retreat in the sun-drenched Okanagan Valley. But after planting their first vine- yard in 2006 and launching Okanagan Crush Pad Winery in 2011, their so-called retirement has been anything but leisurely. "Yeah, that plan didn't go too far—maybe in five years' time," admits Coletta. After 12 years in operation, Okanagan Crush Pad—which provides shared production space and equipment to small- scale grape growers looking to start their own wineries—is busy preparing to launch a number of adventurous new initiatives. In addition to producing their own interna- tionally recognized wines under a growing list of labels— Haywire and Narrative among them—Coletta and Lornie are adding new facilities and operations, both at the Crush Pad site and at their nearby Garnet Valley Ranch property. As B.C. transitions out of the pandemic, Coletta and Lor- nie are just two of the province's many entrepreneurs trying to find their way back to business as usual while facing new hurdles along the way. "The challenge for all of us living in small, rural towns is labour—attracting people, retaining them and accommodating them with housing," Coletta says. While promising economic opportunities abound, Colet- ta's experience reflects the same challenges that most B.C. communities will be grappling with in the year ahead. Carrying forward last year's metrics and with help from research partner Environics Analytics, our editorial team used 10 indicators to evaluate a range of economic factors for our 2023 survey of B.C. cities—including growth, employment and housing, as well as aspects of social and b y A N D R E W M A C A U L A Y p o r t r a i t b y C H R I S T I A N T I S D A L E