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
36 BCBUSINESS.CA JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023 Squamish's housing to remain affordable, his greatest concern is seeing new develop- ment expand the edges of the community at the expense of its natural areas. "If the mountain bike trail network was devel- oped into housing [and] access became harder and harder to achieve, it would push some players out of the area," Heynen con- cedes. "Companies will move elsewhere." KNOCKING IT OUT OF THE PARK Parksville, a coastal resort town north of Nanaimo that's popular with tourists and retirees, is the top performing city on Vancouver Island. Healthy household finances, strong residential sales, low unemployment and solid performance on many other indi- cators has kept it within our rank- ing's top 10 communities for three years running. "Tourism is one of our most significant employers, although the construction indus- try is certainly equal to that," explains Kim Burden, executive director of the Parksville and District Chamber of Commerce. But as the community continues to grow, it is seeking to further diversify its economy, Burden says. Recent initiatives include the launch of a tech attraction strategy, and the establishment of a micro-fulfillment cen- tre—known as DELVI, or Deliver Vancouver Island—that is similar in function to Amazon in that it offers warehousing and delivery, but with a focus on serving local businesses. "We've probably got about a dozen tenants that we're providing service to—everything from fertilizer to furniture," he explains, not- ing that the initiative is still in its early stages. Burden also points to the growth of local food and beverage services such as craft breweries and distilleries as another bright spot in the community. That industry showed respectable resiliency even through the pandemic, he says: "We gained a couple of restaurants, which is surprising consider- ing they were one of the hardest hit sectors of the economy." One of Parksville's newest eat- eries is Happy Jack's Restaurant, owned and operated by Jordan and Sherri Porth. The couple moved with their business to Parksville from Houston, B.C., after becoming infatuated with the city during a trip to the coast in 2021. "We found the people incredibly friendly with a laid-back approach, and knew that this was a place for our brand and a place we could call home," recalls Jordan. In the face of lingering pandemic uncer- tainty, the need to rehabilitate a long-vacant and water-damaged building and an unex- pected incident with a runaway truck, the Porths were able to open the doors of Happy Jack's in July 2022. "People have been very supportive since day one, and that has con- tinued on as word has spread of what we have to offer," Jordan says. While the restaurant has not experi- enced any serious COVID outbreaks since its opening, Happy Jack's continues to be plagued by some of the pandemic's knock- on effects. "One of the biggest changes has been the rapid increase of costs," says Jor- dan, blaming inflation, COVID-induced sup- ply chain issues and mandated increases to the minimum wage for a narrowing in the industry's already razor-thin margins. Labour shortages have been another ongoing problem. "Hiring is certainly a challenge for our industry, no matter what city you are in," Jordan confirms. Happy Jack's was fortunate to have been able to hire on enough staff to add lunch service to its schedule just a few months after open- ing. Now, the Porths are keen to add more. "We currently have around 25 staff mem- bers and are always looking for the next great person to join our team," says Jordan. According to Kim Burden, ranking among the oldest communities in Canada does not help with Parksville's labour woes. He hopes that attracting more young work- ing families to the area will help to balance the large share of retirees in the city who still consume services but are no longer in the workforce. "If the seniors in our community BEST CITIES FOR WORK IN B.C. RAISING THE BAR Happy Jack's Restau- rant in Parksville is owned by Jordan and Sherri Porth, who say they have no desire to be anywhere else