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
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023 BCBUSINESS.CA 49 now coming down. "You're seeing lumber prices back off, and U.S. housing starts slow," says Peacock. "That's going to be an area of weakness for the province—exports will come under pressure with the slowing of the U.S. economy." He's much more optimistic about the mining sector, where B.C. has several proj- ects getting close to the permitting and operations phases, and for film and TV—a sector that he says is "growing massively." T O U R I S M I S B A C K , B U T N O T B E T T E R T H A N E V E R Peacock isn't so sold on the revival of tour- ism yet, however. "The way the number of visitors is levelling out, it's still going to be a couple of years before we see a full return," he notes. "I don't know if we'll get back to 2019 levels, at least for another two years." Anderson is a fair bit more hopeful about the prospect of one of B.C.'s most impor- tant sectors regaining its pre-COVID power. "Canada Place welcomed a record number of cruise ships in 2022, and the Vancouver Convention Centre was a hive of activity as conferences and trade shows resumed," she says. "There is every reason to be optimis- tic about tourism in our region in both the coming year and the years ahead." W O R K I N G T O G E T H E R Recession, downturn, tomato, potato—what- ever this turns out to be, it's clear that it will be challenging for individuals and institu- tions alike. Among the experts we con- sulted, the theme of working collaboratively was reiterated more than anything else. "We need to be pulling together, getting around the table and figuring out workable solutions that can be amended in a timely way," says Famulak. "Many of our business community members are innovators, they have some of the solutions, they have great ideas. Let's find a way to bring those ideas to the table. Everybody has a role to play. It's not about continually asking government for money to fix problems. We need to get to a point where private sector ideas, inno- vative ideas, are heard and acknowledged to build a healthy economy." Adds Anderson: "On the heels of a chal- lenging few years, we seem to be entering into another difficult economic time. I'm concerned that employee burnout and mental health challenges will get worse. People are our greatest asset, and so we collectively need to be doing all we can to support and care for one another. As always, these challenges also bring sig- nificant opportunities. Employers that recognize and address the needs of their employees will be rewarded with the loy- alty of their employees and customers alike. Those who fail to take these factors into consideration will struggle to attract and retain talent."—N.C RITCHIE BROS. AUCTIONEERS In anticipation of several more months of stock-market volatility, Scotiabank's strategy team recently made a list of their "top-ranked quality stocks" for weathering the storm. The elite ranking included Burnaby-based Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers ( TSX, NYSE:RBA). But hold on: the used heavy equipment dealer is in the midst of an ambitious—and contentious— US$7.3-billion takeover of IAA Inc., a Chicago-based automotive auction house. (RBA's own market cap is around C$8.1 billion.) And it comes after a $1.2-billion bid for Euro Auctions was foiled by British regulators last spring. Has president and CEO Ann Fandozzi bitten off more than she can chew? We should know by mid-year. PREMIUM BRANDS HOLDING CORP. Known as a serial acquisitor, Premium Brands ( TSX:PBH) ran into a headwind in 2022 with the advent of higher interest rates, which raise the cost of dealmaking. Its ECONOMIC OUTLOOK 2023 10 interesting B.C. stocks we're watching in 2023 While we don't recommend betting the house right now, here are a few stocks we're keeping our eyes on in the new year, ranked from lowest to highest risk/return profile Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers