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/1501233
TOP: SASHA SMIRNOV PHOTOGRAPHY; BOTTOM: DALE KLIPPENSTEIN 38 BCBUSINESS.CA JULY/AUGUST 2023 UNDER M A R C A P D U H A N AGE: 29 CEO, Renovo Creative Inc.; innovation and business development manager, Flash Forest Inc. LIFE STORY: Marc Apduhan was working at an environmental consulting firm as a UBC grad when a higher-up told him that he "shouldn't try so hard" because the environmen- tal industry apparently only existed to help natural extraction companies pass regulations. "It was then that I wanted to do my own thing," he says. In 2019, Apduhan joined drone reforestation company Flash Forest as its innovation and business develop- ment manager. The Ontario-based company's goal is clear: to plant one billion trees by 2028. By leveraging drones, AI, geographic information systems and plant-science technology, it aims to reforest unsafe areas like steep slopes and post-wildfire land. Apduhan was employee number one. "We started essentially in the kitchen and in the barn, and now we have pharmaceutical-grade seed pod production and sophisticated drones spanning [the length of] 13 people," he says. Although he was already deeply involved with Flash Forest, it was Renovo Creative's mission to make positive environmental and social change that prompted Apduhan to add to his plate and jump on board as act- ing CEO in 2020. "I am able to basically use my methodical engineering brain for my creative, social impactful side," he says. Aimed at helping companies make a lasting impact, Renovo is a Vancouver-based consulting agency that supports businesses with website design, corporate strategy, UX/ UI design and more—all through the lenses of environment, diversity and technology. BOTTOM LINE : With technol- ogy supported by IRAP, Innovate BC, Sustainable Development Technology Canada and others, Flash Forest is scaling fast. In 2019, it was planting 100 trees per day. Now it's planting 500,000. "That's something that I'm quite proud of," Apduhan says. At Renovo, he's pushing for social change through initiatives like starting a Toronto-based 2SLGBTQ+ co-ed senior and junior rugby team that forwards the right of trans people to be able to compete in professional sports, and starting the free Mosaic Accelerator to help marginalized and BIPOC women build sustainable tech- enabled businesses. –R.R. A L E X M I T C H E L L AGE: 29 CEO, Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce LIFE STORY: Alex Mitchell wouldn't be who she is without Abbotsford. In a couple of years—if they aren't already—people will say that Abbotsford wouldn't be what it is without Alex Mitchell. Mitchell's family is from Alberta but moved to Abbotsford when she was a year old. "I often tell people I didn't appreciate in high school how incredible this community is, but it truly was the perfect place for some- one young and ambitious who wanted to change the world," she says. In Grade 7, Mitchell saw that there was no recycling program in the city's schools, so she set out to change that. She met with Abbotsford councillor Patricia Ross, who has been on the city's council since 1994. Ross encour- aged Mitchell to do something about it, so she pulled together a presenta- tion around how the school district could save money through a program. The board implemented the program. "It didn't matter how old I was or where I came from, it just mattered that I had a good idea and was willing to take the time to present it," says Mitchell. "If it had been anywhere else, I don't know that I would have had that opportunity to have them hear me out." At 15, Mitchell got an internship at city hall and spent the summer understanding all the departments. Eventually, she would get a bach- elor's in political science from UBC and a master's in business admin- istration from SFU. Unsurprisingly, she worked in a couple different roles (including as the public affairs and innovation officer) for the City of Abbotsford before going private with Hill + Knowlton Strategies. But she couldn't stay away from the city for long—this May she was appointed CEO of the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce. BOTTOM LINE : The Chamber has five employ- ees with a membership of some 650 organizations. "We have a small but mighty team that delivers a lot of impact," she says. "We're in a growth period and seeing that bounce back post- COVID. People are missing social connection." –N.C.