28 BCBUSINESS.CA OCTOBER 2023
L E A D E R S H I P
If you want people to recall an event from the past, it can help to offer
them a notable cultural touchpoint. For example, the last time an NBA team played a regular
season game in Vancouver was on April 14, 2001. On that date, the #1 song on the Billboard
100 was "All for You" by Janet Jackson. Spy Kids topped the worldwide box office that month.
Here's another one: the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade was founded in 1887, 10 years
after recorded music was invented.
Because the board has always appointed its chairs in one-year terms, the roster of names
who have led the organization features some high-profile figures, such as Brandt Louie, Carole
Taylor and an extensive list of men with two initials in their first name, like H.R. MacMillan.
Today, the GVBOT looks much different than it did back in 1887, but the purpose for which
it was founded—"to protect the interests of merchants, traders and manufacturers, to advance
the trade of the area and to promote the advancement and general prosperity of Vancouver"—
hasn't changed all that much.
On a sunny day in August, we met the three current leaders of the GVBOT at the Fairmont
Hotel Vancouver to discuss everything from the struggle businesses in the region are currently
facing to tips on unwinding.
PRESIDENT AND CEO:
BRIDGITTE ANDERSON,
FORMER GENERAL MANAGER AT EDELMAN
AND PRESS SECRETARY TO THE PREMIER
CHAIR:
RADHA CURPEN,
VICE-CHAIR AND VANCOUVER MANAGING
PARTNER, BENNETT JONES LLP
