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/1510895
Putting It Together I f you are at all familiar with this magazine, you'll know that we have multiple awards programs, most of which we adjudicate ourselves or in concert with an expert panel. That's not the case with our annual Entrepre- neur of the Year issue, however. That list of winners and finalists is whittled down from hundreds of distinguished nominees by the folks at EY Canada-Pacific Region. We then have the incredible honour of profiling those chosen entrepreneurs and executives, the results of which you will find starting on page 31. Because the selection is done outside of the BCBusiness team, when an Entrepreneur of the Year finalist is a person who has already been recognized by this magazine in one of our other awards programs it can feel very validating. This has happened more than a few times over the 28 previous Entrepreneur of the Year issues of this magazine, and this year it's happened again—specifically, with Tamer Mohamed of Aspect Biosystems. Just over five years ago, at the age of 29, Mohamed was crowned as one of our 30 Under 30 winners. He had co-founded biotech startup Aspect out of UBC and was overseeing some 20 employees. These days, Aspect has about 90 staff and a massive facil- ity in South Vancouver. It also inked a US$2.6-billion deal with global pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk earlier this year. Mohamed probably didn't need our approval (or EY's), but it's nice to see regardless. Along with Mohamed, there are 19 other finalists we have the privi- lege of profiling this year, including the Pacific Region overall winners, Herbaland founders Musharaf Syed and Aisha Yang. I got the chance to sit down with the husband-and-wife duo, and I was immediately struck by their humility and their great pas- sion for their family. Herbaland has big plans to continue building in B.C. and I'm delighted that we are able to highlight their success and put their smiling faces on our cover. Speaking of smiling faces, in addition to the photo included with this column you'll also (unfortunately) see my mug on page 13. On a dare, I decided to partake in the annual Part- ners in Tourism Invitational Golf Tournament, where my very beginner golf abilities met one of the tougher courses in the province. My exploits on the actual course might have been nothing to write home about, but I did learn a lot about B.C.'s tourism industry and the challenges it's facing at the moment, and I'm happy to be able to pass those insights on to you. I hope you'll indulge me in that one. And, in return, you should probably indulge yourself in one of the fantastic winter getaways we showcase (p.51). I might do the same. But I'll leave my golf clubs at home this time. Nathan Caddell, Editor-in-Chief bcb@canadawide.com / @BCBusiness ( editor's desk ) N E X T I S S U E Our Economic Outlook package predicts some tough times for B.C.—and maybe some thin silver linings. C ON T R I B U T OR S Stacey McLachlan is editor-at- large for Vancouver magazine and Western Living, and author of the National Magazine Award- nominated City Informer column. She also writes for Dwell maga- zine and software company Hootsuite. All told, she's been writing for print and digital media for two decades now, and while crafting "Mountain High" (p.78), she thought: "Nelson seems so charming it makes me want to attempt ski lessons so I have an excuse to visit." Currently in her final year of studying creative writing and journalism at Vancouver Island University, Ladysmith-based Megan Zolorycki is managing editor for VIU's student news- paper and editorial intern at Vancouver magazine and Western Living. She prepared a roundup of maker stores in B.C. for "Retail, Re-envisioned," (p.74) and says, "Shopping locally is the best way to support artists in your community and get a unique gift for someone you love." PORTRAIT: ALAINA MICHELLE 8 BCBUSINESS.CA NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023