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/1514012
34 To p : L illi e L o ui s e M aj o r ; B o t t o m : i S t o c k /o - c h e BC BU S I N E S S .C A F E B R U A R Y 2 0 24 as an urgent climate crisis. "There's an increase in global demand for new thinking and part of the solution is going to be bring- ing new products to market to replace older products that are more carbon-intensive," says Collins. "Seventy percent of the world is covered with water—the oceans—yet only two percent of our food comes from there, so it's very important that we seek product solutions for beyond this century that we can extract in harmony with the planet." Despite Cascadia's rapid growth, the last four years haven't been without their chal- lenges. The company's most recent trou- bles are related to what Collins describes as the "yo-yo world of finance" that has unfolded following the onset of the pan- demic. As the world began opening back up in 2021, pent-up demand initially cre- ated an influx of investment capital into startups like Cascadia. But as talk of a loom- ing recession cropped up in mid-2022, that funding dried up, causing uncertainty and stifling opportunities for growth. Compounding the issue is what Collins describes as a cultural proclivity for frugal- ity when it comes to investing in startups: "Canadians are risk averse to new busi- ness, so it's not necessarily the best place to innovate." While it's an outcome Collins would prefer to avoid, he recognizes there are other options. "There's a constant pres- sure from our neighbours to the south to move down there. If we have to, we will in order to get the job done," he says. The Chamber's Smith believes busi- nesses are struggling even more now than they were in 2020: "I think entrepreneurs all dug in hard to get through the pandemic [and] made sure their companies sur- vived." After stretching their resources thin and making use of government stopgap measures, such as the Canada Emergency Business Account ( CEBA) program, some businesses are now running on empty in the face of looming loan repayments and shifting post-pandemic consumer trends. "The results of that are starting to show up," says Smith. "We're seeing more clo- sures in the small business world now than we did during COVID." A labour shortage exacerbated by the area's astronomical housing costs isn't making the situation any easier, Smith adds: "Staffing is the number-one risk to businesses here, period." He points to a multidecadal decline in housing construc- tion as a cause for the area's high cost and labour woes. "That's the root of the cost problem here—it's all because we haven't built enough housing," he says. Collins says Cascadia has largely man- aged to avoid the issue given that the nature of its work attracts young professionals who are passionate about making a posi- tive impact on the planet. But he admits that affording a home isn't exactly easy in the area. "I think that will remain a chal- lenge, particularly if you're young and look- ing to buy or even rent a house," he says. However, Collins is a bit more optimistic that market forces will eventually rectify the issue: "At some point, market forces will catch up, whether it's salaries rising to meet the requirements of the standard of living or whether the cost of housing becomes somewhat ameliorated." In the meantime, the Chamber's Smith worries about a decline in business oppor- tunities in the coming years. However, with the continued influx of retirees into the area, he does see a silver lining: "I think there is opportunity in the business space if someone can figure out how to capitalize on the aging population here." " Seventy percent of the world is covered with water—the oceans—yet only 2 percent of our food comes from there, so it's very important that we seek product solutions for beyond this century that we can extract in harmony with the planet." —Bill Collins, co-founder and board director of Cascadia Seaweed SLIME TIME Collins hopes that Cascadia Sea- weed helps B.C. move to a less carbon-dependent future