BCBusiness

DESK DITOR'S e 8 P o r t r ai t : A l ai n a M i c h e ll e B C B U S I N E S S . C A O C T O B E R 2 0 24 IT'S ALL OF YOUR BUSINESS For our annual Small Business issue, we decided to ask some prominent entrepreneurs, executives and community members one question: What's your favourite small business in the province? We all love small businesses. But we don't, in my opinion, talk enough about what makes a small business special, and which ones are hitting that note so well. Not only are these businesses a lifeline for the things that we need in order for us to operate as a society, like groceries and clothes, they are also a means of creating joy—both through what they do for us, and, in return, through how we feel in supporting them. We send a lot of queries out to the business community in making this magazine and sometimes it takes some nudging to get the answers we need— but that wasn't the case with this one. We asked once, and they answered. It was a good feeling, especially since we were directing our query to such a talented and dynamic group of people. For me personally, many, many businesses came to mind when I was making my own pick, but I decided to go with one that always leaves me with a smile on my face. You can find my personal pick and those of 39 others starting on page 40. It also felt like a good time to put a spotlight on Brenda Bailey ("A Force to Be Reckoned With," p.30), who, in her role as minister of jobs, economic development and innovation, is essentially in charge of small business in this province. With an election coming up this month, there will be much debate about how she's stickhandled that duty and whether BCers have seen enough to grant her another term. In any case, I'm grateful that she agreed to grace our cover—and to do it holding a lightsaber, as a reference to both her ministry's acronym ( JEDI) and the love she's had for the Star Wars fran- chise since she was a kid growing up on Vancouver Island. (An extra thank you to Levi, a family friend and young Star Wars fan who supplied the lightsaber!) Like Bailey, Benoit-Antoine Bacon also knows thing or two about being busy—something the always excellent Richard Littlemore captured right off the bat in his profile of the new UBC president ("Learning on the Job," p.24). Bacon is clearly someone who has spent most of his life learning and his next steps as the head of B.C.'s biggest educational institution are being carefully planned at the moment. Littlemore compellingly digs into Bacon's past to find out what the future might hold. Elsewhere in the issue, we profile the CEO of Downtown Vancouver's business improvement association, Jane Talbot, to find out how she plans to help revitalize that neighbourhood's core and support its small businesses ("The Conversation," p.16). We also uncover the story of how Mike Maierle grew ETRO Construction from a couple of screens in his home office into one of the Lower Mainland's leading construction companies and secured a landmark contract with BC Place ("A Sense of Place," p.11). Now to you: What's your favourite small business in the province? We want to hear about the people and ventures we should be covering. Please reach out and let me know. Our 30th annual feature of the winners and finalists of EY's Pacific Region Entrepreneur of the Year competition NEXT NATHAN CADDELL Editor-in-Chief bcb@canadawide.com | @bcbusiness | Follow BCBusiness on

• Cover