BCBusiness

T H E K I C K O F F : John Anderson is a veteran in the world of entrepreneur- ship; he operates one of Canada's leading produce suppliers, Oppy. But why run one successful business when you can run two? Especially when the second one was born out of true passion. Decades after the elder Anderson founded aircraft management and executive charter firm Anderson Air, his son Ryan has risen through the ranks to help steer the organization alongside his father—and together they're taking the company to new heights. DE S CR IBE Y OUR DR E A M E MP L O Y E E IN T HR E E W OR D S : JA: Passionate, loyal, caring. W H AT ' S T HE BE S T L E A DE R S HIP A D V ICE Y OU ' V E E V E R R E CE I V E D ? RA: There's no substitute for hard work. Q+A When John launched Anderson Air in the 1980s, he was already helping lead Oppy (then known as the Oppenheimer Group). One could argue that the work ethic that enabled John to steer two companies at once is present in Ryan: he was no stranger to working multiple jobs before he joined Anderson Air—in fact, one of those jobs was delivering newspa- pers by air to different areas in B.C. A C T I O N P L A N : Headquartered at YVR, Anderson Air is on the corporate side of aviation. "We charter the airplanes out commercially, but we also manage airplanes for people— provide the crew; do the mainte- nance; provide flight coordination, accounting; buy and sell airplanes if they want us to. It's a full-service approach," explains John. That sense of service doesn't stop at the customer level—unlike many other travel-related busi- nesses, Anderson Air avoided layoffs during the pandemic. "We foresaw the industry taking off after COVID," John adds. "The best way for us to be ready for that was to keep our people." It paid off: there was a big charter surge post-pandemic, and Anderson Air was ready to take advantage of it. "Since 2021, the company has more than doubled in size," explains John, who says that Anderson Air grew from some $18 million in sales annually to around $60 million now. Both execs credit that growth—and the company's predicted future expansion—to their service-based perspective. "We're in the aviation industry, but the actual business that we're in is client service," notes Ryan. C L O S I N G S T A T E M E N T: Currently, Anderson Air is on track to be the first corporate aviation company in Canada to offer sustainable aviation fuel, called SAF—a refining process that puts less carbon into the atmosphere.–D.W. n 45 B C B U S I N E S S . C A N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 24 A d a m B l a s b e r g F I N A L I S T S Ryan Anderson and John Anderson P R E S I D E N T A N D C O O + F O U N D E R A N D C E O , A N D E R S O N A I R L T D . JUDGES With a deep passion for fostering innovation and digital transformation, Bill Tam has been at the forefront of advancing technology-driven initiatives that promote global collaboration. The incoming chair of the Centre for Digital Media in Vancouver, his extensive experience includes leadership roles in both private and public sectors. Ryan Barrington-Foote is currently the president of the Jim Pattison Group, where his duties include oversight of several operating divisions within the group. He was previously the managing director, accounting, and has worked with the Jim Pattison Group since 2001. Barrington-Foote is a former member of the board of directors of Just Energy Group Inc. and was a director and treasurer of the Rick Hansen Institute. As COO for Acuitas Therapeutics, Abi Coman- Walker develops and oversees the organization's operational, finance and corporate/business strategy. A qualified accountant, Coman-Walker brings extensive leadership experience to her role at Acuitas, having spent more than 16 years in senior positions for HSBC in seven countries. Stephen Lee is the CEO of Musqueam Capital Cor- poration, a wholly owned entity of the Musqueam Indian Band. He is responsible for overseeing Mus- queam's extensive real estate and business assets. His experience spans over 30 years in senior finance and leadership roles in various industries in private and public companies. Curtis Braber is the owner of BE Power Equip- ment Inc., Canada's largest manufacturer of industrial power equipment, with operations across Canada, the U.S., Australia and Asia. In 2022, Curtis was named a regional winner of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year – Pacific Region competition, recognizing his leadership and entrepreneurial spirit. The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year – Pacific Region competition is judged independently by five prominent B.C. leaders

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