IN THIS ISSUE
BY THE NUMBERS
450:
Mass-timber buildings
completed or under
construction in B.C.
Frances Bula's feature
on the contentious
construction material
on page 18.
$61,000:
Salary of a Gen Z
graphic designer who
has moved into a
smaller place to make
her finances work as
she grows her freelance
business. Our latest
Money Makers column
on page 82.
$20 million:
What developer Lenny
Moy spent to transform
a rundown Tudor-style
inn into the jaw-
dropping Rosemead
House near Victoria.
A dive into the hotel
revival on page 78.
10 | BC B U S I N E SS NOVEM B ER/ D ECEM B ER 2025 Portrait: Evaan Kheraj; outfit provided by Mine & Yours luxury consignment
F R O M T H E E D I T O R
S
ome of the greatest success stories
in business started with a hearty
dose of rejection. Walt Disney was
fired from his first animation job
over a lack of imagination (yes, truly). Sir
James Dyson created more than 5,100 failed
prototypes before the successful launch of
his now iconic vacuum. Heck, even Steve
Jobs was ousted from Apple at one point.
Here in B.C., Brian Grange and his team
sent out nearly 200 proposals to potential
clients for an audacious idea: floating indus-
trial hotels that could house thousands of
workers in remote locations without touch-
ing pristine coastlines. The response: rejec-
tion after rejection before landing their first
major contract. Companies simply couldn't
envision what he was proposing—all the
amenities of a massive land-based housing
facility, with a minimal environmental foot-
print.
But once in a while, a great idea is simply
ahead of its time. More than a decade after
he first recognized the need during early
LNG discussions in British Columbia,
Grange has seen his vision materialize spec-
tacularly. Bridgemans Services Group, EY's
2025 Entrepreneur of the Year winner for
the Pacific region, now operates on nearly
every continent, from the remote Barrow
Island off the coast of Western Australia to
conflict zones in East Africa. Those hun-
dreds of rejections became the foundation
of a company that has grown 55 percent in
a single year and maintains a perfect client
retention rate.
"We realized we had to keep trying
because there is a need," Grange says.
Sometimes the most transformative busi-
ness ideas require not just vision, but also
the resilience to hear "no" 200 times while
holding onto the certainty that the 201st
conversation might change everything.
BCBusiness is proud to showc ase
Grange's story—along with profiles of 16
other winners and finalists in the EY Pacific
Region Entrepreneur of the Year competi-
tion (comprehensive coverage begins on
page 23). Now in its 31st year, our partner-
ship with EY continues a tradition of cele-
brating entrepreneurial excellence.
These awards underscore B.C.'s grow-
ing reputation as a breeding ground for
founders and leaders who think beyond
traditional business models, and who turn
obstacles into opportunities. And as the suc-
cess of Bridgemans' "floatels" reminds us,
the most compelling business stories often
emerge when entrepreneurs dare to chart
new waters—literally and figuratively.
MAKING WAVES
DARCY MATH ESO N Editor-in-Chief
bcb@canadawide.com | @darcat | Follow BCBusiness on
