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.
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bcbusiness.ca O n Friday, January 20, 2012, an explosion ripped through the Babine Forest Products sawmill east of Burns Lake, killing two mill workers and injuring 19. Mayor Luke Strimbold first heard the news via Facebook, while attending a family gathering in Vancouver. He was 21, and he'd been in the job for one month. "Instantly I had goose- bumps, not knowing what was going on," he recalls. He was on the first flight home the following morning. When he arrived, it wasn't entirely clear what was going on. The damage was painfully obvious, but the fight over what had caused it would rage for another two years. A statement from the mill operator blames "fine sawdust from beetle-kill wood," but a WorkSafeBC investigation found plugged- up air-filter bags and mal- functioning water-misting systems at Babine. Helping to heal his tiny northern community, stricken with grief, confusion and anger, became the defining chal- lenge of his mayoralty. Strimbold started by assembling community leaders, including the chiefs of nearby First Nations bands, to build solidarity and a shared sense of mis- sion. Even as he was consol- ing the workers and families of victims at the community hall that weekend, his mind was turning to the rebuild- ing process. With the town's largest employer a smoul- dering ruin, 500 mill work- ers, logging contractors, foresters and truck drivers were wondering what they were going to do come Mon- day morning. Strimbold knew the economic recovery was going to be a long, steep hill, so he looked to the chiefs, local business leaders and the provincial government to help the community begin its long recovery. In the two years since the explosion, he helped secure funding for a $2-million downtown revitalization project, $3-million "multi- use facility" expansion, and new $5-million hospital and community health centre. Arguably his biggest victory is the community forest. With approximately 500,000 square metres of timber managed co- operatively by the six local First Nations governments, the Village of Burns Lake and the Regional District of Bulkley Nechako, it's the largest of its kind in the province and it entrusts the people of the region with responsibility for their future prosperity. Burns Lake is healing, and its young mayor is doing more than his part. —D.G. Brent Hodge CEO, Hodgee Films Inc. Age: 28 B rent Hodge's film Brony, which follows male fans of the show My Little Pony, is an unorthodox story, but then Hodgee Films is an unorth- odox production company. "I always go back to the little logo I have, which is a white rabbit. It comes from Alice in Wonder- land and it's about having those magical storytelling elements to everything you do, whether it's corporate, documentary or feature films," says Hodge via Skype from Utah. When he started Hodgee Films in 2012, he gave himself until 30 to meet certain goals, including hitting a specific revenue target, filming globally and bringing his work back to Vancouver for post- production. Having hit all those goals, he expects the company to be around well beyond his 30th birthday. –A.W. Luke Strimbold Mayor, Village of Burns Lake Age: 23 april 2014 BCBusiness 49 p38-67_30Under30_april.indd 49 14-03-07 2:04 PM