Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/375772
12 BurnaBy Board of Tr ade 2014/2015 • MeMbership & resource Directory G&F FiNaNcial Group Community support and co-opera- tion is a well-known tenet of the credit union philosophy, so for G&F Financial Group, a "buy Burnaby" approach comes naturally. In addition to support- ing community organizations like the Burnaby Neighbourhood House and participating in the annual Hats Off Day festivities, G&F has reached out to partner with local businesses for community events the credit union has organized itself. "For example," says Gillian Sherwood, manager of G&F in North Burnaby, "we threw a street party for the grand opening of the North Burnaby branch in 2012. We tried to work with local vendors in the area, and we reached out to a bunch of local restaurants to get food." Local businesses were also invited to participate and promote themselves, such as the local dance studio that put on a public performance. It helps that it's easy to stay local when sourcing goods and services. "We really can get most of what we need within the community," says Sherwood. Plus, "the social benefi ts are huge," adds G&F communications specialist Megan Battersby, citing job creation as well as promotion of diversity among shops and services. "It's really invest- ing in the community and making it stronger . . . When you support local businesses, you're giving to the owners, who are local and who, in turn, can spread that wealth in the community." Sherwood acknowledges that while there's defi nitely a "feel-good" aspect to supporting local companies and getting to know your neighbours, it contributes to the bottom line, too. "I think it's good business for us, because we hope they will in turn do the same for us," says Sherwood. "It's all about helping our neighbours, and hopefully that's reciprocal." It certainly seems to be. "Now, a lot of the local businesses will contact us and work with us to make our events successful, because they see how we give back to the community," says Bobby Dhillon, vice-president of marketing. PHOTOS (THIS PAgE) COURTESY BURnABY VILLAgE mUSEUm & CAROUSEL hollyNorth proDuctioN supplies While Vancouver is often heralded as "Hollywood North," it would be more accurate to apply that moniker to Burn- aby instead. "About 65 per cent of the studio space used in the [Lower Main- land] fi lm industry is in Burnaby, and a lot of the support companies and pro- duction companies are located here as well," explains Mike Kaerne, president and general manager of HollyNorth Production Supplies Ltd. HollyNorth is one of those support companies, supply- ing anything and everything to the arts and entertainment industry – from the- atrical makeup and artifi cial snow to dust masks and offi ce supplies. In such a concentrated, tight-knit in- dustry, relationships with local businesses are paramount. Most of HollyNorth's customers are based locally. And in turn, Kaerne makes every effort to source his goods from local distribu- tors. "It's quicker," explains Kaerne. "It's not always cheapest, but in this industry, time is of the essence." He points out that anything he's able to source locally is less costly to transport, both from a fi nancial perspective and an environmental perspective. "Sometimes you sacrifi ce a bit of would-be profi t to be able to get it quickly and to be environmentally responsible and to be supportive of our community." That's a sacrifi ce Kaerne is willing to make. Kaerne, a Burnaby native, sees a prosperous future for the city's growing business community. "We have a very stable municipal government that I think really looks after our citizens and our busi- nesses," he says, pointing to the Riverbend development and plans for improving the town centre as examples of the municipality's proactive approach. But he puts the onus on local business to support and sustain that growth through a buy-local approach: "If we aren't supportive of our community, it becomes stagnant and people start moving away, and all the efforts of our local government are wasted." G&F Financial executives pose with lion dancers at the grand opening of the North burnaby branch. hollyNorth provides the snow and icicles to create a winter movie scene.