84 BCBusiness july 2015
off the list (including Eastern Platinum
and publicly traded tech startup
PNI
Digital Media), however. The departure
of mid-size players has left a corporate
landscape increasingly dominated by
either the very big enterprise or the
glitzy young startup. And while tech
darlings such as Hootsuite continue to
attract major rounds of venture capital
financing and invest in facilities here,
it's unclear when or if they'll ever crack
the Top 100. (Privately held, Hootsuite
holds its financials tightly, though a
much-speculated
IPO would paint a
fuller picture.)
But does it even matter if the prov-
ince isn't growing a new crop of com-
panies to follow in the footsteps of its
largest firms? Ken Peacock, chief econo-
mist with the Business Council of B.C.,
thinks it does. "It's one thing having
ICBC
and WorkSafe doing well and being prof-
itable, but you want a vibrant, robust
export sector over the long term to
grow wealth and prosperity in B.C.," he
says. "When a company starts export-
ing, it can take advantage of economies
of scale and have access to much larger
markets. It tends to be more productive,
generally, because of the discipline of
having to compete in the international
marketplace."
That's not only good for the company,
Peacock says—it's good for workers,
because better revenues often translate
into better wages.
Still, growing by going global isn't a
surefire path to success, as many mining
companies will tell you. "We're essen-
tially six or seven years past the Great
dOeS IT even maTTer
If The prOvInCe
isn't
growing a new crop
of companies TO
fOllOw In The fOOTSTepS
Of ITS largeST fIrmS?
Ken peaCOCK,
with the
Business Council of
B.C., ThInKS IT dOeS
