32 BCBusiness FEBRUARy 2018 LiNDSAy SiU
B
efore Sherry Jiang immi-
grated to Vancouver in
2004, she was a physi-
cian in the northeastern
Chinese city of Dalian. Decid-
ing not to pursue medicine
in Canada because it would
take too long to get a licence,
she also noticed that mem-
bers of the Chinese commu-
nity had a hard time …nding
baiju, a wheat-based liquor
that is the most popular alco-
holic beverage in her native
land. So in 2012, Jiang—draw-
ing on knowledge from her
grandparents, who ran a
distilling business—launched
Dragon Mist Distillery.
The Surrey-based com-
pany, which went to market
in 2014, now makes baiju,
vodka, gin and a variety of
liqueurs, including blueberry
and cranberry. Because it's a
craft distillery, Dragon Mist
must source its ingredients
in B.C. For wheat, Jiang
depends on Dawson Creek's
South Peace Grain Clean-
ing Co-op. "We work very
well together," says the sole
To Anderson's surprise, the poll
numbers were much more uniform
across regions than the results
of last year's provincial election,
which returned the
NDP to power
after 16 years of BC Liberal rule: "If I were wonder-
ing if the election of a less business-oriented govern-
ment would put a real damper on the expectations
of businesses about their futures, you don't see it in
these results at all."
In the pages ahead, you'll hear from 11 businesses
and other organizations—many of them members of
the BC Chamber network—that have embraced the
urban-rural connection, from a Kamloops software
company to a Dawson Creek grain co-op. In a global
economy, as Ron Sangara, president of Delta-based
Leslie Forest Products Ltd., says on page 36, all Brit-
ish Columbians are neighbours. —N.C.
urban.rural.
drinking Buddies
SURREy'S Dragon mist Distillery RELiES
ON south PeaCe grain Cleaning Co-oP
FOR WHEAT TO MAKE iTS SPiRiTS
REAPING THE BENEFITS Craft distiller Sherry Jiang
(left) and Shaun Grant, general manager of South Peace
Grain Cleaning Co-op in Dawson Creek
