July/August 2020
In this issue
Top airlines and hotels have always aspired to white-glove cleanliness, but now national and international safety and hygiene rules, plus the concerns of pandemic-fearing travellers, are elevating standards to the next level. For instance, Air Canada’s CleanCare+ program includes health questions and contactless pre-boarding temperature checks for passengers, customer care kits (including mask, gloves, hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes and water)...
Months later, it’s still an eye-popping number. After B.C. went into lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, the province lost 400,000 jobs in March and April. Anyone else miss the good old days of the global financial crisis? Our job losses in the ensuing Great Recession totalled just 70,000 over a nine-month stretch, notes Ken Peacock, chief economist at the...
University and college students are used to March feeling like a dumpster fire of stress–there’s final exams to study for and anxiety about graduation (on top of the pressure to score the least-underpaid summer internship). This year, faculty and administrators had a mid-March madness of their own: the 25 post-secondary institutions in B.C. all shifted their spring semester online in one...
“One of our company values is to evolve. We just thought, OK, we’ve got to work with what we got—and once evolved, we can make things happen,” says CJ King, vice-president, omni-channel, of outdoor apparel brand Arc’teryx Equipment. The North Vancouver–based company was quick to pivot from its regular production of jackets, backpacks and footwear to medical gowns for B.C.
As David Routledge sees it, reports of the death of the office have been greatly exaggerated–especially in a place like Vancouver. “Our strategy remains as it’s been,” says the vice-president and head of the Western Canada office at Oxford Properties Group. “We continue to believe that British Columbia and Vancouver have a well-diversified, strong economy.” This summer, Toronto-headquartered property owner, developer...
Lights, check. Camera, check. Action? It’s complicated. Most physical TV and movie production was suspended in March, leaving many of the 70,000 people who make up B.C.’s film industry in their own personal horror flick. Brightlight Pictures, a North Vancouver–based company, had seven shows paused mid-production (including the third season of The Good Doctor and the first of Disney+ series...
There’s a good chance that COVID-19 has kept you away from the doctor–physically, at least. And like many other people who turned to virtual medicine during the pandemic, you probably think renewing a prescription by video beats spending hours in a crowded waiting room. Despite slow progress, the shift toward virtual care was already underway before COVID, says Hamed Shahbazi, founder...
What goes up must come down again. It’s as true for Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket as it is for a balloon. Many in B.C.’s tourism industry must have known that the winning streak would end at some point: 2019 marked the 10th year in a row that revenue grew, reaching $21.5 billion, according to Destination British Columbia. But local players probably...
Pizzeria Tratto opened in Penticton in November 2019–“the worst time of the year in any city, unless you’re in Barbados,” quips owner Chris Royal. But despite launching in the chill of the off-season (in a small Okanagan city, no less), the Neapolitan pizza joint found unprecedented success. The room was buzzing Tuesday to Sunday–staff took Mondays off–and Royal, his team...
At least 700 3D printers have been pressed into service to make face shields and ear savers for health workers through the BC COVID-19 3D Printing Group Companies producing shields for the group or independently include Drop Manufacturing (Nelson), Hollywood Fabricating (Prince George), LNG Studios (Vancouver), Packright Manufacturing (Langley) and Vital Manufacturing (Surrey) 100+ Virtual private wine tastings–featuring pre-delivered tasting bundles–hosted by Summerland-based Okanagan Crush Pad...