November 2017
In this issue
Leadership: Shoulder to shoulder, Lyndon and Jamie Cormack lead global phenomenon Herschel SupplySo, this is where my kids’ backpacks got their start. At Herschel Supply Co. headquarters in East Vancouver’s rough-hewn Railtown neighbourhood, the atmosphere on a sunny August morning is brisk. About 130 of the company’s 170 employees work here, alongside... Read More > Leadership: Property developer Renee Wasylyk shares some...
Peter Spotzl runs a small metal fabricating business in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. Since 2016, he’s watched the tax bill for his leased property surge by a whopping $20,000. Spotzl says he now pays $83,000 in taxes annually, thanks to the escalating assessed value of the 8,000-square-foot shop—from $5.4 million to $7.6 million in the past year alone.Metal & Wood...
As part of a so-called astronaut family, property developer Kevin Cheung opens up about being raised in Vancouver while his father remained in China.The 29-year-old’s family reunited only once or twice a year after he immigrated to Canada as a toddler with his mother, Helen, who studied at McGill University and worked in the Seattle tech industry until the pair...
I’ve always enjoyed cars. I follow Formula One, so I’m not surprised I like racing: the adrenaline side of it, and it’s such a surprisingly physical but also very, very mental sport. The level of focus required is incredible. It’s super satisfying when you get it right. And maybe not super surprising, given that I’m an engineer, developing the car...
It’s early morning at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding on Futou Mountain, part of the rare bears’ ancestral homeland. A small group of us are huddled against a wooden fence. We’re hoping to glimpse some of the giant pandas that have been bred and raised in this sprawling habitat of laurel trees (both real and artificial) and...
It may be time for a modern update of that classic scene from old gangster flicks. It’s the one where the gang is holed up at the hideout. “Somebody at dis table,” the boss says, looking around, “is a rat.”The circle of hoods eye each other. Jimmy the Weasel starts to sweat—an unfortunate habit. Things are looking bad for Jimmy.
Along bustling Westlake Avenue, running up a gentle incline from South Lake Union to the highrise heart of Seattle, about half the lunch-hour pedestrians and patrons sitting on café patios sport the distinctive blue lanyard and badge of the Amazon.com Inc. employee. The world’s preeminent digital retailer and cloud services provider employs more than 30,000 people spread over 30 buildings...
“There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs.” That message is inscribed at the base of the staircase in the Vancouver office of CBRE Group Inc., a global real estate services firm headquartered in Los Angeles. Encouraging physical activity is one reason the workspace has received Well Building Standard certification, which measures the effect of office...
Robots are on the move in B.C., if you know where to look. A mix of established veterans and promising startups, the province’s robotics companies are doing everything from delving into undersea exploration to teaching machines how to think like people. Some have become acquisition targets, a trend highlighted by camera maker Point Grey Research, a leader in machine vision...
There are few places more remote than Árneshreppur. Nestled in Iceland’s Westfjords region, encircled by mountain peaks that undulate like the ocean below, it’s the nation’s least-populated county, with just 30 year-round residents. Árneshreppur is facing extinction. Weak transportation links, an unreliable power grid and an economy based on small-scale fishing and agriculture have triggered an exodus of young people.