Contents | January 2012

Twelve B.C. executives envision their ultimate to-do lists and a conversation with a business hero.

As war threatens to break out over Canada's intellectual property laws, companies are faced with an option: arm themselves to the teeth with patents or ask themselves, "Who cares?"

Once relegated to the overlooked organic shelves of grocery stores, locally roasted coffee beans are now the gold standard of java in the province. But running a successful roastery is a lot more complicated than simply filling bags with organic, fair trade beans.


Vancouver’s downtown peninsula may be a planner’s fantasy of a livable urban environment with its towers, pedestrians, bike commuters and virtually litter-free streets, but beyond lies a vast expanse of suburbs with low-rise subdivisions and retail complexes, and a self-serving maze of road networks.

Not all recent university grads aspire to jobs in video gaming and iPhone apps. Meet a hardy new generation of idealists determined to make a go of it in farming. But with dismal returns, and the rising cost of real estate, is there a future for the industry in B.C.?

Over the past 40 years Diana Douglas has built Self-Counsel Press, a publishing house that now boasts 300 how-to titles. Her next challenge: how to bring it online.

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