BC Business
Tom Gierasimczuk, Editor-in-Chief | BCBusiness
BCBusiness' fearless new leader gets to the heart of what it means to do business in B.C. If living in three different provinces in the past decade has taught me anything (other than that I should really have been a real estate agent), it’s that those of us earning a living in B.C. are subject to particular scrutiny from the rest of the country.
If living in three different provinces in the past decade has taught me anything (other than that I should really have been a real estate agent), it’s that those of us earning a living in B.C. are subject to particular scrutiny from the rest of the country.
“B.C., eh?” they stare intently, as if trying to calculate how many ski weekdays we get away with per winter. “So what did you say you do, exactly?” This question, of course, really means: “How the hell are you able to make money in a place I usually go to spend it?”
The commitment to working to live, not living to work, confounds many about B.C. entrepreneurs and sets this province’s business community’s values apart. The geography has shaped our psychography. Is it any wonder then, that B.C. has always had a start-up state of mind? With 98 per cent of the province’s industry classified as “small business,” it’s clear that people do whatever it takes to stay here. Doing business in B.C. is approached with a pride in community and awareness of the land the likes of which I haven’t seen anywhere else in the country. It’s why we have epic struggles like the one profiled by writer Christopher Pollon in the story titled “Paradise Lost” (p.82). Having recently arrived back to the West Coast after a couple of years in Toronto, I mused aloud in the office about how only in B.C. can you have a simmering legal war between a tourism operator and mining company over the latter’s adverse environmental impact on a town that hasn’t had residents in 30 years.
As the new editor-in-chief of BCBusiness, I’m looking forward to exploring the kinds of stories and insight that will make this magazine your indispensable resource for doing business in the province and beyond. I invite you to join us as we roll out some exciting improvements early next year with convenience and exclusive analysis at the forefront, including sector-specific daily e-newsletters in your inbox, a robust website with easy-to-find industry news and a gorgeous redesigned print product that you can’t bring yourself to recycle after reading.
Doing business in British Columbia has never been more exciting – or challenging. You need every advantage to make your business thrive. We look forward to delivering on your terms. Those ski days, after all, aren’t going to pay for themselves.
— Tom Gierasimczuk, Editor-in-Chief