BC Business
We assess how different people/things and, of course, businesses fared this week.
The Price is Right shone the light on Prince George this week.
Much of this week’s report card centres on how our province is viewed by the outside world.
As you’ll see, that perception can be positive, negative and just hilariously misguided.
Here’s what made the grade (and what didn’t) this week.
Traction Guest
Grade: A
Things keep looking up for the cloud-based visitor management system, which announced the opening of a Dublin office this week.
It follows on the heels of a U.S. location that launched earlier this year, as the Burnaby-based outfit has kept the wheels in motion since raising $17 million in Series A investment back in June.
The company is an offshoot of Traction on Demand, a cloud consulting and application development partner with Salesforce.
Traction on Demand’s founder and CEO, Greg Malpass, sits on the board of Traction Guest.
The streets of Victoria
Grade: B+
They could be in for an upgrade, as the Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition and the Greater Victoria Placemaking Network are embarking on a project that will try to gather information on noise and air pollution.
The project aims to harness the power of technology to improve the area.
Prince George
Grade: B
The Northern city had its day in the sun recently, as a trip to PG was offered as a prize on the American game show The Price Is Right.
Sure, it led to multiple attempts at poking fun at the award (and, by association, the city). But local business owners are doing their best to dispel that notion, offering different perks to the winner of the prize, Californian Stephen Witka.
That’s good to hear. Hopefully Witka wasn’t too upset when he learned that he wouldn’t be going to Lake Louise, Alberta, which was originally illustrated on the show instead of Prince George. Yikes.
Green-NDP relations
Grade: C
The shine has clearly worn off here, and with B.C. Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver announcing his intention not to run in the next election, one wonders what the future holds.
And this week, one of the three current Green Party MLAs, Adam Olsen, called for “substantial” changes to the provincial economy. That included barbs about the government not doing enough to meet current climate targets, as well as it “not doing anything to support” a tech industry it celebrates.
The New York Times
Grade: D
The most famous newspaper in the world doesn’t seem to know how to write about this province.
The latest example is a piece titled “Five Places to Visit in Vancouver.” Although the actual choices listed in the article are fine (they’re all in Hastings-Sunrise, which the story seems to want to highlight), there are a few, um, mischaracterizations.
Take, for example, the opening line:
“Vancouver, with its snowcapped mountains and sleek, squeaky-clean downtown can seem to a new visitor to be lacking in urban grit.”
What? Squeaky-clean downtown? Lacking in urban grit?
There are others, too, including calling Tacofino a “west-coast spin on Tex-Mex.”
Seems like fake news.