Roughly 100 mayors, business leaders and sustainability directors from around the world converged on Vancouver from February 15 to 17 to study the city’s approach to sustainable development and to discus how entrepreneurs can take a lead role in addressing climate change. Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group media and business empire, launched the Carbon War Room as a challenge to business, corporate and social entrepreneurs to drastically reshape the global economy to reduce carbon emissions.
February 9-15
The 2010 Olympic Winter Games were the first true Web 2.0 Games. The hardware and software was in wide use for Beijing 2008, but the Chinese government was unwilling to let it flourish amid some of the world’s tightest restrictions on Internet content.
Surrey-based Blue Jamb Media donated network and creative for an eight-week wireless Bluetooth campaign to promote Home For the Games. The society’s goal is to match local landlords with budget-conscious Olympic visitors and donate half of rental receipts to charities seeking to solve homelessness in the host city.
February 9-15
Finding a place to stay in Vancouver during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games was easier than expected as alternative accommodation displaced more conventional, often pricier, options.
Stan Duckworth, general manager of Duckworth Management Group, was responsible for administering the temporary RV park set up at Jericho Beach near the University of British Columbia and Fort Camping in Brae Island Regional Park in Fort Langley. He said that as of early February, both sites were only 70% occupied. With up to 350 sites available, Duckworth said just 117 bookings had been made at Jericho Beach.
February 9-15
While U.S. demand for B.C. products continues to weaken, China has ramped up its profile in the province’s resource sector.
In 2009, China Investment Corp. (CIC), a state-owned wealth fund, made billions of dollars investing in Canadian miners.
According to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the $1.7 billion stake CIC bought in Vancouver-based Teck Resources Inc. last summer is now worth $3.5 billion.
The $300 billion wealth fund also has shares in Kinross Gold Corp. and Potash Corp.
Tom Whelan, Ernst & Young’s Canadian mining leader, isn’t surprised.
“The No. 1 issue in 2009 was access to capital,” said Whelan. “These Chinese sovereign wealth funds have been one of the best sources of financing.”
February 16-22
A task force that advises Premier Gordon Campbell is adding urgency to the investment community’s collective call to remove legislation that it says is a major barrier to foreign investment in Canada.
The task force, largely made up of business leaders from B.C., concluded consultations with the B.C. venture capital community last month and is preparing a report for the premier.
February 16-22
Building more transmission lines in B.C. is becoming top of mind among government and industry officials as a series of announcements in recent weeks raised the likelihood that B.C. will drastically boost energy capacity.
In mid-February, Vancouver’s Plutonic Power Corp. and financial partner GE Energy Financial Services said they’re examining increasing capacity at their Dokie Ridge wind project to 300 megawatts from 144.
GE and Plutonic broke ground at Dokie last week and expect the 144-megawatt project to go online in early 2011, producing enough energy for 34,000 homes.
February 23-March 1
A Vancouver-based mining company is sitting on what could be the largest untapped mineral deposit on Earth.
Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.’s Alaskan Pebble project is a copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry that, according to the latest estimates, contains 5.94 billion tonnes of indicated minerals and 4.84 billion tonnes of inferred resources.
If those numbers are accurate, Alaskan Pebble has more metal than Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. and its Oyu Tolgoi project, which is also purported to be the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold deposit.
February 23-March 1
A great surprise awaits either retailers or real estate brokers.
The two camps have opposing views about the strength of Vancouver’s retail real estate market. Fourth-quarter real estate reports from major brokerages show a falling retail vacancy rate, rising per-square-foot retail lease rates and an increasingly brisk pace for brokers closing retail deals. However, many retailers say they have asked landlords for discounts on their leases. Some, like John Fluevog Shoes owner John Fluevog, have been successful.
February 23-March 1