One of B.C.’s youngest corporate executives is taking his message about the benefits of employee-owned businesses to the airwaves.
In a conversation with Business in Vancouver Tuesday, Levi Sampson, president of the Harmac Pacific pulp mill in Nanaimo, said he would be co-hosting a new half-hour TV series next year that will focus on tourism and culture tips for business travellers.
Sampson, 29, said he would also use the show as a platform to get the message out about the benefits of the employee-ownership model.
In 2008, Sampson helped save Harmac from permanent shutdown when he and the mill’s employees pooled their money to buy it out of receivership.
He later did the same thing at Victoria’s CHEK-TV, where he is also a part owner and chairman of the board.
Sampson believes the employee-ownership model not only increases productivity, but also grants employees a greater say in the company’s future.
The TV series, which is called Sky’s the Limit, will also feature co-host Suzanne Teresa, a Nanaimo-based photographer who was featured in the men’s magazine Maxim in 2009.
The show is being produced by Vancouver Island-based Gamut Productions and will follow the hosts around the world as they meet with “accomplished personalities” who will show viewers the best sights, sounds and leisure activities for business travellers.
When asked if his new TV responsibilities on top of his roles at both Harmac and CHEK were too much for a young executive, Sampson replied with a laugh: “I don’t mind it … pressure has never been an issue for me.”