okanagan business examiner

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HOW OKANAGAN BUSINESS MIXES

MONEY&MEDICINE

www.businessexaminer.caINSIDE THE CHOPPER BIZ | A BIODIESEL FUTURE | STARS OF ENDERBY

BEING POWER SMART MAKES BUSINESS SENSE

For decades, Carousel Cleaners has provided their customers with first class service from start to finish. While looking for ways to improve their customers’ experience, Carousel Cleaners decided it was time to upgrade their lighting.

With the help of BC Hydro’s Power Smart Product Incentive Program, they replaced their old lights with new energy-efficient lighting, and the changes have been remarkable. The new lighting has improved visibility and comfort levels for employees, plus, it has made the store brighter and more inviting to customers.

Carousel Cleaners not only received a financial incentive through the Power Smart Product Incentive Program, they will also save almost $400 a year in electricity costs.

Carousel Cleaners can now move on to more pressing matters.

Looking for new ways to highlight your business?

Simply visit bchydro.com/incentives or call 1 866 522 4713.

WE KNOW HOW TO SPOT THE SAVINGS WHEN IT COMES TO ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Cam Bastien Owner, Carousel Cleaners

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Okanagan Nation Hatchery & Administration Building

The Okanagan Nation proposed Fish Hatchery/Administration building is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2010 in Penticton. The building will have four floors and over 33,000 sq ft of interior space.

The ground floor is dedicated to a Sockeye rearing hatchery which will have the capacity to produce up to 8 million Sockeye annually. The upper three floors of the building will contain laboratory spaces and general

administration offices as well as boardrooms and a library/archive facility.The project is being designed to a LEED Silver standard and will utilize solar, geothermal and other forms of

“Green” energy to offset its consumption of traditional energy sources. The project is scheduled to be completed in September of 2011 and the ONA now wishes to begin to attract interest from individuals, companies and

organizations who would like to become involved.

The project will create opportunities for many kinds of suppliers and construction trades and interested parties are encouraged to contact [email protected] to pre-qualify as potential

suppliers/contractors for the project.

4 | www.businessexaminer.ca November 2009

Movers&Shakers

Publisher

Craig [email protected]

Managing Editor

Devon [email protected]

Sales & Marketing Manager

Chytra [email protected]

Design / Production

MaryAnn McCooey

[email protected]

BusinessExaminer

Prosper Media Group Inc.Contributing Photographer Shawn Talbot | 1.888.317.1403 | [email protected] | www.shawntalbot.com Contributors Dominik Dlouhy | Bobbi Menard | Mischa Popoff | Robert Smithson Mailing Address P.O.Box 32034 RPO, 2151 Louie Dr. West Kelowna, B.C. V4T 3G2 | Fax 250.768.8241 Subscription Rates 12 issues annually | One year: $27.00 | 250.863.4636 Distribution The Okanagan Business Examiner is published monthly at Kelowna, BC by Prosper Media Group Inc. Copies are distributed to businesses from Osoyoos to Greater Vernon. The views expressed in the Okanagan Business Examiner are those of the respective contributors and not necessarily those of the publisher or staff. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 41835528 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO: P.O. BOX 32034 RPO 2151 LOUIE DR. WESTBANK, BC, CANADA V4T 3G2

BEx11/09

FOLLOW US ON

www.businessexaminer.caMoney and MedicineIn the U.S. debate rages over health care and Canada is picked on for its

wait lists. In Kelowna one company has found a private business solution for

wait lists. Is it beneficial? Is it necessary? Local business people, politicians

and academics weight in on the business of how to pay for our health. 7

COVER STORY

President Craig N. Brown Vice President Noll C. DerriksanGrand Chief WFN, U.B.C.I.C.

101-1979 Old Okanagan Highway, Westbank, BC V4T 3A4T: 250.862.6722F: 250.768.8241

Movers&ShakersBEx11/09

FOLLOW US ON

www.businessexaminer.caBusiness Examiner is NOW ONLINE!

12

This Democracy by Mischa Popoff

Welcome our newest regular, and possibly most opinionated writer. Mischa Popoff is well

spoken, well written, cogent and unable to hold back. When he sees the emperor has no

clothes, he tells the naked truth. This time he wonders why the environmentalists can’t

reckon with the fact that the internal combustion engine is necessary for our society

and its economy. 21

Area Report Enderby’s rising stars

Small communities can be astonishing in the depth and breadth of the entrepreneurial talent

and industry that they have. Enderby is perhaps the most amazing of all. Tucked away by the

scenic Shuswap River, in a year when Canadian manufacturing is being pummelled, Enderby

combines advantageous tax incentives with good planning to produce several winners. 13Biodiesel - to be or not to be

Biodiesel is better for

the air, it’s better for the

environment, it’s better for

you if you work with diesel

motors, it’s even better for

the engine and the province

has mandated it will be

used in B.C. next year and

the federal government for

2012. So why is it that the

Okanagan may not see any

biodiesel at the pumps and

how does a local biodiesel

supplier plan for that? 22

Calendar of Events

Chamber meetings,

trade shows, networking

events, Women in Business,

training, visiting speakers

and more! 26

Up, up and away

The helicopter industry

has been part of the local

economy for years. The

recession hurts and it’s hurt

the local chopper players,

but their story is still

uplifting. 28

Yankee contract - go home!

Robert Smithson can see a

mile away when an employer

has copied an employment

contract from the United

States because they carry

clauses that won't hold up in

Canadian courts, but it does

let employers here falsely

believe they have all their

bases covered. 24

Letter to the Editor

Missing the PuttAs a long time resident of Lake Country, I was

disturbed by your cover story “Lake Country

tees off St Andrews Golf”. The proposal for

development of the Macdonnell site has indeed

been ongoing for several years. The District

of Lake Country may well share some of the

blame. However I am surprised that the fantasy

St Andrews connection claimed by Amadon, and

potential legal action against them for the use of

the name, did not alert you to the concerns many

councillors had to the ever changing details of the

development proposal and their frustrations at

dealing with the proponent.

Reporters should be fair. I would really like to see

a follow up article in the Examiner with some hard

questions asked of Max Tomaszewski of Amadon

and Franco Anglesio who claims to be Chief

Operating Officer of St Andrews of Scotland.

Penny Baughen,

Lake Country

INSIDE CONTINUED

COVER STORY - Health Care 7

Editor's Take 8

Dominik Dlouhy 11

Movers & Shakers 12

Enderby Profile 13

Mischa Popoff 21

Biodiesel 22

Robert Smithson 24

Calendar of Events 26

Helicopter Industry 28

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INSIDE CONTINUED

COVER STORY - Health Care 7

Editor's Take 8

Dominik Dlouhy 11

Movers & Shakers 12

Enderby Profile 13

Mischa Popoff 21

Biodiesel 22

Robert Smithson 24

Calendar of Events 26

Helicopter Industry 28

The Canada Health Act of 1984 set out to eliminate extra user fees. The issue was ensuring universal access to “medically necessary” treatments given by doctors and hospitals, but it turns out that medical necessity has turned into a swamp –the edges are hard to pin down.

David Brough is the CEO at Precision Capital Partners in Kelowna. Several years ago his father was ailing with respiratory problems caused by pneumonia, but it wouldn’t go away. After several bouts of ill health Brough senior was scheduled for a CAT scan.

It took many months for Brough’s father to work his way up the wait list. The CAT scan revealed previously unsuspected cancer, but it was too late and Brough’s father died.

Brough says plaintively, “A guy on a wait list isn’t getting any health care.”

An expert in raising money, Brough was approached by Doug Vickers. Vickers had his own “non-life threatening” health issue and he was afraid that it could become life-threatening before diagnosis could be completed.

Brough says Vickers was the “heart and soul” of the push to establish ‘Medical Access Insurance’ underwritten by Industrial Alliance Pacific Insurance and Financial Services.

Brough describes the insurance as a boon for Canadians. “We can do what no government can do, which is to reduce the wait list.”

The premise is simple: anyone who signs up for the service and is put on a wait list for either a diagnostic test or medical procedure that is more than 45 days long is covered. The coverage will obtain the necessary service and pay for the person to get to the place of treatment, which will be the U.S. for most procedures.

A single person under the age of 30 pays $36.85 a month, a 74 year old pays $109.66.

Ben Stewart, the Liberal MLA for Westside-Kelowna, says, “The wait list times have come down. They’re certainly not perfect, but they’re improving.”

Indeed, the B.C. government crows about improvements on selected wait lists. There are more CAT scanners and MRI units. Knee replacement wait time is down from just over four months in 2001 to two months last year. There is good news for hip replacements, cardiac and cat surgeries too, but the government rarely mentions that wait times for all surgeries has increased from just under one month in 2001 to a month and a quarter in 2008.

Professor Alan Davidson from UBCO has published several papers on health care in Canada including Under the Radar: Stealth Development of Two-Tier Healthcare in Canada. Davidson wrote: “The problem is that rhetoric has centred on preserving a single-tier universal system that has never existed in the form its supporters imagine.”

Davidson explains that medicare, first put in place in the 1960s expanded until the severe inflation and recession of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s had governments running scared. That’s when several provinces introduced users fees.

Davidson describes what happened: “The [user] fees weren’t having a neutral effect but were hitting the poor and the elderly hardest. If the fees were hurting the people [the system] was supposed to be helping, there was a problem.”

The federal Liberal government of the day reacted by legislating the Canada Health Act with the threat of a massive cut in transfer funding to any province that allowed extra billing.

The provinces noisily complied.

The ‘90s brought more budget cuts, which eventually contributed to the start of today’s wait lists. People are sometimes desperate and the question is whether Brough’s scheme for wait

list insurance heralds the advent of two-tiered health care. There is extra money involved, coming directly from the users pocket.

Brough says, ‘No.’ The insurance offering does not contravene the Health Act because it does not ask for money that the B.C. health services would pay to a doctor.

People have always had the option to cross the border to pay for extra medical service, but, as Brough points out, “The problem is you have to be one rich individual to get a CAT scan.”

The concern is that private care would undermine the system by attracting doctors and other medical providers away from the public system.

That would inevitably erode the public system, causing waiting lists to increase and putting ever more pressure on people to start buying more private insurance.

That, says Brough, is the opposite of what his wait list insurance will do since almost all the services rendered will come through the American hospital system.

He adds, “We don’t send you to jump the cue, [we] remove you from the cue. Someone taken from a wait list moves the next person up.”

Brough states he has no wish to recreate the U.S. system here. “That’s a horrible system; it doesn’t work. Because we’ve already got the public system in place we can make this work.”

One of the greatest criticisms of private care is that insurers won’t touch someone with a pre-existing chronic condition, which is almost guaranteed to be expensive to treat. Brough says their insurance doesn’t mimic that because “We don’t do medicals, so we offer access to everybody.”

He says overworked doctors and nurses in our system are supportive of his scheme. “I’ve never

WAIT LISTS – bugbear of Canadian medical system

By DEvon BRookS | PhotoS By ShAwn tAlBot

WAIT LISTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 9

DAviD BRough woRkED to FinAnCE thE intRoDuCtion

oF CAnADA’S ‘wAit liSt inSuRAnCE’ PRogRAM.

November 2009 Okanagan Business Examiner | 7


What’s More Important the Brakes or the Steering Wheel?

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The answer is of course that one is no more or no less important than the other. Both are integral parts of your business’s overall communication strategy. They both connect your customers to you and you to your customers.

Business in Vancouver recently released a list of the biggest breweries and beer distributors in British Columbia. Lists like these are a regular offering at Business in Vancouver, but the majority of the lists are Vancouver-centric for obvious reasons: the larger population provides a much larger market for business.

A not-so-obvious exception are these breweries, ranked by virtue of their B.C. liquor distribution branch sales.

The number one and two spots are not surprising: Molson’s and Labatt’s (neither of which are really Canadian any more). Number three on the list is Okanagan Spring Brewery in Vernon. Number 10 is Kelowna’s Tree Brewing, 14 is the Nelson Brewing Company, 17 is the Cannery Brewing Company of Penticton, 18 is Mt. Begbie Brewing of Revelstoke, 20 the Fernie Brewing Company and 25 is the Tin Whistle Brewing Company from Penticton. Others come from Salt Spring Island, Nanaimo, Squamish, Whistler and Victoria while the remainder are in Metro Vancouver or are from out of province.

If the vast majority of businesses have their biggest provincial representatives in the Lower

Mainland why would beer production be different?

In one way they aren’t. Sales of either Molson’s or Labatt’s are bigger than the other 27 breweries combined. Many of the other 25 breweries are still a mystery though.

After all, beer needs agricultural inputs and it is cheaper when produced in bulk. Transportation corridors radiate out from Vancouver.

Unlike many other consumables consumers are willing (some say forced) to pay more for alcohol. The least expensive wines out there are not B.C. wines, but they are selling very well.

Still, it is remarkable that so many small breweries exist and, for the most part are flourishing.

Why many people will pay the extra can partly be attributed to taste. Some people, like myself, have a bias toward buying local.

Then it occurred to me that part of the success of the small breweries is due –hold your breath on this one!– to high government taxes and restricted sales opportunities.

Taxes on beer (and other alcohol) is so high that the difference between the biggest brewers and

our microbreweries is, on a percentage basis, much smaller than it would be if taxes were less. The largest breweries do have a price advantage, but high taxes make those advantages relatively less important. If a huge brewery could sell a bottle of beer for 50¢ less than a small brewery, the advantage seems much bigger if the beer sells for $2.00 a bottle (versus $2.50) rather than $6 a bottle (versus $6.50).

The other advantage bestowed on smaller brewers, unintentionally I think, is the limited number of sale sites. If you could buy beer at any corner store or grocery store as they can in the U.S., only large production can put your beer everywhere. In B.C. with many fewer places to buy alcohol, it is easier to get your product into most regions. You still may only be selling a relatively small amount, but beer drinkers have a better chance of seeing your product.

There are real disadvantages to government control of liquor distribution and some rules make your head ache, but unintentionally, I think they may have given a boost to B.C.’s small producers.

Devon Brooks is the managing editor of the Okanagan Business Examiner.

A TOAST TO BEER TAXESBy DEvon BRookS


had a health care professional say this is a bad idea.”

He also sees a market for reaching Canadian businesses who will see the benefit of making sure that staff gets quick medical treatment. Who, he wonders, can afford to have senior management on an extended sick leave?

Ironically it is because of the American system’s inefficiencies that Brough’s insurance scheme works so well.

The U.S. spends much more for medical care as a percentage of their GDP and on a per capita basis than any other country. Davidson says there are two big contributors to that: one is very high administration costs coming from the many competing private hospitals. In contrast to U.S. costs of about 15% of the health care budget he says, “Canada operates with a 4% administrative overhead –better than any private system on the planet.”

The second are unused beds and rooms.

The private American hospitals are like a hotel in the sense that empty hospitals are expensive to run. Canadians have the opposite experience at home with back ups in emergency rooms. Our hospitals are full up and patients in the hallway suggest that occupancy is more than 100%.

In contrast, Davidson says, “The private hospitals in the United States have a higher cost profile because they typically run at 60% capacity. Their unit costs are sky high. They are top quality, but extremely expensive.”

Brough’s plan shunts Canadians to those empty spaces. “California alone has the room to look after all of Canada,” says Brough. The money from Canadians who take up the insurance gets them off Canadian wait lists. It also pumps profits into U.S. hospitals with empty beds and unused equipment.

It turns out that Brough’s fiddling on the side is nothing compared to the two-tier health care already here. WorkSafeBC administers funds gathered under the Workers Compensation Act. Every day that an injured worker sits at home waiting for diagnosis or treatment is a direct cost to WorkSafeBC.

Excluded by an act of government WorkSafeBC pays above and beyond B.C. Medicare rates to private clinics to look after those workers. It is cue jumping with government blessing.

Davidson observes, “One implication is that it’s an engine of more private health care.”

And WorkSafeBC is not alone. ICBC has a similar option.

Davidson says these institutions don’t really like paying the extra money. That they do is a symptom of the shortage of health care professionals.

He believes the real problem is that shortage of doctors, nurses and some specialized support personnel. Brough sees that as the root of the problem too. “We don’t have enough doctors, enough beds, rural doctors or money to keep the system going.”

Davidson says when the move to balance budgets came in the ‘90s the provinces responded by cutting expensive training programs for health care officials.

A public fed up with wait lists pressured government in the 2000s to put money back into training. MLA Stewart says, “The government has funded thousands of new spaces.”

A medical school was started up at UNBC in Prince George and a new school is opening in Kelowna, with the first graduates expected out by 2013.

It won’t be enough says Davidson. “Even ramping up our medical schools as much as we can now won’t keep up with the number of doctors retiring. Same note for nurses.”

Stewart counters that extra efficiency and savings can be found by getting the province’s health authorities to co-operate more. Some work is being taken off the doctor’s over worked plate through a transfer to other practitioners. “We’ve started training pharmacists to do vaccinations.”

Davidson dismisses most of it as tinkering. The real culprit has been the government mantra on tax cuts. Faced with shrinking revenues the government had to cut services. Optical examinations were dropped several years ago and recently nursing care benefit qualifications were tightened up.

Stewart says medical care now swallows 45% of the provincial budget, which is squeezing out other considerations.

Davidson says, “The funding problems we’ve had elsewhere wouldn’t be happening if we hadn’t cut taxes this decade.”

Since the federal government has cut off the private health care option, Stewart says there are only two way to go. “You can reduce costs or raise taxes.”

Now private industry does what it always does best. It has found a way to give people, at least some of them, what they want with a third option that costs the individual, but allows them to circumnavigate the dreaded wait list.

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WAIT LISTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7

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The best healthcare in the worldThe intersection of an aging population with increasing medical needs, and the relatively constant proportion of doctors to people in the province suggests conclusions that might not be pretty.

The provincial government has been working to increase the number of doctors and nurses in the future, but there is lag time. In the meantime, what could we be doing better?

Let’s look to the world’s top ranked health care system for answers. The World Health Organization ranked health care systems in 2000, based on a number of factors including the health of the overall population and the different demographics within it, how responsive the system was to patients, overall cost, and how it was financed. The report ranked the U.S. 37 in terms of performance of the health care system, and 72nd in terms of the health of its population. It received top marks for its responsiveness and overall spending, and mediocre standings in most other areas. Canada’s system ranked 30 overall, with the 35th healthiest population. France was ranked the best overall, and as having the fourth healthiest population.

France does it partly by living better, and partly by organizing its health care system better.

The French are famous for the quality of their food. Americans are infamous for their consumption of fast food, soft drinks, corn fed beef and a pandemic of obesity. Better living and healthier people mean less demand for health care services. France can also do more with what they’ve got. And with 3.4 physicians per 1,000 population instead of 2.1 as in B.C., they’ve got more to work with.

Who pays for health care in France? It’s similar in many ways to our system. The government provides primary health care insurance, mostly paid through payroll taxes and deductions. Low income families get free coverage, and nearly all residents are protected in some way. Many people also get additional health care coverage through private insurers, as many in Canada do as well.

The issue of private versus public health care has been raging in B.C. for some time. France has both private and public hospitals, clinics and practitioners. All are paid primarily by the state, and partly from the private health care plans. The physicians’ union negotiates rates for the entire country. Clearly, private health care can work.

At the risk of over-simplifying, France’s plan covers about 70% of the patients’ medical costs below about $100 per month. Most costs are covered above that amount, and people with serious long term conditions like diabetes or cancer are 100% covered.

This is known as “co-insurance”, and is a feature of many private and

employer funded health care plans in Canada. Co-insurance reduces the load on the system from patients who have minor ailments, like mild flus or colds, for which the only cure is rest. Opponents to the idea might call it a “user fee”, which is also controversial in B.C. The danger is that patients might avoid early diagnosis of serious problems, in order to avoid the $10 or so cost per visit.

France also allows “extra billing”, where some health care practitioners charge above the standard rates for their services. The extra fees are paid by individuals or their private insurance plans, and those practitioners are themselves are charged extra for their health care coverage. While extra billing allows more of a free market approach to allocating health care resources, it tends to overload the practitioners that don’t extra bill. The program seems quite unpopular in France, and I have to conclude they haven’t been able to make extra billing work well.

How much does this all cost? Canada spent about $3,700 U.S. per person on health care in 2006. The U.S. spent about $6,700 and France $3,800. That works out to about 10% of Canadian GDP, 16% of U.S. GDP and 11% of French GDP. Spending more doesn’t necessarily result in better health care or coverage of a higher proportion of the population.

France is only about 60% as big as B.C., with 15 times the population. The place is more compact, and it is easier to provide infrastructure and facilities close to people in France. Their needs are also more homogenous, while B.C.’s priorities range from areas like the densely populated Lower Mainland to providing coverage in remote areas like Dees Lake. B.C. would have to spend proportionately much more than France to provide the same level of service.

In summary, France’s health care system enjoys some efficiencies we can’t hope to match. Like B.C., the government is the primary payer for most health care services, and most of the population is covered. Unlike B.C., France has managed to work successfully with private practitioners and coinsurance. Perhaps British Columbians should calm down and take a closer, more objective look at these issues. The number of health care professionals in the province will have to increase dramatically, and B.C. residents will have to be willing to pay more.

What would likely happen if we were to get it right? French citizens still complain about their health care system, and so would we.

Dominik Dlouhy P. Eng, MBA, CFA is a Chartered Financial Analyst and planner with Partners in Planning Financial Services Ltd. and The Fraser Financial Group LLP. You can reach Dominik at 545-5258 or [email protected] with questions or comments. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of Partners in Planning or The Fraser Financial Group.

Dominik Dlouhy


Movers&ShakersMAgAzinE

FoR FooDiE lovERS

lAunChES

Savour, the new succulent magazine for food lovers in the region, launched its first 68-page issue last month. The magazine is the brain child of Chytra Brown, who with her husband Craig owns the Prosper Media Group, the publisher of the Business Examiner. Printed on the finest colour stock available, editor Joyce Wegner says she spent the entire summer huddled indoors trying to get every page mouth-wateringly perfect. The first issue boasts features on turkey time and Thanksgiving, a review of Summerland’s Local Lounge & Grill, the 5th Annual Wine Summit at Lake Louise, an outdoor dining experience at God’s Mountain Estate, chef Ned Bell who is a partner at Cabana Grille and two wineries, the Holman-Lang group and Therapy Vineyards.

gRAy Monk unDERgoES

$2 M FACEliFt

Lake Country’s oldest winery celebrated its latest expansion that includes new offices, more storage, a new laboratory, an expanded cellar and a new tasting room that will be the winery’s new public face. In total the new space almost doubles the size of the main building’s footprint and will allow production of approximately 636,000 litres of wine annually.

CoASt CoMES to PEntiCton

Coast Hotels & Resorts will re-brand the Travelodge Penticton as one of its own in April next year. Robin Agur is president of Locations West Investment Group, owner of the

hotel. He says, “Coast Hotels & Resorts has a very strong market presence in western Canada and the U.S., which is where the majority of our traffic comes from, so this re-branding fits nicely with our long-term vision for the property.” Coast has had a very busy year, opening properties in Chilliwack and Lethbridge. Along with the Penticton property it will be opening a new downtown Vancouver facility in January and one in Whistler next month. Coast Hotels now owns, manages or franchises 43 properties in western Canada and the U.S.

vAllEy FiRSt loSES giAnt

Harley Biddlecombe, who was the centrepiece at Valley First Credit for more than three decades, has died of cancer. Biddlecombe started in banking in 1969, and came on board at Valley First in 1978 when it was known as the Penticton and District Credit Union. He was 27 when he became president. Biddlecombe was responsible for growing it from two branches, 25 employees and 10,000 members to one with 16 branches, 450 employees and 47,000 members. It is now the eighth largest credit union in the province with $1.75 billion in assets. Paulette Rennie has been appointed acting CEO until Valley First’s merger with Envision takes place, at which point she will become president for the Valley First region.

JonES nEw PRESiDEnt oF

vERnon ChAMBER

Nixon Wenger lawyer Jonathan Jones was elected president of the Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce in September. Jones cited advocacy for business as the Chamber’s main purpose, buttressed by education and networking in his first speech to the Chamber. He also said, “We have strong programs in place for all of these activities and we have the goal of strengthening our existing programs and looking for new programs that fit our mandate.” Other members elected to the board at the meeting were Deb Leroux as First VP, Ken Macleod as Second VP, Brent Barker as treasurer. Menza Bouwman, Ingrid Dilschneider and Alicia Kay are new board members while Jen Allen, Krystine McInnes, Caroline Radics, Duane Vankeimpema and Brian Wills are directors.

oSoyooS REnEwS DEStinAtion oSoyooS ContRACt

The current contract for tourism marketing and visitor services between the Destination Osoyoos Development Society (DO) and the Town of Osoyoos ends on December 31 this year. After four months of discussions the two groups announced they have a new three year deal worked out, worth $120,000 per year to DO. The new contract, worth $360,000, is considerably larger than the previous five-year, $226,000 deal it is replacing. The substantial increase is the result of the new hotel room tax in place, which allows Osoyoos to broaden its marketing efforts.

At the same time DO has been relieved of one of its previous duties with its $200,000 budget for economic development, which Osoyoos has decided to bring in house.

olivER

wAntS RESPECtS

Oliver wants Canada Post to drop the use of rural routes in its address system for the town. Bonnie Dancey, CEO of the South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce (SOCC), says, “The rural route system is outdated and does cause major inconveniences to the business community who receive shipments from other jurisdictions. We respectfully request that the mayor and council revisit this issue.”

SOCC also showed off a new kiosk in Kaleden for the Kettle Valley Trail in Pioneer Park. The kiosk includes a map of the route along with interesting historical and geographical information about the area.

Above: South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce CEO Bonnie Dancey opening the Kettle Valley Kiosk in Kaleden

BiRthDAy nuMBER onE FoR SoEC

The South Okanagan Events Centre heralded its first birthday in late September. Global Spectrum’s Curtis Webb says 120,000 people attended shows in that time. Global Spectrum is the company on contract with the City of Penticton to run the Centre. At the same time, the director of Marketing for Global Spectrum, Ryan McCarthy told Penticton Western News that some events have fared better than others, which is not unexpected for a new facility. So far the big winners have been rock and country music concerts.

Movers&Shakers

StarS over enderby

P R o F i l E

BusinessExaminer


intRoDuCtion

In Canada we often rail when we feel slighted or, what is arguably worse, are ignored by the United States. We also know that human nature being what it is the Americans aren’t slighting us, they simply are more focused on things closer to home. We have to work harder just to get attention.

Because that is basic human nature we do the same thing in our own backyard, giving the lion’s share of attention to the big three civic centres in the Okanagan while often ignoring notable achievements of smaller communities.

Take Enderby as a prime example. A small community with less than 3,000 people, Enderby is achieving what many other communities say they want but seem to do little about. In this case the town has built a strong industrial sector providing good jobs and a diversified tax base.

It is no accident that industry wants to locate there – the town has the welcome mat out. Tate Bengston, executive director of the Enderby & District Chamber of Commerce, says, “I believe we have the smallest tax rate for light industry in the Okanagan.”

Bengston also pushes what he terms the ‘6 L’s’. By this he means Low taxes; Labour and Location, which allows Enderby to draw on much larger populations south and north for a bigger labour pool. Lower real estate prices contribute to an enviable Lifestyle and suggests available Land. Finally he endorses Enderby’s Licensing regime, which is a “perpetual business license” program, one of many ways Enderby works to reduce red tape.

In addition while other cities say they want more clean, light industry they dither about zoning or setting land aside, Enderby quietly put aside an unserviced 16.5 acre parcel.

It also doesn’t hurt that Enderby boasts the last credit union that hasn’t jumped on to the merger mania, keeping its local roots, well, local. Ted Morrison is general manager of the Enderby & District Credit Union. He explains why they have resisted buy out offers, “We strongly feel the community would suffer if we were a branch.”

The Credit Union has a hand, he says, in virtually every single event, charity and community cause in town. Solidly profitable, Morrison says last year’s recession gave pause to the credit union’s growth rate; significantly, it still made money.

He credits the track record to being more risk averse than other lenders, but with a $50 million base they are the single largest financial factor in the town’s financial foundations for both residential and business loans.

Nor has the town put all its eggs in the basket of industry. It benefits from the tourism factor that being on Highway 97 brings. With three small hotels, 20 odd B&Bs and eight campgrounds Enderby simply does not have the room base for a hotel base that other municipalities have used to fund tourism with a room tax. That hasn’t stopped the community from experiencing a better than 40% increase in tourism over 2008.

Visitors jumped from 7,602 to 10,920. Parties had a similar increase from 4,885 to 7,446. Americans virtually disappeared from the area in 2008, but Bengston reports they are nudging back onto the radar screen. Albertan visitors are down, but the big increase was from visitors who live within a three to four hour drive.

Part of the increase might be from a new service, the Tube Taxi, which started up this year. It offered visitors the chance to float down the incredibly beautiful meander that is the Shuswap River. As the river is also the town’s water source the new company met with controversy because people

are concerned about pollution from the hordes of people that floated downstream. It is equally difficult to pin down how many dollars flowed to local businesses from the new venture.

While debate about using the river as a tourist draw continues, the town continues to host an industrial base that is amazing for its size. Five of Enderby’s diverse industrial stars are highlighted below.

noRth vAllEy FRAMEwoRkS

One of Canada’s industrial liabilities is that it is suffering from a productivity gap, often because industry is not investing in the technology that will make the difference. North Valley Frameworks (NVF) is a showcase on how to get it right with automated, laser-accurate equipment used to design and build precision frames for buildings of all sizes.

Owner Mark Ibbetson gets so enthusiastic that he can’t help boasting about one of the things the new technology is capable of: “The automated system will flip a piece of wood over to maximize the use of the wood.”

Ibbetson should be enthusiastic. The programming allows every piece of wood over 5.5 inches to be used. The program is so sophisticated that if a piece of wood has an angle cut or there is a chunk missing, the equipment can turn or flip the piece to make the most efficient use of the remaining piece.

Ibbestson says, “Over the course of a year this saves four loads of wood we figure.”

After purchasing NVF less than two years ago he invested US $260,000 to obtain the new equipment and a further $160,000 for the software to run it. Since then he has invested a lot of time to make

StarS over enderbY

FRoM PAgE 13: thE ShuSwAP RivER, whiCh winDS thRough thE hEARt oF thE town, iS SyMBoliC oF thE liFEStylE AnD EASy going RElAtionS thAt DEFinE SMAll town liFE.

ABovE lEFt: tAtE BEngSton oF thE EnDERBy ChAMBER oF CoMMERCE highlightS thE town’S low tAx RAtE AS onE AttRACtion FoR BuSinESS.

ABovE Right: BEhinD thE town’S SlEEPy MAin StREEt FACADE iS onE oF thE MoSt viBRAnt light inDuStRiAl SECtoRS in thE vAllEy.

StoRy & All PhotoS By DEvon BRookS


the whole process run smoothly, resulting in a greater and greater cost saving.

The trick wasn’t just the equipment. It is designing, numbering and marking every piece of wood in a building and programming every one into the computer so it can get the maximum amount of usage out of every piece of lumber right from the start of a project.

When Ibbetson started the process, it would take three to four weeks to program in all the dimensions and pieces of wood for a job. After two years of practice he says most structures are entered into the system in three or four days.

At full tilt, NVF runs a team of 19 people. This past summer the construction slow down had the crew down to half that, but Ibbetson says the material and time savings resulting from this methodology gives NVF a tremendous edge. He calculates traditional methods of construction and labour to cost between $20 and $30 per hour. His equipment has cut that cost to about $16 per hour, a 25 to 47% saving.

Framing time drops by about a third, less material is used and less dumped. North Valley estimates that for every 10,000 sq. ft. of structure a week of labour is saved during construction.

DEltA-C tEChnology

If you think that Enderby would not be the place to find cutting edge products serving the oil and gas industry that’s only because you don’t know about Delta-C Technology. The firm manufactures watercut monitors that accurately measure water content, a key concern in oil production and transportation.

Says owner Dhane Merriman, “Our primary customers are those that move the oil or the

StarS over enderbY

MARk iBBEtSon, ownER oF noRth vAllEy

FRAMEwoRkS, StAnDS nExt to thE AutoMAtED SAwS

thAt MEASuRE AnD ExtRACt EvERy PiECE oF uSEABlE

wooD Down to FivE-AnD-A-hAlF-inCh SCRAPS.

EvERy PiECE oF wooD CoMing out oF nvF iS CoDED

uSing An inkJEt PRintER So thAt BuilDERS know

ExACtly whERE EACh PRECiSion-Cut PiECE oR

SECtion goES.


producers who must prove to the pipeline companies that they have little water in it.”

Merriman is not talking about much water either. More water than 0.5% is a problem, but Delta-C’s instruments have a resolution of 10 parts per million (ppm) with an accuracy of 100 ppm or .01%.

In fact Merriman says these are the most “sensitive units” available on the market.

Merriman bought up Delta-C in 2007 from the previous owner Herman Doublet who started the company in 1989.

Merriman used to be in Alberta until he retired from business. Settling into the Shuswap he was soon bored, prompting him to buy out Doublet. But Merriman has expanded on the old Delta-C by also buying up the company in Calgary that made the electronics control devices for the monitors.

Merriman integrated the two companies in to the Enderby facility. Now the electronic controls and monitor construction occurs in one facility under the strictest quality controls.

Although the Alberta oil connection is the obvious one Delta-C also sells around the globe, boasting customers from China and the United Kingdom.

Merriman sees no contradiction in selling to the world from a small town on the Shuswap River.

Competitors sell their units for around $50,000, while Delta-C’s two series and five models of monitors are in the $30,000 range.

Price alone isn’t enough, suggests Merriman. Delta-C’s solid reputation is good but he wants to get the word out. Little marketing efforts were made in the past, but that too is going to change as the Merriman works on marketing and licensing agreements around the world.

Fink MAChinE

The Fink Machine Company is named for Burkhard Fink. This kind of light industry is the kind that every municipality hungers for. It is highly skilled, in a growth sector and it is more than green. It is one of the firms setting the standards for green.

The core of Fink’s business is the KOB Wood Boiler, which is an ultra-efficient wood burning furnace built for large scale buildings. Fink says the energy costs are equivalent to a natural gas boiler. Wood –partly thanks to the pine beetle– scraps are readily available for making fuel, and; the boilers fit in with society’s continuing push to reduce our carbon footprint on the environment.

The boilers achieve a 90% efficiency rating and heat buildings from 10,000 sq. ft. and up. A boiler generating 3 million BTU (units can put out up to

DEltA-C’S DhAnE MERRiMAn ExPlAinS how onE oF hiS

unitS DEtECtS wAtER in oil, CRitiCAl to PRoDuCERS

AnD PiPElinE oPERAtoRS ARounD thE gloBE.

Tel: 250.838.6841703 Mill Avenue, Enderby, BC

www.enderbycreditunion.com

CONSUMER & COMMERCIAL BANKING SERVICES

LOANS & MORTGAGES

WEALTH MANAGEMENT SERVICES

24 HOUR DRIVE-THRU ATM

Lending Services Specialists Member Services Specialists


8.5 million) will use 500 lb. of material per hour. Fink’s facility is 16,000 sq. ft. He has one hopper outside that provides sufficient fuel for the whole building throughout a winter and shoulder seasons.

The burning process is so thorough that total weight is 0.2 to 0.3% of the original wood source.

Fink, with a staff of four, have sold 38 of the company’s KOB wood boilers over the past nine years, but sales have increased sharply of late. Says Fink, “A quarter of them were in the last year.”

Unfortunately none of those sales are local; although Fink says, hopefully, “I think they are doing an energy audit in Vernon on municipal buildings.”

Mostly though, the Okanagan simply isn’t looking. The closest sale Fink has made is to a school in Quesnel. Fink believes the challenge his company needs to overcome are old-fashioned, negative connotations associated with wood burner technology.

Ideas like the one that wood burners need someone at the side stoking the fire in a smoky-smelling basement all night.

Fink’s burners are self loading. Even the feed units are designed to automatically back up in case a piece of wood jams. Heat distribution is also far advanced from anachronistic notions of one room hot as a furnace. Fink’s units can heat one building or be designed to heat an entire complex of buildings over a larger area.

Fink doesn’t actually manufacture these units. Parts come from Germany, but it is Fink that puts them together, custom designs them to meet client needs and sells any or all support equipment necessary.

Support equipment includes hoppers to store wood supplies, wood hogs to cut wood into smaller pieces suitable for the burners and even briquette presses that can turn tiny scraps or sawdust into easily transported, more compact wood pellets.

toP: CoMPAny ownER BuRkhARD Fink, StAnDS in

FRont oF thE FuEl hoPPER thAt hAS Enough CAPACity

to kEEP hiS PlAnt wARM FoR 12 MonthS.

BottoM: thiS koB BioFuEl BoilER iS thE hEARt oF

thE ultRA-EFFiCiEnt wooD-BuRning FuEl SyStEMS

thAt Fink iS SElling thRoughout wEStERn CAnADA.

SPERliCh log hoMES

This firm, which manufactures beautiful and rugged log homes, is celebrating its twentieth anniversary. CEO Peter Sperlich, who took over from his father, says the company sells medium to high end houses. Despite the worldwide recession, he says, “We haven’t really experience any slow down.”

That is because the company is so thoroughly diversified in its markets that if one area, such as the U.S. where sales have dropped off, is suffering, others pick up the slack. Germany and Japan have been two major markets over the past two decades and at the time of this interview Sperlich was working on a dozen contracts for Japanese customers.

Agents had just opened the company up to new markets in Austria, Italy and France.

This was part of the business model from the beginning says Sperlich. “The long term plan was to have some diversification and position ourselves globally.”

Sperlich explains their ability to shrug off the downturn as being their top of market placement. “The reality is we’re using a premium softwood so we’re top of the food chain.”

Sperlich only uses western red cedar logs of a certain size, which he describes as the “best wood possible”. The custom designed homes are constructed on the Sperlich site in Enderby, then taken apart and shipped to their final home where carefully trained local agents put them back together.

On occasion, for particularly complex or large structures (up to 10,000 sq. ft.) someone from the Enderby head office will go over to supervise.

Despite its ongoing success Sperlich says the company, like every other business, has to move with the times. Logs “must be harvested with minimal impact to the ecosystem and the harvested area must be replanted.”

PEtER SPERliCh ExPlAinS thAt hiS MiD-to uPPER EnD

log hoMES ARE SolD in JAPAn, gERMAny, AuStRiA

AnD thE u.S.A


MCLEOD AGENCIES LTDIndependently Owned & Operated Insurance AgencyBusiness | House | Farm | Boat | Life | Motor Licence Office

Monday - Friday 8:30am - 5:00pm Saturday 9:00am - 5:00 pm250.838.7333 | 904 George Street, Enderby

Taking care of the things that you care about

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He says the amount of top quality fibre that meets their ecologically oriented specifications is the only limiting factor they have but says the company has reached what the Sperlich family terms a “comfortable size”. Here he says income provides secure employment and rich opportunities for his family and his skilled employee force.

okAnAgAn FERtilizER

Art Clancy has turned over the operation of Okanagan Fertilizer to his son Ken, but he comes out to show people around the packaging and loading facility of the company he’s been around since it opened in 1976.

Okanagan Fertilizer is the only fertilizer manufacturer in the interior and the last independent service in the province. The company offers bulk custom orders, packaging and product specialities to match the needs of many local growers from farmers to golf companies. The company prides itself that all “fertilizer products [undergo] high analysis, are uniformly sized and dust free.”

If Canadian companies are often accused of not keeping up with new techniques or improved efficiencies Okanagan Fertilizer leans the other way to ensure manufacturing is still profitable. They will sell to farmers directly to stay cost competitive, they have embraced GPS technology to improve spreading accuracy and speed the process at peak times and uses Roundup Ready Corn products and Duration CR, which is a polymer coated urea. This, says the company’s website, “…is engineered to release nitrogen based on soil temperature regulated osmosis. Nitrogen is delivered to the plant with maximum efficiency needed for optimum growth. Concerns about

thESE logS ARE wEStERn RED CEDAR, thE MoSt

DESiRABlE FoR log BuilDing AnD thE hARDESt to

CoME By, whiCh iS why SPERliCh hoMES ARE Sought

AFtER FoR thEiR quAlity AnD DuRABility.

Roof Trusses | Floor Systems | Wall Panels

601 Bass Ave., Enderby, BC

T: 250.838.9903

Toll Free: 1.866.403.8787

Commercial Quotes | Residential Quotes

Enderby Snapshot Incorporated: 1905

Area: 4.2 sq. km

Located in the North Okanagan Regional District

EMPloyMEnt

In 2006 out of a total labour force of 1,265 persons, the three biggest employer sectors: construction (170 or 13.4%); manufacturing (160 or 12.6%); health care and social assistance (150 or 11.9%).

StAtiStiCS

Population 2,890 (2008)

Population aged 65+ in 2006: 27.3% (B.C. 14.6%)

Population growth rate for 2007-2008: 0.6% (B.C. 1.7%)

inCoME

Median household income (2006): $43,804 (B.C. $54,840)

Average income from those filing tax returns (2006): $28,578 (B.C. $38,523)

Main source of income for residents in 2006: Employment (58.5%), Pension (17.9%), Investment (8.4%), Other not counting self-employed (6.1%), Self-employed (5.5%)

BuSinESS

Business incorporations: 9 (2008) 6 (2006)

Business bankruptcies: Unknown

Total # of firms with no employees: 176 (June 2008)

Total # of firms with employees: 188 (June 2008)

170 companies had 1 to 19 employees, 15 companies had 20 to 49 employees and three companies had 50 to 199 employees

Chamber of Commerce members: 115

lABouR FoRCE BREAkDown:

Total labour force: 1,265 (2006)

Labour force as % of total population: 44.5% (2006)

Percent of labour force self-employed: 5.8% (2006)

BuilDing PERMitS

New residential units built: 6 (2008) 21 (2006)

Typical house value: $419,722 (2008) $174,700 (2004)

Value of new residential construction: $1.6 million (2008) $3.9 million (2006)

Value of other construction: $1.2 million (2008) $0.5 million (2006)

leaching, denitrification and volatilization are eliminated.”

The company has suffered from the downturn last year, but, says Art, their biggest concern is the recent closure of the Canadian Pacific spur line.

Without rail transport of raw ingredients into the area input costs will rise steeply, perhaps enough to kill the business and SureCrop, the Grindrod based company that is also dependent on the rail line.

The rail line decision was sparked by the closure of the Lavington glass plant, which CP says takes away the profit margin from the spur line. Originally CP obfuscated as to whether they would sell the rail line to competitors, which bothered many in Enderby. Tate Bengston says, “CP wants out of the spur line business, but they don’t want competition to make use of it.”

Finally, on October 8 CP announced it was putting the 51 km line up for sale. SureCrop indicated a month earlier it was interested in purchasing 13 km, but admitted it couldn’t do it without government support or some other kind of backing.

Local politicians have been getting involved but so far the $4 million price tag and ongoing maintenance costs are proving a challenge.

thiS FERtilizER, onE oF A DozEn PRoDuCtS thAt okAnAgAn FERtilizER

DEvEloPED FoR thE uniquE nEEDS oF PARtiCulAR kinDS oF CuStoMERS likE

golF CouRSES oR FARMERS, iS thE only FERtilizER MADE in thE REgion.

thE okAnAgAn FERtilizER PlAnt in EnDERBy REDuCES CoStS BECAuSE oF

CuStoMER PRoxiMity, But iS thREAtEnED By CP’S DECiSion to CloSE Down

thE SPuR linE thAt BRingS in CRuCiAl RAw PRoDuCtS.


Small Town Spirit,Boundless Opportunity

Enderby & District Chamber of Commerce

The Enderby and District Chamber of Commerce welcomes your inquiries about entrepreneurial and investment opportunities as well as business expansion and relocation. Enderby truly offers it all.

Location | Enderby is strategically located as the the gateway between the Shuswap and the Okanagan.Lifestyle | Natural attractions, year-round recreation and urban amenities make Enderby attractive for

your employees to live and work. Land | Commercial and industrial land in Enderby and the surrounding area is available for your business. Labour | The local labour force embodies the full skills continuum

with post-secondary training institutions in close proximity. Low taxes | Enderby’s taxation rates are the lowest in the valley on many classes, most notably light industry. Licensing | Red tape and expenses

are reduced with Enderby’s unique “perpetual business licence.”

Come discover the welcoming spirit of Enderby today.

P.O. Box 1000, 700 Railway Street, Enderby, BC V0E 1V0T: 250.838.6727 F: 250.838.0123

www.enderbychamber.com


Remember when global-warming activists screamed for the electric car? They weren’t bothered that it could only go 100 miles, or that it could only carry kids and golf clubs, or kids and groceries, but never all three. This new breed of green believers was willing to lead the way by vastly inconveniencing themselves in the hope the rest of us, overwrought with guilt, would follow suit.

According to the 2006 documentary 'Who killed the electric car?' blame for the demise of woefully inadequate electric vehicles rests at the feet of nasty automobile companies and evil oil companies. You’re supposed to believe that a dirty, inefficient technology is being artificially propped up while a clean and perfectly viable technology is being suppressed, all in the name of greed.

Appreciating that people need to go further than 100 miles between charges, some manufacturers took a giant leap backwards and combined a small internal combustion engine with a generator and an electric motor. Nothing new there, but the marketing department dubbed it “hybrid electric technology,” which is like calling yourself a “hybrid vegetarian” because you sometimes eat vegetables.

A new “hybrid faith” was born. Emboldened by government purchases of huge fleets of hybrids (province of B.C., the cities of Penticton and Kelowna), the environmentalists started to attack the naysayers.

But whatever the guilt trip, this revolutionary crowd has never found time to contend with actual science. They haven’t because they can’t.

The amount of energy required to move a given weight over a given distance at a given rate of acceleration is immutable. The eternal hope that there will someday be advances in battery technology won’t change the laws of physics as described by Isaac Newton in his 1687 work Principia Mathematica. In fact, this should be recommended reading for any hybrid owners who wonder why they get such abysmal mileage.

Switching our fossil-fuel based economy to a sometimes-electric economy will not save any energy. None. It will only change the source of energy.

For the faithful, 35 or 40 mpg in a hybrid seems reason enough to brag, in spite of the fact that many gasoline vehicles do just as well. Then there’s the diehard hybrid owner (perhaps one who practises the fine art of granny-driving) who claims to get 50 or 60 mpg. Many diesel cars do that well, but evidence shows that such mileage is actually a

pipe dream for a hybrid. Don’t take my word for it, or even Newton’s…

Phil Edmundson, former New Democratic MP and author of the Lemonade Car Guide, says categorically, “We don’t recommend electric and gasoline engine hybrids because their fuel economy can be 40% worse than the automakers report.”

That should rock anyone’s faith, unless of course Edmundson turns out to be in the pocket of ‘Big Auto’ or ‘Big Oil’. Think that’s likely?

Clearly it’s not the cleanliness or efficiency of hybrids and electric cars that propels their sales. It’s an avowed hatred fostered by some for the oil industry, and nothing more.

Never mind that all the CO2 stored in fossil fuels once floated harmlessly in the earth’s atmosphere.

Never mind that the oceans absorb 98% of CO2 emissions and that burning all known

oil reserves tomorrow would barely elevate atmospheric CO2 levels over time. Never mind that manufacturing batteries for cars is detrimental to the environment and that disposing of them will prove even dirtier than the dreaded ship wrecking business.

No, never mind all that. You’re supposed to invest in this inefficient technology in spite of Edmundson’s warnings that “long-term reliability is unknown, battery replacement cost is estimated to run as high as $8,000 (U.S.), [and] expensive electric motors are predicted to have a high failure rate from corrosion.”Go on, the self-righteous environmentalist says, Take a financial hit and do your part to put a nail in the coffin of the internal combustion engine! In the public relations campaign to advance a “green” agenda, it hardly seems to matter to politicians that doing so could lead to the crime of the century against civilization and nature.

THIS DEMOCRACY

Environmentalists still trying to kill the internal combustion engine

Mischa Popoff

Mischa Popoff is a freelance political writer with a bachelor’s degree in history.

Diesel is the heavy lifter for industry in North America. It fuels most big trucks on the highways and most heavy-duty equipment on the continent. But the old industrial workhorse is changing.

By 2012 the Canadian government has legislated all diesel fuel will contain 2% biodiesel as part of its long term commitment to reducing CO2 emissions. British Columbia leapfrogged that with a 5% diesel (B5) requirement to be in place by January 1, 2010.

The benefits of biodiesel include: fewer emissions of unburned hydrocarbons, CO2, CO and particulate matter, and it acts as an engine lubricant. Current diesel engines need no changes or modifications; although older ones might need some part swapping (see note under 'Warranties' sidebar on page 25).

At the moment obtaining biodiesel in the interior is limited to Dean Buse, the franchise owner for 4Refuel. He notes, “We’re the only company in B.C. selling legal, marked biodiesel.”

The literature on biodiesel reads like a panacea, with no issues and no considerations. That isn’t quite true and Buse is keen to acknowledge both the benefits and considerations to watch out for.

“There is the operations side and the sales side. I know both. Salesmen tend to say everything is great and the more you buy the better off you are. I see it from the operations side too.”

4Refuel’s own brochure blithely states: “Currently blends up to B20 are covered with full warranty.” Buse provides a more accurate list of what diesel motor makers actually say (see sidebar on page 25 for a partial list of manufacturer warranty requirements).

Angela Reid is a councillor with the City of Kelowna, but is also a board member for the Alberta Biodiesel Association and the VP of BioStreet Canada. BioStreet is opening Canada’s first commercial scale biodiesel plant in Vegreville, Alberta. According to Reid, “At this point a lot of the big truck diesel manufacturers are testing higher grades and have no problems.”

Buse agrees, saying there ‘should’ be no such warranty numbers. “A lack of knowledge is behind the warranty issues.” Biodiesel not only won’t damage modern engines, but will extend their life span. Even so Buse doesn’t recommend using B100.

He says Summerland tried running one of its trucks using pure biodiesel, but there was insufficient power for the loads the truck was

hauling. The City of Kelowna asked him to provide B100 for a test fleet of cars, which he did, but only after making the City sign a waiver saying it knew the fuel would automatically void the warranty.

Another issue is that biodiesel has a lower gel point, meaning it will turn semisolid sooner than petro-diesel. The difference is only a few degrees, but it can be crucial in colder climates.

In the Lower Mainland Buse says operators can use B20 all year round, but in the interior he tells customers (if their warranty allows it) to use B20 in the warm summer months, B10 in the shoulder seasons and then B5 in the winter. “A B5 blend will never cause any problem. Never,” he asserts.

While Buse supplies the only station in Kelowna, Autogas, with biodiesel, his bread and butter is supplying the fuel to industrial sites. He is frustrated by how often people balk about the half penny per litre for the biodiesel. Never mind all the environmental benefits, Buse contends that the fuel, which acts as a lubricant, will likely extend the life of the engine by as much as a quarter. “Diesel lubricants are much more expensive for what biodiesel will do automatically.”

On the price differential, Reid says, “There is a little bit of a premium.”

The difference between B5 and petro-diesel at Autogas is a half cent a litre. B20 is 2¢ more per litre and B40 is 4¢.

Adds Reid, “The goal is to get the prices at par, but realistically the market will drive it. As oil prices go up our prices will be closer.”

When prices for fuel varied from 80¢ a litre to $1.50 as they did in 2008, Buse shakes his head when potential customers raise a fuss about the half penny. He points out that by delivering the fuel to customer work sites they more than make up the difference because they don’t pay one of their workers to drive equipment, or vehicles, to wherever they normally purchase fuel.

He says the biggest problem is “getting peoples’ heads around something new.”

With the province mandating 5% biodiesel it might seem legislation will solve Buse’s problem, but the 5% figure is a provincial average. Buse says they might pump 8 to 10% into Lower Mainland stations and distribute none elsewhere in the province.

If biodiesel is distributed by other retailers throughout the province, he suspects there might be other problems.

StoRy By DEvon BRookS

toP: AutogAS on highwAy 33 in kElownA iS thE only

StAtion in thE okAnAgAn CuRREntly SElling BioDiESEl.

Photo By DEvon BRookS. ABovE: A 4REFuEl tRuCk iS

SEEn hERE Filling uP hEAvy EquiPMEnt At A MinE SitE

in thE DEAD oF wintER. Photo ContRiButED. BElow:

loCAl 4REFuEl FRAnChiSE ownER DEAn BuSE hAS gooD

REASon to BEliEvE thAt BioDiESEl uSE will inCREASE AS

govERnMEnt’S PuSh it FoR itS StRong EnviRonMEntAl

BEnEFitS AnD hE PuShES itS EnginE-PRolonging

quAlitiES. Photo ContRiButED.

BIODIESEL CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

BIODIESEL TO LUBRICATE THE ENGINE OF INDUSTRY IN 2010


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Robert O. LevinExperienced Legal Counsel

Wesley C. ShieldsB.A. (Hons), M.P.A., L.L.B.

250-869-6017

Heidi TaylorB.A., L.L.B.

250-869-6014

2nd Floor, 215 Lawrence Avenue, Kelowna, BCPhone 250-762-4222 . Fax 250-762-8616

[email protected] . [email protected]

- Commercial Litigation- Family Law

- Land Development- Estate Litigation

Trade-Marks

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PHONE: (250) 418-3250FAX: (250) 418-3251TOLL FREE: 1-877-943-9990E-MAIL: [email protected]

It is a common occurrence that Canadian employment contracts contain clauses originating in the United States. Canadian contracts adapted from American precedents or downloaded off the internet will often feature this error.

Canadian employers need to know that certain American contract clauses will have no impact here. One such example is the inclusion of an “employed at will” clause. The appearance of this type of clause is a reliable indicator that the contractual language originated in the United States. Employment which is “at will” typically is meant to give the employer the right to terminate the employment at any time and without working notice (or pay in lieu) obligations.

This concept is deeply engrained in American employment law and applies in most states. It represents a significantly different legal approach to termination of employment than prevails here in Canada.

Here, the concept of reasonable working notice of termination (or pay in lieu thereof) is at the heart of our employment law. This is arguably our single most significant implied term of employment.

Contracts which purport to allow the employer to dismiss the employee, without just cause, with no working notice (or pay in lieu) are unenforceable in Canada. An example of this principle being addressed by a Canadian court occurred in Newfoundland.

The employee, Coombs, was employed by Charles River Consultants Corp. pursuant to an employment contract containing an "at will" clause. The clause stated, “Unless otherwise expressly set forth in writing, the Associate shall be an employee at will”.

Coombs’ employment was terminated only months after it had commenced. He sued for wrongful dismissal and his employer raised the “at will” clause in its defence. The employer argued that the existence of the clause allowed it to avoid complying with the common law obligation to provide reasonable working notice of termination.

The Court determined that the “at will” provision was void as an impermissible attempt to contract out of providing any notice of termination. It concluded that, while the employment relationship may, effectively, be terminated at the employer’s will, the absence of reasonable working notice will entitle an employee to claim damages.

As a result, the use of the phrase “employed at will” does not take away any entitlement the employee may have. The Court concluded that the “at will” clause did not even come close to rebutting the presumed common law entitlement to reasonable notice of termination.

The Court awarded Coombs five and one half months of pay in lieu of notice.

There is an easy lesson here to be learned by Canadian employers: avoid contractual language which originates in other jurisdictions. And, if your existing employment contracts contain anything resembling an “at will” clause, it’s time to seek out an employment law expert to develop some appropriate Canadian language.

Robert Smithson is a partner at Pushor Mitchell LLP in Kelowna practicing exclusively in the area of labour and employment law. For more information log onto www.pushormitchell.com. If you have a labour or employment question e-mail him at [email protected]. This subject matter is provided for general informational purposes only and is not intended to be relied upon as legal advice.

American contract clauses have no impact here


American contract clauses have no impact hereBIODIESEL CONTINUED FROM PAGE 22

There are also good, better and best ways to mix biodiesel with petro-diesel, which he has learned over time. “When the mandate (5% biodiesel) comes into place we have the knowledge. Some of these other guys are going to stumble as they learn.”

Buse likes to looks at the near and long term business potential.

While B.C. may or may not address the averaging issue there is also the federal government’s 2% mandate, due to start up in 2012.

Reid estimates the 2% figure will require a billion litres of biodiesel in 2012. The $200 million plant that BioStreet is championing will produce 227 million litres a year, or little more than a quarter of the country’s needs.

There are other plants in the works, but none as far along as BioStreet’s and in the short term at the very least, the biodiesel will have to be imported, which is what 4Refuel does today.

Even though the CO2 emission reductions from biodiesel will only be a drop in the bucket nationally, the numbers are still large. A billion litres of petro-diesel generates 2,868,000 tonnes of CO2 gases. Reid says, “I think a litre of biodiesel could reduce CO2 emissions by 60%.”

If her calculations are correct 2012 should see a drop of 1,721,000 tonnes of CO2 from burning diesel fuel assuming the same rate of use as today.

The other big hurdle for biodiesel is the fuel source. Reid says of the Vegreville plant, “We are designing a facility that will use 5% or 20% of waste vegetable oil materials.”

Ethanol faced charges of being a green wash when farmland was converted from food production to fuel. Reid had to think long and hard to make sure she wasn’t supporting something that carried its own environmental dead weight. “You need to look at diesel in the whole context.”

Besides waste vegetable oil, Reid says the main sources will be the discards from agriculture, not primary food products.

That answer is probably only partly true because farmers tend to grow the most profitable crops. If food and grain prices are much lower than fuel costs, they will probably go where they can get the best returns.

In any case, with traditional petroleum sources expected to decline, biodiesel’s importance is going to grow.

Biodiesel & Engine warranties

Most auto-manufacturers at this point will only allow a 5% blend (B5) to be used in diesel engines without voiding the warranty although Volkswagen reports it is doing tests of up to B20.

Other diesel manufacturers allow biodiesel blends of:

Caterpillar B30

Cummins B20

International B5

John Deere B5

Kubota B5

New Holland B100

Note that there are other considerations. Older vehicles (exact years vary with the manufacturer but none are newer than 2002) using rubber and certain metals (brass, bronze, copper, lead, tin, zinc) in the fuel tanks or fuel lines may react with the biodiesel. Biodiesel can also dissolve the sediment that builds up on the bottom of old fuel tanks, which should be cleaned out prior to using biodiesel.

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Business Profile

C a l e n d a rvwiB BuSinESS lunChEon

nov 4 - SChuBERt CEntRE,

vERnon. The monthly daytime meeting of Vernon Women in Business runs from 11:30 am to 1 pm. $14 for members, $16 for non-members. More information by e-mail from [email protected] or go online to http://vwib.com.

BuSinESS AFtER BuSinESS

nov 5 - tARA MoRRiS

PhotogRAPhy, PEntiCton. The Penticton & Wine Country Chamber of Commerce’ monthly networking event from 5 to 7 pm. No cost for members, $20 for non-members. For information contact the Chamber at 250-492-4103.

BuSinESS AFtER 5 nov 17

MonAShEES BAR & gRill,

vERnon. The Vernon Chamber of Commerce’ monthly networking event from 5 to 7 pm. $5 for members, $15 for non-members. For information e-mail the Chamber at [email protected] or call 250-545-0771.

uBC DiStinguiShED SPEAkER

EDwARD gREEnSPon - nov 17

RotARy CEntRE FoR thE ARtS,

kElownA. Edward Greenspon is the former editor of the Globe & Mail and will be talking about economic, social and cultural issues affecting Canada from abroad and within. Tickets are free but must be ordered from the Rotary Centre box office. 250-717-5304.

vwiB EvEning nEtwoRking

MEEt nov 18 - BESt wEStERn

vERnon loDgE. The dinner meeting of Vernon Women in Business starts at 5:30 pm. $14 for members, $16 for non-members. More information by e-mail from [email protected] or go online to http://vwib.com.

kwiB nEtwoRking

nov 18 - SuMMERhill

PyRAMiD winERy, kElownA.

A networking event held by Kelowna Women in Business running from 5:30 to 8:30 pm. The event, called ‘Out with Schmooze’ features business coach speaker Rhonda Victoor. $35 members, $45 non-members. Advance registration online is required. www.kwib.org

FREE toolS FoR BuilDing

A wEBSitE - nov 19 -

CoMMunity FutuRES,

PEntiCton. A three hour session beginning at 6 pm on a number of free tools that will allow you to effectively improve and market your website. Designed for people interested in building their own website. Run by Charleen Edis from Edis Computers. To register call 250-493-2566.

thE wEStBAnk & DiStRiCt

ChAMBER oF CoMMERCE

nov 21. Location to be announced, Westside - The chamber will have its annual AGM at a dinner with an address from Mayor Doug Findlater. Location and cost to be announced. Call 250-768-3378 for information.

oCCuPAtionAl FiRSt AiD

lvl 1 nov 21, 24, 26 - FiRSt

RESPonSE tRAining,

kElownA. “Occupational First Aid Level 1 is a one day course designed to provide life saving first aid skills to workers in industry by providing training in basic first aid and CPR.” $105 per student. Call 250-762-9023 for information.

PEntiCton ChAMBER AgM

nov 25 - PEntiCton golF &

CountRy CluB. The AGM begins at 11:45 am and will be followed by the election of the 2010 Board of Directors. $30 for tickets, which must be purchased in advance. 250-492-4103.

Downtown AFtER 5 - nov

25 - okAnAgAn hERitAgE

MuSEuM, kElownA. A monthly networking event put on monthly by the Downtown Kelowna Association running from 5 to 7 pm. Sponsored by Doak Shirreff but put on at the Heritage Musem. $5 entry. 250-862-3515 for more information.

BuSinESS 2 ConSuMER

ExPo tRADE Show - APR 4-5

-PEAChlAnD RECREAtion

CEntRE. This is the Peachland Chamber’s second annual trade show of this nature with both indoor and outdoor venues. There will be 10 workshops of product demos to reach buyers. For more information contact Scott Wilshaw at 250-767-2455 or [email protected].


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A s k t h e P r o f e s s i o n a l s

Michael DiasOwner

Alan W. Phillips, M.Ed.Registered Clinical CounsellorStress Management Specialist

250.491.4684 www.stresslessspecialist.com

107 - 3640 Gosset Road, Westbank, BC 250.707.1153

www.discoverycomputers.com

“Promoting good mental health & ensuring emotional wellness”

A s k t h e P r o f e s s i o n a l s

This Column is not going to be a question and answer but more of an information spot. Everyone is getting ramped up to the new Windows 7, basically what Vista should have been in the first place. Winodws 7 has many key points to it making it better than Vista and the obsolete XP. Windows 7 will be more Secure than previous editions. Windows 7 also will make it easier for users to be more productive with faster boot times and faster software startup times. Does this mean Windows 7 will be flawless, no but it is a big improvement over Vista.

Q - I have been diagnosed with stress-related Overtraining Syndrome. Stress management has been suggested. What would you recommend?A - An holistic approach. Besides adequate sleep and plenty of REST, to promote recovery I recommend learning any or a combination of the following: breathing exercises; progressive relaxation; yoga; meditation. As well, I would suggest massage therapy and if your emotional (mood) state has been impacted to seek professional counselling. Also, request a review of your nutrition and supplement intake with your health care professional.

C a l e n d a r

Business Profile

Bird’s eye view of the Okanagan helicopter industry

okAnAgAn MountAin hEliCoPtERS uSES thE

MountAinS ARounD kElownA AS An iDEAl

quiCk-to-REACh, But SuFFiCiEntly ChAllEnging

tRAining gRounD FoR noviCE PilotS.

By BoBBi MEnARD | PhotoS ContRiButED


The mountains of the Okanagan Valley not only frame the scene, but are viable business opportunities for the local helicopter industry, both for pilot training schools and aerial service. Location and a solid history mean that two Kelowna companies struggling with the recession have good reason to believe it will not be fatal.

Okanagan Mountain Helicopters has a staff of four and operates three helicopters, as a pilot training school and charter service, based out of the Kelowna Airport since 2000. Two groups of six students go through the training course in the fall and spring. Students pay up to $60,000 for tuition and flight time, a bargain when compared to the cost of a four year university degree says operations manager Johannes Vates.

The school has made a conscious decision to focus on quality and not quantity and being located in Kelowna is a strong component of that decision. The mountains are only moments away, when compared to many other locations for helicopter pilot schools. That means students do not waste valuable time in the air travelling to training locations.

“With the hills and mountains, they are a great training tool. We focus on operational flying and preparing students for the industry that is out there,” explains Vates. Forestry, oil and gas, remote utility construction and maintenance have the money and demand for helicopter pilots.

Graduates from Okanagan Mountain are prepared for the fact that 80 to 90% of all students will find their first job in a very remote

location, usually in Canada’s North. First jobs are generally found on a contract basis and it can take time to accumulate hours. The industry is beginning to see the demographic grey wave advancing as experienced pilots enter retirement. “There is definitely a lack of medium time pilots out there,” says Vates. “The posted minimum hours needed for jobs have come down in many advertisements for positions.”

The need for practical experience is a reflection of the temperament requirements for the job. People who fly helicopters shoulder a tremendous amount of responsibility and decision making capacity. Okanagan Mountain often counsels students right out of high school to wait a few years before taking the training. About 10% of students are female.

Vates says Okanagan Mountain identified a shift among employers as the workforce demographics changed. “Employers have recognized they have to get the young group going. They tried hiring foreign workers, but when the foreign visas ran out you still had to train younger pilots.”

Okanagan Mountain draws students primarily from B.C. and Alberta. While the recession has been felt the lure of a job that can make between $50,000 and $80,000 per year after an intense five month training program keeps qualified applicants coming to Kelowna.

Eventually some of Okanagan Mountain’s young pilots may find their way back to Kelowna for work. Skyline Helicopter has been a part of the local

landscape since 1995, and works to provide safe and efficient helicopter transport services to the public and industry. The primary focus for the Kelowna staff is operations, says Systems Safety and Company Check Pilot for Skyline, Rob Gallagher. “All of our flight operations, maintenance and logistics as well as administration are based in Kelowna.”

Often the primary call to Skyline is for fire suppression and Hydro infrastructure work in the Okanagan region. The company also operates bases in Terrace (heli-skiing) and in Edson (fire suppression). “We move aircraft to meet the requests of our customers wherever they may need our services.”

Skyline remains in the Okanagan due to steady demand for its services and a large pool of qualified labour. “When we cannot meet our needs to fulfill positions locally, being located in the Okanagan is another positive attribute to attract quality people.”

Gallagher admits Skyline is “not immune” to the current economic climate. The company is re-evaluating its business plan and strategies to “ensure survivability.” In the Okanagan, Skyline sees potential in aerial construction, Hydro infrastructure maintenance and the need for an air ambulance service.

It is not just the mountains that create opportunity for Skyline; the industrial base and infrastructure all play a role. says Gallagher, “The Okanagan provides all kinds of support to meet our needs as we continue to grow into the future.”

SkylinE hEliCoPtERS iS A Full SERviCE

CoMPAny Doing EvERything FRoM

touRiSt wintER tRiPS (PiCtuRED hERE)

to inDuStRiAl MAintEnAnCE.

series sponsored by: refreshments sponsored by:

Location: Coast Capri Hotel, Kelowna BCTime: 2:00 pm to 4:30 pm

Registration and more information: www.ostec.ca/events.asp

Package Price for 6 seminars: $100.00(SAVINGS OF $50.00! Get yours NOW, limited packages available)

Individual Seminars: $25.00 each

With recent economic unrest, it is essential that business owners know how to keep their business on track for success. The choices that businesses make now will determine how they will fare in the growing economy, so make the right choice and join us for the first Tuesday of every month from October 2009 – March 2010.

Collaboration is a process of participation through which people, groups and organizations work together to achieve desired results. In an effort to help each other expand their capacities to enhance the local business community the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce, Okanagan Science & Technology Council (OSTEC) and the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission (COEDC) are collaborating to host a series of six seminars and workshops.

The seminar series was created for local businesses to gain access to expert knowledge on how to maximize business opportunities and revenues in the current economic climate. The ‘Thrive, Not Survive’ seminar series, which is being sponsored by the Business Development Bank of Canada, will offer guidance to help ensure businesses are fit for future growth.

“Now is a great time for businesses to do an internal audit and plan for their future growth,” says Robert Fine, Manager of the Economic Development Commission for the Central Okanagan. “Our region experienced double digit growth from 2004 through 2008 where local businesses were faced with challenges of keeping up with the demand. Now more than ever businesses should plan and implement systems and programs to help sustain their company.”

Seminar and workshops will be held on the first Tuesday monthly starting in October and will cover such timely topics as accessing capital, business planning, cash flow management, marketing and networking strategies.

“Our members have requested that we offer learning opportunities relevant to their needs, and we feel that this series will do just that,” said Weldon LeBlanc, CEO of the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce.

The Executive Director of OSTEC, Douglas MacLeod said “We are excited to be working with the Kelowna Chamber and the Commission on hosting this seminar series. Attendees will benefit greatly from the expertise of the top notch speaker list.”

Organizations Collaborate to Help Local Business

October 6, 2009Accessing Capital

November 3, 2009Business Plan Workshop

December 1, 2009Cash Flow Management

January 5, 2010Small Business Law

February 2, 2010Marketing Your Business

March 2, 2010Pitch Your Business

THRIVE NOT SURVIVE SEMINAR SERIESPrepare your business for a growing economy

SPECiAl ADvERtiSing FEAtuREIn an effort to enhance the local business community the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission, Kelowna Chamber of Commerce and Okanagan Science & Technology Council and the offer a variety of resources.

The Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission (COEDC) works in partnership to facilitate a healthy, dynamic and sustainable community economy by supporting existing businesses and encouraging appropriate new business investment. The three mainstays of the COEDC are Business Retention & Enhancement, Investment Attraction and Economic Development Facilitation.

The COEDC is a clearing house of information for business and creates economic profiles outlining vital demographic information on the communities of the Central Okanagan. Efforts to enhance the regions businesses are done through one-on-one site visits and “Business in the Park” seminars that address current needs. Investment attraction activities include promoting our region on a national and international level and working to support the growth and development of key industry sectors through collaboration with regional, provincial and federal organizations. For more information visit the website at www.investkelowna.com

The Mission of the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce is to foster a positive business environment by providing members with Leadership, Advocacy and Services of Value. The Kelowna Chamber is an advocate for its members through lobbying municipal, provincial and federal governments. Because a united voice has far more impact than a single one, the Chamber is in a position to influence outcomes.

The Chamber also educates the community about business issues, and exposes the public to our thriving business environment. The Chamber also works to promote its members through events like the Business After Hours held monthly every third Thursday from 5pm to 7pm as well as through their website and online directory. For more information on membership benefits visit the website at www.kelownachamber.org.

The Okanagan Science & Technology Council (OSTEC) is a membership driven organization. OSTEC fosters an environment that supports science and technology initiatives by acting as a representative and advocate for the interests of members and the business community as a whole.

OSTEC's Mission Statement is to lead the development of thriving technology-driven sectors in the Okanagan. They strive to be a conduit that brings people together, partnering with industry, agencies and government to promote the science and technology industries in our region. For more information on membership benefits visit the website at www.ostec.ca.

.

Local Organizations Offer Resources to Business Community

w w w . b e n s o n s a l l o u m w a t t s . c o m

BENSON SALLOUM WATTSBENSON SALLOUM WATTS

200-1455 Ellis Street Kelowna, BC V1Y 2A3 Ph: 250.861.5678 Fax: 250.861.5642

270 Highway 33 West Kelowna, BC V1X 1X7 Ph: 250.491.0206 Fax: 250.491.0266

Estates Square - 102A 1979 Old Okanagan Hwy. Westbank, BC V4T 3A4 Ph: 250.769.4949 Fax: 250.769.7070

Real Estate Law | Business Law | Li t igat ion | Injury Law | Abor ig inal Law

L L P

L A W Y E R S

E X P E R I E N C E I S T H E D I F F E R E N C E

Call Ed Lugossy Licenced Commercial Real Estate Agent 250.870.2801

NC Derriksan & Son Enterpriseswww.ncderriksanandsonenterprises.com

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okanagan business examiner

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