Vernon’s best, brightest — so far
From a chiropractor, HR manager, casino manager and lawyers to a barber, tattoo artist store owner and co-op manger, the first 10 recipients of Vernon’s Top Twenty Under 40 span the occupational spectrum.
The third annual Vernon Chamber of Commerce program is put on in partnership with KPMG accountants and consultants, Community Futures and the City of Vernon’s economic development department to recognize young professionals who are off to a good start in their careers and are making a difference.
The chamber is releasing the names of honourees in two batches of 10. The first 10, revealled this week, are: – Brett Kelly, co-owner of The Gentleman’s Shop and Shave Parlour – Elliot Lysyk, chiropractor – Ryan Irving, Nixon Wenger lawyer – Sarah Gregory, human resources manager at Kingfisher Boats
– Nick Matovich, owner of Five Fathoms Tattoo – Harpreet Nahal, Lake City lawyer – Pam Taylor, owner of Pink Spotted Goat art store
– Jason Keis, sales manager for Armstrong Co-op
– Ryan Doherty, general manager at Lake City Casinos
– Riminder Gakhal, Davidson Pringle lawyer
Flair Airlines
Kelowna-based Flair Airlines has a new website, online booking system and pact with travel agents.
On Dec. 15, Flair will start flying between Kelowna and Vancouver four times a week starting at $99 one-way and between Kelowna and Edmonton three times weekly, also for $99 each way.
It also has service between Hamilton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Halifax and Abbotsford and will soon be announcing flights to sun destinations from select Canadian cities.
Flair bought out the operations of ticket reseller New Leaf earlier this year and was using its website, GoNewLeaf.com.
But now it has its own website at AdVenture Communist is the follow up video game to AdVenture Capitalist from Kelowna-based Hyper Hippo Productions. FlairAirlines.com where all the information lives and you can book online.
The airline has also partnered with Voyages a la Carte so Flair flights can be sold by travel agents using the Agencia Global platform.
Electric Avenue
Check out the Ford Fusion Energi, BMW 530e, Chevrolet Bolt and Nissan Leaf electric cars today during the Electric Avenue event at the Kelowna Winter Farmer’s Market today at the Parkinson Recreation Centre.
The market runs from 9 a.m. to noon and the cars will be parked out front.
Unfortunately, you can’t take them out for a spin, but you can sit in them.
You can also find out more about the $5,000 rebate you can get from the provincial Clean Energy Vehicle program if you buy a qualifying electric vehicle.
You can get an additional $1,000 off if it’s a fuel-cell vehicle.
British Columbia also has one of the most expansive networks of charging stations for electric cars in Canada.
At 11 a.m., Kelowna Nissan will be presented its Green Star Dealer Award for being the top battery electric vehicle sales dealership in the region.
The award was previously announced, along with the award for Kelowna Chevrolet for selling the most plug-in electric hybrid vehicles in the region.
AdVenture Communist
Covering the whole gamut of economic ideology, Kelowna video game developer Hyper Hippo has released AdVenture Communist. It’s the sequel to AdVenture Capitalist. “AdVenture Communist is more than AdVenture Capitalist with potatoes,” said Hyper Hippo creative director Cody Vigue.
“It’s a game that gives players the true socialist experience with more complex economies, resource scarcity and lots of people doing what the government says.”
The goal of AdVenture Communist is to assume the role of Glorious Leader and grow their tiny country into a global communist superpower.
Since its release a couple of years ago, AdVenture Capitalist, the game of amassing wealth in a free-market economy, has been installed more than 25 million times.
Both games are available for free on OS and Android for mobile, Steam and console play.
Steve MacNaull is The Okanagan Weekend’s business and wine reporter and columnist. Reach him at steve.macnaull@ok.bc.ca.