EDITOR'S DESK

How to stay sharp

Just so you know, the alarming question on this month's cover wasn't my idea. Nor was the bloodshed; for that vivid touch, thank creative director Cathy Mullaly. The question? It began with Val Litwin, president and CEO of our partner the BC Chamber of Commerce.

As Litwin likes to say, his job is to know what's on B.C.'S mind. Through its annual Collective Perspective survey and Mindreader online community, the BC Chamber takes the pulse of its 36,000-plus members. When Litwin told me that confidence in the province as a place to do business is flagging—a sentiment borne out by his latest survey—i decided to investigate.

The result, “Is B.C. Losing Its Edge?” (p.28), delivers bad news and good. After interviewing businesses large and small, from Vancouver to Kelowna to Canal Flats, and talking to experts on our competitiveness, I've concluded that there's some heavy lifting to do. High on the list of weaknesses is B.C.'S dearth of corporate head offices. Fixing that problem would bring the investment and highpaying jobs the province needs to boost its productivity, along with a host of other economic and social benefits.

But I also heard plenty of optimism about B.C.'S future, from innovators like Kamloops-based Mastermind Studios, which aims to build a film industry hub in the Interior. Thank you to Litwin and his team for introducing me to Mastermind and other BC Chamber members.

Of course, we never know what tomorrow will bring. I started the story before Canadian authorities arrested Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver at the U.S. government's bidding—an incident that could affect local industries ranging from agriculture to tourism as Beijing seeks to even the score.

B.C. may need work as a business location, but our philanthropists keep outdoing themselves. In “Giver” (p.40), Guy Saddy delves into what some call impact investing, the marrying of business and charity to tackle social problems. Although this approach has its critics, there's no denying that staffing agency and venture capital provider EMBERS, for example, has helped give thousands of disadvantaged British Columbians a muchneeded edge.

If Bcbusiness has kept its own edge, it's largely thanks to contributors like Saddy and Lucy Hyslop, whose final back-page column for us appears in this issue. The many entrepreneurs, leaders and thinkers who have shared a meal with Hyslop over the past seven-plus years know that she's great company, a fine journalist and, above all, a good sort. Thanks for everything, Lucy, and we hope to work with you again soon.