Clothes fit for the King

How much does an Elvis suit go for these days, anyway? more...

A new deal

From competition to collaboration: How B.C. First Nations and businesses are coming together in common cause – and forcing government to play catch-up. more...

Golf resort roundup

Nine major developers are using top-grade golf courses to sell top-dollar homes. more...

Building a dream

With PGA Tours behind him, golfer Richard Zokol has taken on his next challenge: building an exclusive golf course in the B.C. Interior.

He admits he had his doubts. “I asked myself how I would pull this one off,” he says. “I’m the consummate PGA Tour journeyman. I wasn’t the most skilled. I figured it all out through perseverance. I never made a fortune playing the game and got my nose bloodied more often than not.” more...

Turning the page

Scott McIntyre, Vancouver’s legendary book publisher, says the tough times in his trade tend to fade quickly into memory – particularly after what he describes as a “fabulous” 2007. That’s the reason he can look back at the ups and downs of the past 37 years at the helm of Douglas & McIntyre Ltd. – one of Canada’s largest independent publishers – without too much pain.

Still, he can’t help shaking his head as he recalls the devastating 2002 bankruptcy of D&M’s Toronto-based distributor, General Publishing. more...

The King's seamstress

On the surface, Eleanor Von Boetticher’s basement workshop in Nanaimo looks no different than any other home-based tailoring operation in Canada. The 4½-by-nine-metre section of a half-finished rumpus room is dominated by a huge plywood cutting table scattered with pincushions, button trays, oversized scissors and other tools of the tailoring trade.

But a closer look reveals the 39-year-old stay-at-home mom is more than just your average suburban seamstress. more...

Seeing green

It’s well into Sunday afternoon by the time Jonathan Rhone finally gets a spare minute to take a media call.

These are hectic days for the president and CEO of Vancouver-based Nexterra Energy Corp. – a “clean-tech” firm whose unique gasification technology could soon heat universities across the U.S. while also converting beetle-kill wood waste into clean-burning gas to fuel power plants throughout Northern B.C. more...

Coping with carbons

When the latest B.C. budget dropped North America’s first true carbon tax in our laps, we were stunned and strangely silent. Even though the tax had been widely expected, its arrival was hard to believe. The tax is tiny today, but it will grow and will also bring a friend: the long-debated cap-and-trade system the Campbell government is building with select provinces and U.S. states is supposed to be designed by August.

If you’re doing business in B.C., where the first set of carbon emission rules is in place, the big question is: what are you going to do about it? more...

Scene change

On a crisp October afternoon at the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue in downtown Vancouver, close to 150 delegates from the first-ever Reel Green BC Forum find their seats. After a brief slide show, the B.C. Film Commissioner introduces the keynote speaker. Shelley Billik, vice-president of environmental initiatives at Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.’s California studios, smiles and calmly approaches the podium.

As top gun at one of the first Hollywood-studio environmental departments, Billik, a brunette middle-aged mom from the L.A. suburbs, is at the centre of Hollywood’s green storm. more...

Ship shape

Inside the cavernous Richmond Yachts plant off Dyke Road, the smell of fibreglass permeates the air. Along half its width is an unfinished 142-foot yacht, whose sleek superstructure reaches to the ceiling. It is surrounded by a maze of scaffolding.
Fibreglass workers, electricians, plumbers and other tradespeople go purposefully about their work. The sounds of grinders, drills and hammers fill the plant. more...