By Nate Dolha
Publish: Feb. 2, 2013
Recently, a lot of the discussion around economic development in Squamish is centred on the traditional bricks and mortar business.
Manufacturing, raw resource extraction and transportation etc. were the economic engine for the last century, but do those industries hold any promise for our future?
Well, yes and no…
We all know a change that occurred across the western world, and our town is no exception: Manufacturing has shifted to the developing world.
We have seen much of our industrial tax base close up shop, and I believe you’d be hard pressed to convince anyone that it will return.
With this shift, the western world started a reboot, and started replacing many lost industrial jobs with knowledge work.
I think the same shift has begun here in Squamish as well, but could use a bit of reinforcement.
So, what is needed to strengthen that gen-next economy in Squamish?
I posed the question to Craig Cherlet, President of WYSIWYG Ventures, a Squamish based marketing and management consulting firm.
Encouraging entrepreneurship was a constant theme in our exchange, starting with the idea of using incubators as a means to encourage the development of knowledge based industries on a regional scale.
Simply put, Squamish need an incubator that can focus on supporting start-ups and knowledge based ventures.
The Austin Technology Incubator in Austin, Texas, is a great example of a technology incubator that was put together by a group of community partners; a university, local, regional, and state governments.
Mixed with a generous helping of venture capital, they have cooked up a recipe that has generated dozens of companies and hundreds of millions of dollars in value.
Most importantly, they have created an entrepreneurial ecosystem that is beginning to drive their regional economy forward.
Bringing resources together is just one part of the equation; supporting people as they make the decision to work for themselves is another important.
Techstars, which presents itself as a ‘Startup Accelerator’, focuses its attention and resources on building successful businesses.
Closer to home, the City of Vancouver has set out to build a hybrid technology incubator and accelerator, called the Vancouver Technology Centre.
It’s goal is to “deliver incubation and acceleration business development services for early-stage technology and social innovation companies”.
Now, I can hear the question already: How does this apply to Squamish?
If we take a 30,000-ft view of the situation, we know that many of the industrial jobs that dotted the landscape around Squamish have left, but a lot of the knowledge that drove those industries remains intact.
We also have a growing number of citizens here who possess the knowledge to be successful in this new economy, but who are creating value in other communities.
If we can bring these two things together locally, we can begin to seed part of a diversified, next generation economy for Squamish.
We have most of the ingredients already; two universities, a youthful and educated population, and local government yearning for economic development.
What’s missing is a catalyst to bring it to life, a spark to light the fire, a leader in this space.
With that, I would like to pose a question to you, the reader: Who should drive a program like this?
The District of Squamish, the private sector, or should it be a combination of both?
I can be found on Twitter@natedolha, or email me natedolha@gmail.com
Paul Lancaster says
Ambition, great new product ideas + knowledgeworkers + money +hardwork and sound management are some of the ingredients that can create growth and prosperity from small beginnings.
Most governments, partnerships,& venture capitalist focus on growing small successes but mismatched market expectations, ineptitude, greed, exhaustion all seem to conspire together and 9 out 10 useful budding businesses fail.
Entrepeneurs need to lead, governments need to support, venture capitalists need to assist. All must be very wary and honest about their roles.
ted prior says
Thanks Nate I think it should be both, The district zones land puts incentives on lands and owns lands .The trick is leadership support and direction. After participating in the film gathering put on by Inside Edge on Jan 24 it is very clear to me that the possibilities are there . Leadership …
Eric Andersen says
My take is that there has lately been some discussion around addressing a decade-long neglect of “traditional bricks and mortar business” – “Manufacturing, raw resource extraction and transportation etc.” This recently begun discussion has a long ways to go, however, toward exploring new strategy for these sectors – which I think is very important.
As for the assumptions: “…our town is no exception: Manufacturing has shifted to the developing world.”…
This doesn’t appear to me to be accurate at all, even as a broad-brush picture.
Let’s look at four key employers no longer here:
(1) NEXEN consolidated its chemical production for the pulp industry at its North Vancouver plant. There had been an ongoing shift in both pulping and pulp bleaching technology. So there had been a smaller market to serve, even prior to the later closure of a few customer coastal mills.
(2) The BC RAIL car and locomotive shops at Squamish were relocated to Prince George and elsewhere, but not overseas.
(3) The INTERFOR sawmill operation lost its key Japanese markets during the 1990s to more innovative companies and products from (high-wage, high-cost) Europe – not to mills in developing countries. Plan B for the local mill (the American market) was frustrated by the U.S. protectionist lobby – and again, not by competition from developing countries.
(4) The WOODFIBRE closure is a more complicated story. It is true that our B.C. industry engineering (“KBI”) consultants have helped to build some large, modern competing plants in places like Chile and Indonesia. Our B.C. coast market pulp industry has certainly suffered from this competition and a corresponding lack of re-investment in plants here. (However, our high quality, long-fibred pulp product cannot be completely replaced by pulp produced from short-fibred tropical hardwood raw material.) Woodfibre lost its chip supply to a competing mill nearby, at Port Mellon – a major reason for its closure.
That we’d “be hard pressed to convince anyone that [industry] will return” is simply too broad brush a statement to be useful in our economic development strategy dialogue today, I think. Anyway, as stated it is not true.
As for: “…we know that many of the industrial jobs that dotted the landscape around Squamish have left, but a lot of the knowledge that drove those industries remains intact.”…
It is certainly the case that there are many skilled workers and trades people still here, who worked for the above-cited departed companies. They are often under-employed and/or are forced to commute long-distance to work. This is very regrettable and we should do something about this.
Otherwise, it is my observation that some very noteworthy software development (prize-winning, even) and R&D programs are taking place here in our “traditional” industries of marine transportation, forestry, and in wood and other manufacturing. “KBI” is services, after all, and “Industry” is a very important customer – alongside, for example, the tourism/travel/cultural sectors and “experience economy”.
The two economic sectors distinguished from each other in this opinion article – “traditional” and “Gen-Next” – are often partners, and essential to each other.
Who is against a “diversified economy”? Bring it on, I say! But let’s be careful to recognize the difference between “diversification” and “displacement”.
It would be unwise and unnecessary, considering their significant ongoing and future contributions to our economic well-being, to displace “manufacturing, raw resource extraction and transportation etc.”
Craig Cherlet says
Great article Nate and great comments.
Paul, I agree with you entirely. A startup ecosystem needs two groups, leaders and feeders and the leaders need to be entrepreneurs. The feeders are governmental, institutions, investors, lawyers, accountants and the community at large that are there to support the entrepreneurs.
Ted, I think the government could support with incentives and tax breaks for new Startups and even maybe investor incentives of some kind. There are a few options here that could be borrowed from other startup communities around the world.
Eric, you make some great points as well and bring a wonderful historical perspective to the table. I would bet that many of the “traditional” industry KBI workers have many great ideas for potential startup companies. I think Quest has the potential for some great talent and idea generation. If you look at a lot of the major business schools that have entrepreneurial programs, they try to locate them close to the arts, and physical sciences departments as this is where you find a lot of inventors and people with important problems to solve. It would be great if we had a way of bringing the right people together to turn these ideas into Startups.
Squamish needs a startup ecosystem that supports these people, their ideas and the startup lifecycle. Startups are not limited to just software companies either. By definition a startup is a growth company. That includes companies that develop and manufacture products both soft and hard goods.
The world is now the market place and new ideas and business models can be created right here if we create a supportive, inclusive, entrepreneurial community.