Categories: Articles
      Date: Jun 18, 2008
     Title: Opportunities Come Disguised as Hard Work

Scan Northern British Columbia from an altitude of 30,000 feet, and you will notice a few challenges:

By Dan Boudreau

1. Thousands of hectares of dead, decaying beetlewood.
2. The price of lumber at an all-time low.
3. Global warming.
4. Rising gas prices.
5. Rising good costs.
6. Mill closures and layoffs.

However, if you’re inclined to view the positives, there are many:

1. An impressive infrastructure, including roads, rails, and water.
2. Increased capacity with the international airport in Prince George.
3. Dramatic increase in shipping capacity through the Port at Prince Rupert.
4. State of the art technology linking us instantaneously to the rest of the globe.
5. An abundance of clean air, healthy space and natural beauty.
6. Access to the most bountiful supply of fresh water on the planet.
7. Inexpensive energy and affordable housing.

At the North Central Municipal Association Conference recently held in Prince George recently, I listened with great interest to a presentation delivered by Graham Whitmarsh. Mr. Whitmarsh is Head of the Climate Action team working out of the Premier’s office. Although he had the unenviable task of promoting the carbon tax credit concept to a roomful of northerners, the optimist in me was drawn to the following economic opportunities mentioned at the end of his talk:

• Clean Technology
• Clean Power
• Forest Fiber
• Carbon Offsets
• Green Retail
• Service Sector
• Green Tourism

Every successful business is built by providing solutions to problems that people will pay to have solved. Great businesses emerge when entrepreneurs defy negativity and grapple with problems to devise solutions.

It seems our long-term romance with the US lumber market, however beneficial, has hindered our motivation to identify alternate sources of jobs and revenue.

The real heroes of tomorrow will be those who design clean businesses that provide solutions without further eradicating our planet. The deceptive thing about great opportunities is that they often come disguised as obstacles cloaked in a veil of hard work.

Is northern British Columbia really plagued by problems, or is it really a hotbed of untapped economic opportunities? If we get busy today, what economic successes might we be celebrating in 5 or 10 years?