Photo: Contributed
Lexaria Bioscience CEO Chris Bunka.

Lexaria’s gross proceeds from its underwritten public offering this week ended up totalling US$11.04 million.

The Kelowna company’s stocks and warrants began trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market on Tuesday, and this week 1,828,571 units were sold. A unit consisted of one share of common stock and one warrant, and they sold for US$5.25 each.

The underwriter exercised in full its option to purchase an addition 274,285 shares.

Lexaria’s DehydraTech improves the way active pharmaceutical ingredients enter the bloodstream by promoting healthier ingestion methods and increasing the effectiveness of fat-soluble active molecules, thereby lowering overall dosing.

Photo: Contributed
Kyla Inaba

Predator Ridge’s Kyla Inaba is one of nine female golf pros from across the country who will be part of a new program that will promote their professional development.

Inaba this week was named as one of the participants in Golf Canada and the PGA of Canada’s inaugural Women in Coaching program. Each participant will receive in-depth career development support that is focused on sports science and coaching education, hands-on training experiences with coaches and top players, project work and individualized learning plans.

Each recipient will also receive a $2,500 bursary to help offset the costs for the hands-on training part of the program.

“The Women in Coaching program presents an opportunity for some of Canada’s most-accomplished female leaders to further their career developments together,” Team Canada junior squads coach Jennifer Greggain said in a press release. “The strong collection of coaches will drive the initiative forward through knowledge and experience sharing on the way to building a foundation for the future.”

Specific areas of focus will be leadership, networking, building experience, Safe Sport, developing coach philosophy and expanding technical knowledge.

“The overarching goal with the Women in Coaching program is to help administrators to further understand barriers and identify solutions for women entering the field,” Golf Canada high performance manager Emily Phoenix said. “There remains much work to do, but this signals progress in achieving equitable representation of women in the Canadian golf coaching community.”

Photo: Aron Visuals, Unsplash

Time slows as I adjust my goggles, lean on my poles and survey creation from a mountaintop.

The awe flooding through me slows time even more as I peer through ice-speckled goggles: azure sky, snow ghosts, sunlight sparkling on fresh powder.

I’m late for a meeting, but I let the feeling wash over me before I cruise the freshly groomed run.

“You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.” — Charles Brixton.

It’s January. A new year begins, and I am getting older.

It is a big, beautiful world out there, and there are so many ski hills I want to ski (50, to be exact), flowers I want to pick, trails I want to meander, columns I want to write, business adventures I want to be part of.

There are people I want to influence me and people I want to influence.

Where will I find the time?

Business guru Anthony Robbins offered this perspective.

“Once you have mastered time, you will understand how true it is that most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year—and underestimate what they can achieve in a decade.”

I need to start. I refresh myself with classic time-management concepts.

First, the danger of perfection: I often talk about the Pareto Principle, the 80/20 Rule, which says we get 80% of our results from the first 20% of our effort.

To have 100% perfection, we would need 80% more effort. Sometimes, perfect is not worth it. I will not be explaining this principle to my neurosurgeon or my pilot.

Former U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower described his decision-making process like this: “The urgent is never important, and the important is never urgent.”

This view led to the design of the Eisenhower Matrix urgent/important quadrant. It is a concise way of looking at different work strategies for the best use of time.

Image: Contributed

When looking at Quadrant 1, I ask myself: Is blood spurting? If yes, then I do whatever “it” is.

Quadrant 2 represents tasks leading to the accomplishment of your long-term goals. An example would be like getting your income tax filed; it is important, but you do have a few months to submit it.

If you don’t, then it will move to Quadrant 1. On a personal level, going to the gym is important, but not urgent. It is a decision.

An example of Quadrant 3, “urgent but not important,” is other people’s urgent needs. In this case, teaching them to “fish,” as in solving their own problems, will remove some of the challenges from this quadrant. Some of your own urgent tasks can be delegated, such as getting your kids to shovel the sidewalk before the mail is delivered.

Quadrant 4 activities are distractions. Eliminate them. Distractions such as Facebook, surfing the Internet, chatting longer than you should in the office kitchen can all be eliminated or at least dramatically decreased.

There are apps that monitor your screen time and that can help keep these pervasive habits in check.

Time is the great equalizer. We all have exactly the same amount of time in our day.

“Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.” — Jim Rohn

Thinking about the matrix and my overwhelming desire to do so many things, I realize I can stack activities to increase the value and move them into another quadrant.

It is important for me to take each grandchild on an adventure before they graduate from high school. A few years ago I was exhausted but was debating whether I could afford the time.

My oldest granddaughter was graduating from high school that year. That goal moved from important to important and urgent. We had a great one-week vacation together.

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” — Michael Altshuler

I’m piloting my time, my life.

Myrna Selzler Park is a lifelong entrepreneur who works with organizations and individuals to turn their passion into impact. As former owner of Century 21 Assurance in Kelowna, Myrna uses her experience to build value in organizations. She is certified in behaviour and motivation analysis, emotional intelligence, as well as being a growth curve strategist and a certified value builder advisor. As a wannabe athlete, Myrna has run several half-marathons, deadlifted 215 pounds and has now put her mind to becoming proficient in Muay Thai kickboxing. She can be reached at [email protected]

Photo: Contributed

The Big White Fire Department is celebrating the arrival of a new ladder truck.

The one-of-a-kind, 78-foot long Rosenbauer Viper Aerial ladder truck was ceremonially pushed into its own bay in the Big White Fire Station this month, a tradition among firefighters that pays homage to the horse-drawn steam engines that were hand maneuvered into their stations a century ago.

“This has been a long time coming, and I can’t emphasize enough how pleased our whole department is to see this modern, front-line apparatus in our station ready for deployment,” fire chief Chris Cormack said.

“I have to recognize the relentless efforts of retired chief Jamie Svendsen, who kept this project going throughout his tenure here. I also want to recognize the support from director Vicki Gee and local residents who advocated strongly for this new truck to serve the residents, businesses and visitors at Big White and in Area E/West Boundary.”

Ladder 311 has a 500-horsepower Cummins 12-litre diesel engine and can hold 1,136 litres of water and 114 litres of fire retardant foam. Its hydraulic, all-wheel drive system means first responders can get to fires and other emergencies even in deep snow at the top of a mountain in winter.

“Fire protection is essential to development at Big White,” Electoral Area E/West Boundary director Vicki Gee said. “The ladder truck provides the capacity to protect the taller structures that are in place as well as future development. I’ve seen the work that’s gone into planning and execution of this purchase and adjustments to the fire hall. I am so thankful to everyone who made this happen.”

The new ladder truck replaces a 25-year-old fire engine and brings the total apparatus count at Big White Fire Department to one ladder truck, one engine, one rescue truck, one bush/compressed air foam system truck and three support vehicles.

Image: Contributed

A new candidate for tallest building in Kelowna is being proposed for downtown Kelowna.

The 46-storey, mixed-use development dubbed “2020” is planned for Bertram Street, just north of Bernard Avenue.

It is also around the corner from the Brooklyn on Bernard project.

Plans for the development were submitted to the city’s planning department Thursday by New Town Architecture.

In its introduction, New Town says the project will provide an approach to downtown living not currently available in Kelowna.

“The difference is the target market includes the “missing middle,” as well as our most modest income members of our city,” information provided to the city explains.

“The second difference is, we will be asking for one-quarter of the building to be zoned under the new “rental only” category of the downtown C7 land use zone.”

It would also include co-living homes for up to six residents, ideal the designer says, for students, seniors and those “like-minded” friends who choose to live together as an affordable housing option.

Initial plans include ground floor retail and office space, four storeys of internal parking, and 40 storeys of rental and market housing.

Plans also show a landscaped podium terrace as well as a rooftop amenity and lounging area.

An amenity concourse would include daycare, meetings rooms, library, games room and fitness centre.

Ten floors would include 70 rental units, including studio, one and two bedrooms plus larger co-living homes, while the top 30 floors would feature for-sale homes, 54 of which would be three bedroom units.

To promote alternate transportation, the proposal includes 400 long-term bike parking spaces plus bike wash and repair stations, as well as six car share vehicles.

In order to go ahead, council would have to approve a height variance from the present 12 storeys and 26 metres to 46 storeys and 141 metres.

The proposal likely won’t reach city council until later in the year.

Image: Contributed

The Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission is hoping a new data portal will help boost business in the region.

CityViz is developed and maintained by West Kelowna’s Ruby Industries, and the COEDC is the first customer for the platform. Users will have the ability to search the online database of community information while simultaneously analyzing demographic, labour force, housing development, business and talent data at the district or city, and regional levels to make informed decisions.

“In light of current COVID-19 restrictions and physical distancing, it has never been more important that we enhance the COEDC digital profile,” economic development manager Krista Mallory said in a press release. “We’re very excited to launch this pilot program for the next 12 months and will continue to add features and datasets as we go.”

Users will have the ability to visualize data with interactive tools, charts, graphs, infographics and reports that can be dynamically sorted and downloaded.

“We are very excited about the possibilities of modern technologies together with the wealth of data available to create solutions for the good of our communities,” Ruby Industries’ Izabela Bogdanovic said. “We are very grateful to work with COEDC and hope to help decision makers further develop our district. Listening to the challenges municipalities face and adapting our solutions to their specific needs is our priority and we are looking forward to helping many more communities throughout Canada.”

Photo: Google

The City of Kelowna has purchased property on Abbott Street owned by philanthropist Wally Lightbody for a future park expansion.

The city announced it had purchased the property at 2302 Abbott for $5.3 million. Funds for the purchase came through the city’s parks acquisition development cost charge program.

The property will eventually be used for the future expansion of Strathcona Park. It is situated immediately to the south of the park.

Kelowna’s property specialist says the city reached a fair deal in its purchase. It bought the property for $5.3 million, but the 2021 assessment came in at slightly more than $3.4 million.

Ben Walker told Castanet the city did get a third-party appraisal of the property before pulling the trigger on the purchase. While assessments can give an accurate picture of a property’s value, Walker says in this case, it’s a bit skewed.

“Keep in mind, this is two individual lots. Someone could come in, acquire the land, tear down the house, and sell the land as two lots,” he said. “I would say, with the community benefit, we got good value for this.”

Walker feels a one-acre waterfront property assessed at $3.4 million is pretty low.

Public access to the property will still be restricted, since the previous owner will continue to rent the home from the city until such time as it is developed.

“Improving public access to the waterfront along Okanagan Lake continues to be a priority in our land acquisition strategy,” Mayor Colin Basran said in a press release. “Being in a key location next to an existing public park, this acquisition presents an ideal opportunity to increase connectivity along Kelowna’s waterfront.”

The Cape Cod style home was built by Lightbody’s father-in-law, Dr. Walter Anderson, himself a well known physician and philanthropist.

“I’m pleased to know that this property will be shared with the entire community in the future,” Lightbody said in the release. “Kelowna is such an active city with a strong heritage, and I love living here. I’m happy that this property will contribute to that legacy for future generations.”

Image: Contributed

Plans for a new mixed-use building in Kelowna’s Pandosy Village have been submitted to city planners.

The six-storey building, which would be located at 417 Cedar Ave., would feature ground-floor commercial space that connects internally to a residence on the second level “in order to create a work-live residence,” according to the proposal submitted by Lime Architecture. The location is on the south side of the road, just west of the intersection of K.L.O. Road and Pandosy Street.

There would be ground-level parking and an entry lobby for the building’s 17 residences on the upper five storeys.

The proposal also includes the provision of addition bike parking in order to reduce the required number of vehicle parking stalls.

“The reduction in automobile reliance in conjunction with the higher density infill development of the property contribute to a more sustainable approach to the building design that aligns with the City of Kelowna’s healthy city strategy and planning initiatives,” the proposal states.

The plans also call for a mix of private, outdoor spaces and a community rooftop space that would allow for a variety of outdoor options for the building’s occupants.

Photo: Contributed

The Central Okanagan chapter of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association is gearing up for a busy weekend at the end of the month.

There are three significant events happening next weekend for the local construction and development organization, with the capper being the annual Okanagan Housing Awards of Excellence on the evening of Saturday, Jan. 30.

The action gets underway on Friday, Jan. 29, with BuildCO. The virtual event will feature experts in building, renovation and business development offering educational tips to keep CHBA members ahead of their competition. All participants in BuildCO will receive complimentary access to the streaming of the Okanagan Housing Awards of Excellence.

Before the awards on Saturday, CHBA-CO will be conducting the Kelowna Digital Home Show. Members of the public who are thinking about building or renovating will have a chance to connect with local builders, renovators, designers, suppliers and trades businesses—virtually, of course. Every cent from ticket sales will be donated to Habitat for Humanity Okanagan.

Finally, the Okanagan Housing Awards of Excellence will honour the valley’s best projects from the last year. CHBA-CO members will receive a free access code to the online event, while members of the public can purchase a ticket to watch the proceedings.

Registration for all three events can be completed here.

Photo: Contributed

A Keremeos farmer is adding his voice in support of a B.C. initiative that helped him find land to begin his career after returning to his roots in agriculture.

With a childhood of growing up on an orchard and playing among the fruit trees, Kanver Brares comes from a long line of farmers and orchardists. Although he went off to complete a business degree, he returned to agriculture when realizing the family career was also his passion in life.

Brares is part of the 100 farmers since 2016 that have started growing crops and raising livestock, covering 2,023 hectares, or 5,000 acres, of farmland through the B.C. Land Matching Program.

“Over the past years in the Okanagan, land has become a scarce resource. As a young farmer starting up, the purchasing price per acre is not realistic. The BCLMP offered new opportunities for young farmers who would like to acquire land,” Brares said in a press release.

“This program helps farmers seeking land in B.C by matching their land criteria with landholders looking to lease their land.”

Fellow orchardists Alain Peron and Donna Bartlett in Keremeos were matched with Brares late last year through the program and will see him take over the 2.12-hectare (5.25-acre) orchard and business. Old Tower Farm has been built over the last 25 years.

“The experience with this program was outstanding. They offered business resources and professional advice to guarantee full satisfaction from both parties. The BCLMP provided numerous options of land opportunities in the region that one couldn’t find personally. As the interest of new farmers is increasing, this program will help and motivate new farmers to acquire land. BCLMP is an excellent program that is pushing for the future sustainability of farmers,” Brares said.

In total, the 46 land matches finalized in 2020 will help improve food security, create economic growth and bring more local food options to communities in B.C. following COVID-19, according to the program’s plans from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries.

“This is an amazing milestone reached by the farmers and landholders who have been brought together through the BC Land Matching Program,” Lana Popham, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries said.

“Through this program, we are helping farmers access land and keeping it in production, which strengthens B.C.’s food security and supports our local economies. Each match, whether big or small, adds to our next generation of agricultural leaders and means more opportunities for British Columbians to enjoy local products from their region.”

The initiative aims to support young farmers and food producers seeking a career in agriculture and addresses major challenges for new farmers, such as gaining access to land. As a part of the province’s new entrant strategy, the goal is for an increase in the number of new and young farmers working in B.C.’s agriculture sector.