Douglas Weekly – Oct 14

Linda Biggs (L) and Jayesg Vekariya
Linda Biggs (L) and Jayesg Vekariya of joni. Photo by Belle White.

IN THE KNOW:

Youthful Cities names Victoria the 7th best city for youth to work

Youthful Cities‘ Urban Work Index 2024 has named Victoria among the top 10 best cities for youth to work in Canada. The index, developed through Youthful Cities’ DEVlab project and created in collaboration with youth across Canada, ranks 30 cities based on key criteria that youth prioritize when considering their ideal living and work environments.

These include climate action, equity, diversity and inclusion, good youth jobs, education and training, digital access, city economy, entrepreneurial spirit, affordability, transportation and health.

Former Douglas 10 to Watch winner joni becomes a B-Corp

joni, who was named a 10 to Watch winner in 2021, has announced it has been certified a B Corp. This follows another well known Victoria company, Redbrick, who shared their certification last month.

CEO Linda Biggs noted in their announcement that “it was important to us that we hold ourselves to the highest standards when it came to the triple bottom line (people, profit and planet) and becoming B Corp certified is a big part of that.

We’re proud to bring our commercial period care to a global community invested in doing good, offering our dispenserspads and tampons solutions to businesses of all sizes. We’re excited to continue to do our part to drive menstrual equity forward through innovation, sustainability and accessibility,”

Building Exchange Program reduces construction waste

Light House, an organization focused on advancing circular practices in the built environment, has announced the launch of the Building Material Exchange program (BMEx).

It aims to reduce waste management costs and the amount of valuable construction materials that end up in landfills.

Businesses in and around Nanaimo, Victoria, Cowichan Valley, Duncan and the surrounding islands with excess, unused, or salvaged building and/or design-related materials are matched through the BMEx program with others in need of affordable, high-quality, local resources to begin or complete projects.

The program is free to sign up and participate in and is funded by the Regional District of Nanaimo’s Zero Waste Recycling Fund, the Capital Regional District, and the Cowichan Valley Regional District.

New SIPP CEO shares vision for future

Aaron Stone, who resigned as Mayor of Ladysmith to become the CEO of South Island Prosperity Partnership (SIPP), shares his priorities for growing the organization as well as where he sees potential and opportunity for south Vancouver Island’s economy in SIPP’s latest blog.

Victoria Airport announces new food and beverage partner

The Victoria Airport Authority has brought in SSP Canada to operate their main food and beverage program. This is the Canadian division of SSP Group, who manage F&B in travel locations worldwide. They’ll manage Spinnakers On The Fly, Fresh Cup Café & Bar and Tim Hortons while The Fickle Fig Farm Market will continue to operate independently in the pre-security area.

Recent changes to the food and beverage program at YYJ include the opening of Fresh Cup Café & Bar in 2019, the closure of White Spot, and renovations to Spinnakers On The Fly in 2023, which saw its seating capacity double in size, along with a new Grab and Go area and the expansion of its back-of-house kitchen area.

FROM THE PAGES OF DOUGLAS:

Rock Bay is moving ever closer to turning the area’s vision of revitalization into reality. We explore the plans.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR:

OCTOBER

October 23 – 24: VIEA Economic Summit

October 27 – 30: Intentional Transformation: Reimagining Inclusive Community Safety and Wellbeing

October 29: Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce Business Hall Of Fame

NOVEMBER

November 10: Nomination deadline for the Douglas 10 to Watch Awards

November 14: Ecostar Awards

MARCH

March 4 – 6: Rising Economy conference