From the trenches

TUFF Media is a performance marketing agency that specializes in managing digital advertising on social media and search engine platforms. We approach each client with a completely tailored strategy that properly aligns with their goals.

“TUFF” comes from our proven strategies that focus on each client’s product/service and how to advertise them with a ROI. That way our client's marketing strategies can withstand any outside factors that come their way.

Learn more about TUFF Media by visiting: www.tuffmedia.ca.

• Parker's Final 4:
  • Book: The Lean Startup.
  • Podcast: Group Chat.
  • Best Advice: "Dive headfirst when you make a decision."
  • App: Asana.
  • Restaurant: Green Leaf Café.
• For more local news impacting business, visit: www.businessexaminer.ca

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Saywell Contracting was founded in 1998 by Sheldon Saywell, the year he was approached by a client who asked if he could tender the remediation of a “leaky condo.” Sheldon’s efforts were very successful, and in 1999 he undertook his first full remediation project. At that time, the “leaky condo” crisis was still unheard of on Vancouver Island and was just beginning to become public elsewhere.

Saywell Contracting was one of the first General Contractors on the Island to undertake such projects. The company continues to excel at the forefront of this industry and to date, has completed hundreds of building remediations. Saywell Contracting became known not only for the quality and excellence of their work, but also for relationships they have built with strata owners and management firms. Their philosophy of building relationships first and foremost extends to everyone they come into contact with.

After substantial growth between 1998 and 2005, Sheldon Saywell decided to diversify the company, and Saywell Contracting undertook their first new multi-residential project, a 35-unit condominium. Since then, the company has expanded to two locations in Nanaimo, and Courtenay, on Vancouver Island, BC. Today, the firm continues to construct numerous multi-residential projects, commercial buildings, tenant improvements, as well as undertaking building envelope remediations.

Learn more about the Saywell Contracting by visiting: saywellcontracting.com.

• Sheldon's Final 4:
  • Books: The Art of Racing in the Rain.
    • The Ultimate Sales Machine.
  • Best Advice: "Don't sweat the small stuff, remember what's important."
  • App: Microsoft Office 365.
  • Restaurant: Nori Japanese Restaurant.
• For more local news impacting business, visit:
  • Website: www.businessexaminer.ca

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Since incorporation in 1992, the City of Langford has operated the City more like a business than a typical government. Everything that Council does and, by extension, everything in the way that staff are directed, is based on finding solutions rather than putting up barriers.

Council believes economic growth is paramount to community sustainability and has always worked hand-in-hand with developers and businesses to generate and support economic development in the region. By continually fostering an environment that seeks to eliminate roadblocks and unnecessary red tape, Langford is known as a place where things get done, a place where things happen rather than just being talked about.

Businesses and entrepreneurs see Langford as the place where they want to do business and must be located. It is no coincidence that the City of Langford is one of the fastest growing cities in Western Canada, growing on average between 4-5% each year and surpassing the Provincial average growth of 1.3%.

Learn more about the City of Langford by visiting: www.langford.ca.

• Stewart's Final 4:
  • Reading: Automotive  magazines & journals.
  • Best Advice: "Start what you finish."
  • App: Apple's Weather.
  • Restaurant: The Fountain Diner.
• For more local news impacting business, visit:
  • Website: www.businessexaminer.ca

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MazumaGo began as a marketplace for local services, but speaking with hundreds of business owners made Matthew Smith and his Co-Founders realize there was a bigger problem. Regardless of size, most businesses were still using cheques to send and receive payments.

Their team kept asking, “Why is it so hard to send large payments online?” and decided to focus exclusively on digitizing business payments. They partnered with BMO to move money along their rails and now they’re making business payments easier for all Canadians.

Learn more about MazumaGo by visiting: www.mazumago.com.

• Matthew's Final 4:
  • Podcast: The Knowledge Project.
    • Book: Never Split the Difference.
  • Best Advice: "Be humble."
  • App: Superhuman.
  • Restaurant: Nubo Kitchen + Bar.
• For more local news impacting business, visit:
  • Website: www.businessexaminer.ca

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Jane is an online platform for health and wellness practitioners that makes it simple for them to book, chart, schedule, bill and get paid. Their platform considers all aspects of private practice users: admin staff, practitioners, patients booking online and business owners. Jane is a flexible and friendly platform, designed to modernize daily workflow while respecting each practitioner's unique style of business.

Learn more about Jane by visiting: jane.app.

• Alison's Final 4:
  • Podcast: The Habitat. Life on Mars. Sort of.
    • HBR IdeaCast.
    • Masters of Scale.
  • Best Advice: "If my actions and decisions make two people proud, one personal and one professional, I'm going to be ok."
  • App: Slack.
  • Restaurant: Maru Korean Bistro.
• For more local news impacting business, visit:
  • Website: www.businessexaminer.ca

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HME began as a local medical equipment company, and during the past 30 years has grown to become one of the largest independent dealers of Mobility and Home Medical Equipment in BC. It was founded in 2012 by Robert Boscacci and Cameron Fleming. With over 100 staff operating out of over 45,000 square feet in Richmond, Surrey, and Victoria, HME is a proud Canadian-owned and operated local company.

Learn more about  HME by visiting: www.hmebc.com.

• Robert's Final 4:
  • Book: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable.
    • The Economist.
    • The Wall Street Journal.
  • Best Advice: "Look after yourself first."
  • App: Office 365.
  • Restaurant: II Terrazzo.
• For more local news impacting business, visit:
  • Website: www.businessexaminer.ca

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Jordan started his career in high school, working at his family grocery business, Quality Foods. After spending 10 plus years managing his first Quality Food store in Courtenay, he was promoted to VP of Store Operations for the South Island region. He later went on to opening numerous award-winning stores and managed various business aspects until it was sold. Jordan is an expert in understanding what it takes to manage award-winning stores and truly understands the ins and outs of running a business. 

Jordan has recently founded Care2talk, a local mobile app designed to create an easy-to-use video chat tool for those with cognitive decline or other impairments. Care2Talk identifies a gap in services available to connect seniors or individuals with dementia/cognitive disabilities with their caretakers, family, or friends. It’s a video technology platform that is easily accessible and the most secure product on the market for care facilities.

In addition, Jordan is currently the VP of Operations at Capital Investment Network and has spearheaded many successful fundraising campaigns while building strategic partnerships, contributing to its significant growth. He has organized countless successful educational/pitch events that have connected angel investors with entrepreneurs, strengthening and giving back to the local tech community. 

Nagma holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree and a double specialization in service management and entrepreneurship from Gustavson School of Business. During her time at Gustavson School of Business, she was the President of Young Women in Business.

She led and organized countless educational programs and networking events that connected female students with ambitious women to help them step into the workforce or grow their business with the proper set of tools and knowledge to reach their fullest potential. 

In addition, Nagma has co-founded an e-commerce company that promotes sustainability and helps individuals reduce their carbon footprint by replacing their single-use face pads with alternative, reusable organic face pads. 

Learn more about  Cindicates by visiting: www.cindicates.com.

• Nagma's Final 4:
  • Book: Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist.
  • Best Advice: "Don't be afraid to ask for help."
  • App: Microsoft Excel.
  • Restaurant: Boom + Batten Restaurant & Cafe.
• Jordan's Final 2:
  • App: Slack.
  • Restaurant: Pagliacci's.
• Links to organizations referenced:
  • Capital Investment Network.
  • Lethub.
  • Joni.
  • Simbi.
  • VINN.
• For more local news impacting business, visit:
  • Website: www.businessexaminer.ca

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Chase has over 15 years of specialized private investment, finance, and technical expertise in the energy and infrastructure sectors. This includes 11 years at Macquarie, where he was responsible for sourcing and evaluating projects and investment opportunities, managing due diligence, transaction execution, and principal holdings on Macquarie and co-investment partners’ behalf.

His background is as a Facilities Engineer with Petro-Canada, independently managing energy infrastructure capital projects located in Western Canada, where he guided projects through the design, cost estimating, procurement, construction execution, start-up, and close-out phases.

EverGen is expediting Canada's journey to not just show up, but to compete on the global renewable natural gas stage, combating climate change and helping communities contribute to a carbon-free future, starting on the West Coast.

The company is spreading awareness that Renewable Natural Gas doesn't just have a low carbon footprint (like LNG) or a neutral footprint (like wind and solar), RNG is carbon negative. 

Learn more about EverGen by visiting: www.evergeninfra.com.

• Chase's Final 4:
  • SmartLess podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/smartless/id1521578868
  • Best Advice: "Put 100% into everything you do."
  • App: www.google.ca/maps.
  • Restaurant: thegalley.ca.
• For more local news impacting business, visit:
  • Website: www.businessexaminer.ca

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Dr Dionne Laslo-Baker is a Canadian expert on the impacts of environmental toxins - especially in the food chain - on child health. A PhD medical researcher in the field of maternal-fetal toxicology, her doctorate focused on the effects of exposure to chemicals during pregnancy on fetal development. This led her on a life-long quest to provide her own family with healthy, non-harmful food, and then to the realization that food companies and the choices they make can be a force for good in the world. Dionne founded DeeBee's Organics Inc on a mission to make 'conscious' snacking really fun!

DeeBee's helps make moments of joy from the natural magic of real food. Fun treats you can feel great about sharing with your our own kids.

Learn more about DeeBee's by visiting: www.deebeesorganics.com.

• Dionne's Final 4:
  • Podcast: www.girlboss.com/radio
  • Best Advice: "Make time for yourself."
  • App: www.apple.com/ca/ios/photos.
  • Restaurant: www.pagliaccis.ca.
• Links to organizations and initiatives mentioned:
  • can.orbis.org/en
• For more local news impacting business, visit:
  • Website: www.businessexaminer.ca

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Helijet International is a Canadian-owned company and the world's largest scheduled helicopter airline carrying well over 2.4 million passengers in the past 33 years. In addition to its scheduled helicopter services, the company is the major service provider of dedicated medically equipped helicopters to BC Emergency Health Services. They also provides exclusive use helicopters and business turbojet services to world renowned Sport Fishing Resorts, public service and energy companies throughout the West Coast of British Columbia and Pacific North West. 

Learn more about Helijet by visiting: www.helijet.com.

• Daniel's Final 4:
  • Book: www.nationalgeographic.com
  • Best Advice: "Always look for the good in everyone you meet."
  • Tech: Mobile phone.
  • Big Bad John's: strathconahotel.com/venue/big-bad-johns
• Links to organizations and initiatives mentioned:
  • canadianaam.com
• For more local news impacting business, visit:
  • Website: www.businessexaminer.ca

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