B.C. tech companies look to California's green plan; Schwarzenegger's policies are creating a growing market
BYLINE: Gillian Shaw, Vancouver Sun
When California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger takes the stage at today's Pacific Economic Summit, he'll be welcomed by local business leaders who are seeing their fortunes rise as his state's environmental policies create a growing market for B.C. technology.
While the province has no shortage of innovation, it needs markets to transform ideas into commercial successes, and Schwarzenegger's political leadership is fuelling that demand.
Faced with the task of cutting air pollution from the Port of Los Angeles, the state turned to Vancouver's Westport Innovations to provide 5,000 Westport heavy-duty trucks powered by liquid natural gas. They'll be delivered between now and 2011 to L.A. and Long Beach. The state is kicking in a hefty $144,000 US per truck to convince operators to park dirtier diesels in favour of trucks using cleaner-burning fuel. Westport will earn about $80,000 per truck.
Ballard Power's hydrogen fuel-cell business has been given a hefty boost by Schwarzenegger's pledge to roll out a series of refuelling stations for hydrogen-powered vehicles in collaboration with his Pacific-coast neighbours, including British Columbia.
And Schwarzenegger is sending members of his entourage to visit Xantrex Technology, the power electronics company that makes it possible to feed renewable solar and wind energy into power grids. The Burnaby company has gobbled up almost 50 per cent of the market share in its sector in the United States, and California represents 75 per cent of that.
Stephen Toope, president of the University of B.C. and one of the panelists at the day-long summit, said the move to strengthen ties between California and B.C. is beneficial to the province.
"If you look at the situation around the world, California in and of itself is one of the largest economies," he said. "It is also a place where innovation has been extraordinary, it is a leader in almost every emerging new industry in contemporary economies, and it has also been a social innovator."
Toope said B.C. can learn a lot from California, both in terms of that state's success in commercializing innovation and in its move to align its economic drivers with sustainability.
"That's a virtual circle they have created," he said. "The economic drivers are aligned with the sustainability drivers and that is rare, there aren't many places in the world where that is happening."
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell will also give a keynote speech at the event.
Summit participant Dr. Simon Pimstone, president and chief executive officer of Xenon Pharmaceuticals, is hoping B.C. can learn how to build a life sciences sector that is anchored by major players, similar to California.
"Why can't we build an Electronic Arts or a Research in Motion in the biotech sector?" he said. "California has been hugely successful in doing that.
"They are not a hotbed of pharmaceutical headquarters either, as opposed to say Massachusetts . . . I don't know what the policies are in California that have enabled the kind of investment that has gone into that sector but clearly there is a larger capital pool."
Pimstone said there are tax issues here that, while not prohibitive, are a disincentive to U.S. venture capitalists. And he said some of the province's health care policies are "anti-innovation."
By contrast, speakers at the summit point to how Schwarzenegger's government encourages innovation.
"We have seen a lot of direct R and D [research and development] funding coming out of the California government for our products," said David Demers, Westport's chief executive officer. "I think from everybody at the summit you'll hear the same story -- the environmental market for most people is California.
"They are the first adopters of new ideas, they are keen to find out what the business opportunities are and they go out and create businesses around the world."
Xantrex Technology is what what its chairman Mossadiq Umedaly calls the "classic poster child" of the summit. California is a major market for the company and more than half of its 800 employees are based there.
"We are really, really pleased B.C. has teamed up with California," said Umedaly. "To make things successful you need both innovation and markets.
"It is smart from an economic development point of view, from a clear air point of view and it is smart politically to team up with region rather than trying to do it on your own."
LINING UP TO GREET THE GOVERNOR
The presence of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his entourage in Vancouver today lends some high-profile support to local business and community leaders looking to promote trade and investment with that state, especially in the area of clean technology. Among those slated to speak at today's Pacific Economic Summit in downtown Vancouver are:
Larry Berg, chair, Business Council of B.C.
Bob Elton, CEO, BC Hydro
Elyse Allan, CEO of GE Canada
Robert Dynes, president, University of California
John Sheridan, CEO, Ballard Power Systems
Randy Jespersen, president, Terasen Gas
Alan Fohrer, CEO, Southern California Edison
Stephen Toope, president, UBC
Daniel Kammen, energy professor, U of C, Berkeley
David Demers, CEO, Westport Innovations