Bill Collins

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TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
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[00:00] SPEAKER_02: It's VanCouver's podcast on the Canada's podcast network.
[00:12] SPEAKER_02: Hello everyone, I'm Angela Faye, Hub Builder and co-host of British Columbia's Podcasts.
[00:19] SPEAKER_02: Part of the Canada's podcast network, your source for great insights from entrepreneurs
[00:23] SPEAKER_02: from across Canada.
[00:25] SPEAKER_02: We talked entrepreneurs who are making it happen here so you can listen, discover and engage.
[00:31] SPEAKER_02: Hi, this is Angela Barnard, kind to you from Canada's podcast here on location at the
[00:36] SPEAKER_02: Vancouver Island Economic Summit.
[00:38] SPEAKER_02: I am super excited to introduce Bill Collins from Cascadia's Zee Wee.
[00:43] SPEAKER_00: That's right.
[00:44] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so welcome.
[00:45] SPEAKER_02: Thanks very much.
[00:46] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[00:46] SPEAKER_00: Happy to be here.
[00:47] SPEAKER_02: Well, tell me a little bit about your entrepreneurial journey.
[00:50] SPEAKER_02: What's your role first of all with Cascadia?
[00:53] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[00:54] SPEAKER_00: So I'm a founder of Cascadia and right now I serve as chairman of the board.
[00:57] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[00:58] SPEAKER_00: And it's an idea that grew from previous summits when we were here four years ago.
[01:03] SPEAKER_00: We thought we would want to do something bold and aggressive for VanCouver Island and we
[01:10] SPEAKER_00: stated categorically at the time we wanted to put VanCouver Island on the map of the globe
[01:16] SPEAKER_00: in terms of the place to do business.
[01:18] SPEAKER_02: Nice.
[01:19] SPEAKER_02: And really?
[01:19] SPEAKER_02: So this is one of those projects?
[01:21] SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
[01:21] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[01:22] SPEAKER_00: So, over the course of a few years meeting once a quarter up here in beautiful Nanai Mo,
[01:29] SPEAKER_00: we basically approached the federal government and said, you know what?
[01:34] SPEAKER_00: You have a program it's called Foreign Trade Zone.
[01:37] SPEAKER_00: We want to be a part of that.
[01:39] SPEAKER_00: In the course of working through that application process, we also discovered another program
[01:45] SPEAKER_00: which is called Investment Canada Community Initiatives, ICCI.
[01:50] SPEAKER_02: Investment Canada Community Initiatives.
[01:54] SPEAKER_02: Correct.
[01:55] SPEAKER_00: They fund local organizations such as VAIA to develop business platforms with which you
[02:06] SPEAKER_00: can attract foreign direct investment.
[02:08] SPEAKER_00: The idea is to create great ideas and have the folks in Asia or Europe or South America
[02:16] SPEAKER_00: to take advantage of our free trade agreements and work together to build capacity and build
[02:22] SPEAKER_00: business using foreign direct investment money.
[02:27] SPEAKER_00: So as a result of that, I was tasked with developing business cases for VanCouver Island.
[02:33] SPEAKER_00: So what this is a great island has plenty of potential but to articulate why?
[02:40] SPEAKER_00: We have underutilized infrastructure, we have natural resources, social license, and we
[02:48] SPEAKER_00: have a really ready and willing workforce.
[02:51] SPEAKER_00: So to drive that home, I presented for business cases, one in marketable waste wood, one
[02:58] SPEAKER_00: in clean tech, one in aquaculture and one in cultural tourism.
[03:03] SPEAKER_01: Okay.
[03:03] SPEAKER_00: Of the 30 that we started with, we honed it into that, presented a report, and on the
[03:09] SPEAKER_00: aquaculture side, I ran across a fellow named Dr. Stephen Cross and in an hour on the phone
[03:16] SPEAKER_00: with him, I knew there was an opportunity in seaweed.
[03:20] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[03:21] SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
[03:22] SPEAKER_00: So we presented the report, we looked at it up and down, and I said, you know what, I'm
[03:27] SPEAKER_00: going to take this one.
[03:29] SPEAKER_00: So, with the help of my business partner Mike Williamson and my business partner Tony
[03:34] SPEAKER_00: ETHA, both seasoned vets of the marine world and Dr. Stephen Cross, who we bought in as
[03:40] SPEAKER_00: a founder, we created Cascadia Seaweed and we're growing to be the largest producer of
[03:46] SPEAKER_00: cultivated seaweed in North America.
[03:48] SPEAKER_00: That's the game plan.
[03:49] SPEAKER_02: Say that again.
[03:49] SPEAKER_02: The largest.
[03:50] SPEAKER_00: The largest producer of cultivated seaweed in North America.
[03:54] SPEAKER_02: Now when I was in at the summit yesterday, I was in a session that talked about seaweed
[03:58] SPEAKER_02: becoming, you know, you know, bit of a lifesaver, really, literally of the planet and carbon
[04:04] SPEAKER_02: and the highest and best use being people food.
[04:07] SPEAKER_00: Correct.
[04:08] SPEAKER_02: So what about, what's your market, who do you plan on serving?
[04:11] SPEAKER_00: So one of the first things we discovered was there is an incredible market.
[04:16] SPEAKER_00: The market for seaweed has been growing 6% globally a year, demand way outstrips supply.
[04:23] SPEAKER_00: So two good places to start if you're going to be an entrepreneur.
[04:26] SPEAKER_00: So you have a ready market.
[04:29] SPEAKER_00: What we also discovered was the Asian market delivers most of the seaweed to the world.
[04:35] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[04:36] SPEAKER_00: Yet in British Columbia, there are more than 630 species of seaweed naturally growing.
[04:43] SPEAKER_00: Wow.
[04:44] SPEAKER_00: So we have Budo pristine waters in Asia, places like South Korea.
[04:48] SPEAKER_00: If you go on Google Maps, the satellite view of South Korea, you'll see the sea.
[04:55] SPEAKER_00: The whole ocean coastline matted with seaweed farms.
[05:00] SPEAKER_00: There are no more room to grow seaweed in Korea.
[05:03] SPEAKER_00: Wow.
[05:04] SPEAKER_00: Now that's not what we're planning for here.
[05:06] SPEAKER_00: We don't need very much space.
[05:08] SPEAKER_00: This is not the Korean model here.
[05:11] SPEAKER_00: This is a North American and a Vancouver Island model, which fits with the lifestyle of
[05:17] SPEAKER_00: what people expect on the coast here.
[05:18] SPEAKER_00: But even a small amount of seaweed does a number of wonderful things.
[05:23] SPEAKER_00: It feeds people.
[05:24] SPEAKER_00: The world predicts by 2034, 10% of the mass food mass to feed the planet will come from
[05:32] SPEAKER_00: ocean greens.
[05:34] SPEAKER_02: How much?
[05:34] SPEAKER_00: 10%.
[05:35] SPEAKER_02: 10%.
[05:36] SPEAKER_00: Wow.
[05:37] SPEAKER_02: Super high protein content.
[05:37] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[05:37] SPEAKER_00: So that's a billion people.
[05:39] Speaker UNKNOWN: Wow.
[05:41] SPEAKER_02: There's not a billion people in Canada just saying.
[05:45] SPEAKER_00: As we merge towards a population of 10 billion.
[05:47] SPEAKER_00: Wow.
[05:48] SPEAKER_00: So we're not talking small change.
[05:52] SPEAKER_00: And so we can take advantage of the fact that we have beautiful waters.
[05:56] SPEAKER_00: Now the first thing people, we have a tumultuous history with our coast.
[06:02] SPEAKER_00: We've been catching wild caught fish for many years.
[06:05] SPEAKER_00: That's plateaued.
[06:07] SPEAKER_00: There's a significant debate about the environmental validity of aquaculture.
[06:15] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[06:16] SPEAKER_02: In a sustainable way.
[06:18] SPEAKER_02: Correct.
[06:19] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[06:19] SPEAKER_00: Although there is no question, aquaculture will feed the world because caught fisheries is plateaued.
[06:26] SPEAKER_00: We're not taking any more fish out of the water in the cotton industry.
[06:30] SPEAKER_00: So when we looked at seaweed, a lot of the plant sluffs off during the growth cycle.
[06:37] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[06:37] SPEAKER_00: So it's sequesters at Hall CO2 out of the water, which in turn, Hall CO2 out of the air.
[06:43] SPEAKER_00: And a lot of the plants sluffs off during the growth cycle.
[06:46] SPEAKER_00: So you're actually feeding your sequestering carbon as those leafy materials fall to the seabed.
[06:52] SPEAKER_00: It forms habitat for the beasts living in and on the sediment.
[06:56] SPEAKER_00: And it eventually ends up in the deep ocean as sequestered carbon.
[07:01] SPEAKER_00: So it will be eventually available for carbon offsets, for example,
[07:05] SPEAKER_00: because it is not just a sustainable industry.
[07:09] SPEAKER_00: It is a climate positive industry.
[07:11] SPEAKER_00: Wow.
[07:11] SPEAKER_00: Fantastic.
[07:12] SPEAKER_00: With really no negative effects, it sequesters nutrients.
[07:17] SPEAKER_00: So as we grow the business out, we will also become the experts in growing.
[07:21] SPEAKER_00: So if there's embamines that are particularly troubled because maybe farm practices have over-nutrified the water,
[07:29] SPEAKER_00: you grow seaweed there and seaweed will absorb all the excess nutrients.
[07:35] SPEAKER_02: So tell me about the urine start-up mode.
[07:39] SPEAKER_02: Very much so, yeah.
[07:40] SPEAKER_02: So how far in are you?
[07:41] SPEAKER_00: So we incorporated in June.
[07:46] SPEAKER_00: Oh, this year.
[07:46] SPEAKER_00: Yes.
[07:47] SPEAKER_00: We've just finished the seed round of investors.
[07:50] SPEAKER_00: Raised half a million dollars.
[07:51] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[07:52] SPEAKER_00: Family and friends.
[07:53] SPEAKER_00: Yes.
[07:54] SPEAKER_00: And we are next week.
[07:56] SPEAKER_00: We've ordered all the farm bits.
[07:58] SPEAKER_00: So what is a farm bit?
[08:00] SPEAKER_00: It looks like a rope ladder.
[08:02] SPEAKER_00: 250 lm high by 40 meters wide.
[08:05] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[08:06] SPEAKER_00: And each wrong is a growth line.
[08:07] SPEAKER_00: So you turn that flat on its side and you anchor it on the bottom and tension it with floats.
[08:13] SPEAKER_00: And it's your growth farm.
[08:15] SPEAKER_02: And where are you going to farm?
[08:16] SPEAKER_02: First.
[08:16] SPEAKER_00: So we're going to farm first.
[08:17] SPEAKER_00: We have developed in the course of the last six months a most excellent relationship with Nacal Nathseafoods,
[08:24] SPEAKER_00: limited partnership, who are owned by five first nations.
[08:27] SPEAKER_02: Wow.
[08:28] SPEAKER_02: Fantastic.
[08:29] SPEAKER_00: It was a great relationship.
[08:31] SPEAKER_00: They're helping us communicate to the first nations in the areas that we want to grow.
[08:36] SPEAKER_00: And they've they've tread the ground before us to to become an active, obviously an active business.
[08:43] SPEAKER_00: They want to grow.
[08:45] SPEAKER_00: We are looking for partners on the ground because ultimately,
[08:49] SPEAKER_00: Cascadia Seaweed wants to hold the brand and make it sacrosanct, you know, BC,
[08:54] SPEAKER_00: grown, beautiful seaweed.
[08:58] SPEAKER_00: We want to hold that brand sacrosanct.
[09:00] SPEAKER_00: We want to develop the markets and the verticals.
[09:02] SPEAKER_00: So we'll handle all of that.
[09:04] SPEAKER_00: We would like to get coastal first nations and coastal peoples in general back on the water.
[09:09] SPEAKER_00: We will provide the seed.
[09:11] SPEAKER_00: They will plant it.
[09:13] SPEAKER_00: It's day monitoring it.
[09:14] SPEAKER_00: It's harvesting and we will pay for that product.
[09:17] SPEAKER_00: So we'll be the central repository of that.
[09:19] SPEAKER_02: Wow.
[09:20] SPEAKER_00: And it's like a hub and spoke model or a sharecropping model.
[09:23] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[09:24] SPEAKER_00: Without the negative connotations because it gets people back on the water.
[09:27] SPEAKER_00: It puts more money, generates wealth.
[09:30] SPEAKER_00: And we believe it could be a billion dollar industry for this coast.
[09:33] SPEAKER_02: And it allows people to stay in their communities.
[09:35] SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
[09:36] SPEAKER_02: Do working in the community.
[09:37] SPEAKER_00: Doing things they've always loved doing is being on the water.
[09:39] SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
[09:40] SPEAKER_00: Fantastic.
[09:41] SPEAKER_02: So a little bit about, you know, the biodiversity of Vancouver Island specifically.
[09:46] SPEAKER_02: So you said we're not going to be the, was it Korea?
[09:50] SPEAKER_02: The Korea model?
[09:51] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[09:51] SPEAKER_02: So what is the ideal model here?
[09:54] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[09:54] SPEAKER_02: What makes this unique?
[09:55] SPEAKER_00: So what makes this unique, first of all, is, as I mentioned, pristine waters.
[09:59] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[10:00] SPEAKER_00: Well circulated pristine waters.
[10:02] SPEAKER_00: We get that north Pacific Gire.
[10:04] SPEAKER_00: And while, yes, you can talk about plastics in the ocean.
[10:07] SPEAKER_00: A very serious problem that has to be dealt with.
[10:10] SPEAKER_00: Really, there's no impact in seaweed farming from that, at least at the moment.
[10:15] SPEAKER_00: We have, there's going to be challenges.
[10:17] SPEAKER_00: It is going to be climate change, which means there's going to be more freshwater runoff.
[10:21] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[10:21] SPEAKER_00: We'll see we cannot tolerate.
[10:23] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[10:23] SPEAKER_00: Temperature of the ocean is going to change.
[10:25] SPEAKER_00: So we have to continuously put the R&D in place to know that we're having cultivator.
[10:30] SPEAKER_00: That's going to be fertilizer that may be a little more temperature tolerant.
[10:32] SPEAKER_00: Right.
[10:32] SPEAKER_00: Because while the coastal zone may or may not be able to adapt to a changing climate,
[10:38] SPEAKER_00: the earth is adapting for many years.
[10:42] SPEAKER_00: The rate of change is huge.
[10:44] SPEAKER_00: It's definitely artificial.
[10:46] SPEAKER_00: So we need to help mother nature by growing more seaweed that's going to be more tolerant of temperature
[10:51] SPEAKER_00: because it is part of, the, the true ecosystem of our ocean communities.
[10:55] SPEAKER_02: And the actual business of Cascadia where you're located.
[10:59] SPEAKER_00: Yep, so headquartered in Sydney, which is on the south of the island.
[11:04] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, our first firms are going in off of Bamfield.
[11:08] SPEAKER_02: Okay, which is great as far west as it gets.
[11:12] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's exposed to the open ocean, which is beautiful.
[11:15] SPEAKER_00: All those lovely nutrients passing by the product.
[11:17] SPEAKER_02: I went to Bamfield as a 14 year old kid for marine biology camp.
[11:21] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, from Alberta, right?
[11:22] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so you would have been to the Marine station.
[11:24] SPEAKER_02: Gotcha.
[11:24] SPEAKER_00: So we're partnering with the Marine station.
[11:26] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[11:27] SPEAKER_00: We have our seed facility there.
[11:28] SPEAKER_00: And hopefully we'll entice researchers to come in and want to explore cultivars, want
[11:34] SPEAKER_00: to know more.
[11:35] SPEAKER_00: There's still species of seaweed that have yet to have a lot of name, for example.
[11:39] SPEAKER_02: Wow, undiscovered yet.
[11:40] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so the closest port of entry, the major port is Port Albany.
[11:45] SPEAKER_01: Okay.
[11:46] SPEAKER_00: So we are building our seaweed firm there.
[11:49] SPEAKER_00: So we've released the local high school for a week.
[11:52] SPEAKER_00: And we're getting our anchors and our floats and we're going to do rope splicing 101.
[11:56] SPEAKER_00: And then we'll put it all on a big ocean barge.
[12:01] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[12:01] SPEAKER_00: And we'll bring it out to the site.
[12:03] SPEAKER_00: And at the first part of midweek in November, we're going to put it in the water.
[12:08] SPEAKER_00: And then we go with our seed at the before the winter equinox.
[12:14] SPEAKER_00: Must be be planned.
[12:15] SPEAKER_02: When is that?
[12:16] SPEAKER_00: So December 21st.
[12:17] SPEAKER_02: Wow.
[12:18] SPEAKER_02: So we're moving pretty quick on this project.
[12:20] SPEAKER_00: So from zero to full speed, two hectares and 90 tons of seaweed, beautiful kelp coming
[12:28] SPEAKER_00: off our production within a year.
[12:30] SPEAKER_02: Smart, fast, awesome.
[12:33] SPEAKER_00: The reason we believe it hasn't really hasn't caught on yet in North America.
[12:38] SPEAKER_00: We say, well, why hasn't it been done before?
[12:39] SPEAKER_00: It's such a great idea.
[12:41] SPEAKER_00: A couple of reasons.
[12:42] SPEAKER_00: First of all, there's such an acute awareness over the last 10 years of things like climate
[12:48] SPEAKER_00: change, population growth, food security.
[12:52] SPEAKER_00: It really puts a finer point on creating the right market conditions to bring this to
[12:58] SPEAKER_00: market.
[12:59] SPEAKER_00: Secondly, we've pushed very hard to understand North American tastes.
[13:04] SPEAKER_01: Okay.
[13:04] SPEAKER_00: And we believe it will be a change in taste.
[13:09] SPEAKER_00: Right now, seaweed comes from Asia.
[13:12] SPEAKER_00: And it's usually flavored with sesame oil or some other typical taste that's been involved
[13:17] SPEAKER_00: over years to the taste of Southeast Asia, for example.
[13:21] SPEAKER_00: It may have to be in North America.
[13:24] SPEAKER_00: We may have to change the taste so that it's well suited to a North American palate.
[13:29] SPEAKER_00: Then we're likely to see a bigger uptake.
[13:32] SPEAKER_02: I'm imagining a seaweed tasting event as a regular.
[13:35] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[13:36] SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, there's companies that do it now in a very small scale.
[13:40] SPEAKER_00: Right.
[13:41] SPEAKER_00: And I think this is the big differentiator for us.
[13:43] SPEAKER_00: We set out to be no less than a hundred hectares.
[13:47] SPEAKER_00: So no less than 4,500 tons a year.
[13:51] SPEAKER_00: That was the starting point for our three year rollout.
[13:54] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[13:54] SPEAKER_00: Now we're thinking we need a thousand hectares.
[13:56] SPEAKER_00: Wow.
[13:57] SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
[13:58] SPEAKER_00: Because we've been approached by verticals from bioplastics to cosmetics.
[14:04] SPEAKER_02: Right.
[14:04] SPEAKER_02: So getting into those secondary uses as opposed to food primary.
[14:08] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[14:08] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[14:08] SPEAKER_00: The highest value and the greatest thing that we can do to feed people is to grow food.
[14:14] SPEAKER_00: And that's our prime direct.
[14:15] SPEAKER_02: Right.
[14:15] SPEAKER_02: Okay.
[14:16] SPEAKER_02: Well, and we've talked a little bit about the business.
[14:19] SPEAKER_02: We've talked about the island.
[14:21] SPEAKER_02: Is giving you a little bit of bit more insight on to fill yourself.
[14:25] SPEAKER_02: I actually detect a little bit of an accent.
[14:27] SPEAKER_00: Born and raised in Newfoundland.
[14:28] SPEAKER_02: I felt it.
[14:30] SPEAKER_02: Right.
[14:30] SPEAKER_02: Near Babels or St. John's?
[14:32] Speaker UNKNOWN: 
[14:32] SPEAKER_02: St. John's.
[14:33] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[14:33] SPEAKER_02: Born and raised St. John's.
[14:34] Speaker UNKNOWN: 
[14:34] SPEAKER_02: I spent time in Newfoundland when I was a kindergarten grade one.
[14:38] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[14:39] SPEAKER_02: Easterners, right?
[14:39] SPEAKER_02: Coast to coast.
[14:40] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[14:41] SPEAKER_00: Always promote.
[14:42] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[14:42] SPEAKER_02: And what keeps you, how do you get inspired?
[14:45] SPEAKER_02: What do you do for recreation?
[14:47] SPEAKER_00: I play music.
[14:48] SPEAKER_00: I'm in a band.
[14:48] SPEAKER_00: Oh.
[14:49] SPEAKER_00: A whole black room.
[14:50] SPEAKER_00: You can catch us at Mary's Blue Moon Cafe on a Friday and a Saturday night in Sydney.
[14:54] SPEAKER_00: Once a month, towards the end of the month.
[14:56] SPEAKER_02: So a little bit of a creative outlet.
[14:58] SPEAKER_02: What's your jam?
[14:59] SPEAKER_02: Are you the singer, the songwriter, the instruments?
[15:02] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[15:02] SPEAKER_00: We got a great band and my wife's the singer.
[15:04] SPEAKER_00: I'm the writer and performer and what a great laugh we have.
[15:08] SPEAKER_01: And you tour?
[15:09] SPEAKER_00: We used to go to, we used to go to Indivictoria.
[15:13] SPEAKER_00: That's a good 30 kilometers away.
[15:15] SPEAKER_00: We played once at the Fire Hall in Bamfield, but that was bringing your own party.
[15:20] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[15:22] SPEAKER_00: So that's really what I do in my spare time.
[15:24] SPEAKER_00: For your leisure.
[15:25] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[15:26] SPEAKER_00: And you know,
[15:27] SPEAKER_00: Into your family here?
[15:28] SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
[15:29] Speaker UNKNOWN: 
[15:29] SPEAKER_00: My wife is in Sydney.
[15:31] SPEAKER_00: My son works for another company that I own, which is a completely different business.
[15:36] SPEAKER_00: And I hope he's going to come to work for Cascadia.
[15:39] SPEAKER_00: See we?
[15:39] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[15:40] SPEAKER_00: Fantastic.
[15:40] SPEAKER_00: He's got things to do.
[15:41] SPEAKER_00: We all have things to do.
[15:42] SPEAKER_00: And I have a daughter who's a punk rock band and Montreal.
[15:46] SPEAKER_00: She's been a musician and now she's just from school.
[15:48] SPEAKER_00: Fantastic.
[15:49] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[15:49] SPEAKER_02: When I just want, I notice you have your Vagina.
[15:51] SPEAKER_02: Right?
[15:52] SPEAKER_02: It's all about the company you keep here.
[15:54] SPEAKER_02: Yes.
[15:54] SPEAKER_02: And of course, on Vancouver Island.
[15:55] SPEAKER_02: We're pretty tight.
[15:56] SPEAKER_02: We're kind of the Hagi type relationship builders here.
[16:00] SPEAKER_02: That one of your roles, of course, is with Vagina.
[16:04] Speaker UNKNOWN: 
[16:04] SPEAKER_02: You've been spearheading this for-and-trade zone project.
[16:07] SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
[16:08] SPEAKER_02: You have a big Heriodesha school, which is to make Vancouver Island a business center.
[16:13] SPEAKER_02: Can you give us a little bit of idea on the actual, what it means from a layman's perspective
[16:18] SPEAKER_02: on, on Vancouver Island now being designated a for-and-trance zone.
[16:22] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[16:23] SPEAKER_00: The simple answer is, if you don't scream loud enough, you're not going to be heard.
[16:29] SPEAKER_00: And we-
[16:30] SPEAKER_00: Ah!
[16:30] SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
[16:31] SPEAKER_00: Pretty good.
[16:32] Speaker UNKNOWN: I mean, I'm not-
[16:32] SPEAKER_00: Thanks.
[16:33] Speaker UNKNOWN: That's a good thing.
[16:33] SPEAKER_00: It's pretty good.
[16:34] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[16:35] SPEAKER_00: And so we needed to take a stand.
[16:38] SPEAKER_00: We have such an incredible competitive advantage.
[16:41] SPEAKER_00: We have underutilized.
[16:43] SPEAKER_00: As I mentioned, underutilized infrastructure.
[16:46] SPEAKER_00: Excellent.
[16:47] SPEAKER_00: Excellent jurisdiction with municipal governments of provincial governments and federal governments.
[16:52] SPEAKER_00: I think that really want to help promote export.
[16:55] SPEAKER_00: As I mentioned, we have the pristine waters.
[16:57] SPEAKER_00: But more importantly, we have a will to do more.
[17:02] Speaker UNKNOWN: And so-
[17:02] SPEAKER_00: So when we're working, we all have our silos because we all run individual businesses.
[17:06] SPEAKER_00: We have our lives to run.
[17:08] SPEAKER_00: But what about collectively, we said, if we could find a way to stick our hand up and say, by the way,
[17:15] SPEAKER_00: we're not only a great place to live and work, but we are also really keen on export.
[17:21] SPEAKER_00: And we're really enthusiastic.
[17:22] SPEAKER_00: And we have a workforce that's well-educated and can back it up.
[17:27] SPEAKER_00: So for us, it was a attempt to stand up, stick our hand up, and say, we're here to the world.
[17:34] SPEAKER_00: When you go to places like Shanghai or Beijing or Taipei, those folks understand FTZ.
[17:44] SPEAKER_00: There are free trades on Singapore.
[17:46] SPEAKER_00: Is it itself a free trade?
[17:47] SPEAKER_02: The city of Singapore.
[17:48] SPEAKER_02: Yes.
[17:49] SPEAKER_00: So I remember selling sonar equipment in there.
[17:52] SPEAKER_00: And I would carry my black box on a plane, and I'd go in through customs, and I would just carry it in.
[17:57] SPEAKER_00: Nobody said a word, right?
[17:59] SPEAKER_00: It was this wonderful flow of information.
[18:01] SPEAKER_00: And I thought originally, if we could do that in Vancouver, it would be great.
[18:05] SPEAKER_00: But the jurisdictional issues far away the possibility.
[18:08] SPEAKER_02: So as a foreign investor, what does it mean to me to actually put money into projects?
[18:18] SPEAKER_02: Like Cascadia or some of the other projects that are pumping out?
[18:22] SPEAKER_02: Are there tax incentives?
[18:25] SPEAKER_02: What can they look for?
[18:27] SPEAKER_00: Well, in general, there is a very strong support from the province in a tax regime.
[18:34] SPEAKER_00: So for example, you apply to be an eligible BC Corp.
[18:39] SPEAKER_01: Okay.
[18:39] SPEAKER_01: Right?
[18:40] SPEAKER_00: And so it's a very simple process.
[18:43] SPEAKER_00: We applied as Cascadia seaweed so that our resident BC taxpayers who invested in Cascadia seaweed,
[18:51] SPEAKER_00: they would get a 30% break on their BC taxes.
[18:55] SPEAKER_00: Wow.
[18:55] SPEAKER_00: So they put 10 grand in, they would get a check for three grand back at the end of the year.
[19:00] SPEAKER_01: Oh, I mean, that speaks for itself, really.
[19:02] SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
[19:02] SPEAKER_01: Before we even go any further.
[19:04] SPEAKER_01: So.
[19:04] SPEAKER_00: But what in reality, what that means is on a half a million dollar raise, the BC government is kicking in $150,000.
[19:10] SPEAKER_00: Wow.
[19:11] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, fantastic.
[19:11] SPEAKER_00: And that is, that's the credibility that we need to explain to the four investment community.
[19:18] SPEAKER_00: Look, we're here and we're credible and we're backed by our problems because they're actually investing tax money.
[19:24] SPEAKER_00: Fantastic.
[19:26] SPEAKER_02: Well, Bill, is there anything from wearing the Cascadia hat that you would like to jump in and share with us?
[19:33] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[19:34] SPEAKER_00: We want to put people back to work.
[19:36] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[19:37] SPEAKER_00: Not that, not that an employment is a big issue.
[19:40] SPEAKER_00: We're at the effect of an employment right here.
[19:43] SPEAKER_00: So it's, we're not going to solve a jobs problem.
[19:48] SPEAKER_00: What we are going to solve is a redistribution of jobs.
[19:51] SPEAKER_01: Okay.
[19:52] SPEAKER_00: Right.
[19:52] SPEAKER_00: So that we will put people back to work in the coastal communities and the places that they grow up and their parents grow up and their grandparents grow up.
[19:59] SPEAKER_00: And those that want to stay and have meaningful, meaningful employment.
[20:05] SPEAKER_00: And want to be on the water and want to be farmers and are interested in doing that.
[20:10] SPEAKER_00: We need you.
[20:11] SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
[20:12] SPEAKER_00: We need you to be there and be entrepreneurial.
[20:14] SPEAKER_02: And how can they connect with you after today?
[20:17] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, www.cascadiaCW.com.
[20:21] SPEAKER_00: We're, sorry, website or info at cascadiaCW.com.
[20:24] SPEAKER_00: Drop us a line.
[20:25] SPEAKER_00: We're looking for farmers.
[20:27] SPEAKER_02: Okay.
[20:28] SPEAKER_02: Fantastic.
[20:28] SPEAKER_02: Well, there's an opportunity for all of us to follow up on.
[20:32] SPEAKER_02: Thanks again.
[20:33] SPEAKER_02: That was awesome, Bill.
[20:34] SPEAKER_02: It was so much great insight on not only what's going on with cascadia, but the Vancouver Island economy as a whole.
[20:40] SPEAKER_02: So thanks for joining us.
[20:42] SPEAKER_02: This has been Angela Barnard from Canada's podcast where you can listen, discover and engage.
[20:48] SPEAKER_00: Bye for now.
[20:50] SPEAKER_02: Hey there.
[20:51] SPEAKER_02: Thanks for taking the time today to listen to British Columbia's podcast on the Canada's podcast network.
[20:57] SPEAKER_02: We hope you enjoyed the show today.
[20:58] SPEAKER_02: Make sure you sign up for our newsletters and write a review for us on iTunes.
[21:02] SPEAKER_02: Connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or at Canada's podcast.com.
[21:10] SPEAKER_02: You can check out what other entrepreneurs are doing across the country.
[21:13] SPEAKER_02: I'm Angela Faye. See you next time.