Media

Global BC Interviews Kryton CEO about the Sustainability of the Local Economy

On May 24, 2023, for their evening news hour, Global BC highlighted an increasing concern about rising costs and taxes for businesses in British Columbia (BC), Canada, with insights from Kryton’s CEO, Kari Yuers; the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade (GVBOT) president and CEO, Bridgitte Anderson; and BC Premier David Eby.

To start off the discussion, Kari first weighed in as head of a concrete waterproofing and durability manufacturing company that has been contributing to the dialogue around sustainable construction and business practices on a global scale for 50 years. “You can see where this [increase] starts to become unsustainable for businesses that are trying to make ends meet,” said Kari. “We compete with companies that reside in the United States and around the globe, so when we’re having a lot of rising costs here in BC and Vancouver, then, it makes it much more challenging on a global basis.”  

While Kryton still remains a successful, prominent leader in the concrete admixture sector and business community, the increase in costs for the company’s Vancouver headquarters is a concern. It is a sentiment shared by many other local businesses. At least one-third of businesses in Metro Vancouver feel they will lose profitability within a few months, according to one Canadian survey. To really emphasize the severity of the situation, the GVBOT estimated that businesses have more than $6 billion in additional costs to deal with.

“These [costs] are accumulative, and they are also significant, so we’re calling on the government to take a sharp pencil to paper and look at ways to really reduce costs,” said Bridgitte. It’s an appeal for government action that Kari and other businesses are in support of. It’s also one that may see promising results as the BC premier has stated that the government will continue to help businesses like they did during the pandemic.

For more details, see the interview and the rest of Global BC’s evening news for May 24 at https://rb.gy/qvqmu.