After a two-year delay due to the pandemic, Victoria’s business community was out in force in formal wear this week to honour some of its titans.
About 500 people gathered at the Victoria Conference Centre for the RBC Business Hall of Fame induction ceremony to pay tribute to the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce inaugural inductees — Songhees Chief Robert Sam, Helen Beirnes, Clare Copeland, Ron Lou-Poy and Ian Maxwell.
The group took its place alongside previous winners of the chamber’s Lifetime Achievement Business Award — Bill McCreadie, Gordy Dodd, Eric Charman, Mel Cooper, Murray and Lynda Farmer, Naz Rayani, Bob Skene, Keith Dagg, Terry Farmer, Cedric Steele, Gordon Denford, Alex A. Campbell, Robert H. Wright and John Chew.
Stories of triumph and accomplishment drew applause as the first five inductees into the Business Hall of Fame took their place in the hall for entrepreneurial excellence.
Beirnes, who died in 2013, was the chamber’s first woman chair and a tireless advocate for restoring Victoria’s historic character and bringing greater tourism numbers to the region. She served 16 years on city council.
Copeland, who died in 2010, was instrumental in developing CFAX radio into a regional presence by boosting its transmission power and making it a 24-hour station. He also established Copeland Communications in 1980. The agency served businesses on Vancouver Island and British Columbia for more than three decades.
Lou-Poy has had a distinguished law career, and received the legal distinction of Queen’s Council. A graduate of Victoria College — which became the University of Victoria — Lou-Poy is a senior partner in the Victoria law firm of Crease Harman and Company.
Maxwell, owner of Ralmax Group of Companies, is known as a hard-hat visionary who champions the protection and preservation of industrial lands and the jobs they provide in Greater Victoria.
Ralmax has evolved into a diversified group of businesses focused in and around Victoria’s working harbour. Maxwell led the rescue of Point Hope Shipyard from bankruptcy, marking the first major investment in a shipbuilding facility in Victoria’s harbour in 50 years.
In 2019, Ralmax purchased the Esquimalt Drydock Company in a deal that helped create more job security for workers and enabled the sharing of knowledge with Point Hope Shipyard.
Sam, who died in 2012, negotiated to build a safe, inclusive and sustainable future for Songhees Nation. He led the negotiation processes to create a settlement with the federal and provincial governments over dispossessed land now occupied by the B.C. legislature buildings. He also played a key role on behalf of Songhees Nation within the Te’mexw Treaty Association, a collaboration among five Nations living on south Vancouver Island.
Chamber chair John Wilson said having a celebration of business in Greater Victoria was “cathartic.”
“Our business community was tested by the pandemic,” he said. “I’m not going to lie — it was tough for a lot of people.
“It’s so good to be together with the many people who have played key roles in the development of our region’s economy. These are legends who deserve to be honoured so they can inspire all of us going forward.”
The hall of fame was created by chamber CEO Bruce Williams to honour the work of business leaders in Greater Victoria.
The next step for the hall of fame is to begin selecting the next inductees for 2024. Planning is also underway for a permanent installation accessible to the public.
Every two years, new inductees will be honoured as positive role models in the business community. Inductees are selected for showing regional leadership, insightful vision and a sustained and significant commitment to the prosperity of the region.
