Like the valves his company sells that play such a vital role in helping oil and gas flow safely and efficiently through pipelines, pumping stations and other energy infrastructure, Terry O’Flynn is hoping Alberta Enterprise Group’s (AEG) effort to improve communications between Alberta and B.C. businesses will lead to an appreciation of the importance of getting Canada’s products to West Coast ports.
“I’m hoping this mission will become a conduit for future conversations, as opposed to perceived barriers that don’t exist,” said O’Flynn, chairman of AEG and president of Edmonton-based Prism Flow Products Inc., a 20-year-old firm that is one of the province’s largest valve sales and service businesses.
Canada Connects: British Columbia is scheduled to be held November 5-to-7 at Vancouver’s Terminal City Club. The event will include B.C. and Alberta business leaders and will focus on business opportunities in the province, as well as challenges posed by First Nations issues and other impediments to resource development.
For Prism Flow has no office presence in B.C., but sells products to companies in the province.
O’Flynn, along with his partner and fellow Albertan Rick Stanton, built Prism Flow from a two-person startup into a company that now employs 19 and distributes valve products and accessories throughout Western Canada.
The company, which generates annual sales worth several million dollars, specializes in the energy industry, where valves play a vital role.
O’Flynn, who has gone on AEG trips to Washington, Quebec and elsewhere, said it’s important for Alberta businesses to reach out to their neighbours in B.C., where opposition to oil and gas pipelines is frustrating to Alberta business people so reliant on the oil and gas sector.
“It’s important to go visit and communicate face to face,” he said. “AEG is all about providing information and countering the negativism. What we’ve found in all of the missions is there is commonality.”
In the case of a neighbouring province like B.C., where many Albertans vacation or own recreational property, he said the ties are stronger than might be commonly assumed.
“We need to respect what each of us have [in economic strengths] rather than to focus on the negatives. B.C. is the gateway to Asia for energy and other products. No jurisdictions should be ashamed of their strengths. In B.C. it’s forestry and tourism, and in Alberta it’s oil and gas.”
O’Flynn added that with the prospect of several liquefied natural gas export projects being built on the West Coast, the two provinces have much in common.
One area of commonality, which he said is important to communicate, is that the Alberta business people are as concerned about the environment as their B.C. counterparts.
For example, he is a strong supporter of North Saskatchewan Riverkeeper, an Edmonton-based organization that promotes the preservation of the North Saskatchewan River watershed, from the Rockies to Prince Albert, where the North and South Saskatchewan rivers meet.
One can have strong views about the environment but also recognize that Canada needs to get its products to market, he said.
“Canadians have to get comfortable with these infrastructure [pipeline] projects, which are good for the entire country.”
Just as the valves his company sells allow pipelines and other energy infrastructure to operate safely and efficiently, O’Flynn believes pipelines are the best way to transport Canada’s energy to foreign markets. •
Business in Vancouver is profiling Alberta-based companies participating in the Lower Mainland’s November 5-to-7 Canada Connects: British Columbia trade mission, which is aimed at promoting more trade between the two provinces. The mission is a partnership between the Alberta Enterprise Group and the Vancouver Board of Trade.
