In BIV’s Top 100 paid executives report, reporter Richard Chu cites Strandberg Consulting’s study that found that only 34 of the TSX 60 companies mentioned sustainability as a factor in their executive pay packages.
Brock Elliott, CEO of Kelowna-based Campion Marine, isn’t in a TSX 60 company, but his journey to put his company on a sustainable footing is pulling him in new directions that will have a huge bearing on his pay.
He’s poised to bring e- boating to the commercial market, an outgrowth of his company’s commitment to reducing its environmental footprint.
This isn’t an easy time for the boating industry. Campion is a family business that’s been building boats for 36 years, becoming Canada’s largest independent boat builder – and biggest fibreglass boat builder because it’s the only fibreglass boat builder left.
And it’s barely hanging on. Business is off 80% since the pre-2008 peak. “We went from 185 employees to 42. Now we’re back up to 50, but the industry is still declining.”
Campion recently scooped up Chilliwack-based Reinell Boats, which had been in business for 78 years.
“Fuel prices are killing us,” Elliott says. “Everything we touch is made of resin.”
Taking action meant going green.
“In 2008, our resin supplier asked us if we would build the world’s first bio-resin boat. We did.
“I decided to take our lean management practices and apply it to going green. We started at the front of our production line, moving down assembly and production line, asking if there’s a way to do it greener. We switched to lower-emission gelcoat, then went to bio-resin. We went to our foam supplier and asked for better flotation foam and switched to non-toxic foam (Eco-mate). We looked at acetone cleaner, eliminated it and now we use water-base, not chemical base, and our workers don’t have cracked skin any more. We changed all the light fixtures in the factory and we’ll pay back that investment in less than a year.
“We’re now recognized as the greenest boat-builder in the world, and it’s not costing us money.”
Out of this new direction came the killer app: the most powerful electric outboard in the world. It’s a 180-horsepower Yamaha, converted from a Yamaha 150 4-stroke. It can get a Campion boat planing in three seconds. It’s got so few moving parts that its life expectancy is 100,000 hours. The average boat engine runs for 40-80 hours a year.
“This engine will outlast your children’s children’s children’s children,” says Elliott.
“When you drive this thing, you’ll never go back. You’ll never go to the fuel dock again, where gas is $1.80 per litre on the lake now.”
The most amazing feature of this boat to me is that it’s silent except for the slapping of waves on the hull.
Just imagine what that means for B.C.’s lakes and waterways, if all the boats and Sea-Doos were silent and pollution-free. Imagine a world of silent Ski-Doos, silent ocean fishing, silent quads for hunters. Imagine the positive impact on the outdoor recreation economy of this province, where electricity is green and cheap.”
Whale-watching boat owners are just some of the customers begging to buy Campion’s electric-powered boats, but unfortunately, the batteries and their software systems still aren’t reliable enough.
“We’ve put the project on hold waiting for batteries to improve. It may take as long as three years. All the big car makers are working on it. If you wanted to get a project for a venture capital firm, get into batteries.”
Instead of, say, pipelines.
“I have no doubt this is the future,” says Elliott, “absolutely no doubt.” •
