#AccessAlberta November Speaker Series
We kicked off of our inaugural #AccessAlberta: Scale North Speaker Series on November 20th — thanks to all of you who attended.
For those that weren't able to make it, please contact us at jfedeyko@connectionsiliconvalley.com to join the #AccessAlberta program and get the link for the recording.
Thanks to our fabulous speakers Joan Dea, Rana Sarkar, Hamid Farzaneh, David Knight Legg, Minister Doug Schweitzer and Aspen Properties for your generous support! All speaker bios can be found at the bottom of this page.
There was a wealth of different perspectives and information offered about Alberta, and the following key takeaways were shared:
The share of your employee's personal wallet in Alberta is unbelievably attractive given the lower cost of living, universal healthcare, low personal tax and no provincial point of sale tax.
Alberta has the lowest corporate tax rate in Canada and depending on what happens next year in the US, potentially the lowest in North America.
Alberta’s AI and tech sectors are critically strong ones. In 2017, Canada became the first country to launch a national AI strategy. Recruiting talent and building strength through research, Canada and specifically Alberta have really made their mark in the AI space through the Alberta Machine Learning Institute (AMII) and more.
Alberta’s strong energy industry has left a legacy of infrastructure and quality of life unmatched in other jurisdictions of the same size - Calgary is a city that is consistently ranked in the Top 5 places to live in North America!
Here is a short video from Aspen, the home of tech in Alberta: https://bit.ly/2J2Uwop.
The quality of life and corporate benefits of expanding from Silicon Valley to Alberta are endless. The Province produces highly skilled talent and world leading research at universities such as the University of Calgary, Mount Royal University, University of Alberta, SAIT, NAIT, University of Lethbridge and many others . One of the disadvantages of being a startup in the Silicon Valley is losing high caliber talent to larger monopolies and big tech companies — in Alberta, that same caliber of talent can be mined with far less competition.
In addition, especially during the COVID 19 pandemic, remote working is far more common and immigration to Canada is much easier to navigate with the Express Entry program. A critical advantage for Canada is the immigration system’s ability to get startups to expand and grow their teams at a rapid pace to keep up with the tech industry at large through this program that the Canadian government has enacted. Express Entry gives people the opportunity to apply for entry into the country within a 10-day window. This allows startups to gain confidence in the process of being able to grow their teams and accelerate the process for individual, highly qualified and talented people to join your startups.
This inaugural Speaker Series was incredibly productive and beneficial in learning more about what Alberta has to offer, but we’ve only just scratched the surface. To hear from more esteemed speakers and learn more about how to scale north, keep an eye out for our AA newsletter and more Speaker Series’ to follow.
If you would like a copy of the webinar recording, feel free to reach out. We’d love to hear from you!
#AccessAlberta November 20th Speakers
Rana Sarkar
Consul General of Canada to Northern California & Silicon Valley
Mr. Rana Sarkar was appointed as Consul General of Canada in San Francisco | Silicon Valley in 2017, with accreditation for Northern California and Hawaii. He is also a member of Canada’s NAFTA Advisory Council.
Mr. Sarkar previously served as National Director for High Growth Markets at KPMG Canada, and co-chairman of the advisory board at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. From 2009 - 2013, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canada-India Business Council.
In 2005, Mr. Sarkar co-founded Content Partners, a global content agency (sold in 2009), and, in 2001, the advisory firm Rawlings Atlantic Limited. He began his career as a consultant at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in London and Munich and helped establish Roland Berger in India. He also served as a visiting lecturer at the London School of Economics and the CASS Business School at the University of London.
He attended the London School of Economics, Queen’s University at Kingston, Ontario, and the INSEAD Executive Program in France. He is a member of the advisory council of the Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation, Canada2020, and The Literary Review of Canada and a Distinguished Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto. Mr. Sarkar is married to lawyer and author Reva Seth. They live in San Francisco with their three children and oversized labradoodle.
Hamid Farzaneh
CEO & Co-Founder of Alea Labs
Hamid Farzaneh is a veteran Silicon Valley CEO expert in managing innovative high tech companies in their $0 to $200M phase. He is a charismatic and high energy team builder passionate about bringing to market technologies, products and solutions that enhance people’s lives, protect the environment and help make the world a better place.
Hamid is CEO of Alea Labs that he co-founded in 2015 to help transform the innovation-lagging HVAC industry by incorporating and leveraging leading edge sensor, machine learning and home automation technologies. Prior to Alea Labs, he had co-founded Sensoplex, a clinical device technology company and Optilux a technology leader in high performance liquid lenses. Earlier, he served as CEO at DisplayLink and as COO at Atheer, Motion Sense & Genesis Microchip.Mr. Farzaneh currently lives in Atherton, California, with his wife, a talented artist painter, and their Siamese cat, Soleiman the Magnificent.
Joan Dea
Corporate Director, Founder, Former BMO Executive and BCG Global Partner
Born and raised in Alberta, Joan Dea is a seasoned business executive, investor and social impact leader. She is Founder of Beckwith Investments, a private firm that invests in and advises leading, innovative companies and is an experienced independent corporate director, currently serving Charles Schwab Corporation and Cineplex Inc.
Recognized as one of the senior-most women in the financial services sector in North America and as one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada, Joan's career spans from international consulting to senior leadership in a Fortune 500 company to investing. She is both an expert advisor to large, global companies in business strategy, leadership, governance and transformational change as well as an early stage investor, with a particular focus on women entrepreneurs and innovations.
Previously, Joan was a senior executive and Executive Committee member at BMO Financial Group, a highly diversified global financial institution, as well as a Global Partner and Director at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) where she was a leader in the Global Financial Services and Consumer and Retail Practices, co-founded BCG Ventures and held several internal leadership roles.
As a champion of out-of-the-box approaches to address tough social issues, Joan is Chair of LEAP, Canada’s leading venture philanthropy, that invests in high impact social ventures. The 25 organizations in its portfolio have impacted the lives of over 750,000 Canadians. She is a lifelong supporter or the advancement of women and girls, the arts, and education, and has chaired and acted as board member for many charitable organizations.
Ms. Dea is a graduate of Yale University and the London School of Economics.
David Knight Legg
CEO of the Invest Alberta Corporation
A proven leader in foreign investment and international trade, David brings more than 20 years’ of experience in the private and public sector to his role as the inaugural CEO of the Invest Alberta Corporation. Through the course of his work at McKinsey, a global management consulting firm; GLG, a capital markets advisory and research firm; and most recently leading strategy at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia; he has gained significant executive leadership experience.
David has lived, worked, opened offices and led businesses in key markets for Alberta, including the United States, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. He has also held numerous non-profit and advisory board positions ranging from the Young Presidents Organization Pan-Asia chapter to the Sovereign Art Foundation.
Prior to joining the Invest Alberta Corporation, David’s role was Principal Advisor to the Premier of Alberta where his focus was on capital markets, investment, tax, sector diversification, Indigenous equity participation, and environmental, social and governance matters.
David did his undergraduate work at the University of Lethbridge and holds a Master’s of Public Administration from Queens University, a Master’s in Law from Oxford University, and a PhD from Yale University where he held several teaching fellowships.