On September 22nd, our group of Beedie Ambassadors proudly attended the Fraser Institute Founders’ Award Tribute honouring Keith and Ryan Beedie as the 2015 award recipients. Recognizing Keith and Ryan for “exceptional entrepreneurial achievements, generous philanthropic endeavours and dedication to competitive markets”, guests of the Beedie family, Fraser Institute, and prominent organizations gathered in the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver in celebration.
Memories and well wishes were shared throughout the evening from friends and family of Keith and Ryan. Everyone spoke in such high regard of their caring approach to work and loyalty to their employees and business. The energy in the room felt both familiar and refreshing, as new connections and old friends came together in acknowledgement of these exemplary Canadian leaders.
Keith Beedie spoke candidly about his memories and his journey built with hard work, a keen business sense, and $25 to start. His discipline and commitment to the success of his company led to establishing the Beedie Development group, the largest landlord of industrial space in BC. Keith reminisced and laughed while telling stories of obtaining a $10 land permit, building his first home with a friend at 19 years old on a $190 lot, and constructing PNE prize homes. Under his leadership, the Beedie Development Group has become a distinguished company and the Keith and Betty Beedie Foundation has given over $25 million to support “health, education and safety-based projects both locally and around the world”.
Ryan Beedie talked fondly about his time at SFU and his start with the Beedie Development Group managing negotiations and land acquisitions soon after graduation. He described his father as having “DNA connected to the business”, and spoke about the integrity that he mirrors from his father every day. He told stories about Keith Beedie’s uncompromising commitment to quality, and said that their family legacy was in leaving a long-term imprint on the city, not just in the buildings they have built but the personal connections with employees and customers that they have established along the way. He spoke about employee empowerment and Beedie Cares, giving an example of when the Keith and Betty Beedie Foundation matched $60,000 to donate a total of $120,000 from employees, suppliers, family, and friends for an elementary school breakfast program.
As a proud SFU Beedie student, I have been directly impacted by the Beedie family’s generosity. The Beedie Ambassador program emerged from Ryan’s commitment to providing students with the opportunity to attend many high profile Vancouver business events – this made it possible for us to participate in this evening of inspiration, celebration, and recognition. The sincerity in which they spoke about their success and true belief that “the more you earn, the more you give back” has been made so tangible to the 3,500 business students at SFU.
Congratulations and thank you, Keith and Ryan. Your contributions have impacted so many in our business school community and we represent the Beedie name proudly.
Jessica is a fourth year BBA student pursuing a concentration in Human Resource Management with a minor in Early Education. Valuing co-curricular involvement as an essential complement to the academic experience, she has actively sought out opportunities to learn and grow outside of the classroom at the SFU Beedie School of Business. She has been involved with the Business Administration Student Society (BASS) as President, Vice President of Human Resources, and Manager of Corporate Relations. Jessica is currently completing her fourth Co-operative Education work term in consultant training and enablement at SAP after working in not-for-profit event planning and HR at Goldcorp. She is passionate about pursuing her personal and professional development by continuing to seek enriching experiences within Beedie and the Vancouver business community.