Beedie quartet named on BIV’s Forty Under 40

A quartet of Beedie School of Business alumni were among the winners at the recent Business in Vancouver (BIV) Top Forty Under 40 awards.

The prestigious list recognizes 40 of the top business stars under the age of 40 in Vancouver each year. This year’s winners were honoured at a gala awards evening on January 30, held at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel in Vancouver

The four Beedie alumni listed include Terry Beech, co-founder and chairman of hiretheworld.com; Greg Malpass, CEO and founder of Traction on Demand; Shawn Smith, Beedie School of Business Adjunct Professor and co-founder RADIUS; and Carlos Yam, CFO of WesternOne.

Smith, an expert in social entrepreneurship, last year co-founded the Beedie School of Business’ social innovation lab and venture incubator, RADIUS, which aims to change business education and launch high-impact solutions to social challenges. He received his BBA from the Beedie School of Business before obtaining an MBA from the University of Oxford.

“It’s an honour to be recognized among so many impressive past and present winners who have made such an impact in Vancouver and beyond,” said Smith. “I think it’s also really important to recognize that any award like this must unduly focus on a single individual, when in reality there are usually teams of people doing much of the heavy lifting – I am certainly very fortunate to work with many impressive individuals equally deserving of recognition.”

Beech was elected to city council in Nanaimo at the age of 18, where he served in public office for one year before earning his BBA at the Beedie School of Business. In 2009 he founded hiretheworld.com, a web-based logo design platform that utilizes crowdsourcing to fulfill customer needs.

Malpass is CEO and founder of customer relationship management consultancy firm Traction on Demand. After launching the company in 2006, he has overseen rapid expansion of its operation. The company now employs 75 people and works with a number of high-profile clients.

As CFO of WesternOne, Yam has helped the company close approximately $180 million worth of acquisitions in the past six years, and assisted in the expansion of its operations in B.C., Alberta, Texas, and across Australia.

For more information on the BIV Top Forty Under 40 awards, visit www.biv.com/people/40under40