Life Sciences British Columbia and Acetech announce partnership

The pair will support leadership in the life sciences, biotech, and tech sectors.

This is a partner message from Acetech.

With a vision of supporting leadership within the life sciences, biotech, and tech sectors, Life Sciences British Columbia (LSBC) is proud to partner with Acetech, a not-for-profit organization for leaders of companies innovating with technology. Bringing together shared values of inclusivity, a focus on community, and peers supporting peers, the LSBC/Acetech partnership is a collaboration dedicated to nurturing economic development within the province through the support and advancement of leadership across these sectors. Through this partnership, the organizations will support each other’s events, such as LSBC’s Summer Social and Career Connect Day, to bring the life sciences ecosystem together, further facilitating networking, talent recruitment, and education opportunities. Last year, LSBC’s Career Connect Day attracted more than 800 participants from 65-plus companies and 57 academic institutions – not to mention that it was the most attended LSBC event ever held.

B.C. is home to the fastest-growing life sciences sector in Canada. There are more than 2,000 companies in the province employing over 18,000 British Columbians working on research and ground-breaking innovations that improve lives around the world. The last two years have also marked a new era of growth and opportunity within the sector, with the province emerging from the pandemic as a global leader in new health technologies, treatments, and vaccines. From rapid diagnostic tests to protein-based therapeutics to the first FDA-approved oral medication for treating adults with lupus, the “made in B.C.” list of world-leading products continues to grow in length and breadth.

LSBC, a member-based not-for-profit, non-government industry association, advocates, supports, and represents B.C.’s life sciences community provincially, nationally, and worldwide. Through numerous initiatives, such as networking events, advocacy work, educational programming, and webinars, LSBC has played and continues to play a large role in shaping the trajectory of the organization, facilitating investment and collaborations, and increasing awareness of B.C. as a center of excellence for life sciences.

The tech sector in B.C. is also experiencing accelerated growth, generating $34.9 billion in revenue, and employing over 131,000 people, according to statistics from the B.C. government. In fact, to support this growth, in 2021-22, the province funded more than 2,600 student spaces in tech programming at B.C. institutions. It will also reach a total of 2,900 funded tech-related spaces in 2023, resulting in 1,000 additional annual graduates.

For over 30 years, Acetech has provided tools, resources, events and programs to help tech leaders and their companies to grow. The intersection of life sciences and technology and the possibilities it allows is especially exciting, which led the two organizations to partner.

“With the life sciences and tech sectors growing at unprecedented rates, we have a great opportunity to work together to lift up the extraordinary leaders within the sector to create pathways that support growth and facilitate innovations,” said Wendy Hurlburt, CEO of LSBC. “Acetech has been a stalwart for leaders within the tech industry for more than 30 years. We see a lot of synergies within our organizations to benefit both sectors, our leaders, and all the incredible individuals who dedicate their professional lives to developing innovative products, solutions and services that are critical to addressing some of the complex challenges existing in health systems globally, and ultimately, improving patient care and outcomes.”

“We are very pleased to partner with Life Sciences BC and believe that our combined efforts will have a positive impact on strengthening the B.C. health sciences community,” said Dr. Peter Payne, CEO of Acetech. “Acetech has decades of experience helping scientist-entrepreneurs develop into effective CEOs and leaders. Our economy will benefit significantly by developing and keeping our talent within B.C.” 

Across Canada, life sciences and tech organizations are attracting investment. As announced in Budget 2022, the Province is providing nearly $195 million in grant funding to Michael Smith Health Research BC (Health Research BC) and Genome BC to support research in health, agriculture, clean technology and climate change. The funding is also to help attract, develop, and retain research talent and support job creation and health research employment and training in B.C. The partnership between the two organizations will further enhance and strengthen the sectors and the companies at the forefront within the province.

For more information about LSBC, please visit: lifesciencesbc.ca

About Acetech

For 30 years Acetech has helped CEOs of technology companies become better leaders through peer roundtables, executive training, and an annual Leadership Summit.

Our passion is supporting tech leaders and their teams to lead better, grow faster and get connected. Acetech has thrived over the last 3 decades because of the passion of a group of committed leaders who care about the tech community and economy, and know what it takes to succeed.

Today, Acetech continues to be a premier not-for-profit organization created by CEOs for CEOs and for the advancement of growing tech companies. When you join Acetech you become a member of one of the most connected, supportive and high-performing communities of tech leaders.

“Don't sit on the fence about whether joining Acetech is worth it for you. Great actionable take-aways that you can apply in your business to achieve your goals sooner.” ~ Angela Saunders, CEO of Vorum, the global leader in prosthetics and orthotics CAD/CAM technology.

If you are the CEO of a technology company and want to find out more about becoming a member of Acetech, please reach out to info@acetechleadership.com. 

As a not-for-profit organization, we are able to offer our membership benefits at an extremely competitive annual rate.