CPABC Industry Update Winter 2015 | Page 17

As one of BC’s top employers, why did BCLC want to become part of CPABC’s Career Connect employer program? How will this involvement benefit BCLC? As the provincial Crown corporation tasked with operating and managing commercial gambling in BC, BCLC operates in a business environment that contains some unique opportunities and challenges. BCLC’s motivation for partnering with CPABC was to take advantage of an opportunity to foster a strong connection between our organization and the accounting profession. As our business has evolved and expanded over the past 30 years, so have the needs of our finance team. With recent changes in the structure of our finance department we wanted to complement our existing talent’s skills with those of new employees who bring other required skills to Kamloops, where our head office is located, and Vancouver, where finance staff support the business planning and analytical services. Partnering with CPABC as a Career Connect employer gives us access to the skilled individuals who can help us meet our business objectives. How do you hope to benefit from hiring CPA candidates? BCLC has always supported candidates of the legacy designations. Many of the professionals employed at BCLC today have worked through one of the legacy accounting programs to achieve their designations. The CPA program provides candidates with a solid finance and business foundation that will help drive our business forward. We see our relationship with CPABC as a way to identify talent, develop the depth of our finance team, and support the potential future leaders of our organization. Tell us about the process of becoming a CPABC Career Connect employer. The process was simple and easy. I had an initial call with CPABC about the Career Connect employer program before setting up a brief teleconference that included myself, CPABC ’s employer program coordinator, and some coworkers f ɽ