Fortune Marketing proudly manages the sales & marketing of 3 of Troika’s beautiful developments- West Harbour Kelowna, The Gate Townhomes, & Green Square Townhomes. As an influential force in the realm of real estate & business, Troika Founder & CEO Renee Wasylyk was recently featured in Business Vancouver where she discussed her role with the Premier’s Women’s Economic Council & their vision for the British Columbia business environment:
“Renee Wasylyk, principal and founder of Troika Developments Inc. of Kelowna, says her company is experiencing its best year in business since 2007. But she appears more excited by a report on women in business she delivered to the provincial government at the end of January.
As a member of the Premier’s Women’s Economic Council (PWEC), Wasylyk handed Jobs Minister Shirley Bond a 100-page report January 30 that the PWEC drafted following its first economic forum, held in October 2014.
“[This report] is going to make massive waves,” Wasylyk said. “It is going to have far-reaching effects. A project of this size has never been undertaken in B.C. before.”
While details have yet to be released, Wasylyk said the report, the first from the 14-member PWEC, includes recommendations on retaining and recruiting women in senior corporate management positions; encouraging female entrepreneurs in small and medium-sized business ventures; and encouraging women in non-traditional occupations.
Wasylyk is confident the report won’t end up gathering dust on a government shelf somewhere. When the PWEC was recruited from the ranks of leading women in business by Premier Christy Clark last April, Wasylyk said it was made clear their recommendations would have the ear of the premier, Minister Shirley Bond and Minister of State for Tourism and Small Business Naomi Yamamoto.
“At the first meeting I told them, ‘I am not going to be a figurehead. I am not interested in going to fancy parties. I am someone who wants to be part of the solution,’” Wasylyk said. “We were told, ‘Absolutely. That is why you are here.’”
Wasylyk, who holds a bachelor’s degree in religious studies and a master’s degree in theology from Taylor University as well as an MBA from the University of Liverpool, founded Troika Developments 15 years ago and has taken annual revenues from $35,000 to more than $60 million. Troika and Wasylyk’s long list of awards include being named the best homebuilder in the Okanagan in 2014 and being ranked among the top 20 most influential people in residential real estate by the Canadian Home Builders Association.
Wasylyk agreed that women have made great strides in B.C. business, “but there is still a lot of work to do.”
She said B.C. has an “appalling” record in retaining women in senior corporate positions and that there is a dearth of support services for female entrepreneurs, though they represent a substantial percentage of small businesses in B.C.
Wasylyk knows first-hand the challenges women face in the business world. The mother of three teenagers says she’s fortunate that her husband, a dentist, is able to help with child rearing, and that she’s able to accommodate school and sports events in her schedule.
And that schedule is daunting.
“We have more projects on the go than at any time since 2007,” Wasylyk said.
They include four residential developments in the Okanagan, including the 200-acre Diamond Mountain master-planned subdivision; a 100,000-square-foot commercial project in Edmonton; and Stewart Greens, a 150-acre, six-phase residential community, also in Alberta’s capital.”
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