06 Jun Vital People/Vital Causes June 2025

Drawing on key data and themes from our Vital Signs 2024 report, we will continue presenting a new Vital People/Vital Causes every quarter this year.

Vital Cause: Our Future Entrepreneurs

Small business is the heart of the Sunshine Coast economy. Businesses offer young people their first jobs, contribute to local fundraising efforts, and keep our communities strong by providing essential services and reinvesting locally.

The Sunshine Coast Foundation’s Vital Signs 2024 highlights BC Stats from 2022 reporting that 99% of the Coast’s 8,846 business locations have fewer than 20 employees, and 84% list “no employees” and are run either by the business owner and family members or employ contractors.

Supporting and strengthening economic development takes foresight, mentorship, and a commitment to place – qualities exemplified by the late Barrie Wilbee, a longtime Sunshine Coast entrepreneur and community leader.

Vital People – Remembering Barrie Wilbee

Barrie Wilbee wore many hats over his lifetime – entrepreneur, volunteer firefighter, mentor, leader – but perhaps his greatest legacy was his belief in small business and the power of mentorship.

Raised in a family of entrepreneurs, Barrie inherited a love for business from his father, whose family founded a chain of grocery stores in Vancouver in the 1940s. When he moved to the Coast in 1971, Barrie established roots in the Pender Harbour area as co-owner of the legendary Lowes Resort, now the Painted Boat Resort Spa & Marina.

Part of Lowes’ legacy was the role it played in shaping young lives. Barrie saw himself not just as a business owner, but as a mentor to many of the youth he employed. “Barrie invested in the personal and professional growth of his staff, encouraging them to develop their skills and pursue their aspirations. He took particular joy in mentoring young employees, sharing his experiences, and inspiring them as they embarked on their careers,” reflected Barrie’s business partners, Larry and Linda Curtiss.

He believed in giving young people responsibility and guidance – principles that left a lasting impression. “From Barrie I received my earliest lessons in integrity, loyalty, honour, commitment, compassion, tenacity, trust and service; many of the things that make a man worth the shoes he’s wearing,” shared a former Lowes employee.

Beyond the resort, Barrie was an advocate for economic development and volunteerism. He served on boards including Community Futures Sunshine Coast, and the Sunshine Coast Foundation.

In 2011, he received the Don McMillan Award for outstanding contributions to economic development, and in 2017 a lifetime achievement award from the Rotary Club of Pender Harbour for community service.

In 2016, the Barrie Wilbee Bursary for Sunshine Coast Entrepreneurs was established in partnership with Community Futures. This bursary reflects Barrie’s belief that strong local businesses build strong communities and supports business education and training with an emphasis on community economic development.

Barrie passed away in 2024, but his legacy continues through the people he mentored, the organizations he shaped, and the bursary that helps others follow in his footsteps.

Vital People like Barrie Wilbee knew that supporting the next generation means investing in education.

If this Vital Cause speaks to you, support future business leaders on the Coast by contributing to the Barrie Wilbee Bursary for Sunshine Coast Entrepreneurs.

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Article by Lisa Furfaro.