Big Bucks for young Albertans: Hicks on Biz column originally published in the Edmonton Sun, Friday, March 9, 2012

A friend of mine had a kid finishing high school. He was a smart, practical young man with a good attitude, but he didn’t have a clue what he wanted to do. They made a practical decision. They looked at the projected earnings for grads from NAIT’s technology programs. Off he went to enroll in the course with the highest earning potential. Good decision. Three to four years after graduation, he’s an electrical engineering technologist. Now 24, this young man is pulling down $100,000 a year in base salary, half that again in overtime. Plus benefits. Welcome to Alberta, 2012, where young adults – with the right diploma and a willingness to work – are often making $100,000 a year. There’s cause for concern – too much money, too fast, too young, unrealistic expectations, and so on. But as long as the building boom continues in the oilsands (and it will continue, with $20 billion being spent on construction alone in 2012) , skilled ... Read the rest of entry »

Oil's well with Alberta Energy - Hicks on Biz column from The Edmonton Sun, originally posted Saturday, March 03, 2012

Oil's well with Alberta energy 6 BY GRAHAM HICKS ,EDMONTON SUNFIRST POSTED: SATURDAY, MARCH 03, 2012 12:29 PM MST | UPDATED: SATURDAY, MARCH 03, 2012 12:39 PM MST 1Change text size for the storyPrint this storyReport an error If you’re going to understand the nature of business in Edmonton, understand just one thing.All roads lead to energy.Oil, natural gas, and that poor kid on the wrong side of the environmental tracks, coal.You likely know the essentials – 300 to 600 million years ago, all things lush and green were deeply buried and eventually decayed into hydrocarbon molecules.Mother Nature did us a big favour, pushing up the Rockies so those hydrocarbons oozed eastward and were concentrated under what happily happened to be Alberta.Generally speaking, natural gas is really deep, conventional oil is deep, and heavy oil close to the surface. Alberta sits on top of one of the world’s 40 major oil basins.Ever since the Leduc #1 oil well hit pay dirt in 1947, we have fretted over oil’s end.Once the big under ... Read the rest of entry »

Reaction to my first Hicks On Biz column in the Edmonton Sun

Now I know why Edmonton has to fight to change its own perception of itself. My first business column for the Edmonton Sun, published on Sat. Feb. 25, was about Edmonton's need to blow its own horn, to recognize that we are so darn lucky compared to just about every other mid-sized city in the world, for wages, employment, value housing, educational opportunities and so on. You would not have believed some of the negativity expressed in the "comments" section of the online story! Edmonton-deadmonton; a dark, depressing, boring, crime-ridden city; nothing to be proud of; a general population of delusional, angry, sociopathic, aggressive, antagonistic, self centered, disillusioned people; boring as hell; homelessness; price-gouging; high rents; high cost of power .... What is with these people? How have they allowed themselves to enter into such a downward spiral of negativity about the city they live in? Why, as some other readers asked, do they continue to live here? I'll tell you what. It's about them, not t ... Read the rest of entry »

Edmonton isn't getting the credit it deserves - Hicks on Biz column from The Edmonton Sun, originally posted Friday, Feb. 24, 2012

By Graham Hicks ,Edmonton Sun First posted: Friday, February 24, 2012 05:10 PM MST | Updated: Friday, February 24, 2012 05:13 PM MST I’m sick and tired of Edmonton being Canada’s forgotten city. Every time, on every national newscast, it’s about Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. Where’s Edmonton in the national consciousness? Where’s our hustle and bustle? Welcome to Hicks on Biz, the new weekly Edmonton Sun business column with one overriding objective — to let you, and the rest of the world, know that Edmonton is the most dynamic, fastest growing, best-quality-of-life, best-positioned-for-the-future city in Canada. And, if any of our cylinders aren’t firing as they should, constructive commentary will be offered to stay on course. We’ll do this mainly through looking at Edmonton’s economy in cold, hard numbers. Numbers can be manipulated, but they don’t lie. Nothing makes the case for prosperity like the number of jobs, amount ... Read the rest of entry »