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On the Street: Helicopter group honours Helijet founder Daniel Sitnam

Daniel Sitnam, president and CEO of Helijet International, has been presented with the Helicopter Association of Canada 2019 Agar-Stringer Award for his lifetime contribution to the Canadian helicopter industry.
VKA helijet 094.jpg
A file photo of a Helijet.

Daniel Sitnam, president and CEO of Helijet International, has been presented with the Helicopter Association of Canada 2019 Agar-Stringer Award for his lifetime contribution to the Canadian helicopter industry.

Sitnam started his aviation career in 1977, flying light and medium utility helicopters in the Yukon, Alberta and Northern B.C. In 1986 with the backing of investors, Sitnam started a scheduled helicopter service between Vancouver and Victoria operating multi-engine, multi-crew IFR-certified helicopters.

Over the past 33 years, Helijet has grown to become the largest helicopter airline in the world, while branching into a variety of fixed- and rotary-wing markets, including air ambulance, film, tourism, corporate, and natural resources, as well as heliport operations through a subsidiary company, Pacific Heliport Services.

The company has a combined fleet of 17 helicopters and turbo-prop aircraft providing scheduled, charter and air ambulance services throughout B.C. and North America.

“I feel humbled to receive the Agar-Stringer,” said Sitnam. “I don’t see this award as being about me. It’s about 170 professionals who go to work at Helijet every day, driving the company forward and making a difference to the communities we serve.”

Island brewers wins Growlers

Victoria’s Driftwood Brewery and Twin City Brewing of Port Alberni were big winners at Growler magazine’s B.C. Craft Beer Readers’ Choice Awards.

For the second year in a row, Driftwood took the gold in the West Coast/specialty IPA category for its Fat Tug IPA, and moved up from silver last year to take the coveted Beer of the Year title. Twin City Brewing won seven medals, including the Unsung Hero award for best small market brewery.

Nominees for the so-called Growlies were selected by a panel of 25 judges. The public then had its say, voting online to determine the winners.

CIBC joins South Island Prosperity Partnership

CIBC is the newest member to join the South Island Prosperity Partnership. SIPP is the economic development agency for Greater Victoria and already counts the majority of the region’s financial institutions among its members.