For many Alberta business owners, the challenge right now isn’t opportunity. It’s uncertainty.Geopolitical pressures, shifting trade relationships, labour constraints, and rising operating costs are creating decisions that feel harder to time and riskier to make. As Todd Millar, President and CEO of TEC Canada and Chair of BTF Alberta 2026, put it, owners are dealing with forces that sit well beyond tariffs alone.

When George Armoyan, Executive Chairman of G2S2 Capital, sat down with Christine Pound for a BTF keynote conversation, he spoke less about growth curves and more about judgment. It was less about timing exits and more about surviving cycles. From immigrating to Canada as a teenager to building one of the country’s largest private investment companies, George’s perspective has been shaped by volatility.

Some enduring businesses are built far from the usual centres of capital and attention. They take shape in environments where resources are constrained, execution matters and results speak louder than reputation. That perspective came through clearly during a conversation at BTF Winnipeg with Joshua Simair, Co-Founder and former CEO of SkipTheDishes.