Success story: Suite Apps

Relocating their business to Kimberley was an advantageous move for mobile workers Brett Price and Nicole Pfiefer

As mobile professionals, Brett Price and Nicole Pfeifer can operate their business, Suite Apps, from virtually anywhere. But they chose Kimberley, B.C., because of its proximity to an international airport, affordable real estate and enviable lifestyle.

“With no traffic and limited or nominal commutes for most people, life and business is just easier here than it is in the city, which makes people happier,” said Price.

And he would know.

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Price later moved to Toronto, Ontario, and then Vancouver where he founded an athletic apparel company known as GIAA Custom. A German transplant, Pfeifer was the director of e-commerce for Best Buy Canada. But when Suite Apps was born, she left her job to focus on the couple’s sales and marketing agency.

Their integration into the Kimberley business community has been seamless, thanks, in part, to the welcoming environment that’s maintained by other business owners and municipal government. In 2016, Suite Apps won Home Business of the Year in Kimberley’s Business Excellence Awards.

“Businesses are very keen to work together,” said Price, “making it easy to find new projects and collaborators.”

Shortly after the move to Kimberley, Price started a third company, Kazoom Cycling Custom Apparel, no doubt inspired by his background in road racing. Pfeifer, too, is an avid cyclist and mountain biker who’s ridden two stages of the Tour de France.

Finding the ideal work-life balance

No two work days are the same for this couple who base their schedule around the weather and changing seasons.

“We cross-country or downhill ski two to six times per week in the winter and mountain bike three to four days in the summer,” said Price. “Plus, hiking, fishing, swimming and other fun Kootenay activities. There’s also lots of socializing with friends on patios!”

It’s a far cry from the traditional nine to five and the hustle and bustle of big city life. Comparable to large metropolitan centres, however, is Kimberley’s fibre-optic network and hearty bandwidth. Through Suite Apps, Price and Pfeifer have acquired clients from around the world, including the Campbell’s Soup Company and Ahold Delhaize, which is an international food retail company.

And they’ve done it all from the quiet comfort of their Kimberley home.