Our People: Frederic S. (Rick) Hirtle, FCA
I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. From my office window in Salmon Arm, BC, I look down on the calm clear waters of Shuswap Lake. In the summer I can be out the front door and on my water ski boat within 15 minutes. In the winter I’m off to the nearby slopes of Silver Star Mountain to ski. Throughout the year, I run several times a week through the nearby wooded trails. But mostly, though, I love the fact I only face a four minute commute into work every morning.
Not that my office is a sleepy little outpost of BDO. In my nearly 29 years with the firm, I’ve served on regional, national and international committees, was a regional managing partner, helped introduce new technology to my firm, and worked in the Yukon gold fields to become a placer mining taxation specialist. Throughout, I’ve traveled tens of thousands of miles, met people from all walks of life, and my work only seems to grow more interesting with each day.
I guess you could say I enjoy the best of all worlds. And what made it all possible was my choice of profession.
I received my CA designation in 1978 and moved to Salmon Arm the same year. I’ve always been a small-town boy. I was born in Oliver, BC, which is at the southern tip of the Okanagan Valley, not far from the border with Washington State. Shortly thereafter my father, an engineer, took a job with an aluminum company of Canada, Alcan Inc., and we moved north to Kitimat, about 100 km south of Alaska. Aside from 10 years studying and working in Vancouver, it’s the small communities I consider home.
Just like my passion in the greater outdoors, as an accountant I was drawn to Salmon Arm by the chief player of its economy – agriculture. And while some might not share my passion for dairy farming and ranching, the Okanagan is also home to some of Canada’s most dynamic wineries. Names like Gray Monk Estate, Mission Hill and Cedar Creek have combined the valley’s rich soil and a mild climate with 20 years of experience and sharp marketing acumen to produce labels that have gained a reputation not only in Canada but also on the international vintners’ stage.
At the same time, being part of a national and international firm has broadened my horizons. Earlier on with the firm, I was staked $10,000 so I could head to the Yukon, the Land of the Midnight Sun. There along the banks of the Dominion Creek, I learned about placer mining, the process of getting gold from loose gravel. From that adventure, I’m now the go-to guy for my firm on this high risk industry.
And from my small town office, I’ve also taken part in my firm’s national growth. I’ve been a member and chair of several committees and task forces, from chairing the BDO Dunwoody Policy Board, to searching for a new CEO, and even making the technological leap in our offices from WordPerfect to Microsoft. I served as a member of the BDO Binder BV International Task Force on Information Technology, was Regional Managing Partner for the British Columbia Interior for five years, and still found time to be an active member of my community.
But in the end, it all comes back to Salmon Arm, my home. This is where my wife Linda and I raised our two daughters – Stephanie and Megan – two stellar athletes who are also outstanding students attending university in Alberta. I credit in part my children’s accomplishment to the healthy upbringing they received growing up in this fine community.
I also count myself fortunate that today big dreams can be realized from small places, and achieved without having to fight traffic gridlock several hours a day.
