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Development/Construction
Les Bellamy, founder, Bellamy Homes, has been appointed president of the Canadian Home Builders Association of the Central Okanagan (CHBA-CO). Other members of the CHBA-CO’s executive committee are Cassidy deVeer (first vice-president), 3rd Generation Homes; Justin O’Connor (past president), Sotheby’s International Realty; and Kevin Santos (treasurer), Grant Thornton LLP. Directors on the board are David Pfuetzner, Align West Homes; Chuck Cullen, Team Construction; Ranvir Nahal, Sunterra Custom Homes; Jade Davidson, Hybrid Elevator; Russ Foster, Wilden/Blenk Development; Erika Jarvis, CapriCMW Insurance; Krista Paine, Ian Paine Construction & Design; Ray Wynsouw, CorWest Builders; and Brianne McKenzie, KelownaNow/Csek Creative.
Finance
FinCanna Capital Corp., a royalty company for the U.S. licensed medical cannabis industry, has appointed Rosy Mondin to its board of advisers. Mondin is an advocate for the legalization of cannabis in Canada and is the first woman to hold the role of CEO in a publicly traded company in the cannabis sector. Specializing in corporate law, Mondin served as strategic adviser for several companies involved in the processing, distribution and safe use of medical cannabis. She co-founded Soma Labs Scientific in 2014, which amalgamated to form Quadron Cannatech Corp. in 2016. Mondin is CEO and director of the company, which focuses on extraction and processing solutions.
GroupHealth Benefit Solutions has announced the appointment of five new directors to the company’s leadership team. In Surrey, BJ Broitman joins as the director of project management, Jeremy Brown has been promoted to director of associations and Benoit Hudson has been appointed director of underwriting and growth strategies. In Ontario, Cameron Court joins the company as director of health and dental claims and contact centres and will be located in Etobicoke. Franca Ferreira takes on the role of the director of group benefits services at the Barrie office. GroupHealth has more than 400 employees in offices in Vancouver, Surrey, Calgary, Edmonton, Etobicoke, Woodbridge and Barrie.
Health/Medical
New Age Farm Inc., an agricultural services company offering turnkey growing infrastructure and services for licensed growers and processors of marijuana crops at its agri-campuses in Washington state, has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, We Are Kured, has expanded into South America by launching Kured Latin America LLC and electing a managing director, Yves Yon, to spearhead the new expansion. Yon is a technology entrepreneur and is a founder and CEO of a consortium of companies in Latin America.
Hospitality/Tourism/Convention
Jonas Hamre and Zachary Lavoie have been appointed head chef and general manager, respectively, at Mamie Taylor’s. Hamre, who is also a certified sommelier, most recently served as executive chef of the University of British Columbia Alma Mater Society. Hamre has also worked at Calabash Bistro and Memphis Blues BBQ House, and opened his own restaurant, Jaroblue, in Calgary in 2007. Lavoie has worked at Umberto Menghi’s II Caminetto in Whistler and tended bar at The Keefer and The Diamond.
Non-profit
Anne Tower has joined the Adoptive Families Association of BC (AFABC) as executive director. Tower was most recently with Junior Achievement of British Columbia, where she spent a decade in leadership positions. Prior to that, Tower worked at BC Housing, the Canadian Education Centre Network and the Vancouver Public Library. She has experience in municipal, provincial, federal and international contexts, with a focus on youth education and economic development. As an adoptee, Tower also brings a personal connection to adoption and the work of AFABC.
Sid Sharma, entrepreneur and accountant, has joined the Coquitlam Foundation’s board of directors. After immigrating with his family to Canada in 2008, Sharma became director of finance and corporate service with the College of Registered Nurses of BC, and then founded his own business consulting firm. He later launched Europa Language School and is also part owner of a preschool and daycare in Coquitlam. He is also director of finance for Centric Health’s surgical division, overseeing ambulatory surgical centres in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg and Toronto. Sharma and his family have lived in Coquitlam since 2012.
Resources
David Broughton has been appointed senior technical adviser at Group Ten Metals Inc., with a primary focus on the company’s flagship Stillwater West PGE-Ni-Cu project in Montana. U.S. Broughton has more than 30 years of experience in mineral exploration, including the discovery of two major mineral deposits with Ivanhoe Mines, where he is currently senior adviser, exploration and geology. He was previously executive vice-president, exploration, for Ivanplats, now Ivanhoe Mines.
COMPANIES ON THE MOVE
Name Change
The Beedie group of companies is now known as simply Beedie. Founded in 1954 by Keith Beedie, the company began with housing construction and has since diversified into industrial development, private investments and philanthropy. Beedie has built more than 25 million square feet of industrial space, as well as hundreds of single-family homes and high-density mixed-use projects. The company and family have also donated to a variety of charities and foundations over the years. Its largest donation, $22 million, was to Simon Fraser University in 2011 to establish the Beedie School of Business.
New in town
Spatial Research and Design, a digital product design consultancy, has launched Canada’s first independent research lab focused on the human impacts of emerging technologies such as virtual and augmented reality. Spatial’s Human Impact Research Lab, located in Vancouver’s city centre, is equipped to conduct research and testing on a variety of devices including Oculus, Microsoft HoloLens and other head-mounted displays.
HATS OFF
Business in Vancouver welcomes submissions from local small businesses and large corporations alike that demonstrate examples of corporate philanthropy and community involvement in the Vancouver area. High-resolution images are also welcome.
The 11th annual Summer Sundays Concerts at Rocky Point Park in Port Moody raised almost $5,700 this year for Crossroads Hospice Society. The free blues, soul, funk, R&B and reggae concerts were sponsored by Pacific Coast Terminals, K+S Potash, TD Canada Trust, Open Road Toyota, Phoenix Truck & Crane, Flavelle Oceanfront Development, Re/Max Bill Laidler Team and Tri-City News, with support from the City of Port Moody.
United Way Lower Mainland donated a $17,730 community grant to Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland. These funds will help the organization match at-risk girls with a supportive mentor through their one-to-one Big Sisters mentoring program.
This year’s Golf for KidSafe tournament raised over $215,000 for the organization that provides 450 vulnerable children and youth with safety, nutrition and educational programming during breaks when schools are traditionally closed.
Progressa selects a local charity to support each year, holding various team-building events to raise money. This year, the company donated $5,000 to provide 850 meals to those in need in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside through A Better Life Foundation’s Plenty of Plates program. Partnered with Save On Meats, the foundation works to increase food security for women and children fleeing violence, street-entrenched youth and people living well below the poverty line by providing meals, training and employment opportunities. •
