Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

For the record, February 26, 2019

Email your For the Record information to: [email protected]. Please include a high-resolution, colour headshot where possible. Photos appear in the print edition only.
ftr_logo1

Email your For the Record information to: [email protected].
Please include a high-resolution, colour headshot where possible. Photos appear in the print edition only.

Cannabis

Karl Schmieder and Tom Wisniewski have been appointed director, business development, and vice-president, sales operations, respectively, at Weekend Unlimited Inc. As an executive and entrepreneur, Schmieder has more than 25 years of business development experience in biopharmaceutical and internet industries. Wisniewski has more than 20 years of sales expertise in consumer-packaged goods, investment, real estate and telecommunications industries.

Kevin Swadish, a beverage industry veteran, has been appointed to the newly created position of chief revenue officer at Isodiol International Inc., a company focused on product development, sales, marketing and distribution of hemp-based consumer packaged goods. Swadish has served in a variety of executive leadership roles in both mass market and specialty beverage sectors throughout the U.S. He started his career with E. & J. Gallo, a leading wine company in the U.S., spending 12 years there. Subsequently, Swadish held senior management roles at various wine and spirits companies, including serving as senior vice-president of sales and marketing for Young’s Market Co. and chief operating officer of Skyy Vodka.

Education

Brian J.R. Stevenson has been appointed president and CEO of Navitas’ University partnerships, North America division. Navitas partners with Lakehead University, Simon Fraser University and the University of Manitoba to support their internationalization goals. Stevenson has more than two decades of experience in campus internationalization, international relations and foreign policy. Prior to this appointment, Stevenson served as the 2018-19 Fulbright research chair at the Center for U.S.-Mexico Studies at the University of California, San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy. He previously served as president and vice-chancellor of Lakehead University in Ontario. Stevenson grew up in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and is fluent in English and Spanish.

Hospitality/Tourism/Convention

Carol Becker has been appointed managing director of Globe Series, a Vancouver-based company that convenes world-renowned events that accelerate the clean economy. Becker has more than 25 years of experience working with both non-profit and for-profit organizations, and most recently was the director of operations at Prime Strategies Inc.

Legal

Watson Goepel LLP has welcomed new associates Henry Ka and Zoe Klassen to its business group and litigation and dispute resolution group, respectively. Ka has a background in private and commercial lending and spent several years working for a global financial institution. Klassen focuses her practice on general commercial litigation matters. 

Resources

Michael L. MacDonald has resigned from the board of Canada Carbon Inc.

Retail

David McConnachie has joined Saje Natural Wellness as chief commercial officer. McConnachie has 25 years of experience in the global retail market, having worked in Europe, Australia and North America. His recent experience includes 12 years at L’Occitane, most recently as general manager of its Australian market, and previously as general manager of its Canadian market. Prior to his regional roles, he held progressive leadership roles in retail operations, retail development and property management at L’Occitane. His career within the natural product space began at Neal’s Yard, as head of retail.

COMPANIES ON THE MOVE

New Location

Devencore, a privately owned commercial real estate company with offices across Canada, has relocated its Vancouver office to Bentall 2 in the financial district downtown. The new office space reflects the recent rebrand the company underwent in the summer of 2018 and strives to preserve and further cultivate a creative workplace.

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 Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia has given Vickie Whitehead, director, Deloitte Canada, a Distinguished Service Award for her commitment and dedication to the community. Whitehead has provided leadership to First Nations across Canada for more than 20 years. She leads Deloitte Canada’s Indigenous wealth services in B.C. and the North and is a regional co-leader for the firm’s inclusion program. Before joining Deloitte, she managed program planning and implementation with Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada.

Whitehead is a dedicated volunteer and leader in the community and has mentored other Indigenous women formally and informally. As vice-chair of the National Aboriginal Trust Officers Association (NATOA), she helps the charity provide First Nations with the resources to create and operate trusts, and she has improved NATOA’s financial management through an annual budgeting process and expenditure approval process. She also chaired an advisory group for AFOA Canada, a not-for-profit organization that supports First Nations with training and professional development to foster finance skills, served on the board of directors of AFOA BC and was recently elected to the AFOA Canada board by her peers.

LNG Canada has announced a three-year, $150,000 sponsorship of the Outland Youth Employment Program (OYEP) in B.C. OYEP West, a six-week, live-in camp near Prince George, provides Indigenous youth aged 16 to 18 with an immersive, hands-on experience to develop critical life and work skills. Over the past 19 years, OYEP has impacted the lives of close to 500 Indigenous students from more than 71 communities across Canada. LNG Canada’s sponsorship runs through to 2021 and builds on its one-time sponsorship in 2018 of the OYEP West camp.

LNG Canada has also contributed $80,000 to sponsor three sessions of driver training, two in Kitimat and one in Terrace. This funding will enable 46 students to take the graduated licensing program and go from an L (Class 7) licence to an N (Class 7) licence. In addition, students will receive training on defensive driving and how to be a safe driver.

These sponsorships are part of LNG Canada’s commitment to provide employment opportunities for the local community and First Nations, and to remove barriers so individuals can take advantage of the employment opportunities that lie ahead as the project moves into construction.

Donald and Julia Leung, immigrants to Canada in the 1960s, recently donated $1.5 million to BC Cancer, to help fund lung cancer research and equipment needs. Donald Leung is the owner of Donald’s Fine Foods, a hog processing and meat wholesale company based in Richmond that exports quality meats to more than 25 countries.

The inaugural Canucks Autism Network (CAN) Pro-Am, presented by Modern Green Canada, raised $575,000 to support the ongoing delivery of CAN’s sports and recreation programs for children, youth and young adults living with autism in B.C.

Westcoast Wills & Estates donates 3% of its revenue to charities each year. Last year the firm donated to Canadian Parks and Wilderness, Harvest Project and Doctors Without Borders. •