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Cannabis
Allan Rewak has been appointed vice-president, communications and stakeholder relations, at Emerald Health Therapeutics, a Canadian licensed producer of cannabis, effective April 15. Prior to joining Emerald, Rewak was executive director at the Cannabis Council of Canada, Canada’s national industry association for cannabis, cultivators and processors. Rewak also served as director of communications and stakeholder relations at Newstrike Resources, as a partner at Pathway Group and as a consultant at Leonard Domino & Associates.
Development/Construction
Stephen Wiens has been appointed chief operating officer at Spire Development Corp. Wiens has 20 years of experience with upholding budget surplus and maintaining profitability for various organizations and will oversee all aspects of Spire’s finances, staffing, accounting, IT and communications.
Legal
Kerry L. Simmons has been appointed executive director of the Canadian Bar Association BC Branch. Simmons assumes the role effective immediately, after serving as acting executive director since late last year. Simmons was called to the bar in 2000 and practised with Cook Roberts LLP in Victoria until 2018 in family law, risk management, employment law, commercial disputes, estate litigation and professional negligence. She served on the firm’s management committee for four years.
Braden Lauer has joined the business law group at Miller Titerle + Co. Lauer’s practice focuses on corporate commercial law, franchising, mergers and acquisitions, not-for-profit and commercial real estate.
Douglas G. Cottier and Elisabeth A. Sadowski have joined Richards Buell Sutton LLP as associates. Cottier is a member of the firm’s business law group, assisting clients with acquisitions and sales of businesses, corporate reorganizations and general corporate commercial matters. Sadowski is a member of the firm’s personal injury and employment and human rights groups, representing clients who have been seriously injured as a result of a car accident, slip and fall or occupiers negligence, and advising both employers and employees in employment and human rights law issues.
Resources
Abdel-Majeed Haroun has been appointed to the board of directors at Asante Gold Corp. Haroun, a resident of Accra, Ghana, has more than 30 years of hands-on experience in mining and agriculture in Ghana. He has held the positions of deputy minister of mines and deputy minister of agriculture. He was also the special adviser to vice-president Alou Mahama on the economy and international relations. Haroun co-founded and is the executive director of Africa Paulownia Silviculture and Environmental Conservation Institute, a consultancy focused on reclaiming galamsey-damaged land (illegal small-scale gold mining) back to environmentally sustainable agricultural use. He is currently CEO of the Northern Development Authority responsible for the financing and construction of the Infrastructure for Poverty Alleviation projects.
Sales/Marketing
Krystin Lee, creator of the lifestyle blog Suburban Faux-Pas, has joined Talk Shop Media as business director of social. Lee, based out of Ontario, has experience in marketing communications, public relations and social media strategy for financial, real estate, lifestyle and consumer brands, and is now responsible for guiding the growth of Talk Shop’s digital marketing and social media department nationally.
Paddy Laidley, executive vice-president and head of Raincoast Books, a division of Raincoast Distribution Group, is retiring May 31. Laidley joined Raincoast in 1994 as sales manager and has served in her current role since 2005. Peter MacDougall, currently vice-president of sales, will succeed her and will be promoted to executive vice-president of sales and marketing. MacDougall joined Raincoast in 2006 and was formerly a sales representative at Kate Walker & Co.
COMPANIES ON THE MOVE
New location
GroupHEALTH Benefit Solutions recently celebrated the groundbreaking of its new corporate headquarters, scheduled to be completed in 2020. The new office building, GroupHEALTH Place, will be at 15303 31st Avenue in South Surrey. The completed building will be four storeys tall, with 55,000 square feet of office space, including meeting and collaborative workspaces, along with lunch facilities. It will be home to 340 employees, who are a part of the team helping to drive the company’s rapid growth across Canada. GroupHEALTH also recently built an administration office in Barrie, Ontario, which opened in October 2017. GroupHEALTH is working with local contractors, including Wales McLelland Construction, to build its new headquarters.
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 Surrey Board of Trade announced the winners of its 2019 Surrey Women in Business awards: Santoshi Desai, co-founder, Orange Oranges Technologies Ltd. (entrepreneur category); Rupinder Khunkhun, lawyer and partner/owner, Grandview Law Group LLP (professional category); Ninu Kang, director of communications and development, MOSAIC (not-for-profit leadership); Alison Fuller, senior vice-president, finance, Venturis Capital Corp. (corporate leadership category); and Sonia Andhi Bilkhu, social worker, family counsellor and founder of Shakti (social trailblazer category), a non-profit that aims to empower women, children and their families by motivating and creating vibrant communities utilizing the social capital of local citizens.
Rona Home Centre’s Barnet Highway location donated $5,315.55 to Crossroads Hospice through Lowe’s Canada Heroes Campaign. Rona raised money at the till and through hot dog and doughnut sales. A portion of the funds raised at the store was matched by Lowe’s Canada.
Variety – the Children’s Charity donated $50,000 to the Take a Hike Foundation. The funds have been dedicated to the procurement of a new 24-passenger vehicle, enabling more vulnerable youth access to the life-changing outdoor experiences and community involvement integral to their success. •
