president’s report february 2011 · dave andru, cma has left lululemon after 7 successful years...

President’s ReportFebruary 2011

How time flies! It was just one-year ago that the citywas abuzz with the Olympics, as Wayne Gretzkyparaded the torch through town, and athletes fromaround the world descended on Vancouver.

What will 2011 have in-store? Well, your events team has compiled animpressive list of upcoming events and speakers for the remainder of theyear. Please see the events section for more details.

We would also like to remind everyone of the upcoming NationalConference, to be held in Ottawa, June 8-10, at the Westin Hotel. Newmembers may attend the conference for free, and we expect great slateof speakers and activities, so please encourage any associates who mayqualify for membership to attend an upcoming event to see what FEI hasto offer.

Lastly, just a friendly reminder to please contact FEI National within 72hours of an event, if you have previously registered and are no longerable to attend. We appreciate your cooperation.

Look forward to seeing everyone at our next event!

All the Best,

Brad Cruickshank

Membership CommitteeReport

FEI Canada statistics have shown that the greatest membership growth happens from Janu-ary to May of every year. With February upon us now, we’re only a mere 4 months awayfrom the 2011 FEI Canada Conference in Ottawa from June 8th to 10th. So, this is the time tostart encouraging any fellow colleagues or friends to join FEI Canada.

By joining FEI, a new member is entitled to attend a free FEI Canada Conference, which hasa registration value of up to $1,300. The 2011 Conference brochure and promotional mate-rial will be available in a few weeks and the Conference is shaping up to be another excitingevent. Remember, to tell your friends that the Conference offers 11 PD credits, so this is awonderful way to attain your PD credits and experience an FEI Canada Conference for thefirst time.

FEI Canada is revamping its membership brochure and we will be condensing the brochureand making it more eye-catching. This is a key tool for the organization to educate prospec-tive FEI members of all the benefits of joining up FEI. If you have any ideas on how to im-prove this document for our membership recruitment initiatives, please let me know.

The value of an FEI Canada membership is greatly driven by “blue chip” events that we puton as well as the networking opportunities offered at these events. The FEI National Break-fast seminar series has been a huge hit as well as the annual Canada CFO of the Yearevent. On top of that, we have our own local Vancouver Chapter events, which is a blend ofbreakfast, lunch & dinner events that appeal to different FEI members. So, I am reallypleased to say that we have been able to line up an impressive roster of special speakers inthe coming months.

On February 17th, we have Helmut Pastrick from Central 1, followed by Police Chief JimChu (Vancouver Police Department) in March and David Cobb (current President & CEO ofBC Hydro and former EVP & Deputy CEO of VANOC and COO of Orca Bay Entertainmentoperating the Vancouver Canucks) in April. Full details of these events will be found in ourEvents section of the Newsletter.

It’s time to wrap it up for another month. On behalf of Rob Hibberd, who has been helpingme with the Membership Committee, we look forward to seeing you at a future FEI event!

Danley Yip

New Member Profile

Name: Navida Suleman

What is your current role: Assistant Vice President, Finance atFirst West Credit Union. We are BC’s 3rd largest credit union,operating 37 branches across the province under the EnvisionFinancial and Valley First brands.

What attracted you to FEI: the opportunity to network with mypeers in other industries and share best practices from a leader-ship perspective.

What do you like about your job: On January 1, 2010, FirstWest Credit Union was created as a result of a merger betweenEnvision Financial and Valley First credit unions. We’re pioneer-ing the way in our industry to create a new operating model forlike-minded credit unions to come together under win-win circum-stances. I love being a part of building this new model, andworking with the passionate people in our organization to suc-ceed together and give back to our communities at the sametime.

What do you like most about your company: Both the Envision Financial and Valley First divisionsof First West Credit Union are actively involved in the communities where we operate. We are gener-ous with our financial support, as well as our employees’ volunteer time. All of our staff are encour-aged to volunteer at various levels, and the organization even sponsors a week every year called“Days of Caring”, where every employee in the organization, from a branch teller to the CEO is giventhe opportunity to spend a weekday working on a volunteer project such as a soup kitchen or theFood Bank. I find it refreshing, and have a great respect for the fact that my organization “walks thewalk” when it comes to giving back to the community.

How do you balance your job with other day to day commitments: There are multiple pieces tobalance: there’s the balance at work between leadership responsibilities and just getting the workdone. I find if you succeed at your leadership responsibilities by engaging the team, providing appro-priate guidance and opportunities for increased responsibilities, then the latter just falls into place andthe work gets done. Balancing work and the rest of my life is an entirely different challenge, but hav-ing a 3-year old at home simply forces me to make family a priority!

How do you spend your time when you’re not at the office: I’m reliving my childhood through myson – tobogganing in the winter, building sand castles and water sliding in the summer. My husbandand I are looking forward to next winter when we can get my son onto skis and we can start headingback to Whistler on the weekends!

Include FEIin your

Retirement Planning

If you are planning to retire in the next few years, have you considered the benefits of con-tinuing your membership in FEI?

FEI has always promoted the social value of membership. The events are not just sources ofinformation; they are opportunities to network with friends who share your professional inter-ests. Retirement doesn’t need to bring an end to the contacts you made during your workingcareer as you keep up-to-date on economic, business and investment issues. As a retiredmember, you are welcome to attend all FEI events on the same basis as you always did.

FEI offers two options: retired membership; and life membership.

Dues for the retired membership are $175 + $75 Chapter Fees + $30 HST = $280 per year.

Life membership involves a one-time payment which is based on your years of membershipin FEI.

Less than 20 years: $1,200 + $500 Chapter Fee + $204 GST = $1,904

20 years or more: $600 + $260 Chapter Fees+ 103.20 GST = $ 963.20

There are some strategic issues to consider. It may be possible to get your employer to buyyou a life membership as part of a retirement package. If you are self-employed, it may bemore advantageous to buy a life membership just before you quit—while you still have tax-able business income against which to claim the expense. If you don’t have such opportuni-ties, you may be able to save money by using the annual option until you reach 20 years’membership.

To apply for life or retired membership status, contact Sydney Freeston 416.366.3007 x5110. [email protected]

If you want to talk about your options with a fellow member who has been there, callHugh Lindsay (604) 732-0366 [email protected].

Hugh Lindsay

Members in the News

Brian Richardson, CA is the new CFO for Southern Arc Minerals Inc., which is an Indone-sian-based Canadian mineral exploration company. Brian was formerly the CFO for Dyna-motive Energy Systems Corp.

Joseph Ng, CA has recently been promoted to Vice President, Finance at the EnglandGroup, which is a real estate investment management company specializing in multi-familyresidential complexes in Canada and the US.

George Lim, CA, CGA is no longer the CFO for Potash One Inc. effective January 21, 2011.This was pursuant to the successful Take-Over Bid by K+S Holdings Canada Holdings Inc.George has previously worked as the CFO for mining companies such as Golden PredatorMines Inc., Energy Metals Corp. and First Majestic Silver Corp.

Dave Andru, CMA has left Lululemon after 7 successful years with the company to pursuenew career opportunities. He joined Lululemon when the company had 9 stores and todaythey have grown to 135 stores. During his tenure there, revenues grew from $20 million to$650+ million.

Danley Yip

Professional Development Reporting

You can now get a list of the PD events you attended from the FEI Canada web-site. Just log in to the members section www.feicanada.org/login.html , select the“PD Credit Summary” link and enter the dates of your PD reporting year. Your loginis your last name and membership number. Your password is your membershipnumber.

The credits allowed by your professional association may differ from those shownin the PD Credit Summary.

Hugh Lindsay

January Microsoft Event

Our chapter’s latest event was a breakfast event featuring our Chapter Sponsor, Micro-soft. Held on January 20th at the Sutton Place Hotel, attendance was strong with almost 80registrants.

The management of complex processes is a challenge that many organizations face. Whilesome have access to widely distributed and cost effective “canned” solutions designed spe-cifically for the unique problems their industries need to manage, most do not and choose be-tween implementing expensive proprietary solutions or less expensive ad hoc “spreadsheetstyle” solutions, that may not represent a true cost savings in the long run.

Microsoft, in partnership with their partners, Arbutus Solutions and Global 360, described apotentially better alternative. Most importantly, a customer, Barry Hudson, the Manager, In-formation Systems, Nissan Canada Finance, presented the most interesting part of the story,a case study on the solution’s implementation.

I am sure that some members left the presentation thinking about how this or similar solutionsmay solve their own organization’s challenges. I know that I did. Thank you to Microsoft forfacilitating such a thought provoking discussion.

Jeff Shickele, FEI Vancouver Chapter,Michael Patrick, Arbutus Solutions,

Scott Kirkland, Global 360,Barry Hudson, Nissan Canada Finance

Save the Date!

FEI Vancouver Chapter Annual Golf Tournament

Dust off your golf clubs, the FEI Annual Golf Tournament will be held on Wednesday, May18, 2011 at The University Golf Club.

The Tournament this year is being held for the benefit of The KidSafe Project Society, aregistered BC charity. All funds raised by the Tournament after expenses will be donated toThe KidSafe Program.

The KidSafe mission is to help develop safe havens for at-risk inner-city elementary schoolstudents when schools are traditionally closed. The Program keeps schools open during win-ter, spring and summer breaks, providing a nurturing safe haven for nearly 400 inner-city ele-mentary students. For more information, please visit their website at www.kidsafe.ca

More information will follow shortly.

Neil Hummel

University Golf Club5185 University Boulevard

Vancouver, BC V6T 1X5

Date Event Type Detail Location

February 17th, 2011Luncheon Event

Registration: 11:30 amLuncheon: 12:00 pm

Helmut Pastrick

Chief Economist,Central 1 Credit Union

Sponsored by Central 1 Credit UnionVancouver Chapter Supporter

Sutton Place HotelSutton Place

845 Burrard StreetVancouver, BC ad

StreetVancouver

March 17th, 2011Luncheon Event


Jim Chu, Chief Constableof the Vancouver Police

Chief Jim Chu will talk about crime inVancouver and explain what drives prop-erty crime, and the picture of violent crimein the City, including gang crime. He willprovide information on crime trends andwill highlight recent policing suc-cesses. Jim will share some personal an-ecdotes and will talk about policing theVancouver 2010 Olympics. There will beplenty of time left over for questions fromthe audience.

TBA

March 22nd, 2011National Event

Live Video Broadcast11:30 a.m.

Infrastructure Symposium 2011Funding and Investing

McCarthy TetraultOffice

Suite 1300777 Dunsmuir StVancouver, BC

April 7th, 2011Luncheon Event


David Cobb, President and CEOBC Hydro TBA

May 18th, 2011 TBA FEI Annual Golf Tournament University GolfClub

April 13th, 2011Breakfast Event

Registration: 7:30 amBreakfast: 8:00 am

KPMGVancouver Chapter Sponsor Presents

Thinking of going public? This event willcommence with a ‘Markets and ExchangeOverview’ presentation by Cindy Gray ofthe TSX, followed by a report from KPMGon the latest developments and a paneldiscussion including Cindy Gray, a KPMGAudit Partner, Corporate Director and LawFirm.

TBA

FEI VancouverSalutes our Sponsors and

Supporters!

Aon Reed Stenhouse

Chapter Sponsors

Chapter Supporters

Should you be interested in sponsorship or have a recommendation for us tofollow up on, please contact Peter Ballachey by e-mail at: [email protected]

or by telephone: 604-240-7928

2011 Chapter Boardof Directors

Brad Cruickshank Chief Financial Officer, Dueck GM400 SE Marine Drive, Vancouver, BCV5X4X2

T: 604-326-7225F: 604-324-4414E: [email protected]

President

Peter Ballachey Consultant1254 Bracknell Place, N Vancouver, BCV7R1V5

T: 604-240-7928F:E: [email protected]

Past President &SponsorshipCommittee Chair

Brad Bardua Chief Financial Officer,Pacific BioEnergy Corporation1509 999 West Hastings StreetVancouver, BC V6C 2W2


Vice President

Danley Yip Division DirectorRobert Half Management Resources724 – 1055 Dunsmuir St, VancouverV7X 1L4


MembershipCommittee Chair

Fabiana Chubbs Treasurer, Eldorado Gold Corporation1188 550 Burrard Street, VancouverV6C 2B5


SponsorshipCommittee Director

Issa Nakhleh CFO, Heartforce Medical Inc.Suite 305 - 1818 Cornwall Avenue,Vancouver, V6J 1C7.


Secretary

Alan Wong CFO, Tides Canada2885 W 32nd Ave, Vancouver V6I 2B5

T: 604-647-6611 #235F: 866-780-6611E: [email protected]

Treasurer

Robert Hibberd PresidentAIS Advanced Inventory Services Ltd.303 1450 Burnaby Street, VancouverV6G 1W7


MembershipCommittee Director

Lynne Fraser2043 Latimer Road, Nanaimo, BCV9S 2W6


Newsletter &Communications

Doug Morison2958 Mahon Avenue, N Vancouver, BCV7N 3T1


Events CommitteeDirector

Hugh Lindsay President, FMG Financial Mentors GroupInc.2831 W 19th Avenue, Vancouver V6L 1E4


FEIsters Chair

Estelle Lo Chief Financial & Administrative Officer,S.U.C.C.E.S.S.28 West Pender Street, VancouverV6H 4G5



Angela Yap Director, Corporate AccountingAnthem Properties300 – 550 Burrard Street VancouverV6C 2B5



Jeff Shickele Vice President AccountingAmacon Group300 – 911 Homer St, Vancouver, BCV6B 2W6


Events CommitteeChair

Cheryl Yaremko Chief Accounting Officer,British Colombia Hydro & Power Authority

333 Dunsmuir Street, 11th Floor, VancouverV6B 5R3



Donna Denham Support Services Unlimited102 – 211 Columbia Street,Vancouver, BC V6A 2R5


Chapter Administrator

president’s report february 2011 · dave andru, cma has left lululemon after 7 successful years...

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