Management

Jonathon J.L. Kennedy, President & Chief Executive Officer
Orest Smysnuik, Chief Financial Officer
Bruce Creighton, President, Business Information Group
Dennis Ermel, CEO, PrintWest Communications Ltd.
Paul Harris, President, Business in Vancouver
Alvin Brouwer, President, Lower Mainland Publishing LTD. & Community Digital Media
Deon Kopke, President Specialty Technical Publishers
Peter Kvarnstrom, President, British Columbia Operations
Janny Vincent, President and CEO, Fundata
Bill Whitelaw, President, JuneWarren-Nickle's Energy Group
Bob Willcox, President, Glacier Agriculture

Jonathon J.L. Kennedy, President & Chief Executive Officer

Jonathon Kennedy has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Glacier Media Group since 1998. Under his leadership, Glacier has grown from $5 million of capital to its current position. Mr. Kennedy has been responsible for overseeing the development of Glacier’s corporate strategy, identifying and acquiring businesses that fit with this strategy, and overseeing management and operations.

Mr. Kennedy has 19 years of experience in the media industry. Prior to Glacier, he worked with Southam Inc. on turnaround projects, then as Vice-President of Marketing for Pacific Press. Mr. Kennedy also worked for three years as an investment banker with ScotiaMcLeod Inc. (now Scotia Capital) in Toronto from 1986-89, and was a policy advisor to the Honourable Robert F. Nixon, Treasurer and Minister of Economics for the Government of Ontario from 1989-90. He joined Madison Venture Corporation in 1997 and is a principal of Madison, which owns 33% of Glacier. Mr. Kennedy is a graduate of Harvard College (A.B. in economics, 1986) and Harvard Business School (M.B.A. 1992).

Orest Smysnuik has more than two decades of experience in Canada’s publishing industry, and has been Glacier Media Group’s Chief Financial Officer since January 2004. In this role, he is responsible for all corporate finance and reporting functions.

Mr. Smysnuik is actively involved in all strategic and major operational aspects of Glacier’s businesses, and plays an integral role in Glacier’s acquisition strategy. Prior to joining Glacier, Mr. Smysnuik served as Chief Financial Officer of Lower Mainland Publishing Ltd. Mr. Smysnuik is a chartered accountant and graduate of The University of Saskatchewan.

Bruce Creighton has been the President of the Business Information Group since 1997.

Through his leadership, he has transformed his business of traditional print trade magazines and business directories into a large multi-media publisher of business information. Sources of revenues have been significantly expanded to include online, events and custom publishing. He has been directly involved in a number of acquisitions which have added to the portfolio.

Prior to working at Business Information Group, he held senior positions within the newspaper industry. He was at the Chicago Sun Times, was Executive Vice President of The Financial Post, General Manager of The Calgary Sun and Director of Circulation for The Toronto Sun.

Bruce has been active on a number of Charity boards, as well as Access Copyright and Chairman of the Canadian Business Press.

Prior to being appointed CEO in September 2010, Dennis spent 14 years as the Vice President Finance and CFO. Since joining PrintWest, he has been responsible for all financial and corporate governance issues, as well as being involved in the strategic planning and annual budgeting process. The company has evolved dramatically over the recent past and Dennis has been a key player in this evolution. He has a Bachelor of Administration from the University of Regina and obtained his Chartered Accountant designation in 1991.

paul harris, president, business in vancouver

Paul Harris has been President and Publisher of Business in Vancouver Media Group since 2010, with responsibility for the group’s strategic direction and day-to-day operations.

Since that time, Mr. Harris has overseen the successful re-launch of the group’s flagship business journal and website, as well as its realignment as a key provider of daily B.C. business content – in so doing, expanding its readership and elevating its brand. Previously, Mr. Harris was both Publisher and Editor of the media group’s special publications division.

Mr. Harris has 17 years experience in the media industry. Prior to joining Glacier, Mr. Harris held a variety of editorial roles with daily and weekly newspapers in the U.K.

Mr. Harris graduated from the University of Lancaster, in England, with a Bachelor of Arts in History in 1994, and has a Postgraduate Diploma in Newspaper Journalism. He lives in Lions Bay with his wife Rachel and two sons.

Alvin brouwer, President, lower mainland publishing ltd. & community digital media

Paul Hect

Alvin Brouwer has been President of Lower Mainland Publishing LTD since July 2012. Community Digital Media was added to his responsibilities in April 2013. Alvin has over 30 years experience in both the print and digital media business. Prior to joining Glacier Media Alvin was the President, Business Ventures at Postmedia Network. Prior to joining Postmedia Network Alvin had spent the previous 20 years at Metroland Media Group holding a number of senior management roles most recently as Vice President of Advertising and Product Development. Alvin is responsible for Glacier Media’s community newspapers in Vancouver, North Shore, Burnaby, Tri Cities, Surrey, Richmond, Delta, Maple Ridge, Langley, New West, Chilliwack and Abbottsford. Alvin is also responsible for Glacier Media strategy and operations for Digital Media across its newspapers. Alvin can be reached at abrouwer@glaciermedia.ca. Alvin and his wife Kim live in sunny Tsawwassen and have 4 grown children.

KOPKE, Deon
July 28, 1958 - March 10, 2013
After settling in Canada, Deon joined Specialty Technical Publishers (STP) in October 1998. He brought with him a great deal of energy and enthusiasm, and he rose quickly into a management position in the company. His legal background and corporate finance experience in South Africa was immediately evident, and his early task was to manage the relationship the company had developed with one of the "Big-five" international accounting firms. STP was the first outside publishing company to be entrusted to market a range of specialist accounting guide books and Deon managed the relationship with aplomb, enhancing the status of STP in the professional publishing field. He soon graduated to the position of Vice-president of Sales where he led a team of 75 sales people marketing a wide range of products: accounting, business law, and environmental health and safety compliance. While he managed his team with a firm hand he also showed a great deal of empathy and understanding: his sense of humour, sound sense of values, and ability to inspire and connect with people always shone through. Upon the retirement of the founder of the company in 2011 Deon was the natural choice to take over as president and CEO. He had a vision for the transformation of the company into the field of electronic publishing and his many innovations were just beginning to gain traction when he died. His legacy and vision will be perpetuated by the strong management team that he had built around himself. Deon believed that the reward of hard work was to have the time to enjoy social contact with his many friends. He had friends from all walks of life who would share his passion for good food, good wine, good books, good conversation, fine art, live music, and the many outdoor attractions that British Columbia has to offer. He was a keen golfer and treasured his annual spring-time golfing trips to the interior with his pals. He also enjoyed skiing, racket-ball, tennis, cycling, and kayaking. He had an uncanny knack for remembering historical facts, and would add value to conversations on any number of topics. Perhaps the most defining quality about Deon was his pride in the way in which he had grown up: he came from a solid, stable, loving family and his adult persona was shaped very much by his years at school: he attended Graeme College in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa. He spoke about his school days often and he recounted many fond stories of influential teachers, fellow pupils (especially the naughty ones), and the struggles and triumphs on the cricket, athletic, and rugby fields. It gave him immense pleasure and pride just recently to have written to his "old Graemian boys" about the memories that had been evoked on hearing the school hymn, O God our Help in Ages Past being performed at a church in San Francisco. Such was the universality of Deon's presence. He will be missed by people from all over the globe who might have thought they had nothing in common - until they met Deon. Deon is survived by his mother Anel Kopke, his sister Pier Beaumont, brother-in-law Stephen Beaumont and his two nieces Pippa and Cary-Ann. A celebration of his life will be held at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church, 1440 West 12th Street in Vancouver, at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 24, 2013.

Peter Kvarnstrom is President, British Columbia Operations for Glacier Media Group. Peter joined the newspaper industry in 1991 as a classified sales rep at the North Shore News. In 1992 he was promoted to Retail Advertising Manager and later assumed responsibilities for National Sales, Inside Sales, Co-op and Automotive advertising. In 1997 Peter left the North Shore News to move to Sechelt, BC to launch a new community newspaper, Coast Reporter, in partnership with Madison Group. Madison Group is the largest single shareholder of Glacier Media Inc. Peter continues to be the Publisher of the Coast Reporter in Sechelt.

In 1999 Peter moved his family back to Vancouver to assume the role of Regional Manager and later Vice President for Community Newspaper Operations for Madison Group. In 2005 Peter moved into his current position after Glacier acquired all of Madison Publishing. Peter has been involved with Glacier on a project basis since the 2002 acquisition of the Western Producer and subsequent acquisitions of a large number of Saskatchewan weekly community newspapers. In 2010 Peter’s role expanded to include all Glacier’s BC publishing operations (Newspapers, the Business in Vancouver Media Group and Real Estate Weekly).

Peter represents Glacier on the Canadian Newspaper Association Board of Directors and previously served as President of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association. Peter is currently Chair of the Co management Committee of CNA/CCNA. Peter has also served the industry as a Director of Combase (Community Newspaper Database Corporation) and President of the BC & Yukon Community Newspaper Association.
Peter is married to Susan with whom he has a family of three boys that keep him very busy as a Scout Leader, Basketball coach and the past President of the West Vancouver Little League.

Janny Vincent, President and CEO, Fundata

Janny Vincent founded Fundata in 1987. Janny is also President of Vincent Associates Inc., an information management firm. She brings over three decades of experience in the information management business, having started as an editor at the Financial Post Information Services during her university years. Prior to starting Vincent and Fundata, Janny was a pension consultant. Under her leadership Fundata has grown from a firm providing tables for newspapers to a purveyor of specialized investment fund, ETF and equity data for the Canadian and global marketplace. Janny heads a team of over 50 seasoned professionals who provide timely and accurate data solutions to their clients in formats designed to fit their needs. Janny graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts in English and lives in Toronto with her family.

Bill Whitelaw, President & CEO of JuneWarren-Nickle’s Energy Group

Bill Whitelaw began his involvement with the publishing industry in the 1960s selling the St. John’s Evening Telegram while living in Goose Bay, Labrador. Having worked as a reporter, editor-in-chief, and publisher, he brings over 30 years of experience in the newspaper and business-to-business media sectors to the company. Since joining JWN in 2002, Bill has been responsible for expanding the company’s product portfolio and developing new frontiers within the industry, while also ensuring JWN remains progressive and people-focused. He has a Print Journalism diploma from Loyalist College, a B.A. from Queen’s University, and a Master of Communication Studies from the University of Calgary. Bill is also a director on many community boards, including the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame, Canadian Business Press, Vertigo Theatre, Alberta Global Forum, and Telus World of Science (External Relations Committee).

Bob Willcox has spent most of his 25-year career in the newspaper business in weeklies and dailies in locations as diverse as the Cowichan Leader on Vancouver Island and the Charlottetown Guardian on Prince Edward Island. A graduate the University of British Columbia where he received a Bachelor of Physical Education, he has worked as a reporter, salesman, ad sales manager and vice-president of a western Canadian community newspaper group. In 2001 he joined the marketing division of the Manitoba Co-operator, which later became part of Farm Business Communications. He was appointed FBC's publisher in 2006 and president of Glacier Agriculture Group in April, 2012. The group now has print and online properties serving every province. Bob is responsible for co-ordination of the group including its expanded online presence, while ensuring the continued strong identity of each of its brands, most of which have strong and deep roots in the Canadian agricultural community.

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