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 Hecht, Vice President, Digital Media
Chris Heming, President Specialty Technical Publishers
Peter Kvarnstrom, Vice President, British Columbia Operations
Janny Vincent, President and CEO, Fundata
Bill Whitelaw, President, JuneWarren-Nickle's Energy Group
Bob Willcox, Publisher, Farm Business Communications

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

Jonathon Kennedy is President and Chief Executive Office of Glacier Media Group. A graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Business School, Mr. Kennedy began his career as an associate in corporate finance at ScotiaMcLeod in Toronto, where he was involved in a variety of mergers and acquisition transactions, public financings, private placements and other corporate finance activities. He left ScotiaMcLeod in 1989 to work as a political advisor and community liaison for the Honourable Robert Nixon, Treasurer and Minister of Economics for the Government of Ontario.

Following his graduation from Harvard Business School’s MBA program in 1992, Mr. Kennedy was recruited by Southam Inc. with initial responsibility for a range of turnaround projects at various Southam-owned newspaper operations, including Pacific Press. In his last two years at Southam, Mr. Kennedy was Director of Strategy & Development for Pacific Press, then Vice-President of Marketing for Pacific Press. Pacific Press subsequently became a division of CanWest Global Communications Inc., publishers of The Vancouver Sun and The Province.

Mr. Kennedy joined Madison Pacific Properties in 1997 and was named President and CEO of Glacier in 1998.

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 Hect Paul Hecht joined Glacier in 2010 after spending nearly seven years helping Expedia become the world’s leading seller of travel. Paul was the second employee at Expedia in Canada and helped shape the team behind one of Canada’s most successful online retailers. Paul began his career in interactive media producing CD-ROM titles in the 1990’s and later worked on web solutions for companies including Canadian Tire, Onex and Signature Vacations. Paul’s career has taken him to Asia, Australia, the United States and most recently an extended period in London, UK. Paul managed real-time scoring websites for Tennis Canada and was an Off-Ice Official for the National Hockey League in Toronto. He is active in philanthropic work and currently serves on the board of Athletes for Africa.

Chris Heming immigrated to Canada in 1980. In 1982 he worked for CCH where he gained his experience in the publishing arena. He continued his career in management for a division of Carswell before founding his own publishing company, STP Specialty Technical Publishers in 1986. STP specialized primarily in Environmental Publishing before growing into a multi faceted technical publishing company. In 1999 Glacier Media purchased his company and Mr. Heming has managed STP to this day.

Mr. Heming was educated in South Africa where he studied history in Johannesburg at The University Of The Witwatersrand until 1972 when he went to England for 9 years before immigrating to Canada.

Peter Kvarnstrom is Vice 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.

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