Board of Directors
Stephanie Booth
Chair, Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce
RBC Business Banking
Stephanie has been a resident of Port Moody for the last eight years and has two children currently enrolled in School District 43. As a seasoned banker (20 years with the financial services industry), and a community leader (with the United Way of the Lower Mainland), Stephanie believes that she can continue to add value to the Tri-Cities Chamber, making the Chamber a cornerstone of business within the Tri-Cities. Over the past year she have embarked on several exciting initiatives including serving as the Chair of the Community Relations Committee and assisting with heightening awareness within the Chamber as 2010 approaches.
Stephanie, in her new position of 2010 Chairman of the Board, aims to ensure that the Chamber continues its evolvement as a premier business association in the Tri-Cities. Her two main areas of focus will be transportation and economic development.
Contact Information
T. 604.927.5611
E. stephanie.booth@rbc.com
Richard Rainey
1st Vice Chair, Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce
Richard J.S. Rainey Law Corporation
Richard Rainey is a Coquitlam lawyer practicing principally in the areas of business law, wills and estates. Richard and his family are longtime Coquitlam residents, living in the Chineside area.
Richard is a graduate of Simon Fraser University, and The University of British Columbia and was called to the British Columbia Bar in 1992. Richard practiced business law in Vancouver with Douglas, Symes & Brissenden and Heenan Blaikie until forming his own firm in 2000.
Richard is presently a Director and Second Vice-Chair of the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce Serving Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody, and serves as its Policy Chair. Richard is also a Director of the Coquitlam Heritage Society, the Coquitlam Foundation and the Coquitlam Adanacs Senior A lacrosse club.
Richard is a former member of the Simon Fraser University Senate, the Board of Governors of the Children’s Foundation of British Columbia, and the Board of Governors of the Meadowridge School Society. Richard has also previously served on the Advisory Planning Commission to the City of Burnaby, has been an instructor in corporate law with the Professional Legal Training Course (the British Columbia bar admission course), and a lecturer in franchise and licensing issues with the People’s Law School.
Contact Information
T. 604.945.0012
E. richard@raineylaw.com
Davide Fantillo
2nd Vice Chair, Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce
Crest Impressions Inc.
Since 1993, Davide Fantillo has been the President and Owner of Crest Impressions Inc., a Commercial Printing company that offers end-to-end solutions, including printing, design, pre-press, binding, mailing, shipping and fulfillment. Recognized as one of the Tri-Cities most experienced printing and graphics company, Crest Impressions Ltd. has offered quality production and service for over 16 years.
In 2005, Davide was nominated for the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce’s “Chamber Member of the Year” award, and was a finalist for the “Small Business of the Year” award.
In his spare time, Davide has served in the Douglas College Self Employment local committee review board and has sat on the Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation’s Improvement Committee. He also was a Charter Member in the Rotary Club of Port Coquitlam Centennial Club and has served on his local Church administration board for over 10 years.
He also coaches and manages his children’s hockey and lacrosse teams. He has been married to his wife Elisa for over 17 years and has three wonderful children aged 13, 10 and 7.
Contact Information
T. 604.464.6766
E. info@crestimpressions.com
Jimmy Ho
3rd Vice Chair, Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce
Boulevard Casino
In his 21 years of employment with Great Canadian Casinos Inc., Jimmy has had the pleasure to experience the growth of a small business enterprise into an International Corporate Company. As the Assistant General Manager over the past four years at the Boulevard Casino, Jimmy has had the opportunity to work within the community in the Tri-Cities. In his dealings with both Business and Residential communities, Jimmy has meet many passionate individuals who have lead and built this area into the success it is today. From these individuals, Jimmy has learned what teamwork and involvement can achieve for a community.
Jimmy welcomes the opportunity to be part of the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce team and will draw upon his experiences from his schooling at the University of British Columbia, his work at Great Canadian Casino, and his work with community leaders in the last four years.
Contact Information
T. 604.516.7138
E. jho@gcgaming.com
Trevor Sutherland
Treasurer, Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce
EFR Coquitlam
Trevor is a busy professional, community leader, and dedicated husband and dad of three young children. In addition to establishing a successful accounting career with EPR Coquitlam, he is Treasurer of the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce and his local Church. He is also a panel member on the Discipline Committee of the Certified General Accountants Association of BC.
Trevor spent five years as an accountant in private industry before entering the field of public practice, providing him with a well rounded business background. He joined EPR in 1997, obtained his professional CGA designation in the following year, and became a Partner of EPR Coquitlam in 2005.
In addition to providing accounting and tax advice to his clients, his areas of interest include corporate tax planning and advising on Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED). Trevor also manages the firm’s internal IT, trying to keep EPR at the leading edge of IT innovation. He routinely advises clients on IT issues, helping them improve their accounting and financial reporting processes.
Contact Information
T. 604.936.4377 ext. 102
E. tsutherland@eprcoq.com
Brad Alden
Director, Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce
Canwest Community Publishing
Brad Alden is a Regional Publisher for Canwest Community Publishing responsible for their newspaper and distribution operations in Coquitlam, Burnaby and New Westminster. This includes The NOW in Coquitlam, the Burnaby NOW and The Record in New Westminster. Additionally he is responsible for a regional classified call centre and centralized production facility which serve other Metro Vancouver markets. Alden has been in the newspaper business since 1988. Previously he held various owneroperator, franchise owner and senior operating partner roles with Keg Restaurants in both Canada and the U.S.
Alden is currently a member of the following boards: BC and Yukon Community Newspaper Association, Canadian Community Newspaper Association, Burnaby Board of Trade, Tourism Burnaby and the Fraser River Discovery Centre Foundation. He is past-chair of the Burnaby Board of Trade, Burnaby Board of Trade Board of Governors, BC and Yukon Community Newspaper Association and the Burnaby Association for Community Inclusion Foundation.
He was recognized as the Business Person of the Year at the Burnaby Board of Trade Business Excellence Awards in 2005.
Contact Information
T. 604.444.3010
E. balden@canwest.com
Curt Allison
Director, Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce
Express Employment Professionals
Curt Allison is the owner of Express Employment Professionals in Coquitlam BC. Express specializes in temporary and permanent job placements for Tri-City businesses. Originally from North Carolina, Curt has been in the human resources and recruitment field for over 14 years.
As a director of the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce, Curt is committed to ensuring that the Chamber constantly provides a variety of learning opportunities throughout the year for its membership. “I believe that keeping businesses informed and educated with the latest cutting edge information is keyto ensuring that our companies thrive.” A well-educated membership is a top priority for Curt. In his spare time, Curt is a free-lance musician and directs a smoking gospel choir in downtown Vancouver.
Contact Information
T. 604.644.8530
E. curt.allison@expresspros.com
Velvet Cates-Capell
Director, Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce
Canstar Restorations
Velvet has worked side by side with members of the Tri-Cities communities over the past 10 years as part of the Canstar Restorations team.
As Canstar Restorations’ Manager of Marketing and Public Relations, an important component of Velvet’s job is to build momentum. She is committed to continuing to build working relationships within the Tri-Cities community, and therefore the momentum which helps ensure the success of the Tri-Cities business community.
Looking towards 2009, Velvet will strive to fulfill Canstar Restorations’ commitment to supporting professional development and education through the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce.
Having had the privilege of serving the Tri-Cities business community as a director during 2008, Velvet’s goal for 2009 is to continue bringing vitality to the chamber membership:
By building strength and unity on the board so that we continue to operate from a solid foundation
By adding value to our chamber memberships by first listening to your individual and collective voices, and secondly, taking action to provide theright value added solutions
By “Proudly supporting professional development and education”
Contact Information
T. 604.944.1461
E. velvet@canstarrestorations.com
Peggy Hunt
Director, Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce
Municipal Relations, Translink
Peggy Hunt has over 25 years of experience as a public relations and communications specialist, in addition to 14 years as an entrepreneur; owning and operating retail, wholesale and franchise businesses in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. She is a former director and
executive committee member of the Surrey Board of Trade, having served on that Board for some 8 – 9 years. She has participated on the Public Safety and Transportation and Infrastructure Committees and also participated on other committees such as the Police Officer of the Year Awards Committee. She is a member of the Canadian Public Relations Society and has her IAP2 Certification in Public Participation.
In her current position as Manager, Municipal Relations, with TransLink’s corporate and public affairs Peggy has responsibility for supporting public consultation/government relations, corporate communications, the Executive Team and Board Chair in planning and executing strategic stakeholder engagement initiatives.
Peggy resides locally and is a member of Port Coquitlam’s ‘Mayors Action Team on Homelessness’ (MATH) Taskforce. She has held various senior positions in private and crown corporations as well as owning her own strategic communications
consulting firm.
In addition to her professional life Peggy enjoys boating, running and traveling. She had the good fortune of being part of
a team of 10 and successfully summated Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro as a fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Society.
Contact Information
T. 604.328.7089
E. Peggy.Hunt@translink.ca
Rick Pasin
Director, Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce
Sprott-Shaw Community College
Richard Pasin is a Director of Education at Sprott-Shaw Community College. Headquartered in Port Coquitlam, BC, Sprott-Shaw Community College is the largest and oldest private college in British Columbia. It is now the largest practical nursing school in western Canada and the third largest in all of Canada. He is very proud of his recent nursing graduates (September 2009) from the Tri-Cities area who achieved a 100% pass rate on the national exam.
Having taught at the collegiate level for several years he took over the post of business department head where he was responsible for helping develop sales, marketing, e-commerce, human resources, customer service, management and communications curriculum to a team of instructors located throughout British Columbia. Since assuming his executive position in 2003, Pasin has overseen the growth and development of three different campuses and helped oversee the start-up of the trades programs.
Pasin has committed to advancing the Tri-Cities Chamber’s agenda, which is designed to help strengthen the local economy by ensuring we have a strong and vibrant business community. He believes education (public and private) is a very important component to continually developing a local workforce and set of entrepreneurs capable of meeting the challenges posed by a recovering economy.
He has years of experience working with local, provincial, and national regulatory bodies, and with local businesses to accomplish goals set by the college. His efforts have led to the successful education and job placement of thousands of adult students.
Pasin serves on two different boards of directors-Sprott-Shaw Community College and Cliff Avenue United Football Club.
Born in Burnaby in 1970, Pasin earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of British Columbia and later earned his executive and teaching credentials at the UBC Sauder School of Business and at Vancouver Community College.
Richard and his wife, Anthea, live in Coquitlam, BC. They have one daughter.
Contact Information
T. 604.466.3600
E. rick@mail2canada.com
Mark Pettie
Director, Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce
Pettie Insurance & Financial
Mark has been an active resident of the Tri Cities for over 30 years. He is married to Tina and they have 2 children Kyle 14 and Jordan 12. Mark operates Pettie Insurance & Financial Services and is a broker of insurance products such as term life and employee health benefit plans.
“I have enjoyed this past year as a director of the Tri Cities Chamber of Commerce. Through attendance at the monthly board meetings and participation in a number of committees, I have become familiar with the Chambers issues and processes. I look forward to expanding my role and another year of service.”
Contact Information
T. 604.716.6615
E. mark@pettiefinancial.ca
Brenda Phillips
Director, Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce
First Services Hospitality
Brenda Phillips, is the owner of First Services Hospitality, a full service hospitality company that specializes in, supplying event staff for corporate and private events, hospitality consulting specializing in hotel conversions and food and beverage solutions, food and beverage training, and simple yet elegant catering, providing outstanding food for corporate and private events.
With over 20 years in the hospitality industry, Brenda’s has held positions of General Manager, of Holiday Inn Express and Ramada, Director of Food and Beverage in both hotel and casino settings, and General Manager of Food & Beverage Services Student Society at SFU.
Brenda has received recognition from Intercontinental Hotels Group for outstanding service in new hotel openings. Certifications both past and present include certification for Wyndham Worldwide and Intercontinental Hotels Group, Food Safe, Serving-it-right, Consulting and as a certified trainer for Food and Beverage Programs.
Brenda is a member of the Vancouver Consultants, BC Restaurant Food Service Association and International Special Events Society.
Brenda resides in Port Moody with her fiancé Phil, and her daughter Mariza who is attending SFU.
Contact Information
T. 604.669.2494
E. info@firstserviceshospitality.com
Fred Soofi
Director, Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce
Pasta Polo
Fred Soofi immigrated to Canada in 1973, and graduated from Hotel Management. He attended the University of Regina, studying economics. He has been self-employed since 1980 when he started his first restaurant in Regina. Since then, he has established more than 12 successful restaurants in Saskatchewan and BC. He was also the founder of the first organic flourmill in Saskatchewan. Fred is opening a restaurant at SFU and planning a boutique hotel in Port Moody in the near future.
Fred is well known for his restaurant, Pasta Polo, and the many organizations he supports in the community including SHARE, the Tri-City Women’s Resource Centre, the Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation, the Port Moody Library, the Golden Spike Festival, Cops for Cancer, Youth Matters, Amnesty International and others. He is a strong believer in social justice and fair business practices, and believes that when things are out of balance, unfair, unjust, we have a responsibility to speak up. He has been representing Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce on Arts Connect and Homelessness Task Force.
Fred is on the Board of Directors for Moody Centre Business Association, Neworld Theatre and Transforming War Toys to Peace Art.
Contact Information
T. 604.464.7656
E. fsoofi@shaw.ca
Barrie Seaton
Past Chair, Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce
Royal LePage Showcase Plus
Barrie has been a member of the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce for more than 15 years and has served as a member of the Board of Directors for the past 8 years. During his tenure on the Board he served as the Chair of the Membership, Transportation, Policy and Golf Tournament Committees. He has also sat on the Relocation, Executive and Information and Technology Committees. In 2005 he was very proud to be voted Chamber Member of the Year. He and his wife Joan have been married for 40 years, have no children and have lived in Coquitlam for 17 years after being transferred from Toronto.
Entering the real estate industry in 1995, after many years in corporate life in the automobile sector, Barrie is a licensed realtor with Royal LePage Showcase Plus in Port Moody where he is consistently one of the top producers in completed real estate transactions in his office and has been a recipient of the Royal LePage Director’s Platinum Award for the past 5 years. He is a 7 year member of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver’s Medallion Club that recognizes the top 10% of realtors in the Lower Mainland. At the Real Estate Board he has been a member of the Professional Conduct Committee and the Government Relations Committee and in 2005 was awarded the Realtors Care Award by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver in recognition of his dedication and charitable work in his community.
Barrie strongly believes that if you work in the community, it is important that you give back to the community. He is the Founding President of the Rotary Club of Port Coquitlam Centennial, and has served for many years on Douglas College’s local Review Committee for the Self Employment Program. At the City of Coquitlam he has been a member of the Transportation Committee, the Strategic Planning Committee and is currently Chair of the Board of Variance.
He has enjoyed his past year as Chair of the Board and looks forward to continuing to lend his experience and knowledge to the upcoming 2010 Board of Directors.
Contact Information
T. 604.945.6627
E. barrie@barrieseaton.com
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