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We will be forever grateful to our Chapter Executive Directors for their time and commitment in promoting closer Canada-U.S. economic ties in their markets and would like to recognize them individually.
Amid this busy season of networking, events, and sharing sector and market insights with our wonderful MAPLE community, we are excited to be looking ahead past the holiday scramble to another year of growth in 2025. Starting in January under the leadership of incoming President, Kim Walker, MAPLE will pursue our mission with a focus on Southern California where MAPLE began in 2015.
Incoming MAPLE President Kim Walker was interviewed by Toronto Sun political columnist Brian Lilley regarding her initiative as founder of the Canada Remembers Guide as part of their 2024 Remembrance Day coverage. In this video, Kim discusses her work in identifying memorials and cemeteries where Canada’s World War I and II heroes are laid to rest in Europe and creating curated guides to assist people in visiting these sites to remember and honour Canada’s significant contribution and sacrifice during the World Wars.
We are delighted to announce that LuAnne Morrow, Senior Counsel with law firm, Locke Lord LLP, is our newest Executive Member. LuAnne is an intellectual property and media and entertainment law specialist providing legal advice with a business focus. LuAnne has many years of experience counselling clients on trademark and brand and consumer issues as well as advertising law. She brings her experience as a Canadian, born in Saskatchewan and raised in Alberta, and a Southern California resident of 10 years, to help clients navigate cultural, business, and legal differences to help assist their businesses open new markets in the U.S. and Canada.
Following up on our recent announcement of Kim Walker as our incoming President, we are excited to introduce Kim further to you this month. Recently, MAPLE co-founder and President, Stephen Armstrong, had the opportunity to speak with Kim about her work and travels including special memories representing Canada in Los Angeles together with her husband James Villeneuve, who was Consul General from 2014-2018.
It is with great pleasure that we have identified an exceptional individual to lead MAPLE Business Council after the retirement of Stephen Armstrong. Effective January 1, 2025, Kimberley (Kim) Walker will be leading MAPLE as our new President.
Kim is a Canadian, resident in Los Angeles for more than 10 years. Many of us first met Kim when her husband and MAPLE Advisor, James Villeneuve, was Consul General of Canada in Los Angeles from 2014-2018. MAPLE will always be grateful for the support that James and Kim showed to the cross border business community and to MAPLE in our early years and for their continued endorsement and support. It is only natural then for our relationship to continue to grow.
MAPLE Ontario Executive Director Bernardine Perreira CFP TEP CIM of Perreira Wealth Advisory Raymond James in Toronto is the focus of Trailblazing with Pride -Navigating the Corporate Compass. This is the third episode in the “Diverse Pride: Voices Amplified” podcast series hosted by Crowe Soberman in conversation with Jarvis Sam, CEO and Founder of The Rainbow Disruption LLC.
Each year our friends at World Trade Center Los Angeles release the annual Foreign Direct Investment report examining the sources of FDI for California as part of the SelectLA Investment Summit. Today, the 2024 report is out and Canada once more is a 'titan investor' as the 4th largest source of FDI in California by nation after the UK, Japan and France. The research identified over 73k jobs across multiple sectors in California with Canadian-owned enterprises generating over $8 billion in estimated wages annually. The Canadian economic impact skews to Southern California with a wage impact of over $5.4 billion - $2.2 billion of which is in LA County.
In collaboration with Ontario Trade & Invest's New York Office, we recently updated our Ontario-U.S. infographics which look at some of the many ways that Canada's largest provincial economy interacts with its largest customer and trading partner through trade and investment. Our economic ties together are large and diverse and support thousands of jobs across Ontario and the U.S.
We are delighted to announce that Natalie Dundas, Senior Counsel at Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP is our newest Executive Member. Natalie supports private and public companies in a wide array of industries with a focus on mergers and acquisitions, including auction processes and international carve-out transactions, private equity, and corporate governance as well as other general corporate matters.
We are delighted to announce that Albert Lin is the newest Executive Member of our Canada-U.S. community.
Albert is the lead investor at dCarbonVC, a Canadian family office that invests globally in pre-seed to series A climate tech startups. dCarbonVC had assembled a well rounded team of deep expertise in strategic finance. Collaborating with extraordinary founders, dCarbonVC look to make a greener brighter tomorrow.
This month we celebrate the 9th anniversary of our very first networking program in June 2015 at the conference center of charter member, IP law firm, Knobbe Martens. Thank you to everyone who has been part of our Canada-U.S. community and contributed to our mission of connecting business leaders, subject matter experts, entrepreneurs, investors, service providers and economic developers across sectors and borders through networking and storytelling. Your participation and support have made this anniversary possible!
It is our pleasure to announce that Joshua (Josh) Hamilton, Vice President, Emerging Market and Senior Lead Relationship Manager at BMO has joined MAPLE as an Executive Member. Josh has been in the banking industry for over 15 years. Most recently he joined the Bank of the West (now BMO) team in May 2023 after a 10 plus year career with U.S. Bank. Over the course of his career, he has developed a wide range of experience including Private Wealth Management, Retail Banking, and Operations.
MAPLE Business Council is pleased to be a promotional partner of the 2024 NYC World Trade Week celebrations which commence with a special launch event at Baruch College in New York City on May 9th.
We are delighted to once again join our colleagues in the regional trade and economic development circles to be a sponsor organization of the annual Orange County World Trade Week Forum organized by our friends at the District Export Council of Southern California.
We appreciate the television coverage of our April 9th Spring SelectUSA Reception at Microsoft Vancouver by Fairchild Television - the largest Canadian Chinese media company with studios in Toronto and Vancouver.
We are pleased to announce that Dion Lobreau, co-founder Apricus Energy Partners based in Ventura, California, is our newest Executive Member. Dion is an energy expert specializing in hydrogen infrastructure development with a background in power management and business development. In an energy industry career of over 25 years, he is expanding his professional geologist career into the all encompassing energy industry.
We are pleased to share that Ondré H. Seltzer, Vice President of Workforce & Economic Development at the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation (SCVEDC), is our newest Young Professional Member. With a rich background in corporate business development, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and government relations, Mr. Seltzer brings over a decade of invaluable experience in the field of Economic Development. Throughout his career, he has played a pivotal role in assisting global companies exploring expansion opportunities across a wide array of industries, such as Semiconductors, Renewable Energy, FinTech, Manufacturing, Aerospace, and Infrastructure.
We are delighted to share that Joanne Harris, Business Development Executive with Currencies Direct, is our newest Executive Member. Joanne is no stranger to global transactions, launching and developing companies and brands throughout the USA, Europe, the Far East, and Australia, and is looking forward to building new cross-border relationships through MAPLE Business Council.
Together with MAPLE Colorado Executive Director Rob Mancey, we are pleased to share that Tom Patton, President and Founder of Denver-based Evergreen Surety is our newest member of MAPLE. Evergreen Surety is an independent surety brokerage that specializes in obtaining “hard to place” bonds for contractors, oil & gas companies, and developers. While headquartered in Denver, Evergreen Surety has offices in Kansas City, MO and Washington DC, and they are looking to expand their operations throughout the United States and Canada. With an emphasis on clear communication and exceptionally fast service, Evergreen Surety helps companies become more profitable while also reducing risk.
We are delighted to share that Clinton J. Green, Managing Attorney and Canadian Practice Lead at Brown Immigration Law, has joined our MAPLE community as an Executive Member based in Los Angeles.
Clinton partners with businesses and entrepreneurs to implement Canadian immigration strategies as part of their global plans for workforce management. He regularly processes applications for temporary and permanent residence, including business visitors, work permits, labour market impact assessments, and permanent residence (express entry and provincial nominations). He also advises on inadmissibility, immigration compliance, and citizenship matters.
Long Island businesses seeking to enter international markets may find opportunity in Canada.Canada is the largest export market for businesses on Long Island, as well as across the United States, according to the Long Island Association, the region’s largest business group. And with its ease of entry, Canada is also the initial point of international expansion for businesses.
We are delighted to announce that San Bernardino County has joined our community as a Gold Leaf organization member. We are honoured to have the participation of their Economic Development Department for what is the largest County by geographic size in the United States with a population of more than 2.1 million.
We are delighted to announce that Crowell & Moring LLP is our newest organization member as part of their renewing membership in our Canada-U.S. community. Recognized as one of the leading law firms In the United States, the firm continues to be represented within MAPLE by Nicole Simonian, Partner and Co-Chair of the International Trade Practice in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Joining Nicole as a direct member contact is Jackson Pai, Counsel.
Together with MAPLE New York Executive Director John Costanzo, we are pleased to welcome Mitchell Rutledge as a Young Professional member in our New York Chapter. Mitchell is an MA Student at Columbia University studying European History, Politics, and Society (European Studies).
Together with MAPLE New York Executive Director, John Costanzo, we are delighted to announce that Canadian PEO firm, Syndesus, has joined our Canada-U.S. community as our newest organization member.
Syndesus is a Canadian-specific Employer of Record/Professional Employment Organization (EOR/PEO), which helps US companies legally hire workers in Canada without requiring their own entity, registrations, etc. Syndesus provides Canadian HR expertise, healthcare, RRSP, payroll, tax remittance and reporting.
We are delighted to announce that leading Canadian law firm, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP (Cassels) has joined our Canada-U.S. community as an organization member. Cassels is a Canadian law firm focused on serving the transaction, advocacy, and advisory needs of the country’s most dynamic business sectors. The firm offers one of the largest business law practices in Canada, advising clients from start-ups to multi-national organizations – across the street and around the world.
We are deeply saddened by the passing of our much-loved friend & respected board member, Anna Innis. Our heartfelt & deepest condolences go out to her family & friends at this difficult time.
Anna was special.
MAPLE Business Council is excited to announce an expanded and integrated membership from the Québec Government which brings together current members, Investissement Québec International and the Québec Government Office in New York, together with the membership of the Québec Government Office in Los Angeles.
We are delighted to share that AtmanCo, a Montréal-based HR talent software firm, has joined MAPLE as our newest organization member. AtmanCo has developed an all-in-one online psychometric platform to support businesses of all sizes to hire, lead, and grow their talent. Led by Marie-Christine Drolet, AtmanCo's platform focuses on boosting organizational performance and fostering business happiness through happier stronger teams. This woman-led enterprise has a global outlook. As self-described "Canadian Montréalers spreading business happiness all over the world", the AtmanCo team speaks 7 languages, develops assessments in 8 languages, works with and supports partners and clients in 26 countries.