TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Grant Thornton LLP are pleased to announce the distinguished jury for the 2013 Private Business Growth Award:
- The Honourable Perrin Beatty, President and CEO, The Canadian Chamber of Commerce
- Peggy Cunningham, Dean of the Faculty of Management and RA Jodrey Chair, Dalhousie University
- Derek DeCloet, Editor, Report on Business, Globe and Mail
- David Ghermezian, President, Triple Five Group of Companies
- Malcolm Hunter, President and Chief Operating Officer, Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada
- Phil Noble, FCA, Executive Partner and CEO, Grant Thornton LLP
- John E. Peller, LLB, President and CEO, Andrew Peller Limited
- Paul Straus, President and CEO, Home Hardware Stores Limited
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Grant Thornton LLP first announced the launch of the Private Business Growth Award on April 23, 2013. The new business award recognizes Canadian privately-held businesses that are successful at creating growth beyond their top or bottom line. The jury will be looking for companies whose growth strategy encompasses a broad range of activities across their business, such as innovation (including new ways of working); product and service development; expansion into new domestic or international markets; development of people and culture (helping employees learn and develop); improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of internal processes; improvements in stakeholder relations; improvements in financial measures or governance; and leadership through a combination of reason and instinct to grow the business.
Finalists for the award will be announced at the end of October, and celebrated as the guests of honour at a gala dinner at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto on November 19, 2013, when the winner will be announced. The winning business will receive a specially-commissioned Private Business Growth Award commemorative statue and will have their accomplishments highlighted on the Private Business Growth Award website, in print advertisements and in a news release. The winning business will also receive a one-year complimentary membership to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and accounting/advisory services from Grant Thornton LLP, valued at $10,000.
Nominations for this national award are open to Canadian-owned, privately-held businesses with annual revenues over $5 million. All companies who wish to be considered must complete their submissions by October 11, 2013.
For more information or to make a nomination or submission, please visit www.privatebusinessgrowthaward.com.
About Grant Thornton LLP
Grant Thornton LLP is a leading Canadian
accounting and advisory firm providing audit, tax and advisory services
to private and public organizations. We help dynamic organizations
unlock their potential for growth by providing meaningful, actionable
advice through a broad range of services. Together with the Quebec firm
Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton LLP, Grant Thornton in Canada has
approximately 4,000 people in offices across Canada. Grant Thornton LLP
is a Canadian member of Grant Thornton International Ltd, whose member
firms operate in over 100 countries worldwide.
About the Canadian Chamber of Commerce
The Canadian Chamber of
Commerce is the vital connection between business and the federal
government. Through its network of over 450 chambers of commerce and
boards of trade, representing 200,000 businesses of all sizes in all
sectors of the economy and in all regions, it helps shape public policy
and decision-making to the benefit of businesses, communities and
families across Canada.
2013 Private Business Growth Award
Jury Member Biographies
The Honourable Perrin Beatty
President and Chief
Executive Officer
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce
The Honourable Perrin Beatty is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the 200,000-member Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Canada’s largest and most representative national business association. Mr. Beatty is the principal spokesperson advocating the policy positions of the Canadian Chamber’s members to the federal government, international organizations, the media and the general public. Prior to joining the Canadian Chamber in August 2007, Mr. Beatty was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME). A descendant of one of Canada’s most prominent manufacturing families, Mr. Beatty grew up in Fergus, Ontario and graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 1971. In 1972, he was elected to the House of Commons as a Progressive Conservative, and in 1979, he was appointed Minister of State (Treasury Board) in the government of Joe Clark. He held six additional portfolios in subsequent Progressive Conservative governments, including National Revenue in 1984, Solicitor General in 1985, National Defence in 1986, Health and Welfare in 1989, Communications in 1991, and Secretary of State for External Affairs in 1993.
Peggy Cunningham
Dean Faculty of Management and RA Jodrey
Chair
Dalhousie University
Dr. Peggy Cunningham is the Dean of the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University and the R.A. Jodrey Chair. In addition to her administrative responsibilities, her teaching and research expertise fall within the areas of ethical leadership, corporate social responsibility, stakeholder engagement, strategy and marketing. Her research is published in a number of journals, including the the Journal of Business Ethics, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the California Management Review, and the Journal of International Marketing. She has written over 40 cases and multiple editions of three marketing textbooks. Professor Cunningham is an acclaimed teacher and has received the PriceWaterhouseCoopers Leaders in Management Education award, the Academy of Marketing Science’s Outstanding Teacher, and the Frank Knox Award for Teaching Excellence. Dr. Cunningham received her Ph.D. in marketing from Texas A&M University. She joined Dalhousie University in January 2009. Before joining Dalhousie, she was a professor at Queen’s School of Business, where she worked for 19 years. Dr. Cunningham has also worked in the U.K., Germany, China, and the U.S. She was in industry before becoming an academic, and currently sits on a corporate board of a public company as well as a number of non-profit boards.
Derek DeCloet
Editor, Report on Business
The
Globe and Mail
Derek DeCloet has been writing about business and finance since the late 1990s. He joined the Globe and Mail in 2003 and began writing Vox, the newspaper's popular investment column. He won the 2009 National Magazine Award for business writing. His column appears monthly in Report on Business Magazine.
David Ghermezian
President
Triple Five Group
of Companies
Triple Five Group is the Ghermezian Family holding company for various real estate projects owned and managed throughout North America, including its two largest retail shopping and entertainment complexes: West Edmonton Mall and Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mr. Ghermezian’s responsibilities include managing all aspects of these respective businesses with a particular focus on Canadian real estate and West Edmonton Mall. He is also Chairman of the Board of Vancouver based People’s Trust. Mr. Ghermezian holds an MBA from the University of Alberta.
Malcolm Hunter
President and Chief Operating Officer
Deeley
Harley-Davidson® Canada
Malcolm Hunter is President and Chief Operating Officer of Deeley Harley-Davidson® Canada, the largest independent motorcycle distributor in Canada and the largest single Customer of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company in the world, with offices and warehouse facilities in Richmond, British Columbia and Concord, Ontario. Mr. Hunter is a graduate of the Simon Fraser University Economics and Commerce Department, the Queen’s University Executive MBA Program and the Wharton School of Business Advanced Management Program, and achieved his Institute of Corporate Directors ICD Designation last year. Mr. Hunter sits on a number of committees with the Harley-Davidson Motor Company in the United States and is also a member of the Rotary Club of Vancouver. In the past, he has been Chair of the Vancouver Community College Foundation Board, and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Canada and the Foundation for Fighting Blindness (formerly the RP Foundation). He was also past President of the BC Safety Council. An avid motorcycle enthusiast, Mr. Hunter averages about 10,000 km per year from the saddle of his Harley-Davidson® motorcycle and participates in many of the company’s major group rides.
Phil Noble, FCA
Executive Partner and Chief Executive
Officer
Grant Thornton LLP
Mr. Noble first joined the Grant Thornton team in 1983. He practiced in Vancouver for 25 years through to 2008 when he relocated to Toronto to begin his tenure as CEO of Grant Thornton in Canada. He also represents the Canadian firm of Grant Thornton on the Board of Governors of Grant Thornton International, a global organization with approximately 30,000 people doing business in over 100 countries. Grant Thornton was the fastest growing global accounting network in 2012, and in Canada Grant Thornton has been recognized as one of Canada's "Best Workplaces" by the Great Place to Work Institute for the past six consecutive years. Phil is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia and Ontario. In 2007, Mr. Noble was awarded a Fellowship in the British Columbia Institute for his leadership in the profession and in the community in B.C.
John E. Peller, LLB
President and Chief Executive Officer
Andrew
Peller Limited
Mr. Peller was born in Hamilton, Ontario and attended the University of Western Ontario (LLB, 1980), Osgoode Hall, Toronto (Bar Admission Course, 1982), L'institute de Touraine, Tours, France (1984). He began his career with the law firm of Evans, Husband in Hamilton, Ontario, practising corporate and commercial law before moving to New Jersey as Manager, Corporate Planning and Development with Nabisco Brands Inc. Mr. Peller has been President & Chief Executive Officer for Andrew Peller Limited since 1994. Mr. Peller has been a Director and Chairman, Canadian Chamber of Commerce and is currently serving as Director, RBC Life Insurance Company of Royal Bank of Canada. He is a member of the Canadian Council of Chief Executive Officers, the Chief Executives Organization, and the Law Society of Upper Canada.
Paul Straus
President and Chief Executive Officer
Home
Hardware Stores Limited
Paul has been with Home Hardware Stores Limited, which in 2012 was recognized as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies and ranked as one of Canada’s Most Valuable Brands, since its inception. He began working in the accounting department of Hollinger Hardware in 1963, prior to the emergence of the Home brand, and was responsible for designing, installing and programming Home’s first computer system. Over the course of his career, Paul advanced through the organization and ascended to various executive level positions. In 1989, he assumed responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the company as Executive Vice-President and General Manager. In 1998, he was appointed Vice-President and CEO and in April, 2010, President and CEO and elected to the Board of Directors of Home Hardware Stores Limited. From 2001-2009, Paul served on the CSA Group Board of Directors, the CSA Certification Board and the CSA Group Audit Committee. He also sits on the board of Programmed Insurance Brokers (PIB) and RWAM, a division of Home Hardware Financial Inc., and one of the largest third-party group insurance administrators in Canada.
