Puneet Jain has been working with small- and medium-sized organizations since 2010. He works at Vancity because he wants to build a better future through creating healthy organizations that contribute to a sustainable economy.

Puneet draws on extensive experience in banking and financial planning to find the best solution for each client. He's eager to discuss how he can leverage experience in all areas of the financial services industry -- retail lending, investments, compliance, financial planning and business services -- to help your organization.

Puneet is able to help new immigrants establish businesses in Canada with my bilingualism in English, Punjabi, and Hindi.

At Vancity, he is part of the Community Investment team as the microfinance program manager.  In this role, he  provides high quality and hands-on advice and support for micro-entrepreneurs, with a focus on micro-business that have high social, environmental and community impact.

Before joining Road Safety At Work, Rick Walters did a variety of things from running a trucking business to being a forestry engineer to working as the Director of Transportation Safety for a BC health and safety association. Rick enjoys working with people and organizations, helping them find practical solutions to their road safety challenges, and supporting them to make changes that prevent work-related crashes.

As a strong entrepreneur herself, Rinette firmly believes that small businesses are the driving force of our economy, and the entrepreneurs who run them are incredibly resilient. As a CPB with 25+ years of experience, she strongly believes in being knowledgeable and skilled in the right tools for her clients. And as the owner of NET Bookkeeping, she feels that success can only be obtained for herself – and her firm – when her clients are successful.

As the author of “The Courageous Entrepreneur”, Rinette has drawn from her work experience to create a resource for small business owners, based on simple day-to-day issues, it focuses on areas affecting cash flow – both positive and negative – while also providing strategies to overcome or avoid those issues. Through the sharing of real-life stories, it drives home how seemingly insignificant an action can be, while being detrimental to a client’s bottom line. One of her favorite stories is about two people walking through forest trails … so you’ll want to attend her session to hear the rest of that one!

Rinette resides in Gibsons, British Columbia with her partner and two dogs, and her greatest joy is her new grandson.

Ron McGregor graduated with BA (Econ) from University of Toronto and is member in good standing of the Institute of Chartered Professional Accountants in both BC and ON. Since leaving public practice as an Audit Manager with Price Waterhouse Coopers, he has accumulated decades of business and professional experience in senior financial management of 16 companies (12 Pubcos and 4 Privcos) across many industries doing business in 6 countries.

His work experience peaked as VP Finance & Administration of Fisons Western Corporation, a $100mm subsidiary of a UK-based public company; continued as Contract-CFO for many Development Stage Enterprises on TSX Venture Exchange; and now matured into ‘semi-retirement’ as Senior Accounting Instructor at BCIT – Part-Time Studies, teaching 3 classes per week during Spring and Fall terms.

His enthusiastic, well-organized and detail-oriented style along with excellent communication skills fuel his desire to give back to the profession by motivating students-in-accounts to become the best they can be in their chosen career direction. Along with teaching, his personal interests include travelling with his wife & family, investment management, golfing and pickle ball.

Roni M. Jones is a lawyer with Oyen Wiggs Green & Mutala LLP, a boutique firm practicing in the area of intellectual property law.  Roni’s practice includes advising clients on all aspects of intellectual property law, with a particular emphasis on patent prosecution in the fields of mechanical, industrial and electrical technologies.

Sasha obtained her M.Sc. in Audiology from UBC in 2000, and has worked as an audiologist at WorkSafeBC, specializing in noise and hearing loss prevention since then.

She is now the Occupational Audiologist in the Risk Analysis Unit where she strives to reduce or prevent noise-related health and safety effects. She also teaches future audiologists at UBC and sits on numerous noise and hearing-related technical committees with the Canadian Standards Association.

Sat Combow has been a Canadian Registered Safety Professional for 25 years, working in various industries before coming to WorkSafeBC. In the 15 years at WorkSafeBC, Sat has been a Safety Officer, a Supervisor, and most recently a Manager in Prevention Field Services. Sat manages 17 prevention officers, covering Burnaby, New Westminster, and a small section of Vancouver.

One of his roles at WorkSafeBC is that of Manager of Interest for the newly formed Small Business initiative. This initiative engages small to micro businesses, and assists them in enhancing or creating systems to ensure health and safety in the workplace.

Simon Canning, Principal of Canning Consulting, has more than 25 years operational line experience with high-profile, global organizations and extensive international experience consulting to the telecommunications, travel, automotive and business sectors.

Stefan has worked in the world of professional video production since 2010. While he was born and raised in the Netherlands, he currently resides in Vancouver, BC where he helps business owners to tell their story through the power of video.

Stephanie A. Melnychuk is a lawyer with Oyen Wiggs Green & Mutala LLP, a boutique firm practicing in the area of intellectual property law.  Stephanie assists clients with all aspects of identifying, protecting, and benefiting from their intellectual property, with a particular emphasis on prosecuting patent applications in the chemical, clean technologies, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device fields.

Sukhmani Dev (Sukh) is the head of Digital Payments & Cybersecurity Solutions for Mastercard Canada leading commercialization of Mastercard’s ecommerce payment & cybersecurity solutions. Sukh acts as a key strategic advisor to business executives and IT stakeholders. With extensive experience in technology strategy, digital product development & delivery, Sukh's passions include building scalable B2B2C products. Prior to joining Mastercard, Sukh was at ICF Next where she was responsible for Enterprise Architecture & Cloud Consulting. Sukh graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Master of Engineering in Computer Networks & Security, and has a certificate in Strategic Management from Harvard University.

Suveen Suri is an Advisor for Ecommerce Solution Integrations at Canada Post. She works with hundreds of Canadian merchants each year to help them operate more effectively by integrating the right ecommerce tools and solutions.

Ta7talíya Michelle Nahanee is a creative director, decolonizing facilitator and Indigenous change maker from the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh community Eslha7an. She works within the intersection of class, race, culture and creativity focusing on social change through communications and deep engagement.

Tamara Komuniecki was a broadcast, print and web journalist and magazine editor for outlets like CBC Radio and TV, CKUA Radio, the Globe and Mail, National Post, Better Homes and Gardens and City TV for nearly 20 years.  After, she started her own online publication called Delish Mag, and seven fantastic issues later, the magazine morphed into an online store called Delish General Store (DGS) to enable Tamara to share some of the wonderful products she had always just been writing about. In July of 2014, Tamara took DGS into the physical realm, in a brick-and-mortar store on Granville Island in Vancouver.

Ted Lau is the owner of Ballistic Arts, an award-winning high-touch digital marketing agency that focuses on growing sales leads for small and medium sized businesses.

He leads a team of creative professionals in digital marketing strategy, video production, graphic design and web development to provide effective ROI for businesses that want to raise brand awareness and garner tangible leads for their business growth.

Ballistic Arts has been recognized and named Business of the Year Finalist 2020 (11-30 Employees) for the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce's Business Excellence Awards. Ted is also a host on Canada's #1 marketing podcast Marketing News Canada where he discusses the latest insights on all things marketing, advertising, and communications with today's brightest minds in the industry.

 

Thao Tran is a Senior HR Business Advisor at ADP where she partners with clients across the country and provides HR expertise and best practices. She also supports content development, creating HR articles, webinars and other connection points with clients. Prior to joining ADP, she held various corporate HR roles, spear-heading human resources projects and initiatives, implementing HCM systems, developing and conducting training, creating onboarding processes and writing HR policies. She is a subject matter expert in various HR disciplines (talent acquisition, payroll, benefits, performance management, employment law compliance) and is sought out by colleagues and leaders as a trusted advisor, consultant and business partner. Thao is a Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP/CRHA) and holds a Bachelor’s of Commerce in HR from Concordia University and a Bachelor’s of Arts from McGill University.

The Ministry of Finance Outreach Program gives taxpayers, businesses, associations and tax professionals the information and support they need to understand the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) and how it relates to their operations.

 

The Outreach Program provides tax education and information to businesses and industry across B.C. by hosting webinars, presenting tax education at association seminars, attending trade shows and conferences and working with partners like Small Business BC (SBBC) to reach as many businesses as possible. Our goal is to help you better understand the PST so that you can focus on building and managing your business. If you have any questions about PST or would like us to join you at your event, please contact us for more information. We look forward to helping you!

The Presidents Group is a network of 25 change-driven BC business leaders employing nearly 60,000 British Columbians. Their vision is to make BC the province in Canada with the best employment for people with disabilities. Through their professional trainings, online resource hub and Community of Accessible Employers, they are champions for more accessible, inclusive workplaces.

Travis F. Smith is the owner of Hop Studios, a Vancouver-based Web design and development company building sites since 2004. Smith was one of the creators of the Los Angeles Times website, and was the editor of Variety.com. His firm recently launched YVRLocal.Delivery, a free site that lists local businesses that are switching business models in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Trish is the Senior Accessibility Consultant at the Presidents Group, a leadership table for business owners and CEOs committed to employing people with disabilities. Before joining the Presidents Group, she spent two decades helping SMEs operationalize their values and improve their community impact.