Our Board of Directors
Ed Pednaud – Executive Director
My goal is to continue to grow the Sechelt Chamber Membership while solidifying our profile as the number one resource for members to turn to for advocacy and support on the Coast during these unsettled times.
Ed’s Business & Background:
Mortgage Professional – Highpoint Capital Solutions
Ed has worked within the BC Credit Union system for over 30 years and now translates that experience and knowledge into a new venture as a Highpoint Capital Solutions Mortgage Broker.
He has become well known in the community as a Mortgage Professional who contributes time and energy to the positive growth of Sechelt. Ed and his family have lived in Sechelt for the past 6 years.
Gaetan Royer – Interim Chair
CityState Consulting
Gaetan is the CEO of CityState Consulting, an urban planning & design firm with offices in Sechelt, serving the Sunshine Coast, and Port Moody, serving the Lower Mainland. An urban planner originally from Québec City, he received a Governor General’s Medal for his humanitarian work in Sarajevo. During his 11 years as City Manager in Port Moody, the city experienced rapid growth and received numerous awards. Gaetan retired from public service in 2013 when he was Chief Planner for Metro Vancouver.
The author of Time for Cities, a textbook about cities and municipal finances, he is also a Research Associate with the Columbia Institute. Gaetan serves as board member with a hospice society, a hatchery, community groups and private corporations. Gaetan’s academic background includes Military Engineer, Bachelor of Architecture and Masters of Urban Planning.
Rory Gowler – Interim Vice Chair
In my past role as a Chamber Director/Treasurer in Prince Rupert I strived to both inspire and generate partnerships for the betterment of the community. I am passionate about my community and will advocate for the benefit of our local economy.
Rory’s Business & Background:
Royal Bank of Canada
I have been with RBC for 20 years, starting my career in Edmonton, Alberta before relocating to Prince Rupert in 2018, and Sechelt at the beginning of 2020. I am a former Rotarian and currently I sit on the Board as a Director for the Prince Rupert Friendship House Association.
I live in Sechelt with my husband, Rick, and our two dogs (Samson and Delilah), we have three boys and one granddaughter. You will often see us on the trails enjoying all that Sunshine Coast has to offer. We now call the Sunshine Coast home and look forward to our new adventure and setting down roots!
John Henderson – Ex- Officio
Pacific Rim Group
Mr. Henderson is a chartered accountant with almost 40 years of experience in Asia and Canada. He has created successful businesses in the telecommunications, international trade, online sales and investment sectors.
He is Managing Director of The Pacific Rim Group, a business advisory and investment organization with offices in Hong Kong and Vancouver. John lived in Hong Kong from 1984 to 2003 and continues to have business interests there as well as in China and Japan.
In 2003, he chose to move to Sechelt, located on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia, from where he continues to pursue his passion of creating new and sustainable businesses.
Albert Trinh – Director
Albert has a strong passion for all things tech and business. He joined the Chamber to support local businesses and to advocate in making the Sunshine Coast more attractive to entrepreneurs, professionals, new businesses and investors alike.
Albert’s Business & Background:
Tuor Networks, Executive Vice President
Albert is an innovative business leader in the IT industry with extensive knowledge of modern technology. He is currently the Executive Vice President of Tuor Networks, an IT firm that specializes in information security, cloud platforms and providing outsourced managed IT services to businesses of all sizes across Canada.
Albert and his company have fully embraced the remote work culture, shuttering its corporate head office and leveraging technology to collaborate and joining a national shared workplace network. This enabled Tuor, itself a small business, to expand across all provinces in Canada, and to gain access to a pool of talent outside traditional urban centres.
Albert and his wife Suzy Lee, a Global Marketing Leader who also works remotely for a Swiss IT company, fell in love with the Sunshine Coast and moved to Sechelt from Toronto in the summer of 2018. Since then, they have started to actively support the local community and its development.
Archie MacLean – Director
I look forward to contributing to the community by being part of The Chamber.
Archie’s Business & Background:
Realtor – RE/MAX Oceanview Realty
For the past 17 years, I have worked as a realtor for RE/MAX Oceanview Realty. I am also a volunteer on the Advisory Planning Commission.
I’ve lived in Sechelt for the past 27 years where I’ve raised my children and remained active in the local sports and music scene. For fun I’ve spent ten years working in restaurant operations at the Sechelt Golf Club and am a professional Canadian Musician.
Derek Thebault – Director
Derek joined the Chamber to participate in helping local business towards growth and overcoming obstacles to success.
Sunshine Coast GM, Partner and General Manager.
Derek has a passion for people and customer service he strives to support his team in delivering a world class customer experience.
Derek came to the automotive industry in 2013 after spending 10 years in various sales, management, and purchasing roles in retail consumer electronics. He and his family relocated from Chilliwack to the Sunshine Coast to manage the dealership after serving as General Manager for both Abbotsford Hyundai and Langley Chrysler.
Derek is the proud father of 4 boys, and he and his wife are expecting their 5th child in May. When not working or playing with his kids Derek can be found enjoying the fantastic mountain bike trails throughout the Sunshine Coast.
Gary Bearchell – Director
After graduating from Simon Fraser University with a computer science degree, Gary lived and worked in Vancouver for nearly fifteen years. Realizing in 2012 that a significant lifestyle change was in order, he and his wife decided to convert their precious weekend getaway cabin in Tuwanek into their full time
residence.
Being on the Sunshine Coast, having more free time, and being surrounded by many enterprising people encouraged them to try more creative ways to make a living. And so their decision to start renting the second cabin on their property became obvious. And just like so many other short term rental hosts when asked “why did you get into doing this?”, the answer is the same: they got into it for the money, but continue to do it because they love it!
Since then, that cabin has gone on to become Canada’s second most “wish-listed” property on Airbnb. Gary and his wife now also own and rent the two neighbouring properties alongside it. And the rest is history.
When not preparing cabins for guests’ visits, Gary does other various renovation projects on the side, as well as the odd throwback software development contract to save enough money to feed his travel habits.
Jessica Hemingway – Director
Through her involvement with the Chamber, Jessica hopes to inspire the up and coming generation of business in Sechelt to be proactive in working towards positive growth and sustainable change.
Jessica’s Business & Background:
Jessica is the owner of Moorestock, a lifestyle boutique located in the heart of Sechelt on Cowrie Street. Having managed the business in an executive role for ten years preceding her ownership (effective August 2019), Jessica possesses a wealth of knowledge from her hands-on experience in all facets of the retail industry. The pressure of navigating her first year in business through the effects of Covid-19 has shown a great tenacity and ability to pivot strategically under great duress.
As a longtime resident of the Sunshine Coast, Jessica is invested in the potential of her community from not only a business perspective, but personal standpoint as well. Jessica is the mother of one young daughter and one pug puppy.
Laurie Reid – Director
Laurie escaped the big city of Vancouver in 1991 to start a family and a small business. 30 years later, her 2 sons are grown, and her kayak rental and tour business continues to grow and thrive on the spectacular Sunshine Coast.
With previous careers in IT and Real Estate, working on the beach and in the welcoming business of Tourism is her happy place. Making sure Sechelt and the Sunshine Coast continue to grow and be a welcoming business environment is the motivation behind volunteering for the Sechelt Chamber of Commerce.
Nick Farrer – Director
As a director of the Chamber, Nick is keen to represent young, ambitious entrepreneurs and business owners.
Nick’s Business & Background:
Brickers Cider
Nick is the General Manager and a founder of The Bricker Cider Company in West Sechelt. Originally from England, via New Zealand, he has been in Canada for 6 years.
Nick has a young family with baby #2 on the way and in- laws with lots of “Coast” roots. Nick is passionate about cider and running an efficient, small, profitable and successful business that employs family and Sunshine Coast locals. His ambitions include making The Bricker Cider Company the best and most respected cider company in BC.
Ryan Staley – Director
Ryan Staley is the president of Rapid Journey Systems, a Sechelt based company that owns and operates Coastal Rides. Coastal Rides is the first and only ride-hailing app on the Sunshine Coast.
Prior to starting the company, Ryan was heavily involved in the tourism industry, from managing staff at ski resorts, to consulting, and crunching data for the provincial tourism marketing agency, Destination BC.
Ryan and his family have lived in Sechelt full time since 2016.
Tom Folinsbee – Director
Tom is currently an independent director of Summit Health Care Acquisition Corp and through his company Optivest Canada Ltd provides financial research and advisory services to public and private companies and family offices.
Before moving to Halfmoon Bay in 2017 with his wife Sachiko and two sons, Luke and Jake, Tom spent over 20 years in Asia, teaching English in Japan for a year followed by a year in Beijing where he attempted to learn Mandarin.
After completing the Chartered Financial Analyst program, Tom embarked on a career as a securities analyst in Hong Kong with Macquarie Bank and BNP Paribas.
Tom and Sachiko set up The Wild Gourmet Company, Hong Kong’s first specialist importer of wild BC mushrooms with many of the products sourced from the Sunshine Coast. In 2010, Tom joined a publicly-listed biotech company where he spent 10 years in a corporate development role handling investor relations and working on strategic investment and licensing projects.