I was recently appointed as the Vice President of Finance at Thunder Bay Pulp and Paper Inc., the newly established independent pulp and paper operation held under Atlas Holdings’ global family of manufacturing and distribution businesses. With over 12 years of experience in the forest sector, across a number of roles, I have developed a sound understanding of the integrated nature of Northern Ontario’s forestry sector. I am a strong advocate for continued growth and investment within the region and have been an active participant in advocacy efforts to help support local businesses within the natural resources sector. I have nearly 20 years in accounting and finance industry experience, as well as over 10 years in Board governance experience, and I believe I can continue to serve Chamber members as a Board Director helping to guide the strategic plan for the Chamber’s future.

I’ve been very fortunate to have been elected by Chamber members to serve on the Board of Directors for a previous term and would appreciate the opportunity to represent members for a final term. I feel I can bring continuity and experience to the next slate of Board members and hope to help welcome and educate new members on the importance of the Chamber’s activities that support its long-term strategic plan. I have seen first-hand the impact that the Chamber can have on local businesses through its activities, and would like to serve on the Board to help support continued growth of the organization and its membership, recognizing the positive impacts it has on the community and its members.

A member and resident of Fort William First Nation, I graduated high school within the city of Thunder Bay. Later enrolling at Confederation College.  Working for Fort William First Nation as Property Management I was supervising over 150 thousand square feet of commercial space. Then later worked as Economic Development Manager.  I sat on numerous boards in the past such as, Regional Program Management Advisory Committee, CEDC Advisory Committee, Economic Development Committee City Thunder Bay, President’s Advisory council on Economic Development (Lakehead University). Ontario First Nations Economic Development Association, Present: Ontario Director, Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers (CANDO), Board of Governors Confederation Collage, Miinikaanan Badakidoon Grant program Committee (CEDC).  Now Manager of Indigenous relations for Englobe where I work to create proper, healthy meaningful partnerships and relationships within industry and First Nations across Canada. My role with Englobe, is to promote education regarding First Nations and culture.

As a member of Fort William First Nation and neighbor to Thunder Bay, its very important that business thrive.  Impacts from business help communities grow in a healthy proper manner. Being part of this growth and helping each succeed is a great honor and seeing the “mom and Pop” shops shine within Thunder Bay and surrounding area.

As the original staff in creating the “friendship agreement” between the City and FWFN it was great to see both pushing economic growth within the region. As well sitting with the Sister City and visiting Japan to help Thunder Bay reach across the sea.

Serving this board and using my background in economic development , working relationships and passion for the city would help make a stronger board.

I am the Vice President and co-owner for Thunder Bay Hydraulics Inc. With a background in industrial sales, manufacturing and business development I hope to propel the City of Thunder Bay into a new era of growth, prosperity and expansion. My specific areas of expertise are in negotiation and business growth. I will bring excitement, hard work and dedication to the board. I have experience in starting and running complex businesses which require the level of dedication that is needed to for the Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors.

I want to serve on the Chamber’s Board of Directors because I believe in the value of the business community in Thunder Bay and I believe in it’s ability to propel our city into expansion, development and growth. I want to serve the Chamber with dedication and excitement to further it’s goals and initiatives to make our city a better place to live and a better place to do business. We have so many opportunities in the North, please allow me the opportunity to capitalize on them. 

Born and raised in Northwestern Ontario, Jen has called Thunder Bay home all her life and is proud of the city, it’s business community, and their ongoing development. Jen spent 12 years working in HR and administration for Itec 2000 Equipment, a local heavy equipment company. In 2023, she made the decision to join 3 other business women and purchase Carol’s Cakes, a one-stop cake and cupcake shop that has been providing quality products in Thunder Bay for over 35 years.

Now a business owner herself, she has an even better understanding of the many challenges facing the community and looks forward to another term continuing to be an advocate so that all Thunder Bay businesses are given the best opportunity to grow and thrive.

I believe the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce provides a valuable network where local businesses can support, advocate and innovate together. Working as a united network, we will always be stronger together. I’m proud to have the opportunity to be involved and look forward to continuing to be a small part of this dynamic and diverse organization, facilitating growth and promoting Thunder Bay a great place to live, work and play!

I was born and raised in Thunder Bay and attended Lakehead University with a major in accounting. I have been a Chartered Accountant since 2010 and am currently the Controller for Venshore Mechanical Ltd. Throughout my career in accounting I’ve had the opportunity to work with businesses in every sector in Thunder Bay and surrounding area.
Venshore is an industrial mechanical contractor and has been locally owned and operated since 1987 with a primary focus on pulp and paper, mining, utilities and pipe fabrication.

I have been serving on the Chamber Board since 2019 and it has been an extremely rewarding experience. It is very exciting to work together with representatives from such diverse business backgrounds with the shared goal of improving the Thunder Bay business community.

Maria Holland is the Regional Vice President RBC, for North West Ontario. With over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry and 13 of those years at RBC, Maria has served in a variety of regional and national client focused leadership roles including Community Market Manager in regional banking and a variety of roles within RBC including National Director of Claims, VP, Home, Auto, Travel Advice Centre, Regional Vice President Sales, and Head of Operations.

Responsible for leading a values driven team of advice professionals across 12 branches, Maria is inspired by the diversity of people, industry, and landscapes across her market from the sunniest city in Eastern Canada Thunder Bay to the waterfront beauty of Kenora to the forests and crystal clear lakes of Atikokan.

Not only passionate about leading her team to deliver an exceptional client experience, Maria commits her time to leading causes and organizations who champion diversity, inclusion and belonging.

Maria was previously a member of the Hamilton Immigration Council and led the Mohawk College partnership strategy on behalf of RBC. Maria is also a board member for Hope 24/7 and an ambassador for the Canadian Congress for Diversity and Inclusion.

Maria believes in the power of helping clients thrive and communities prosper by building and deepening relationships with the communities RBC proudly serves.

I am proud to serve the citizens of Thunder Bay as CEO of the Thunder Bay Public Library. I lead the senior management team in strategic planning, organizational restructuring, modernizing our technology infrastructure and engineering a new Master Facilities Plan. As well, I have cultivated relationships with and lobbied all levels of government to secure funding to deliver critical community services. Previously I founded and was CEO of Rent Panda, a rental housing company. Launching from Thunder Bay in 2017 Rent Panda now operates in every major city in Ontario. In doing so I have won the 2022 Chamber Small Business Excellence Award, the 2020 Northern Ontario Visionary Award, the 2019 New Business Excellence Award and the 2018 Innovative Company of the Year Award. I’ve also served on many Boards and City Committees including the Committee of Adjustment, Committee of Appeals, Crime Prevention Council and Library Board.

Bringing business, government and non-profits to the table to fix what’s broken in our community is a principle that I’ve based my career on. I was fortunate to have worked for the Chamber as a political consultant and take part in the tremendously successful 2018 advocacy campaign surrounding our municipal elections that won the Ontario Chamber of Commerce “Outstanding Advocacy Campaign Award.” Similarly, my participation in the Chamber’s efforts to reform our zoning by-laws allowed our city to leap ahead and start to address our housing issues before most in our province. Applying the skills and techniques I learned during my PhD in political science to solving the challenges facing our business community is incredibly rewarding. By joining the Chamber Board I can draw on my experience in politics, business and non-profits to strengthen the Chamber, drive the change we need in our city and ensure business thrives in TBay.

A partner at LCPS Chartered Professional Accountants providing individuals, businesses, industries and many not-for-profit organizations with professional services including audit and tax. With approximately 25 employees, LCPS serves a wide array of clients throughout Northwestern Ontario.

I want to serve on the board to continue giving back to the community by promoting existing businesses and supporting new entrepreneurs within the region.