Wesley Armour grew up on his family’s farm in Taylor Village, a small farming community 20 miles southeast of Moncton, New Brunswick. After completing high school, he attended college and graduated with a diploma in business administration. Having worked on the farm with his father, Gordon, during his earlier school years and later in trucking, Wes joined his father full-time upon completing his formal education. At this time in 1966, the business was incorporated and included a fleet of 10 straight trucks and 11 employees. Two years later Gordon Armour retired and Wes acquired the company at the age of 22.

Today, Armour Transportation Systems, one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies, has over 4,000 pieces of equipment, 2,000 employees, 26 freight terminals and more than 700,000 square feet of public warehousing. Wes has actively promoted the trucking industry in Canada through membership in both regional and national trucking associations. He is past president and current director of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association as well as past president, past chairman of the board and current committee member of the Canadian Trucking Alliance, which represents all provinces in Canada.

In addition to Mr. Armour’s membership on trucking industry boards, he is involved with a number of private and public boards of other businesses and community groups. In 2016, Mr. Armour was appointed to the Order of Canada. Established by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Order of Canada is the cornerstone of the Canadian honours system and recognizes outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation.

James Crosby is the fifth generation of the family to serve as president of Crosby Molasses Co Ltd.

Founded in 1879, Crosby’s is an independent, family-owned business based in Saint John, NB. While molasses continues to be the mainstay of the business, Crosby’s has an ever-expanding line of syrups and dry blended products, exported from Saint John to markets across Canada and internationally.

Mr. Crosby is a graduate of Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Commerce degree and holds a professional designation with the Canadian Logistics Institute. In addition to serving on the Faculty of Business Advisory Board at UNB Saint John, he is a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and the Wallace McCain Institute at UNB.

Roxanne Fairweather is co-CEO and co-owner of Innovatia Inc., a large and successful knowledge management and training services company headquartered in Saint John. Formerly, Roxanne was the chief operating officer of Innovatia under the Bell Aliant umbrella from 2001, having moved to that position from being president of Aliant Wireless.

She has also played a key role helping the New Brunswick government by serving as the board chair of FacilicorpNB Ltd., the agency created to amalgamate all non-clinical shared services such as information technology and communication, material management and clinical engineering amongst the regional health care authorities, from 2009 to 2013. Roxanne has also served as a director of Brunswick Pipeline, an Emera company, LearnSphere Canada and is a founding member of Propel ICT, a group of Saint John business people (led by Gerry Pond) driving the I.T. and communications sector within the city.

In 2011, Roxanne took on the role of chair of Future Great Saint John, a group of more than 30 Saint John business owners and executives, who banded together to offer their assistance to economic development efforts within the Saint John community. Roxanne formally sat as chair of the Enterprise Saint John Board of Directors and currently chairs the Opportunities New Brunswick board, a New Brunswick crown corporation pursuing opportunities and supporting business growth within the province and is co-chair of the Business Community Anti-Poverty Initiative (BCAPI), a non-profit organization dedicated to poverty reduction in Saint John, New Brunswick.

Roxanne has served on the University of New Brunswick’s Board of Governors since 2003, including a two-year term as board chair. She also lends her knowledge and expertise to several board committees.

In addition to her years of service to the University of New Brunswick, Roxanne’s interest in education has also forged a partnership between Innovatia and the Elementary Literacy Friends program, which focuses on increasing literacy throughout the province by providing volunteer tutors to Grade 2 students. Roxanne is also co-chair of Achieve Literacy Greater Saint John, with a special focus on ensuring the right resources and strategies are in place from kindergarten to Grade 2 to ensure 90% of Grade 2 children are reading at grade level by 2015-16.

Roxanne has a Bachelor of Arts from University of Toronto and is an honorary alumnus of University of New Brunswick and a member of the Order of New Brunswick.

Claude Francoeur is the office managing partner of Ernst and Young’s NB offices and leads the firm’s advisory practice in Atlantic Canada. Claude is a member of the Ernst and Young National Strategy Practice, leading strategy development projects in Atlantic Canada while he continues to deliver performance improvement, information technology and business risk advisory services.

Mr. Francoeur has over 20 years of public practice experience spanning many industries including the government and public sector, community services, education, health and wellness, telecommunications and mining.

Mr. Francoeur is actively involved in the community, serving on the executive committee and as treasurer of the Childhood Cancer Foundation Canada. He co-chaired the Saint John region’s United Way Campaign in 2013 and continues to serve on cabinet. He is also a vice-president and a member of the executive team on the board of the Muriel McQueen Ferguson Foundation.

Over the years Mr. Francoeur has recruited many immigrant and native New Brunswick business undergraduates, co-op students and is currently involved in mentoring a UNB MBA graduate who has chosen to immigrate to the province.

Shawn Graham served as New Brunswick’s 31st premier. He is a graduate of UNB and Saint Thomas University. Mr. Graham is now president and CEO of G&R Holdings Inc., where he leads a team in assisting companies to develop and implement global projects and business alliance strategies with a special focus on Canada, the US and Europe globalizing with China.

During his tenure as premier of New Brunswick, Mr. Graham served as chair of the Council of the Federation, co-chair of Northeastern Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers and co-chair of a Pan-Canadian Trade Mission to China. Shawn Graham is highly sought after by business leaders and CEOs worldwide as an expert on the new global economy and global business development.

Mr. Graham has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from University of New Brunswick and has been honoured with the Visionary of the Year award by the Intelligent Community Forum in New York City, New York. In addition to his many other activities, he volunteers his time as a national board member to Ducks Unlimited Canada, the country’s leading conversation organization.

Sarah Irving is the executive vice-president and chief brand officer with Irving Oil. Sarah grew up in Saint John, New Brunswick.

She received her BA (cum laude) from Dartmouth College and her MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in 2014.

After completing her undergraduate degree, Sarah Irving worked for Deloitte in their New York strategic consulting practice. She is now part of the senior management team at Irving Oil in Saint John.

Sylvia MacVey is president and CEO of G.E. Barbour Inc. located in Sussex, New Brunswick. Established in 1867, G E Barbour is a privately owned food processing company with a long history of providing safe, quality foods to Atlantic Canadians.

Having spent most of her career as a part of the management team of Barbours in positions of increasing responsibility, Ms. MacVey consolidated controlling interest in Barbours in 2011. Since then, she continues to build her company’s reputation as an innovative, reliable partner in the branded, private label and co-pack food processing business in North America. Her company’s success has been recognized with Food in Canada/Grant Thornton’s Growth Award in 2016; RBC Momentum Award/Women of Influence finalist 2016; Exporter of the Year for New Brunswick, Sales over $5 million 2017; BMO Celebrating Women - Expansion and Growth in Small Business 2017.

Ms. MacVey has held leadership positions on non-profit and and industry association boards at both the regional and national levels, including the MS Society of Canada, the Packaging Association of Canada, the Tea and Herbal Association of Canada, the Canadian Spice Association, the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (New Brunswick) and the Rothesay Netherwood School. In June 2017, Sylvia was honoured as a founder of Rothesay Netherwood School in recognition of her passionate dedication to the continued success of the school’s mission.

A graduate of Mount Allison University, Sylvia continued her business education through University of Calgary and University of New Brunswick. She is married to Andy and they have two grown daughters.

Karen McGrath is president and CEO of Horizon Health Network. Karen joined Horizon following her role as president and CEO of Georgian Bay General Hospital in Ontario. She brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to her role as president and CEO with more than 35 years of experience in the health care sector in Atlantic Canada and Central Canada, with more than a decade of experience at the executive level in various organizations.

Prior to her role with Georgian Bay General Hospital, Ms. McGrath was CEO of the Central Health Authority in her home province of Newfoundland and Labrador and before that she was CEO of the Ontario Division of the Canadian Mental Health Association. She also worked as a surveyor with Accreditation Canada. Karen McGrath holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor Degree in Social Work from Memorial University in Newfoundland and a diploma in Health Services Management from the Canadian Hospital Association.

Andrew Oland is president and CEO of Moosehead Breweries Limited. He is the sixth generation member of his family to lead the Oland brewing business started by his great-great-great grandmother, Susannah Oland, in 1867.

Mr. Oland received his business degree in 1989 from Old Dominion University in Norfolk Virginia and his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1997.

After several years of experience in the heavy manufacturing industry, Mr. Oland joined his family’s business in 1992 as a foreman in the company bottle shop. Since then, he has held a number of increasingly senior positions within Moosehead including sales manager for Nova Scotia, sales director for New Brunswick, Alpine Lager marketing director and president of Moosehead Quebec. He was appointed president on April 1st, 2008 and assumed chief executive officer responsibilities in 2013.

As president and CEO, Mr. Oland has direct responsibility for the performance of Moosehead Breweries and its subsidiary operations.

Mr. Oland currently serves as board member with Enterprise Saint John, Beer Canada and Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS). He also serves as board advisor for EPC Industries Limited. He is a passionate believer that immigration is essential to the long-term prosperity of New Brunswick and volunteers his time mentoring new Canadians. Mr. Oland and his wife Leslie reside in Rothesay, New Brunswick. They have three adult children.

Moosehead Breweries Limited is the last major brewery in the country still owned by Canadians. It is headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick.

Gerry Pond has over 45 years of in-depth experience in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. As the CEO of NBTel and the president of its successor, Aliant Telecom, he was at the helm during a period of significant deregulation in the Canadian industry. Under his innovative leadership, NBTel emerged as an international ICT leader.

Born in Quebec and raised in New Brunswick, Gerry Pond’s educational achievements include a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Brunswick; Organizational Effectiveness Program, Harvard University; Executive Program, McGill University; and Senior Executive’s Program, University of Western Ontario.

Mr. Pond is the chairman and co-founder of Mariner Partners Inc. and has co-founded a number of successful ICT start-ups in Atlantic Canada, including iMagicTV, Q1 Labs, Brovada Technologies, Radian6, Shift Energy and Cirrus9. He is also the co-founder of Propel ICT, a start-up accelerator, the co-founder of the Pond-Deshpande Centre at University of New Brunswick and the co-founder of East Valley Ventures, an accelerator for Atlantic Canadian start-up companies with a mission of helping passionate entrepreneurs launch meaningful and enduring technology companies. He is a director of Upside Foundation, NB Business Council and the National Angel Capital Organization.

Gerry Pond has received many honours in recognition of his considerable success as an innovative entrepreneur, his work as a mentor to young businesses and his active contribution to regional economic development and anti-poverty initiatives. Among many awards and achievements, including the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal, the Order of New Brunswick, the Business Development Bank of Canada Entrepreneurship Champion, Mr. Pond was recently appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. This is the cornerstone of the Canadian Honours System and recognizes outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation.

Rodney Weston brings a unique background to his current role as vice-president, transportation & logistics, for Cooke Aquaculture Inc., a family owned multi-national business.

He acquired a broad understanding of the Canadian economy through his involvement with this international company, as chief of staff to former New Brunswick Premier, Bernard Lord, serving as a provincial cabinet minister and being a federal member of parliament. He has also operated his own small business.

In his role as vice-president, transportation & logistics, Rodney, is responsible for the coordination of transportation for a supply chain that operates throughout North America. A large percentage being fresh product requiring just in time delivery to multiple destinations.

Rodney previously filled a variety of strategic roles in government where he developed a strong understanding of the “machinery of government” and how government policies can impact on certain industry sectors and the local, provincial and national economies. His role as chief of staff to Premier Lord had him in a position critical to the effective interaction between the provincial and federal governments. This knowledge was further strengthened as MP where exposure to federal policy and priority development showed Rodney the role federal initiatives can have on provinces and the various economic sectors.

Family and community have played a major role in Rodney’s life. He is a former volunteer fire chief and deputy mayor for the Village of St. Martins, a deacon in his church and a member on numerous community boards. Rodney spends quality time with his family enjoying activates involving his son, including his numerous sporting activities.