» NATURAL GAS
APRIL 2016
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NORTHERN BC Forestry & Mining Sectors Central To
Nation nal in Scope, Locall in Focus
Region’s Economy
Peace Cariboo Skeena WWW.BUSINESSEXAMINER.CA
Now in Terracee
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Merger brings first national accounting and business consulting firm to Terrace
MONTNEY New Mobile Crane Company Experiencing Growth
McAlpine & Co. Chartered Accountants joins MNP LLP
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ERRACE – On February 1, McAlpine & Co Chartered Accountants merged with MNP LLP, one of Canada’s largest accounting and business consulting firms, gaining access to strong brand value and a substantial specialty resource base. James Byrne, regional marketing manager for MNP’s Vancouver Island and Northern BC regions, said the firm’s expansion into Terrace follows recent mergers into Prince George and Vanderhoof in 2015. MNP has also had an office in Fort St. John since 2006. “MNP is a home-grown company that originated in Manitoba in 1958. Since then we have evolved into a national firm with offices in every province. In 2002 we began focusing on developing a presence in BC and now have 19 offices throughout the province.” “To m a i nta i n ou r cor porate culture, we have been very strategic about who we invite
to our team and are attracting some of the brightest professionals in our industry,” said Darren Turchansky, MNP’s executive vice president of the BC region. “Terrace is the regional service hub with many of the business, retail, medical and government services for the northwestern portion of BC. As the economy of Terrace grows, so do the needs of the business community.” For Michael Johnson, business advisor, MNP Terrace, the merger made sense for his firm’s clients and its continued development. “We’ve been here a long time and are familiar with the regions’ people and industry. As the marketplace evolves and our client needs become more complex, we believe that becoming part of a national firm with a local client service philosophy and greater breadth and depth of services and resources, will serve them better and position us for continued success and growth.”
Michael Johnson said the merger will serve his clients better CREDIT:MNP
James Byrne, regional marketing manager for MNP’s Vancouver Island and Northern BC regions CREDIT:MNP
“We now benefit from having access to a large group of specialists,” he said. “It augments our information base and adds our local knowledge to the company resources.” Byrne said that MNP’s model of developing niche specialties has helped to fuel MNP’s rapid growth. “MNP has done a very good job at developing teams who focus on specific client groups such as
First Nations, forestry or construction. Each specialist understands the client’s unique issues and speaks the language of the industry.” With the highest year-overyear growth rates of any of Canada’s top accounting firms, eight years in a row, MNP credits strategic mergers like the one with McAlpine, acquisitions, organic SEE MNP LLP | PAGE 4
It Starts With A Spark Canadian Publications Mail Acct.: 40069240
Professional women’s conference in third year, seeing results ERIC REYNOLDS
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ort St. John – The third a n nu a l Spa rk Women’s Leadership Conference is set to take place in Fort St. John on May 18 and 19. “We’re thrilled to be in our third year,” said Jennifer Moore, Spark Conference Chair and Regional Economic Development
Officer with North Peace Economic Development Commission (NPEDC). The conference exists to increase the capacity of the local workforce, and in spite of only having two years under its belt, they’ve seen traction. For example, there’s last year’s conference attendee Jody Mitchel l who was able to ta ke her
business—Filaprint, based in Tumbler Ridge—to the next level as a result of the conference. She won a Small Business BC Award last year. And then there’s this year’s co-emcee who represents local talent and was a past conference attendee. Not to mention the three local women are providing “blink”—or short—presentations
during the conference. And perhaps most impressively is the angel program, where women who h ave f i n a nci a l constraints can apply to receive sponsorship. Last year one of the sponsorships was provided by a woman who received funding in the previous year. SEE PARK CONFERENCE | PAGE 6
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