THIS YEAR’S SPEAKERS

Nora M. Duke

President & Chief Executive Officer

Fortis Properties Corporation

As President and Chief Executive Officer of Fortis Properties, Nora Duke is responsible for the Company’s three operating divisions – commercial real estate, hotels and non-regulated hydroelectric generation.  Representing $600 million in assets, Fortis Properties operates in eight Canadian provinces and has a workforce of over 2,300 employees.

Ms. Duke has worked with the Fortis Group of Companies for 25 years in a variety of senior leadership and executive positions.  Nora is an active participant in both industry and community initiatives.  Ms. Duke is Chair of the Intercontinental Hotels Group’s Canada Owners’ Committee and a member of the Intercontinental Hotels Groups’ Board of Directors.  In addition to her industry-related activities, Nora is a board member of the Brother T.I. Murphy Centre, Newfoundland Power and the Health Care Foundation in St. John’s, Newfoundland and is actively involved with the Genesis Group at Memorial University.

In 2010, Ms. Duke was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network.  She was also named one of Atlantic Canada’s Top 50 CEOs in 2009 and 2010.

Ms. Duke holds a Masters of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Dean MacDonald

Chief Executive Officer

Newport Partners Income Fund

Mr. MacDonald is the CEO of Newport Partners Income Fund, a publicly-traded diversified fund that invests in successful Canadian private businesses. The Fund currently has $545 million invested in 17 companies representing a diverse cross-section of the Canadian economy.  Mr. MacDonald is also the CEO and Managing Partner of Tuckamore Capital, a small private investment firm he founded in the Fall of 2007 after the successful sale of Persona Communications. Persona was a publicly traded company listed on the TSX which Mr. MacDonald and HM Capital of Dallas took private in 2004. Currently Mr. MacDonald is the sole principle of Deacon Investments, a commercial real estate company with extensive holdings in Newfoundland.  He is a partner in FYP Management Services; a company active in fibre optic and communication construction and design. Additionally, he is an investor in and a director of CommerceTel of San Diego, Unitek of Philadelphia and Airborne Mobile of Montreal. He is also a partner and director of TXT-TV a company he co-founded in 2007, and The Gluten Solution founded in 2008.

Mr. MacDonald was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Persona Communications Inc., a privately held company with national outlets in Cablevision and Internet services serving over 275,000 households across Canada.  In the past, Mr. MacDonald has served in the capacity of Chief Operating Officer of Rogers Cable Inc. and President of Cable Atlantic Inc., where he was a director and minority shareholder for 18 years.  He is the past Chairman of the Board of the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA) and a former director on the Board of the Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) and Canadian Women in Communications.  Mr. MacDonald is past Chair of Canadian Cable in the Classroom, past Chair of the Canadian Cable Standards Foundation and past President of CTAM of Canada.

In addition to his communications endeavors, Mr. MacDonald was the Chair of the Newfoundland and Labrador Energy Corporation, Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro Corporation, Churchill Falls Labrador Corporation.  He was a Director of Operation ONLINE, Ireland Business Partnerships, Oceanex Income Fund and Memorial University’s Faculty of Business.  Mr. MacDonald chaired SoftWorld ‘98, an International IT Deal Making event held in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Through his work with the cable industry, Mr. MacDonald has received the Frederick T. Metcalf award for Innovation in Marketing, the cable industry’s highest award for marketing excellence.  In 1996, he was recognized as Gonzagas’ Alumnus of the Year and selected in 1997 by the Financial Post as one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40.  More recently Mr. MacDonald was awarded the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Technology Industries 1998 Leadership Award.  In the same year he was awarded Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Faculty of Business 1998 Alumnus of the Year.  In 2007, Mr. MacDonald was selected as CEO of the Year by Birch Hill Capital Partners.

John Patten

President

Browning Harvey Limited

John graduated from Memorial University with a BA (Economics) in 1978 and started working at Browning Harvey Ltd.   In 1986, he became Vice-president of Browning Harvey Ltd. and in 2005, upon the death of his father, Charles Patten, he assumed the role of President.  John is also Director of  A. Harvey & Co. Ltd. and TransAtlantic Preforms in Sydney, Nova Scotia.

John & Browning Harvey Ltd have received several awards over the years. In 2005, John received the Paul Harris Award for his commitment to the St. John’s East Rotary Club.   In 2008, the Employer of Distinction Award by the Newfoundland & Lab Employers Council was awarded to Browning Harvey Ltd and in 2010, Browning Harvey Ltd was also awarded the 2009 Donald M. Kendall Pepsi Cola North American Bottler of the Year.

John has a keen interest and commitment to improving Health care in our Province and protecting the environment for future generations. Apart from family, which John considers the most important thing in life, he enjoys gardening at the cottage and salmon fishing on Gander River.

Martin Sullivan

President & Chief Executive Officer

Ocean Choice International

Martin Sullivan graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland with a B.Comm (Honors) in 1985 and with an MBA in 1989.  He is currently President and CEO of Ocean Choice International, based in St. John’s, NL.

Mr. Sullivan grew up in a fishing family in Calvert, NL, a small town of 500 people 50km south of St. John’s.   He started working in the fishing industry at a very early age through summer employment, and since 1985 he has worked in senior management positions in the fishing industry.  In 2000, Mr. Sullivan and his partners started Ocean Choice and it has grown to become one of the largest and most diversified seafood companies in Atlantic Canada, employing 3000 people throughout the region.  The company is exporting about 100 million pounds of seafood to over 30 countries throughout the world, and has annual sales in the $250-$280m range.

Mr. Sullivan has been actively involved in promoting the seafood industry and is an active member of many international, national and regional industry organizations.  He is currently Vice Chair of the Fisheries Council of Canada (the national umbrella industry association) and will become Chairman next year.  He is an industry advisor to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans regarding the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) and an active director on several other industry organizations. He considers the fishing industry to be one of the most important sectors in Atlantic Canada and he is committed to the sustainable management and development of the fisheries sector.

Jim Keating

Vice President

Nalcor Energy Oil and Gas

Jim joined the company in December 2005 and is currently Vice President, Nalcor Energy Oil and Gas. Jim is charged with continuing to access growth opportunities for the province’s oil and gas resources and marketing these resources around the world. Before his appointment to VP Oil and Gas, Jim was responsible for Business Development in the areas of wind power development, power marketing, and research and development.

Jim has 15 years of experience in the oil and gas industry and was formerly Norsk Hydro Canada Oil & Gas’s Vice President of Field Development and Operations. Jim is a graduate of Memorial University of Newfoundland having attained Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) in 1993 and a MBA in 2002. He is a registered member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland and holds several board memberships including the Board of Regents of Memorial University and the Energy Council of Canada.

Kevin Casey (Master of Ceremonies)

Chief Idea Officer

The Idea Factory

After graduating in 1991 with a blistering (read: Not) 67% average from MUN’s School of Business Kevin realized that being in the mushy middle was a really bad place to be.

Enter M5 Advertising….6 years working with clients from banks to beer led to the next 4 years working as Marketing Manager with Labatt launching the worlds best selling brands Bud and Bud Light to Newfoundland and Labrador.

In late 2001 with 8 months severance in his back pocket he and Ed Roche decided to create a different kind of Agency to the marketplace.

The Idea Factory earned the title of Progress Magazine’s Marketer of the Year (2006) for its work with The Amazing Persona and was two-time winner of the St. John’s Board of Trade’s Business Excellence Awards.

Today, The Idea Factory is 23 people strong and earns 35% of its revenue from clients outside the province.

It continues to welcome brave clients who are ready to zig when the zag just isn’t cutting it anymore.