FEBRUARY 2015
» KAMLOOPS
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KAMLOOPS West Eco Panelized Buildling Systems uses SIP panels for homes and commercial structures
Thompson/Okanagan
commercial.remax-western.ca
Major merger for Chartered Accountant firms
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K
SALMON ARM Gemm Diesel celebrates 30 years in business
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INDEX News Update
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KNV Chartered Accountants LP joins forces with MNP LLP to form BC’s fourth largest accounting and consulting firm ELOW NA – Talk about sharpening their pencils. K N V C h a r t e re d A ccountants LLP, the eighth largest accounting firm in BC, is merging with MNP LLP, the fourth largest accounting company in the province February 1. The result is the third largest accounting and consulting firm in BC, by the number of accounts. “This is MNP’s largest merger to date and has come at a great time. Our strategic plan calls for continued growth in BC so we were looking to add much-needed resources and talent, while KNV was seeking to grow with a firm that would complement its existing service offerings,” says Jason Tuffs, Executive Vice President for BC for MNP. “Both our firms were looking to grow and to combine our expertise and leadership to help our clients achieve their growth targets. It’s a win/win/ win for both our firms and the marketplace.” Established in 1973, KNV has prov id e d ac cou nt i n g, auditing, tax planning and business
advisory services to corporate, public sector, not-for-profit and personal clients for over 40 years. Its Kelowna office is at 1708 Dolphin Avenue, and they also have offices in Vancouver and South Surrey, which is their head office. The firm consists of 14 partners and almost 200 additional professionals and support staff. In addition to tax and accounting expertise, both MNP and KNV deliver a diverse range of advisory services, including consulting, enterprise risk, corporate finance, valuation and litigation support, succession planning, estate planning, insolvency and restructuring, investigative and forensic accounting, cross-border taxation and more. “As our clients’ needs continued to grow, we recognized we also needed to grow,” says Dave Mitchell, Partner, KNV. “With more than 80 offices across the country and over 3,300 team members, they have a large national presence and access to many experts and specialists, SEE MAJOR MERGER | PAGE 20
Alix Larsen is a partner in MNP’s Kelowna office
BC Women Lead Conference steps up this year
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he buzz about the upcomi ng spr i ng con ference “BIG Steps, BIG vision” has started. Organized by BC Women Lead, the one and a half day conference March 26th and 27th caters directly to the needs of business women in BC. “We’re really excited about this year’s line up of speakers,” said founder Deb Leroux. “We have a few favourite’s returning from last year and new this year we
have a brand expert from Mountain Equipment Co-op and a financial expert. We will be asking the women to come prepared to take steps out of their comfort zone.” Last year’s inaugural year for BCWL was a tremendous success with a full venue of attendees from all over the Okanagan. “The Buzz in the room at the end of the day was electric. The level of honesty a nd professiona l
i nte g r it y t h at e a ch wom a n brought to the event was inspiring in and of itself. Great ideas were exchanged and new business alliances formed. We hope to build upon that.” “We’ve chosen speakers we believe will resound with the variety of business women who represented 13 sectors of careers at our 2014 event,” said Leroux. “We were very proud of our demographics last year,
including entrepreneurs and corporate women under age 35, who are our business leaders of tomorrow, as well as women in the strongest years of their careers, and matriarchs who have been at this a long time...and encouraged us all to continue to seek out challenges well after Freedom 55 has come and gone.” Introducing the 1.5 day format SEE BC WOMEN LEAD | PAGE 20