Press release
Hélène Desmarais named chair of the
Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal
Montréal, October 11, 2007 During today's annual meeting of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, its members appointed Hélène Desmarais chair of the board for a one-year term and elected its 2007-2008 board of directors. Ms. Desmarais, chair of the board and CEO of the Centre d'entreprises et d'innovation de Montréal (CEIM) succeeds Elliot Lifson, vice-chair of the board of Vêtements Peerless Clothing Inc., who is now the retiring chair.
I am very pleased by the confidence the members have shown in me today. With the support of a board of directors whose composition reflects the diversity and vitality of Montréal and the assurance that the Board of Trade is an organization that is becoming ever more influential and avant-garde, I cannot help but feel positive about the challenges awaiting me. Thanks to the expertise of the Board of Trade's team under the strong leadership of Isabelle Hudon, its president and CEO, I plan to devote myself during my term of office to certain issues that are particularly close to my heart and in which our organization has an important role to play. I am thinking, in particular, of the promotion of entrepreneurship and the financing of our academic institutions, declared Hélène Desmarais, the Board of Trade's new chair of the board.
With a B.B.A. in finance from HEC Montréal, Ms. Desmarais is founder, CEO, and chair of the board of the Centre d'Entreprises et d'Innovation de Montréal.
Since 2003, Ms. Desmarais has been chair of the board of HEC Montréal, on which she has served since 1999; she has been founding co-chair of the HEC's international advisory board since 1990; chair of the advisory board of Université de Montréal's faculty of medicine since 2006; chair of the advisory board and member of the board of governors of the Conference of Montréal (International Economic Forum of the Americas) since 1995; chair of the board of the Montreal Economic Institute since 2007; chair of the board of the Société de développement économique Ville-Marie (SDEVM) since 1998; chair of the board of the Société d'investissement Jeunesse (SIJ) since 1999; deputy chair of the board of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra since 2004; and chair of the board of its endowment fund since 2004.
Ms. Desmarais also sits on the following boards of directors: the Garda World Security Corporation (since 2006), the C.D. Howe Institute (since 2005), the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations (since 2005); the IRCM Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (since 2005); Genome Quebec (since 2002); VAL-CHUM (Société de valorisation des recherches du CHUM) (since 2004); and the Société de développement Technopôle Angus (since 2005). She has also been a member of the Conseil des partenaires de l'innovation (CIP), chaired by Quebec's Minister of Economic Development, Innovation, and Export Trade, since 2006.
The chair of the board plays an active role in the Board of Trade's activities for one year, then serves as retiring chair for an additional year. Throughout this period, Ms. Desmarais will sit on the executive committee. Since February 2005, the position of permanent president of the Board of Trade has been filled by Isabelle Hudon, who thus serves as the organization's CEO and official spokesperson.
The members of the board of directors for 2007-2008 are as follows:
Chair of the board
Hélène Desmarais *
Chairman and chief executive officer
Montréal enterprises and innovation centre
Retiring Chairman of the board
Elliot Lifson *
Vice-chairman
Vêtements Peerless Clothing Inc.
President and chief executive officer
Isabelle Hudon *
President and CEO
Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal
First vice-president of the board
Rémi Racine *
President and executive producer
Artificial Mind & Movement (A2M)
Treasurer
Roger Plamondon *
President
Société en commandite
Stationnement de Montréal
Pierre Anctil
Executive vice-president
SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.
Charles-Mathieu Brunelle
Vice-president and general manager
TOHU, la Cité des arts du cirque
Isabelle Courville
President
Hydro-Québec TransÉnergie
Robert Desbiens
Executive Consultant, Strategy and
Innovation Industry Sector
IBM Canada
Sylvie Giguère
Vice-president, SMB Sales for Quebec
Bell Canada
Michael Goodman
President and founder
Michael Goodman Executive Search
Anne-Marie Hubert, FCA
Partner
Ernst & Young LLP
Joseph Iannicelli
President and chief executive officer
The Standard Life Assurance Company of Canada
Huu Trung Nguyen
Senior vice-president, finances,
strategic alliances and international
Caisse Centrale Desjardins
John Parisella *
President
BCP Ltd
Lorraine Pintal *
Artistic and general director
Théâtre du Nouveau Monde
Jan-Fryderyk Pleszczynski
Vice-president, Strategic affairs
and managing director
Digital Dimension
Marc Poulin
President
Sobeys Quebec
Erik Ryan *
Vice-president, Corporate Affairs and Communications
Alcan Primary Metal Group
Jérôme Silvestre
President and CEO
sanofi-aventis Canada Inc.
Pierre-Étienne Simard
President
Jeune Chambre de commerce de Montréal
Martin Spalding *
General Manager, Toronto National Sales and
Montréal Local Sales
Astral Media Radio Inc.
Peter Todd
Professor and Dean
Desautels Faculty of Management
McGill University
Helen Tyros
Vice-president
Montréal Metropolitan District
BMO Bank of Montreal
President
Hellenic Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal
Luc Vinet
Rector
University of Montréal
* Member of the executive committee
The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal has some 7,000 members. Its mission is to represent the interests of the business community of Greater Montreal and to provide individuals, merchants and businesses of all sizes with a variety of specialized services to help them achieve their full potential in terms of innovation, productivity and competitiveness. The Board of Trade is the largest private organization in Quebec dedicated to economic development.
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Source:
Sylvie Paquette
Coordinator, Media relations
Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal
Tel.: 514 871-4000, ext. 4015
sylvie.paquette@ccmm.qc.ca