The North West Company

North West Company Fund 2008 Summary Annual Report

The North West Company

Executive Management

Corporate Support

	Edward S. Kennedy President & C.E.O. Edward Kennedy joined The North West Company in 1989. He has served in a number of senior management positions including Chief Operating Officer of North West and Chief Executive Officer of the Alaska Commercial Company. In 1997 he assumed his present position and he remains Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Alaska Commercial Company. [+] Effective December of 2007, Edward also became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cost-U-Less, Inc. Edward was a Canadian “Top 40 under 40” award recipient in 1999 and, in 2006, he received the Retail Council of Canada’s “Distinguished Canadian Retailer of the Year”. In 2007, Edward was presented with the University of Alberta School of Retailing’s “Henry Singer Award” for exceptional leadership in the retail sector.		Léo P. Charrière Executive Vice President & C.F.O. Léo joined the Company in 2003 as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer & Secretary. Before joining The North West Company, Leo was President & CEO of TruServ Canada Cooperative Inc., a retail cooperative distributing hardware and variety merchandise to over 650 stores across Canada.
	David M. Chatyrbok Vice President Procurement and Marketing, The North West Company Inc. David joined The North West Company in 2000. From 2000–2007, he held various management positions including Senior Category Manager and Director, within the procurement and marketing division. [+] In 2007 David was promoted to Vice President of Marketing for the Alaska Commercial Company. Prior to joining NWC, David spent 10 years with Zellers of the Hudson Bay Company in different capacities including operations as a store manager, and in the procurement department as a senior buyer. David currently holds the position of Vice President Procurement and Marketing for The North West Company Inc.		John D. King Vice President, Finance John joined the Company in 1994 after completing his C.A. and C.M.A. accounting designations. He has held various management positions in the Finance department including Stores Controller and Director, Finance. John became Vice President, Finance and Secretary in 2006.
	Karen J. Milani Vice President, Human Resources Karen joined the Company in 1997 as Director, Employee Relations and became Vice President, Human Resources in April 2000.		Gerry L. Mauthe Vice President, Information Services Gerry joined the Company in 2005 after being employed as the Director of Information Technology and C.I.O. of TruServ Canada Cooperative Inc. Prior to joining TruServ; Gerry held various positions in industry and in consulting.
	Dalbir S. Bains Vice President, Planning & Corporate Development Dalbir joined the company in 2008 after being employed as the Vice President of Strategic Planning and Implementation at Canwest Global Communications Corp. He held several senior roles during his 11 years at Canwest, including Vice President of their Internet business operations, as well as Strategic Planning, Investor Relations and Project Management.		C. Sabra Stephens Vice President, Logistics & Supply Chain Services Sabra joined the company in 2008. She brings with her an extensive knowledge in all aspects of supply chain and operations management. Her past experience includes running her own consulting firm specializing in supply chain integration services, Vice President, Global Supply Chain Management for McCains Foods, as well as Director, Supply Chain Services with Tibbett & Britten Group.
	Dan G. McConnell Vice President, Store Development Dan joined the company in 2002 in the role of Manager, Real Estate and Store Development. He quickly advanced to the position of Director in April 2004, and has since been promoted to Vice President of Real Estate & Store Development in September 2008. Dan has been directly involved in the negotiations of store leases and acquisitions, including the expansions into new markets. Dan has a Master's Degree in Business Administration from the University of Wales and many years experience in retail development.		Paulina Hiebert Vice President, Legal and Corporate Secretary Paulina joined the company in 2009 after being employed as the Vice President, Legal and Corporate Secretary of The Brick Group Income Fund since 2002. Prior to joining The Brick, she was Corporate Counsel for Alberta Treasury Branches, and an Associate with the law firm of Milner Fenerty in Edmonton. Paulina has also held various senior management positions with a venture capital fund and several chartered banks in Canada. She has been a director of several privately held companies. [+] Paulina holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws (distinction) from the University of Saskatchewan, and a Masters of Business Administration (distinction) from the University of Western Ontario. She is a member of the Law Societies of Alberta and Manitoba.


Northern Canada Retail		Giant Tiger, West
	Michael W. McMullen Executive Vice President, Northern Canada Retail Division Michael joined the company in 2007. He brings many years of experience with larger and smaller retailers to his role. His most recent position was President and CEO of Warehouse One. Prior to this, he worked as Vice President Retail Operations for Palliser Furniture, and held a number of positions over a 15 year career with IKEA North America.		Scott A. McKay Vice President & General Manager, Giant Tiger West Scott came to the North West Company in 2004. He brings many years of retail experience from Eaton's, Toys R Us Canada, Plug-Ins Electronix, Dubai, UAE and Intrawest Retail Group Inc., Denver, Colorado.

The North West Company (International) Inc.

	Rex A. Wilhelm President and C.O.O. The North West Company (International) Inc. Mr. Wilhelm joined Alaska Commercial Company in 1984. In a 25 year career with the company, Rex has held a number of management roles including small store and large store manager, regional operations manager, food category manager, and Vice President of Operations. He was promoted to President and COO of ACC in April of 2005. With the acquisition of Cost-U-Less in December of 2007, he was promoted to his current role of President and COO The North West Company (International) Inc. Rex holds a BS in Agricultural Economics and an MA in Agribusiness Management from Washington State University.
	Bosco J. Baldwin Vice President of Human Resources, The North West Company (International) Inc. “Bosco” began working for Alaska Commercial Company in 1997 as the Human Resources Manager and was promoted to Vice President of Human Resources in April of 2005. A graduate of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Bosco worked for Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company prior to joining Alaska Commercial Company. Bosco is an active member and former President of the Anchorage Society for Human Resources Management. In 2003 he was recognized as a “Top 40 Under 40” by the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce		Jim W. Walker Vice President of Wholesale, The North West Company (International) Inc. Seeking adventure and a company that fostered an entrepreneurial spirit Jim left his 16-year career with Safeway’s Eastern Division in 2001 where he had served in every position from Courtesy Clerk to Store Manager. Jim began his career with Alaska Commercial Company as the Grocery Manager in Barrow. Over the next six years he served as Branch Manager for the AC Value Centers in Kotzebue, Dutch Harbor, and Kodiak. In 2007, he accepted the position of General Manager at Frontier Expeditors, the wholesale division of Alaska Commercial Company. In 2008, following the acquisition of Span Alaska Enterprises he was promoted to Vice President and General Manager.
	Walter E. Pickett Vice President and GM ACC Walter Pickett is General Manager and Vice President of Operations for Alaska Commercial Company. Mr. Pickett has more than 12 years experience with the company serving in a number of roles including Director of Operations, Director of Food Marketing, Grocery Category Manager, and Grocery Manager at the AC store in Cordova, Alaska. Mr. Pickett also worked in Winnipeg as a Food Category Manager for The North West Company. Prior to his career with Alaska Commercial Company, Walter worked for Albertsons, Inc. for 18 years. Mr. Pickett has a BS in Management from Metropolitan State College and an MBA from the University of Colorado.		Thomas M. Kallio Vice President & General Manager, Cost-U-Less Thomas has over 30 years retail experience, the last 22 years with BJ’s Wholesale Club with a career progressing as store manager, regional manager, and vice president. Previous to BJ’s he was associated with Warehouse Club and Price Club. Tom also is on the Board of Advisors with other leading retailers and industry executives for TechPoint, an event for innovative retail technology. He also balances out his life by competing in triathlons and has completed two Ironman Triathlons.
	J. Robert Cain Vice President of Logistics and Supply Chain Services, The North West Company (International) Inc. Robert joined Cost-U-Less in April 1998 as logistics manager prior to becoming vice president of logistics on August 7, 2000. Previously, Mr. Cain had a 23-year career with Sea-Land Service (now Horizon Lines) involving a wide variety of management positions in regulatory affairs, carrier pricing & marketing, inter-modal and sales. Mr. Cain earned a bachelor of science degree in transportation from the University of Tennessee in 1975. When The North West Company (International) concluded the purchase of Cost-U-Less, Robert became the VP Logistics with responsibilities for the logistics of the international group (Alaska Commercial, Cost-U-Less, Span Alaska and Frontier.)