Mandy Rennehan (a.k.a. Bear) is called the Blue-Collar CEO™ for her ability to seamlessly navigate between the white- and blue-collar worlds, and to respectfully ‘tell it like it is’. Mandy is a sought-after speaker, multiple award-winning entrepreneur, philanthropist, and trade industry ambassador.
She left her hometown of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, at 18 with a dirty hockey bag and an audacious dream. By 19, she founded Freshco, Canada’s #1, full-service, reconstruction and retail maintenance provider operating across Canada and the eastern United States serving clients like Anthropologie, Apple, Banana Republic, Home Depot, Lululemon, Nike, Restoration Hardware, Sephora, The Gap, Tiffany & Co., plus many more.
Freshco and Mandy have received countless business awards including, Toronto Region Board of Trade Business Leader of the Year, Top 25 Women of Influence, the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur “Momentum” Award, Growth 500 Excellence in Innovation, (WXN’s) Top 100 Most Powerful Women – Hall of Fame, CGLCC LGBT Business of the Year and Atlantic Business Magazine’s Top 50 CEOs.
Mandy’s vision goes well beyond building successful businesses. She is redefining the collar, blue™ to help solve the massive skilled trade shortage in North America. It is a profound economic and social issue that affects everyone. Consumers are paying more and waiting longer for services, companies aren’t able to scale, and important infrastructure projects, like roads, transit and hospitals are being delayed. Mandy is challenging the misconception that white-collar jobs are “better” or “more desirable” than blue-collar ones. Society needs both collars, and if we do not change this, the crippling effects of the skilled labour shortage will only get worse.
Mandy defies labels. The description she often gets is “refreshing.” Her (respectfully) uncensored honesty is matched by her quick wit, East Coast humour, and big heart. It is impossible to remain unchanged after coming into contact with this authentic, self-taught and self-made powerhouse.
object(WP_Post)#4056 (24) {
["ID"]=>
int(13086)
["post_author"]=>
string(2) "26"
["post_date"]=>
string(19) "2018-05-16 20:48:46"
["post_date_gmt"]=>
string(19) "2018-05-16 20:48:46"
["post_content"]=>
string(2926) "
Jim Spatz is the Executive Chairman of Southwest Properties Limited, one of Atlantic Canada’s leading real estate developers. Southwest owns, operates and develops residential and commercial real estate in Atlantic Canada and extended stay accommodations across Canada.
Southwest has grown its property portfolio by constructing real estate assets from the ground up, as well as the acquisition and repurposing of real estate assets with major redevelopment potential. Southwest has accumulated an extensive and balanced portfolio of properties and investments, including more than 1,500 high quality apartments and condominium units situated in the best residential areas of Halifax, and nearly 700 hotel rooms in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Southwest redeveloped and owns Atlantic Place, the largest office building in Newfoundland. It is also the majority shareholder in Premiere Suites, with over 1,500 units. Premiere is Canada’s largest coast-to-coast provider of furnished extended-stay accommodations and is the fourth largest in North America. Southwest has four major multi-unit and mixed-use projects in the planning and construction phase in Halifax, which will double the size of its Halifax portfolio in the next several years.
Jim has led the company for the past 25 years. His first career was as a physician. Jim practiced Family and then Emergency Medicine for 15 years.
Along with his responsibilities in the office, Jim is actively involved in a number of community activities. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Halifax Port Authority and is a Life Director of Neptune Theatre. He is also a member of the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee’s (CJPAC) Advisory Board. Jim is a founding partner and Fellow of the Creative Destruction Lab Atlantic, the mentorship and investment organization for technology start-up ventures in the region. Jim also served on the Board of Governors of Dalhousie University, Atlantic Canada’s largest university, from 2001 – 2015, and was their Board Chair from 2008 – 2014. Most recently Jim sat on the Board of the Canadian Stem Cell Foundation and the National Executive Committee for the 2017 Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference, Canada’s most prestigious leadership development experience.
In 2007, Jim along with his late father, Simon, were inducted into the Nova Scotia Business Hall of Fame. In 2013, Jim received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his significant achievements and contributions to the community. In May 2015, Jim was named Atlantic Business Magazine’s CEO of the Year for Atlantic Canada. Jim is a member of WPO and CEO.
"
["post_title"]=>
string(9) "Jim Spatz"
["post_excerpt"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_status"]=>
string(7) "publish"
["comment_status"]=>
string(6) "closed"
["ping_status"]=>
string(6) "closed"
["post_password"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_name"]=>
string(9) "jim-spatz"
["to_ping"]=>
string(0) ""
["pinged"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_modified"]=>
string(19) "2018-05-16 20:48:46"
["post_modified_gmt"]=>
string(19) "2018-05-16 20:48:46"
["post_content_filtered"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_parent"]=>
int(0)
["guid"]=>
string(69) "https://waterstonehc.wpengine.com/?post_type=winning-ceos&p=13086"
["menu_order"]=>
int(0)
["post_type"]=>
string(12) "winning-ceos"
["post_mime_type"]=>
string(0) ""
["comment_count"]=>
string(1) "0"
["filter"]=>
string(3) "raw"
}
