BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Rhiannon Tutty
President
Tutty Financial
Rhiannon owns and operates Tutty Financial as a Financial Advisor with Sun Life Financial. As a financial coach for her clients: she is on their team, supporting them and helping them put strategies in place to reach their goals. In her years as an advisor, Rhiannon has earned numerous awards including six-time membership to Million Dollar Round Table, Health Advisor of the Year for the Kootenays, has been a recipient of CVCC Business Excellence Awards for both Professional Services and Community Impact as well as being numbered in the top Sun Life advisors within Western Canada. Previous to her time with Tutty Financial, she ran a successful bookkeeping business for 12 years.
Rhiannon is the proud mother of four (almost) grown children. She chooses Invermere as a base for enjoying all the Valley has to offer, especially cycling in our amazing mountains. And as she can fortunately also work remotely, she is able to chase adventure as well.
Tutty Financial has been a member of the Chamber of Commerce for over 10 years, and believes that supporting local business is important to our ECO(nomic) SYSTEM. Rhiannon finds deep value in supporting local and #valleystrong. Additional volunteering has been with the Columbia Valley Youth Soccer for a decade and as a volunteer teacher of financial literacy within our local schools. In the past, she was also an active member of the school Parent Advisory Council
Kyla Lam
Vice President
Aspire Professional Corporation, CPA
Kyla is the Founder and Principal at Aspire Professional Corp, a boutique CPA firm in Invermere. Aspire provides audit, accounting, tax and cloud-based bookkeeping services to local and remote clients.
After growing up in northern BC, Kyla earned double degrees in Environmental Science and Commerce at the University of Alberta. She attained the Chartered Accountant designation in 2009, articling with a national firm. Her career has included accounting & finance roles in both public practice and industry, founding and growing two businesses as well as being an educator and not for profit volunteer and leader.
Kyla is passionate about families, businesses and communities. In addition to her role with the CVCC, she is a CPA Canada Financial Literacy volunteer and Chair of the CV Housing Society and EMP Parent Advisory Council. In her leisure time, Kyla, her husband & their son are avid outdoorspeople.
Cris Leonard
Past President
Royal LePage Rockies
Cris Leonard is the Managing Broker with Royal LePage Rockies West Realty.
Cris and his wife Katherine Locke have been visiting the Valley for over a decade and moved here permanently in 2017. In the past Cris has owned and operated multiple companies with very diverse business interests.
Accolades he has received include, being twice nominated as “New Westminster Business Person of the Year”, and being awarded the “Commercial Renovation Award” in New Westminster.
His volunteer experience includes being the current president of the Radium Hot Springs Rotary Club. His past experience includes, President of the North Delta Rotary Club, President of the New Westminster Chamber of Commerce, President of the Raymond Burr Performing Arts Society, board member of the Westminster Club, and board member of The Hyack Festival Association.
Cris is pleased to serve on the Chamber board as he sees this as a valuable resource for the local business and tourism community.
Jacqueline Leduc
Treasurer
Black Forest Restaurant
Jacqueline is the owner and operator of the Black Forest Steak and Schnitzel Haus, a family-owned business since 1990. Growing up in Invermere, Jacqueline moved back to the valley with husband Gaetan in 2007 to assist in the management of the business and then later assumed ownership of the family restaurant.
She earned her Bachelor degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management from the University of Victoria in 1998, and went on to work at Fairmont Hotels and Resorts at several of their properties, allowing her to live and work all across Canada for over 10 years.
A proud valley resident, Jacqueline felt that joining the chamber as a board member and a representative of the hospitality industry would be the best way to maintain growth and success throughout the community. Striving for excellence has been the cornerstone of her career as a manager, owner, and now a board member serving the Chamber of Commerce.
Nancy Hetherington
Director
Luvino
Nancy has a Bachelor of Commerce degree which led to a vast background in Marketing & Sales, specializing in Tourism, Event and Pharmaceutical marketing.
After 20+ years in the corporate environment Nancy recently established a small business – LuVino, a wine tasting events business. With a passion for wine and wine knowledge, Nancy successfully completed numerous educational wine courses, including WSET Level 3 (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) and turned her passion into a business.
Nancy has lived in the Columbia Valley for over 9 years and has participated on numerous tourism committees including Kootenay Rockies Tourism, CV Tourism Marketing Society, and the CV Tourism Committee.
As a Director on the CVCC Board she is pleased to play an active role with the Chamber and support the business community.
Dee Conklin
Director
Palliser Printing
Dee is the owner of Palliser Printing since 2003 which moved her from Calgary to the Valley. She has been very involved in the community including being the Mayor of Radium Hot Springs from 2008-2014
Dee is passionate about working towards regional cooperation and feels we are all stronger if we work together. With her experience in the world of politics she is now able to bring a greater level of knowledge towards achieving these goals.
Dee now sits for the second time as President of the Columbia Valley Chamber of Commerce. She is impressed with the direction the Board has been taking in the last few years and wanted to be part of its future helping Business in the Valley and feels with her background she can offer her experience to the Board. To add to her busy schedule she is also one of three Marriage Commissioners in the Valley.
Christine Winchester
Director
Triptician
Christine is the owner of Triptician – The Vacation Specialists and holds a Certified Travel Industry Executive Designation. Christine’s love of the Travel Industry continues after 30 years in the business. She previously operated a storefront agency and owned her own Independent Travel Business for 24 years in Ontario before moving to the Valley. Upon moving to Invermere in 2014, she held a position of the National Director of Sales and Professional Development for one of Canada’s Largest Independent Travel Agent Networks. Her role was focused on Sales and Recruitment growth nationwide. Christine led the Sales team and the 500 plus Independent Travel Agents across Canada. After 5 years of constant travel for business and having minimal time to enjoy the valley life, Christine decided to leave her corporate position and get back to what she loves most and created Triptician.
As a strong believer in supporting local business, being a volunteer and getting involved in the Community, Christine had joined the chamber last year as a member. When the opportunity came up to join the board, she was ecstatic. She is incredibly customer centric and dedicated to make a difference by bringing people together.
Rob Hamilton
Director
Rockies Law Corporation
Rob received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Calgary in 2017 and practiced as a litigation associate for a national law firm in Calgary, primarily in the areas of civil litigation and insolvency from 2019 to 2022.
Rob moved to the Columbia Valley in 2022 and became an associate lawyer with Rockies Law Corporation in Invermere, where he practices general civil litigation, assisting clients with a wide range of matters including debt claims, contractual disputes, negligence claims, and other business disputes. Rob is thrilled to live in the Kootenays again and in his spare time, can be found hiking, golfing, skiing, and enjoying downtime with his wife and twin sons.
Joining the Chamber as a director in 2023, Rob is pleased to assist in supporting the local business community.
Jamie Hurschler
Director
Panorama Mountain Resort
Jay Balabas
Director
Valhalla Pure Outfitters
Sonya Saujani
Director
McDonalds
Edson Martins
Director
Home Hardware
Josh Miller
Director
North Invermere Holdings