Associates
Wanda M. Halpert
President and Director
The Founder and Director of Concord Business Development, Wanda Halpert is a veteran in the strategic planning industry. She has delivered presentations on the essentials of business planning to public company forums and federally funded management programs and directed the production of over 375 plans in more than 100 industry sectors.
Wanda’s insistence on quality has resulted in Concord’s reputation for producing top level funding documents.
Ms. Halpert has coordinated product development, imports/exports, executive systems for special projects, financial controls, and marketing strategies in the US, Canada, Western, Eastern Europe, and Asia. These experiences have contributed to her ability to give structure and shape to a corporate plan. Having traveled extensively on business related projects, Ms. Halpert has maintained contacts globally and worked with private, public and government organizations.
In addition to her work with Concord, Wanda Halpert served as President of the Board of Directors of the Business Management Forum, a federally funded program, for over six years and has served as Treasurer of the Board of Directors of the Vancouver Museum and Chair of Acquisitions for Vancouver Opera.
Dr. Barrie W. Gibbs
B.Sc. Eng., B.A. (Hons), MBA, Ph.D. in Business
Barrie Gibbs specializes in strategy and marketing as well as statistical research and analysis. With more than 25 years experience in the core industrial sectors, Barrie has a strong track record of accomplishment in strategic development for large projects in: Aluminum and Steel Fabrication, Forestry, Trucking, Wholesale/distribution, Construction, Wood manufacturing, Plastics, Machine Shop, Water Treatment Plants, Control Systems, and Software. He is an expert in custom, small batch, and large batch manufacturing and quality systems for manufacturers and services.
A definite asset at Concord, Barrie has developed statistics to support and define technology markets. His work with clients commences with the business plan and continues to Management Consulting in corporate development and industrial strategy.
In addition to his work with Concord, Barrie Gibbs has served as a board member with the Vancouver Volunteer Bureau, Leadership Vancouver, Family Counseling Services, and the Chamber of Commerce.
Derek J. Hanson
CFA, CGA, CSC
Derek Hanson is a financial analyst with experience in the public marketplace. Derek has spent the past several years trading technology stocks primarily on the NASDAQ.
Mr. Hanson’s ability to develop projections is culled from researching the myriads of examples of activity on the markets in companies with similar positioning and analyzing their revenue models.
Derek Hanson has directed the development of over 100 proforma financial projections for the business models of Concord’s diverse client base.
Derek has a proven ability to create spreadsheets that respond to the demands of emerging new economies with an eye to traditional business values that has earned him the respect of Concord’s clients.
Laurel Hickey
Bsc. (Genetics)
Laurel Hickey bring years of writing skills to the team at Concord. She has lead workshops on Webpage Design, Ethics and Internet Writers, Writing for the Internet, and Writers and the New Technology for SFU, the Surrey writer’s conference, and the Northshore Writers’ association. Ms. Hickey has written and published three complete novels.
Laurel has been a senior consultant for Granville Entertainment Group, Federation of British Columbia Writers, and Rogers Cablesystem and is also the principle for a Web development company in Vancouver.
Laurel’s commitment to excellence in technical and business writing skills ensures her place as a pre-eminent member of Concord’s Business Plan writing team.
Garry Kupecz
P. Eng., Masters Electrical Engineering (Communications)
Garry Kupecz brings over 12 years of IT experience to the project of building and running world-class Internet enterprises.
Garry has “done it all” in the IT industry, having worked his way through programming and operations support positions on his way to leading international systems development efforts, and implementing Policy Management Systems.
A member of the Professional Engineers Society, Garry’s experience with a broad spectrum of IT and corporate projects is helping him move Concord into the future as one of the premier providers of Business Management Solutions.
Alex Lobozar
Economics (University of British Columbia), B.B.A Marketing (Simon Fraser University), M.B.A. Marketing Management (St. John’s University, New York), Advanced Computer Network Design (BC Institute of Technology)
Mr. Lobozar has over 10 years experience in sales and marketing management. Mr. Lobozar has spent the last 4 years representing technology companies in a variety of capacities ranging from strategic business analysis to business plan preparation.
Mr. Lobozar has excelled in new client development through superior product knowledge, training and technical savvy.
Alex has held several senior positions such as Regional Manager for National Dental Inc., Marketing Manager for Businessword, Director of Sales and Marketing for Graphic Equipment and Supply and Product Manager for International Corporation.
Alex brings a depth of knowledge to Concord, specifically in the wireless industry, and has completed several plans for major telecommunications and wireless clients.
Donald B. Osborn
B. Sc. Music (Hons)
Don Osborn has developed a strong background in business planning and packaging as a result of hands on experience with a number of small businesses, primarily in the entertainment industry.
With a Bachelors Degree from the University of Colorado at Denver in Music Business, Mr. Osborn started his career running a small independent record label in the United States.
This lead to work in the music industry and eventually, he became an expert in the field of music licensing.
Starting in 1992, Mr. Osborn moved into music publishing and film/TV music with New City Music Inc., a division of Vancouver based film, New City Productions Inc., Don Osborn Music Inc. and Bosh Entertainment Group Inc.
Mr. Osborn experienced a wide range of business activities, including strategic planning, business plan writing, loan and VCC applications and investment opportunity assessment and packaging.
As Member Relations Representative, SOCIETY OF COMPOSERS, AUTHORS AND MUSIC PUBLISHER OF CANADA (SOCAN), Don was responsible for all regional and some national public relations.
This involved extensive written and oral one-to-one communications with songwriters and music publishers regarding the workings of SOCAN and the music industry in general. Don Osborn is a speaker for numerous regional, national and international trade forums and conferences.
Alison Wheatley
MBA, Management, Marketing, and Research
Alison Wheatley researches and prepares marketing plans and business plans with Concord. She has an interest in the environmental plans and volunteers for wildlife conservation and humanitarian groups. Previously, Alison developed a scientific field research society from under 100 members to over 3,400 members across the country. Her commitment to finding the ‘needle in the haystack’ statistic for singular business models is legendary and she is a valued member of Concord.
