Post Shift Podcast #105 - Jeff Guignard of ABLE BC and Ian Tostenson of BCRFA

We chat with the heads of the advocacy bodies for the restaurant and bar industry in BC about their reflections on 2020 and what we can expect in 2021 for the industry going forward.

JEFF GUIGNARD

Executive Director, Alliance of Beverage Licensees

Jeff is an accomplished leader and communicator with over a decade of successful experience in government relations, political communications, and issues management. Initially from New Brunswick, Jeff comes to ABLE BC directly from Parliament Hill in Ottawa where he worked for three different Members of Parliament-including two MPs from BC. He is well-connected in British Columbia and brings a wealth of experience working collaboratively with government, business, and industry officials-particularly in the small business and tourism sectors.

In his free time, Jeff is also a ranked competitive curler and has served on the Board of Directors of the Ottawa Curling Club, where he was responsible for strategic planning and membership services to the club’s 600 members. In each of these roles, Jeff has distinguished himself as an effective and highly skilled communicator whose leadership style reflects his open, collaborative, and passionate personality.

IAN TOSTENSON

President and CEO, BC Restaurant and Foodservice Association

As the dynamic, passionate and forward thinking President & CEO of the BCRFA, Ian Tostenson combines energy and integrity with proven achievement in all areas of business. Ian spent most of his career as (CEO/President) successfully growing Cascadia Brands, which owned, Calona Vineyards, Sandhill Vineyards, Burrowing Owl Vineyards, Granville Island Brewing, Grady Wine Marketing and Potter Distilling. He is an appointed director to the Premier’s Permanent Small Business Roundtable and took on the challenge as an appointed member of BC’s Climate Team to chart out BC’s carbon future. Ian was BC’s second chairman for the BC Wine Institute, a finalist in the Ernest & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award

and a recipient of the Business in Vancouver Under 40 Entrepreneur of the Year Award. He served on the Board as a Director and President of the David Foster Foundation for over 22 years, which continues to create a lasting legacy for the benefit of families with children requiring life threatening organ transplants. He speaks to this cause regularly as well to the cause of H.A.V.E. CAFÉ, which he co-founded, sharing a passion to change lives in the downtown Vancouver eastside. Above all else, Ian is a coach and mentor to not only those in the business and his community service, but to those in his life. He is a sought after media contact and speaker that can be booked for select events locally and internationally.

Share a dram with the hospitality industry’s top global talents: bartenders, venue owners, distillers and industry aficionados. Shawn Soole has lived, breathed, and imbibed hospitality for decades. Now, he delves into the advice, opinions, and provocative stories that are helping to define the creative, culturally-necessary space of ‘modern hospitality’—covering topics from front-of-house service, to back-end business operations, and every inch between.