NEWS RELEASE
WINNIPEG, October 25, 2022 — Canada’s leading agriculture-only management consulting firm is on the move – with new leadership, a new service area and big plans for the future.
Josée Lemoine, co-owner and Chief Operating Officer of Backswath Management, will now serve as the firm’s Chief Executive Officer. In her new CEO role, Lemoine succeeds Backswath Founder Terry Betker, who will continue as President and Founder and retain a full consulting role.
“It’s been our plan for Josée to move into the CEO role when the time was right,” says Betker. “That time is now. Josée’s passion and expertise are ideally suited to the role. I’m thrilled to be able to make this announcement.”
New Leadership Team
Backswath will be guided strategically and operationally by a new, nine-member Leadership Team:
Josée Lemoine, CEO
Terry Betker, Founder
Bruce Kirk, Agribusiness Management Lead
Sara Chambers, Peer Group Lead
Brent Metcalfe, Mergers, Acquisitions and Investments Lead
Gavin Betker, Learning and Research Lead
Salima Sudi, Office Manager & Executive Assistant
Kieran Brett, Director of Marketing
Hiring for, Farm Business Management Lead
New service area: Mergers, Acquisitions and Investments
Metcalfe’s role comes in response to a need that more and more Backswath clients have expressed.
“We’re in a period where many Canadian farmers are accumulating wealth more quickly than in the past,” says Metcalfe, a veteran of agriculture and agribusiness in Manitoba. “Many farmers are finding they have more capital than the farm needs for reinvestment. They’re asking what non-farm investment opportunities are out there for them. That’s where Mergers, Acquisitions and Investments comes in.”
Service line contacts announced
Over the past year, Backswath has grown from 11 team members to 17 today – and added two new service lines. For this reason, there’s a need to clarify a point of contact for each service area. Those contacts are:
Jacqueline Gerrard, Transition Planning
Katelyn Duncan, Human Resource Management
Scott Kemp, Strategic Planning and Facilitation
Wade McLaughlin, Bookkeeping
Brendon Fornwald, Financial Management
Jessica Barham, Market Coaching
“This is a time for Backswath to recharge and renew,” says Josée Lemoine. “With new leadership and a new service area, we will be even better able to serve our clients’ changing needs and help advance the Canadian agriculture industry that we’re so proud to be a part of. Beyond this, we have more plans on the drawing board for what should be an exciting 2023.”
Based in Winnipeg, with consultants also in Saskatchewan and Alberta, Backswath Management is a consulting firm serving farm and agribusiness clients in areas such as Financial Management, Strategic Planning, Transition Planning, Human Resources, Peer Groups and more.
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