AGGV names new director of finance and administration
Justin Mac Donald has been named director of finance and administration for the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.
Gallery CEO Nancy Noble said Mac Donald brings significant knowledge and experience in accounting, financial and administrative operations, as well as management experience to the role.
“Justin’s skills will be invaluable to the AGGV as we move to improve our experience and build a new home for the gallery.”
Mac Donald is a graduate in business and accounting from Wilfrid Laurier University, a chartered professional accountant, and holds a master’s degree from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. He has worked as an accountant and educator for more than 23 years, most recently as an accounting instructor at Vancouver Island University and business teacher at Brentwood College.
Student groups urge UVic to join ethical business pact
Students at the University of Victoria are pushing for the university to sign on to the United Nations Global Compact, an agreement that encourages corporations and institutions to pursue sustainable and ethical business practices.
The proposal, which was brought to the university’s board of governors by Divest UVic, was endorsed by 10 other student groups.
While there are already a number of Australian and U.K. universities who have signed on to the UN Global Compact, such as the University of Sydney and King’s College London, UVic would be the first Canadian university to do so.
Seenupin Road extension opens end of month
Esquimalt Nation will mark the opening of a 220-metre extension of Seenupin Road on its reserve on March 31. The extension is on the west side of Admirals Road and goes to Kosapsum Crescent and includes a signal intersection at Admirals, a crossing of the E&N trail and a number of underground infrastructure upgrades. The project began in 2023.
Nanaimo conference centre exceeds revenue estimates
Nanaimo’s Vancouver Island Conference Centre brought an estimated $11.3 million worth of spending to the city last year, as attendance and revenue numbers continue to rebound post-pandemic.
General manager Chuck Loewen recently told Nanaimo council that the centre hosted 40 conventions in 2024, representing 28,764 delegate days.
The centre made $3.1 million — more than half of that from catering sales — in revenue last year, exceeding previous estimates.
Loewen said the centre is on track for similar numbers this year.
The centre has also signed a contract for a “significant” nine-day international convention in 2026, which will bring thousands into the city and an estimated $2.5 million in economic impact, he said.
“The hotels, the downtown and all of the city is going to be pretty busy,” Loewen said.
The city-owned Vancouver Island Conference Centre is managed and operated by OVG 360, a division of Oak View Group, a Colorado-based global sports and entertainment company with offices in Philadelphia, Toronto and the U.K.
Since 2008, the conference centre has brought an estimated economic benefit of $143 million to Nanaimo, according to OVG 360.
The 38,000-square-foot city-owned facility opened in 2008 at the cost of $74 million to city taxpayers.
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