Our Team
Executive/Corporate Team

Dayna Spiring President & CEO
P: 1 204 954 1988
Contact Dayna
Economic Development Winnipeg Inc. (EDW) is the lead economic development agency for Winnipeg, encompassing EDW, YES! Winnipeg and Tourism Winnipeg. Dayna directs all aspects of the corporation’s activities. She provides leadership and strategic direction, collaborates with key stakeholders and is a driving force behind making Winnipeg a compelling choice for business and tourism. She also sits on the board of directors for Winpak Ltd., a Winnipeg-based plastic-packaging pioneer, and previously served on the board of Manitoba Hydro (a provincial Crown corporation).
As the former chief strategy officer and general counsel of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB), Dayna was charged with leading a group of senior-level employees, financial advisors and lawyers in preparing the federally controlled entity for privatization, which sold for $550 million in 2015 (the CWB was valued at just $100 million in 2012). Dayna’s supplemental responsibilities during her 10-year tenure at the CWB also involved facilitating government and stakeholder relations during a period of intense public scrutiny and debate. As well, Dayna spearheaded all marketing and communications efforts at the CWB and served as its corporate secretary.
In addition to Dayna’s extensive professional experience, which includes five years as an associate at Aikins, MacAulay & Thorvaldson LLP in the early 2000s, she is a passionate Winnipegger with a drive to volunteer. She led the team that brought the Gold Medal Plates competition to Winnipeg. Currently the Chair of the Winnipeg Football Club’s board of directors, she is the first woman to have her name engraved on the coveted Grey Cup, after the Winnipeg Blue Bombers historic win in 2019. She is only the second woman to serve on the Canadian Football League’s board of governors.
Dayna earned a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Manitoba. Earlier, she completed a Bachelor of Arts degree (honours) from the same institution, majoring in political science. In 2015, Dayna participated in the Directors Education Program within the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, obtaining the ICD.D designation.

Ryan Kuffner Vice President of Sales & Business Development
P: 1 204 954 1962
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Ryan directs all business development strategies for Economic Development Winnipeg. He also leads the YES! Winnipeg initiative to attract new business and works with local companies to facilitate their expansion, increase their market potential and grow their network.

Karen Goossen Vice President, Marketing and Tourism Winnipeg
P: 1 204 954 1965
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Karen leads the development and implementation of the tourism sales and servicing for all markets in order to increase Winnipeg's economy.

Kim Metcalfe Director of Finance
P: 1 204 954 1980
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Kim's responsibilities incorporate all aspects of the day-to-day financial management duties of the corporation, as well as directing all finance-related administrative activities.

Tiffany Creaghe-Harder Executive Assistant to the President & CEO
P: 1 204 954 1998
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Tiffany assists Dayna with issues management involving such aspects as scheduling, event planning, meeting management and communications-related tasks. She also serves as the primary liaison for EDW's board of directors and coordinates all board-related activities germane to the organization.

Naomi Wang Administrative Assistant
P: 1 204 954 1970
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Market Intelligence Team

Sandra Walker Director of Research and Market Intelligence
P: 1 204 954 1986
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Sandra leads a team of Market Intelligence professionals collecting and assessing the best, accurate most relevant information about Winnipeg to support companies considering a relocation or expansion into Winnipeg. Providing leadership through reliable data and industry expertise, the MI team supports EDW as a knowledge based data driven organization.

Chris Ferris Senior Economist
P: 1 204 954 1987
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Chris conducts in-depth research and analysis on the Winnipeg regional economy to identify trends and key economic indicators. He delivers valuable information to our business community in the form of commentary, insights, forecasting and economic modeling.

Natalia Vozniak (On Maternity Leave until Fall 2021) Market Analyst
P: 1 204 954 1970
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On Maternity Leave until Fall 2021.

Lukas Bohun Business Intelligence Manager and Statistician
P: 1 204 954 1991
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Lukas is responsible for planning, developing and implementing EDW’s data strategy. He manages the development of the EDW data warehouse from data discovery through to design and data visualizations. He delivers high quality, reliable data solutions to support business investment and tourism in Winnipeg.

Ronald Sarran Market Intelligence and Organizational Development Manager
P: 1 204 954 1983
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Ron describes Winnipeg’s business development value proposition through the study, analysis and interpretation of industry trends and economic indicators. He is responsible for facilitation of strategic planning, staff training and development, as well as the management of projects promoting operational efficiencies across the organization.

Abigail Crisostomo Information and Data Management Coordinator
P: 1 204 954 0994
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Abigail supports the Market Intelligence team through data management, work coordination and research. She is responsible to provide the best, accurate and most relevant information to support the organization and client requests.
YES! Winnipeg Team

Bill Coulter Director of Business Development
P: 1 204 954 1976
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Sector: Financial Services
Bill leads YES! Winnipeg’s Business Development team, and works with the team to proactively identify new prospects and advance each opportunity to a successful conclusion by supporting the team in understanding what assistance the client requires and engaging appropriate collaborators to deliver what the client needs.

Alberto Velasco-Acosta Director of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
P: 1 204 954 1972
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Alberto proactively identifies new prospects to attract to Winnipeg by developing relationships with leading site selector consultants to inform them of and promote Winnipeg's strong value proposition. He also represents YES! Winnipeg on international business missions and welcomes incoming international delegations.

Yvonne Kinley Director of Talent & Workforce Development
P: 1 204 954 0997
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Yvonne leads YES! Winnipeg’s Talent team, helping local companies and potential investors in the city to retain, attract, and develop the talent they need to help grow the economy.

William Findlater Business Development Manager
P: 1 204 954 1971
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Sectors: Advanced Manufacturing, Aerospace, Energy & Environment
William proactively identifies new prospects within his sectors of responsibility and advances each prospect to a successful conclusion by understanding what assistance they require and engaging appropriate collaborators to deliver what the client needs.

Sheena Pitura Business Development Manager
P: 1 204 954 1974
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Sectors: Life Sciences, Agribusiness, and Transportation & Distribution
Sheena proactively identifies new prospects within her sectors of responsibility and advances each prospect to a successful conclusion by understanding what assistance they require and engaging appropriate collaborators to deliver what the client needs.

Christine Perrin Business Development Manager, Foreign Direct Investment
P: 1 204 954 1973
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Christine proactively identifies potential foreign investors leveraging EDW’s prospecting tools and by working closely with the Market Intelligence team. Christine also works closely with the rest of the Yes! Winnipeg business development team to promptly respond to the needs of potential foreign investors and develops strong relationships with foreign owned business located in the Winnipeg region.

Ilona Niemczyk Investor Relations Manager
P: 1 204 954 0992
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Ilona serves as the primary contact for investors of YES! Winnipeg. She is responsible for implementing the strategy and necessary activities to attract, retain and engage investors to sustain private sector funding to further the initiatives of YES! Winnipeg and Economic Development Winnipeg.

Corinne Gusnoski Talent and Workforce Development Coordinator
P: 1 204 954 1975
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Corinne works closely with the YES! Winnipeg business development team to retain existing investment, support local company expansion, and attract new investment to the city. Corinne also works closely with EDW’s Market Intelligence team to ensure effective flow of project work and intelligence to inform the efforts of YES! Winnipeg, among other responsibilities.

Noah Fast Business Development Coordinator
P: 1 204 954 0991
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Sector: Tech / ICT
Noah works closely with the YES! Winnipeg business development team to retain existing investment, support local company expansion, and attract new investment to the city. Noah also works closely with EDW’s Market Intelligence, and Marketing & Branding, and Tourism teams to ensure effective flow of project work and intelligence to inform the efforts of YES! Winnipeg, among other responsibilities.

Dana Plett Business Development Coordinator
P: 1 204 954 0996
Contact Dana
Dana works closely with the YES! Winnipeg business development team to retain existing investment, support local company expansion, and attract new investment to the city. Dana also works closely with EDW’s Market Intelligence, Marketing & Branding, and Tourism teams to ensure effective flow of project work and intelligence to inform the efforts of YES! Winnipeg, among other responsibilities.

Jessie Rew Business Development Coordinator
P: 1 204 954 0993
Contact Jessie
Jessie works closely with the YES! Winnipeg business development team to retain existing investment, support local company expansion, and attract new investment to the city. Jessie also works closely with EDW’s Market Intelligence, Marketing & Branding, and Tourism teams to ensure effective flow of project work and intelligence to inform the efforts of YES! Winnipeg, among other responsibilities.

Laurie McDougall Investor Relations Coordinator
P: 1 204 954 1966
Contact Laurie
Laurie is responsible for leading the coordination of events, communications and activities with YES! Winnipeg’s investor network in conjunction with EDW's President and CEO, Dayna Spiring, and the Vice President, Sales and Business Development, Ryan Kuffner.
Tourism Winnipeg Team

Natalie Thiesen Director of Tourism
P: 1 204 954 1978
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Natalie is responsible for managing the Business Development Managers, Sales Administrators and Client Service Manager in order to optimize overnight visitations across all markets. Natalie is also responsible for attracting business events through the U.S. meetings and conventions market as well as the economic sectors of Energy and Environment and Information Communication Technologies.

Annie Henry Business Development Manager
P: 1 204 954 1990
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Annie is responsible for attracting sports, special events and meetings and conventions to Winnipeg through the sport federations, unions, corporations as well as the key economic sectors of Advanced Manufacturing, Aerospace and Creative Industries.

Grace Hicks Business Development Manager
P: 1 204 954 1981
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Grace is responsible for attracting meetings and conventions to Winnipeg through the Canadian association and third party meeting planner markets as well as the economic sectors of Agribusiness and Life Sciences.

Sarah Robinson Business Development Manager
P: 1 204 954 1995
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Sarah is responsible for selling and promoting Winnipeg as the destination of choice for the travel trade market.

Lynnea Adrian Client Services Manager
P: 1 204 954 1992
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Lynnea is responsible for managing client services by assisting clients in promoting their meetings, conventions, sports, special events and group tours that will be in Winnipeg in order to maximize attendance and elevate customer satisfaction.

Jen Nagy Partnerships Coordinator
P: 1 204 954 1994
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Jen is responsible for the Team Winnipeg and Winnipeg Tour Connection partnerships and initiatives. She provides project-specific support to the meetings and conventions and travel trade teams and Tourism Winnipeg's industry events.

Crystal Seman Sales Administrator
P: 1 204 954 1989
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Crystal is responsible for managing the customer relations management system, Simpleview, as well as supporting the sales activities of the Business Development Managers and expediting the bids and proposals in order to attract meetings, conventions, sports and special events to Winnipeg.

Brittany Cawson Business Development Coordinator
P: 1 204 954 1967
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Brittany is responsible for research and lead generation support for Tourism Winnipeg sales team.

Danica Limpahan Visitor Experience & Inventory Coordinator
P: 1 204 954 1996
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Danica is responsible for inventory management and the delivery of front line visitor counseling.
Marketing & Branding Team

Cody Chomiak Director of Marketing
P: 1 204 954 1960
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Cody is responsible for marketing as it relates to Economic Development Winnipeg. He executes strategic marketing plans to increase business investment and visitation to Winnipeg.

Tyler Walsh Digital & Content Marketing Manager
P: 1 204 954 1979
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Tyler is responsible for curating and creating digital and video content to promote and tell the Winnipeg story.

Eleanor Coopsammy Corporate Creative Communications Manager
P: 1 204 954 1961
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Eleanor manages the corporate communications activities specific to EDW. She executes a broad spectrum of deliverables based on strategic marketing & communications plans that span both digital and print formats. Eleanor is the primary point of contact for EDW-related media inquiries.

Gillian Chester Communications & Travel Media Manager
P: 1 204 954 1977
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Gillian is responsible for writing and editing tourism marketing communications, handling travel media requests, developing story ideas, and the travel media program.

Mike Green Social Media & Creative Communications Manager
P: 1 204 954 1993
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Mike is responsible for development and execution of Tourism Winnipeg's social media plan. He is also responsible for all creative online and offline writing for various marketing mediums.

Kelly Krebs Marketing & Communications Project Manager
P: 1 204 954 1963
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Kelly is responsible for managing the content of the Tourism Winnipeg publications and website, approving all partner entries in Simpleview, compiling earned media, responding to image requests and managing the internal image gallery and photo contest.

Karen Allen Graphic Designer
P: 1 204 954 1964
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Karen is responsible for the graphic design of the sales and marketing initiatives and maintains the brand standards.

Maddy Reico Digital Content and Marketing Coordinator
P: 1 204 954 8340
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Maddy is responsible for creating and distributing digital content across all platforms. Maddy also facilitates the distribution of the e-newsletters, blogs and industry communications.