President and Founder

Rick is the Founder and President of Brendain Incorporated, based in Toronto, Canada. Brendain Incorporated specializes in interim leadership, business development, and government relations, including the management of proposals and submissions for major funding applications. Rick is a registered lobbyist, both federally and provincially in Ontario. The practice focuses primarily in the food and agriculture sector and is recognized as a leader in the industry, with a signature for creativity and tenacity.

Before beginning his consulting practice with Brendain, Rick had held a number of senior management positions in the food industry. Most recently Rick was a Vice President with Nestlé Canada, where he managed the Dairy Business, the Foreign Trade Division, and Business Development, including the mergers and acquisitions portfolio and was appointed to the Executive Committee for Purina.

Prior to joining Nestlé, Rick was a Marketing Specialist with the Government of Ontario, Ministry of Agriculture and Food where he held for 7 years, responsibility for promoting Ontario primary agriculture and value added food products to Europe and the Middle East. Previously, he held progressive management positions with Cadbury Schweppes and George Weston Limited, where he moved from a front line sales representative to general management, holding executive leadership roles in both the Quebec and Ontario regions.

Rick is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program and continues to remain active with the school alumnae as a Director of the HBS Club of Toronto. Rick has served on a number of boards for private companies, committees, trusts and councils.

Director, Government Programs and Project Management

Nick first joined Brendain in 2014 as a Project Manager. In his current role, Director, Government Programs and Project Management, he is responsible for leading all aspects of government funding applications on behalf of clients. Nick leads each project team from initial meetings with clients, to development of research strategy approaches, to the final preparation and submission of all applications to government agencies. Nick works closely with the President of Brendain in various client relationship capacities, primarily to ensure that each client is apprised of available grant funding sources and there is clear chain of process.

Nick is a graduate of the University of Guelph and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics. He studied a broad range of diversified courses including, international finance, economics of regulation, statistical research and econometrics, mathematical economics, theory of finance and business history. Contributing experience has been gained by working during his university term with a major media organization. Nick previously held a position on the University of Guelph’s Pet Trust Marketing Committee. The Pet Trust is the premiere Canadian charity for animal welfare and as an alumnus of the University of Guelph; Nick enjoys giving back to his community. Equally, Nick assists in secretariat roles to advisory boards where the firm has performed Pro Bono services and at the request of clients.