Page 110 - WMI Member Guide May 2021

After graduating from Saint Francis Xavier
University, Joe travelled to New Zealand where he
worked for Two Paddocks Vineyard. It was here -
being surrounded by so many wines and ciders -
where Joe was inspired to start a commercial cidery
back home on his family’s orchard. Joe’s
grandfather, who was nicknamed “Yip”, purchased
the orchard in 1964 and had a hobby of making
“Yip’s cider” for family and friends, but never
explored commercial sales. After attending the
Cider and Perry Academy in Gloucestershire
England, Joe was ready to start Yip Cider Inc.
Yip Cider Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and made
Joe Mackay
its first sale in April of 2017, back where it all
ELP12Th began at the Kingston Farmers’ Market. Yip Cider
has now built a new production facility and tasting
Yip Cider Inc. room, which is opening June 2021. Yip Cider takes
great pride in using 100% NB Apples.
http://www.yipcider.ca
rjcmackay@gmail.com

Laurie MacKeigan is the President of Backman
Vidcom, the leading commercial audiovisual
integrator in Atlantic Canada. A Cape Bretoner,
Laurie graduated from Acadia University with a
BBA, concentration in accounting. After obtaining
her Chartered Accountant designation with Deloitte
in Halifax, Laurie spent 11 years in Bermuda. She
worked in the financial services industry as the head
of finance to a global investment firm. She and her
husband decided to return home to Nova Scotia to
raise their young children and fulfill a dream of
being entrepreneurs.In 2014, Laurie purchased
Backman Vidcom, a 40 year old audiovisual firm.
The challenge was daunting as the company had
grown stagnant in a rapidly changing industry. She
Laurie MacKeigan
and her team nicknamed the company Backman 2.0
ELP11F and set out to be leaders in the industry locally and
President
internationally. The strategy has worked with
Backman Vidcom impressive results over the past few years and plans
Halifax Nova Scotia for more growth. Backman has been involved in
http://www.bvcl.ca providing audiovisual systems in very high profile
lmackeigan@bvcl.ca
projects since Laurie took over the company
including the new Halifax Convention Centre.

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