Meet our Team

John is the Marketing Director for Business Sault Ste. Marie. He has been with the SSMEDC for more than 10 years. John fully implemented the Industrial Marketing Strategy and is now seeing evidence of those projects become a reality. John is now focused on attracting companies from outside the community and assisting in the expansion of companies from within. The overall purpose is to help the City of Sault Ste. Marie build upon its economic strengths and to focus its investment attraction initiatives on a select grouping of sectors that represent the best opportunity for investment attraction and retention.

John comes to us from the private sector, where he was President of a small business consulting group in Sault Ste. Marie. The group was heavily involved in business consulting, project management, and developing and implementing quality management systems. Prior to returning to Sault Ste. Marie in 1994, John held positions in Ottawa with the Canadian Space Agency and EH Industries in a program management capacity. While in our nation’s capital, John attended Algonquin College, where he completed his Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Technology studies. He also attended Carleton University, where he studied for a BA with focus on program and quality management. John is now working towards his Executive MBA.

John is a member of the Economic Developer’s Council of Ontario (EDCO), National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), World Economic Development Alliance (WEDA), Ontario's North, and Corporate Real Estate and Workplace Executive (CoreNet Global). He's heavily involved in the community and sits on a number of working committees. John is also a past Chair of the School Advisory Council at St. Mary’s French Immersion, past President of the Lake Superior Figure Skating Club, past President of the Canadian Cancer Society Algoma Region, and a past member of the ARCH Board of Directors. As well, he has coached in youth sports, primarily hockey a

Born in the Sault, Randy graduated from Bawating High School. In Halifax, he received a BA from Saint Mary’s University and an MPA in Government Organization and Structure at Dalhousie University. Randy worked for Algoma Steel and the City of SSM prior to going to university.

Randy has a wealth of experience as a 33-year federal public servant in N.S., P.E.I., N.B., Nfld., Ont. and Alta. He conducted management audits in several federal departments across Canada. Randy was also a Special Advisor to the Deputy Minister of Labour Market Development in Ottawa and drafted agreements and policies for this directorate. He was a member of the National Labour Market Development Agreement Working Committee and negotiated labour market agreements for Alta., N.S. and P.E.I. In 1988, he joined FedNor-Industry Canada as Senior Advisor to the Director General and managed a large number of economic and business development projects, SME Conferences and Info-Fairs, Innovation Summits in Northern Ontario, and the Citizen Engagement Forum in the Sault.

Randy gained invaluable world-wide experience in international relations while organizing and managing the Operations Centre for the Halifax G7 Summit in 1995, which was renamed G8 when Russia joined. He broadened this experience more recently as Director of International Relations & Global Logistics with EDC's Business SSM division.

Randy changed careers and started a private consulting firm that specializes in economic development and project management. He has been a very active 10-year member with the SSM Chamber of Commerce and completed a six-year term as an Executive Board Director. Randy also served as 2nd Vice-President on the Government Relations, Awards, Membership & Retention, Immigration Strategy, and the Doctors Recruitment Retention Committees. Presently, he an active member of the Canadian Italian Business Professional Association. Randy is the proud father of a son Andrew Tallon who attends Ottawa University.