Steps To The Greater Alumni Award

Steps to the Greater Alumni Award 2016: Fiona Benson
This year GPRC recognized runner Fiona Benson who represented Canada at the 2015 World Cross Country Championships in March 2015. In July 2015 she won the Canadian Championship in the 800m.

She’s achieved Olympic qualifying times in both the 800m and 1500m for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. She ended 2015 ranked 10th in the world in the one mile, 31st in the 1,500 metre, and 41st in the 800 metre.

Steps to the Greater Alumni Award 2015: Cris Seppola
Cris Seppola began as a GPRC student, became a valued employee of the College, and in just a few short years is now a successful business owner providing professional services to a client list which includes GPRC. Cris completed a blended office administration/business administration diploma specializing in e-commerce and marketing, and launched nine10 in 2006. After four years of learning and development, Cris Seppola founded nine10 Incorporated. What started as a design agency has now developed into a full-service marketing agency. Nine 10 Inc. is known for the positive energy of the partners and staff, who are full of the passion of potential.  That has been one of the key qualities behind what is becoming a notable go-forward team: passion.  Or, as one partner puts it, “That passion to learn and to grow.” Cris Seppola and her partners took a leap of faith, added plenty of commitment and hard work, and have already been recognized with a Small Business of the Year award from the Chamber of Commerce.

Steps to the Greater Alumni Award 2014: Ryan Pomeroy
Former Wolves Volleyball star Ryan Pomeroy has accomplished a great deal in the years since he dominated the nets here and in international competition. Today, as President of Pomeroy Inn & Suites Inc. and Pomeroy Lodging LP, Ryan is a leader who continues to prove what ambition, focus, strategic thinking and an unrelenting drive to succeed can accomplish. 
Ryan is deeply committed to honouring his roots and supporting his community, and the Peace Region. He has been involved in many large-scale community projects, including becoming the title facility sponsor for the Pomeroy Sport Centre in his home town of Fort St. John. On a personal level, Ryan has founded and funded Impact Volleyball camps for kids, supported local citizens in need through such projects as the Warriors Fund, and funded academic scholarships through GPRC in memory of his brother, Tim Pomeroy.

Steps to the Greater Alumni Award 2013: Michael Reeve
Having a passion for entrepreneurship, Michael took the Business Administration program at GPRC, where in one of his courses, students were tasked with writing a complete business plan for a fictitious company. Mike based his business plan on a company that he was hoping to start, involving extreme sports filmmaking. Graduating from GPRC in 2004 with a Business Administration Certificate and a full business plan to take to the bank, in 2005, at the age of 20, he incorporated, Velocity Video Productions Ltd.
Capitalizing on the demand for safety and training videos in the oil & gas industry, Mike expanded into the files of commercial business, government and not-for-profit agencies to name a few. Being a one man enterprise, during the winter months, Mike returns to his original passion of filming professional snowmobiling for several large American companies in the remote B.C. backcountry. In the summer months, he can be found hanging out of a helicopter chasing race boats down the river for the Canadian circuit of jet boat racing. In 2011 he produced the World Jet Boat Championships film and was later invited to New Zealand to film their races on the south island. In 2007, at the age of 22, Michael was nominated for “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” by the Grande Prairie Chamber of Commerce. Michael credits GPRC’s faculty and staff with kickstarting his career and business, allowing him to live his dream.