Announcing the Generational Discussion Panel at Catalyst 2025 – Leading Change
Discover from three of the Canadian promo industry’s top leaders on what it takes to successfully manage a family business and transition it to the next generation or outside of the family.
Each distinguished panelist, including Mitch Freed (Genumark), Kate Plummer (Debco | HPG), and Morgan Edgecombe (Edgecombes Marketing & Promotions Ltd.), brings a wide breadth of real-world experience and learnings on how to keep a generational family business thriving while ensuring longevity.
This session will deliver an engaging panel discussion, moderated by Pete Kmech, focused on challenges faced throughout each of their respective journeys when taking over the family business or transitioning it to new leadership.
Top learnings include: ‘the business of family’ including succession planning within the family or outside of it, and how to respect the original framework of the business, while leading the charge for change to ensure solid growth alongside the ever-changing business landscape.
Mitch Freed – is the CEO of Genumark, Inc., a Counselor Top 40 Distributor and a PPAI 100 distributor. Before becoming CEO of his family’s business, Mitch led Genumark’s sales team as the EVP of Sales & Strategy. Mitch comes from a management consulting background, previously working as a Senior Consultant at KPMG and as a Senior Analyst at SECOR Consulting, Canada’s largest independent management consulting firm. Before Genumark, Mitch co-founded and was the General Manager of an experiential entertainment company, POP Experience. Mitch earned an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management in Chicago, IL and an HBA from The Ivey School of Business at Western University in London, ON.
Kate Plummer – is the Director of Business Development for Debco|HPG. She started her career never intending to join the family business of Clearmount, but after over fifteen years, she has since carved a unique position in the industry as a thought-leader and voice of conscientious creativity. She joined Debco|HPG after working on the acquisition of Clearmount to St Regis. Kate is a past chair of WLC (Women’s Leadership Conference) and long running co chair of PPPC’s WEE (Women’s Empowerment Event). She works to encourage and grow networks of intelligent and ambitious women in achieving personal and professional growth. As a board member of PromoKitchen, the industry’s only peer-led non-profit dedicated to industry education, Kate is passionate about growth and challenging our industry to strive for greater progress in creativity and collaboration. What she loves most about the business is interacting with interesting and diverse clients, and working together with distributor partners to build innovative recognition programs.
Morgan Edgecombe – is COO at Edgecombes Marketing & Promotions with 13 years officially with the company (however, he often jokes that he was born into the business). When not working he enjoys spending time with his family, cycling in the summer, and snowboarding in the winter. After a decade in Toronto, he and his family moved back to Halifax where he looks forward to continuing to grow the company from his home province.
Moderator: Pete Kmech – is the President & Chief Creative Strategist at Creative Promotional Marketing Agency and PPPC Board Member. His marketing journey began over 25 years later, he remains passionate about helping clients communicate effectively and helping their brands WIN. At his agency, Pete has played an integral role in crafting thousands of successful promotional projects and digital campaigns that have resonated with audiences and propelled businesses to new heights. A problem solver at heart, Pete excels at finding practical solutions to business challenges through clever products, innovative media tools, and intelligent marketing strategies. His leadership has fostered a culture of excellence that’s earned his agency recognition as a Best Place to Work for seven consecutive years. Pete’s vision has also helped his agency achieve milestones like becoming a Fastest Growing Company in North America, National Distributor of the Year, Best Managed Company, and a Top 40 North American Distributor.