Arlene Anderson
Arlene Anderson is President and co-Owner of The Original Maple Bat Corporation, makers of the record setting SAM BAT maple baseball bat. Invented by Sam Holman, it was the first MLB approved maple baseball bat. Loved by professional players the SAM BAT is sold worldwide. Arlene has overseen the day to day operations of SAM BAT since 2007 when she and her husband Jim bought a controlling interest in the company. She is passionate about their team, wood manufacturing and online marketing and sales.
Arlene graduated from Carleton University with an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1981. She then began her career articling at KPMG, becoming a Chartered Accountant in 1983 (CPA, CA). After 5 years at KPMG she moved into Management at Canada Post Corporation for 8 years, working in Finance, Payroll and Labour Relations. As the Finance Representative, she was the first woman at the CPC negotiating table with CUPW for two years of labour negotiations.
In 1996, her family moved to England so that her husband Jim could accept an expat assignment with Metropolitan Life. As a Board member of The Canadian Women’s Club (UK), Arlene raised funds for Canadian Vets who had settled in England after the War and were not eligible for Canadian Pensions.
Upon returning to Ottawa in 1998, Arlene set up a private consulting practice which is still active. The practice grew to have an extensive reach of small business clients and Arlene has held a number of key consulting roles including being the Controller at the Canadian Red Cross Fractionation Corp and 4 years as Controller of impatica.com.
Arlene received the 2008 Distinguished Civic Award for Arts and Culture from the City of Ottawa as Treasurer of the Ottawa Youth Orchestra Academy (OYOA). She has served on the Board of the James Street Recovery Home, and is on the Board of the Carleton Place Chamber of Commerce as well as several other not-for-profit organizations. Arlene and her husband Jim have three daughters, one of which is a Carleton Grad (Masters in Art History) and one grandchild.