Intro to Canadian
Customs Brokerage Team
Canadian Customs Brokerage
Organization Chart
Renee Pobihushchyj
Esther
Durnin
Angie
Trumbla
Anthony
Cadiz
Chris
Rech
Nicola Hamilton
Suzette Gonzales
Renee Pobihushchyj
Director of Operations CDA
Renée began her career in the industry as a release clerk at Unicity Customs Services in the year 2000. Since then she held a variety of positions including Training Coordinator, Senior Rater, & Manager of Service Delivery prior to joining Frontier as Operations Manager in 2007. Renée earned the designation of Certified Customs Specialist from the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers in 2003, and obtained her CBSA Professional Designation in 2008.
Joining the Frontier team early on in the formation of the company gave Renée the opportunity to build the operations department from the ground up starting with choosing the operating software, coordinating the testing process with CBSA, and implementing the “go live” with Customs by transmitting the 1st electronic Frontier customs entry. Since then she has had the opportunity to implement new brokerage software twice with Frontier, which is a perfect fit with one of her favorite professional tasks, process improvement. Some of the other enjoyable parts of the job for Renée include tariff classification, research of Customs legislation, and training. Being able to teach others tips and tricks of the trade that she has learned over the years is what she considers rewarding and fun.
Outside of work, Renée enjoys summer road trips, gardening, and golf. She has been calling herself a “new golfer” for over 5 years, and plans to retain that designation for many more years to come!
Esther Durnin
Senior Manager
Esther started in the industry as a Border Ambassador with a major trucking company for 5 years. She joined Frontier in 2009 as an ISR, quickly moving up to a 2IC and then an Account Manager. In 2019 she became the Operations Assistant, which was a newly created and unique role for Frontier. As the Operations Assistant, she supports the Operations Department and its Director in a variety of ways including maintaining systems and databases, developing training material, managing part time and weekend staff, and coordinating with other departments on various projects. She also acts as the ‘help desk’, using her years of industry knowledge to answer questions and offer advice as needed. She has held the CCS designation since 2011 and is currently preparing to challenge the Customs Brokers Professional Exam in 2022.
After hours she enjoys spending quality time with her husband and pets. Some of her interests include films and television, nature, hiking, cooking, and photography. In the future she hopes to be able to travel more and would like to someday write a book.
Angie Trumbla
Account Manager
Angie joined the Frontier team in spring 2007 as a founding member of the brokerage operations team. She has over 20 years of industry experience and earned her Certified Customs Specialist Designation in 2003. In her role as an Account Manager at Frontier, Angie is responsible for a team that handles many of Frontier’s original clients. With her extensive customs knowledge and experience, Angie is known for her ability to service large, complex accounts such as Federated Co-op Ltd, Weber Grill, and Molson Canada Inc, with ease.
Angie’s favorite part of her job is building relationships with her clients and communicating with people all across North America. You can often find her on the phone solving a problem for a customer while brightening their day with some light-hearted conversation and laughter.
When she is not at work, Angie loves spending her time in the country, especially when she is able to get away for some camping and fishing. She is happiest in a boat on the lake reeling in a master angler!
Anthony Cadiz
Account Manager
Anthony’s career began in 1996 as an as overseas agent & Customs representative as part of an International freight forwarding company and customs brokerage. Prior to joining Frontier in 2017, Anthony was employed at Expert Customs Brokers/TransX where he was able to gain significant experience in the Canadian Customs brokerage industry. He says he joined the Frontier team “because I saw the opportunity to work for a Canadian carrier that leads the market and genuinely cares about its employees.”
After starting as a senior ISR at Frontier, Anthony was able to quickly move up and was promoted to Account Manager where he leads a team of ISR’s who are responsible for some of Frontier’s largest customs brokerage and cross border client accounts. His easy going personality and natural ability to mentor others is a perfect fit for him to share his knowledge with others through his role at Frontier.
In his spare time, Anthony enjoys golfing, gardening, landscaping and DIY home improvements with his wife.
Chris Rech
Account Manager
Chris started in the brokerage industry working at Livingston where he participated in the Professional Preparedness Program, and after gaining a few year’s experience joined Frontier. After starting as an ISR, he was promoted directly to manager likely being the lone ISR to skip the 2IC position. Prior to working in the customs brokerage industry he worked for the Canadian Military ad 17 Wing Winnipeg and met great people and made many friendships.
Chris was born in Edmonton but as a military brat spent 4 years in Germany spending abundant time on Canadian Military bases before ending up in Winnipeg. This allowed him to take tank and helicopter rides on base as well as flying around Europe in a Canadian Air Force C-130 Herc.
Chris’ interests include computers and cars and is hoping to get his BMW ready for some summer driving. The most extreme activity he has done is skydiving, during a trip to Australia for his sister’s wedding where he jumped out of a plane at 15,000 feet over the Great Barrier Reef. (Shown in the far left).
Nicola Hamilton
Account Manager
‘Determination drives success’ is what led Nicola to leave her home in the Caribbean and settled in Canada 6 years ago. Nicola joined Frontier in 2017 as an Integrated Service Rep. after successfully completing her internship program, and is currently now an Account Manager. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration, and also a Post-Graduate Diploma in International Business, a program that has grossly stimulated her interest in working within the Customs Brokerage/Logistics Industry. Within this fast-paced and ever changing industry, Nicola prides herself in offering her full service, and always aims to ensure that those dependent on her, both internally and externally are always satisfied.
Outside of being a ‘workaholic’, Nicola shares most of her time with her daughter, and also enjoys cooking mouthwatering dishes, such as, her favorite Barbe-Fried Chicken which is always a hit.
Nicola is a huge believer of self-development, and so plans on growing within her organization continuously by taking on new challenges, while encouraging others to do the same.
Suzette Gonzales
Account Manager
Suzette joined Frontier as an ISR over 11 years ago and will celebrate her 12-year anniversary in July 2022. She started with the company as an ISR, was promoted to a 2IC after several years, and was promoted again to manager, joining the operations management team in 2019. She is the Team Leader for Team 7 and was essential to the creation of the Customer Service Team in Winnipeg. Being one of the senior staff at Frontier, training new staff is one of the things she enjoys the most at Frontier. Suzette is also always actively involved in organizing company/team activities and events. She has a reputation as “coordinator of fun” within her department.
Suzette is a CCS designate and can converse in three languages (English, French, and Tagalog). During her spare time, she crochets clothing, accessories and plushies and her lifelong dream is to say she has visited all seven continents in the world. (She has been to four so far!)