Our Team
owner
Rich Patterson
Born and raised in a small town in Canada’s Rocky Mountains Rich grew up camping, hiking and skiing.Rich graduated from Simon Fraser University in 1992 with his Bachelor of Arts in Communications.He has worked in government and the private sector in senior public relations & marketing roles — most notably as Roots’ marketing manager.
Since 2005 Rich’s own company PBJ Merch Co. has been transforming client brands into elevated and engaging products, designs and packaging. You can find PBJ Merch Co. on the web, Instagram and Facebook.
Rich lives in New Westminster with his wife Shannon and their 16 year-old daughter. He is a current Vice-Chair of the New Westminster Chamber of Commerce and is past-Chair of Big Brothers Vancouver and mental health non-profit Open Door Group. Rich whole-heartedly believe that a successful business person must engage in the community beyond business matters and give back where possible. He is a past board member of the Tourism New Westminster and Uptown New West BIA.
account manager
Jayne Ircha
Jayne was a marketing and events professional for eight years before joining PBJ Merch Co. She started off her career at various advertising agencies then continued to grow at local event agency. Throughout this time, she grew a passion for promotional products and corporate gifting. Jayne has worked with various industries including telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, banking, government, restaurants and retail.
Through all her experience on the client side of business, Jayne has gained extensive knowledge and creativity to the “swag” world. Her travels throughout Europe, Asia, UAE, Caribbean and the USA give her a leading edge on new ideas in the industry. Jayne strives off the challenge to find her clients a unique gift that is perfect for their oganisation or event.
Shipping/Receiving Manager and Marketing Assistant
Brandon Thaci
Brandon graduated from NWSS in 2020, he is currently attending SFU’s Beedie school of business and is planning to also minor in computer science. Brandon is very passionate about real estate, stocks, marketing, sports and is looking forward to running his own business one day.
Office Dog & all-round Good-boy
Kimo
Kimo (say keemo) comes to us via the Puerto Vallarta SPCA rescue society. He was very anxious and mistrustful when he arrived but he has turned into a very good boy. In this photo Kimo is trying not to look guilty even though he obviously had his head deep in that bag searching for treats!
A.I. ChatBot Assistant
swagbot
SwagBot is our internally developed Artificial Intelligence chatbot to help new visitors to our website or Facebook page learn more about our company. SwagBot is a cybernetic organism — living tissue over a metal endoskeleton. More commonly known as the Cyberdine Systems T-800 Terminator model, we salvaged ours off the scrap heap after the Battle of the Topanga Canyon. We spent some time re-programming him and presto, SwagBot was born.
