Board of Directors

CANDICE COTTERILL

As a Port Townsend Native and PTHS graduate, I love the community that I have grown up to know not only personally but professionally. I am currently the AVP Branch Manager at 1st Security Bank and have over 22 years of banking experience. Banking has allowed me to grow those strong community & customer bonds that I truly strive to develop. Along with serving on the QM board I also serve as treasurer on 2 other boards, Jefferson County Chamber and East Jefferson Little League. I have been on the board with EJLL for almost 8 years now and the kids in our community are near and dear to my heart! They are the future of this community! My son has been playing baseball since he was 3 years old and I couldn’t ask for a better community for my husband and I to raise him in. I am honored to be part of our Quimper Mercantile Board!

CASEY HANNAM

I was born in Oregon, but grew up in Port Angeles, and have spent the majority of my life living on the North Olympic Peninsula. After managing a BBQ Restaurant/Cold Deli in San Antonio, Texas, I moved with my wife Sarah back to Washington to settle down and begin our family. In 2019, I was hired by Quimper Mercantile to become the store’s Assistant Manager. After a quick two years, I was given the much appreciated opportunity to flex my skills as the new General Manager of the store.I look forward to continuing to bring Port Townsend the products and outstanding customer service they truly deserve.

RON MCELROY

I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. After failing in my attempt to become a rock star, I moved to Port Townsend in 1973 to be with my future wife, Lynne. Together we opened a record store, Quimper Sound Records and Tapes, in 1974 and enjoyed 27 years in the music business, selling it in 2001. Indulging in my second passion, I started Dos Okies Barbecue along with Larry Dennison, providing Jefferson County with excellent ‘que for ten years. I was fortunate enough to be hired at Quimper Mercantile in August 2012 and since then I have served in a number of capacities including Buyer, Assistant Manager and Receiving and Point of Sale Lead.

STEVE MOORE

I was born in Kansas City and have been moving north and west ever since. I lived in Denver for over 25 years and, in 2006, moved to Port Townsend to be near the water and to connect with a ‘human scale’ place in which I could plug in and help make a difference. I am a founding member of the Mercantile Board and currently serve as board vice-president. While I have had a number of careers, most of my professional life was spent in the software development and business consulting areas. In my time in Port Townsend, I have served on the boards of The Food Co-op, Jefferson Land Trust, Bayside Housing and Services, and on the steering committee of Housing Solutions Network – in addition to the board of Quimper Mercantile Company. It’s great being here and being part of this dynamic community.

PETER QUINN



Peter Quinn was the founding CEO of Quimper Mercantile and served as board president for its first eleven years. His 45 year career was primarily in start-ups, most notably as founding CEO of Meteor Mobile Communications in Ireland as well as other senior level positions in wireless telecommunications. Peter helped his wife, Anna found the Writers' Workshoppe and Imprint Books in Port Townsend, selling it in 2019 to concentrate solely on their writing. His second book of poetry will be published in March of 2023 and his novel; Lady, Lucifer and Coward is almost ready for submission.

SHELDON SPENCER
President

Sheldon and his wife Sandy owned and operated retail businesses in California and Port Townsend. Sheldon was the General Manager of Quimper Mercantile for its first 5 years of operations, and has been a Board member since 2012. He is currently serving as Board President. Sheldon enjoys walking with this dog, cycling, and traveling as well as community service, and reports that being part of the growth and success of our community owned Mercantile is a fascinating and rewarding experience.

DEBORAH STINSON

Treasurer/Secretary

The palpable sense of community in Port Townsend called out in the early 2000’s as I wrapped up a multi-faceted career in information technology. After settling here with my husband and near-by parents, I set about seeking what’s next. A WSU course for entrepreneurs gave me a good sense for what it takes for success in business while teaching me the venture I had in mind was not the right thing at the time. My entrepreneurial spirit and desire for community led to facilitating the startup of Local 20/20, which in turn led to participating in the startup of Neighborhood Preparedness and Local Investing Opportunities Network (LION) – two initiatives where I continue to volunteer. My role in LION brought me to the table where I got to help create our own community-owned general store! It remains an honor to serve on the QMC Board, now in the position of Secretary/Treasurer.

TIM WHYTE

After 4 relocations between San Diego and Chicago we decided that Port Townsend would be a much nicer place to live. After trading for 25 years on the Chicago Board of Trade commodity exchange, I've had exposure to a number of different entrepreneurial businesses and decided to jump at the chance to start a mercantile business here in Port Townsend. As one of the original board of director members I've seen this develop from scratch. Our business plan was to build something where the community would be excited to shop.

 It's amazing that we have grown as quickly as we have. Our employees have worked diligently to make this a great environment.