Rising Stars Class of 2009 - JuneWarren-Nickle's Energy Group

i s i n g s t a r sCAMERON PLEWESStellar adviceDrive, dedication, and leadership sum upCameron Plewes’ career in financial servicesIt wasn’t always apparent to CameronPlewes that the energy business was one ofthe most fascinating in the world. In fact,there was a time when he thought about leavingCalgary and joining a different business.“But once you realize that the oiland gas business is about finding thingsnobody can see several kilometres in theground,” he says, “you realize it’s actuallyone of the most complex and interestingbusinesses in the world—aside from itbeing among the biggest.”That’s why he stayed. That and the factthat Calgary has matured greatly as a financialcentre since 1980, or even 1990.“The financial part of the oil and gasbusiness, as it exists today, didn’t exist backthen,” Cameron says. “The opportunities inCalgary have been tremendous for people inmy cohort.” And that cohort is investmentbanking services.Cameron is a financial professionalwho holds three professional designations:chartered accountant, chartered financialanalyst, and chartered business valuator.His entire career has been spent in Calgary,where his family resettled in the 1980swhen his father became the chief executiveofficer of an oilfield services company.in-depth knowledge of the energy industryand is regularly consulted by industry, government,and the capital markets playerson courses of action. Cameron provides anumber of those prominent clients withfinancial and strategic advice on mergersor acquisitions.“If a client is considering buying anothercompany, they may want advice on whetherit’s a good idea, how much they should pay,how best to finance the purchase, how toavoid possible complications, how to integratethe purchase, and how to make it workfor all the stakeholders.”Of course, this year is a bit different. Thefirm still gives the same service to its clients,“but the solutions are more difficult thisyear,” Cameron says. “There are just feweroptions for companies. It will be tougher toaccess capital and get things done.”Cameron has two focuses to hiscommun ity involvement. One is as a memberof the United Way’s People Living inVulnerable Situations committee, whichoversees the disbursement of a significantamount of United Way’s annual giving budget.“We’re out in the community workingwith and evaluating the organizations [thatreceive United Way funding] on a direct basisFASTFACTSBorn: Sept. 14, 1971Education: B. Comm, University of CalgaryFamily: Married to Janice. They havethree children: two daughters(8 months and 4) and one son (2).Photo: Neil Koven PhotographyIn the mid-1990s, Cameron spent fouryears with audit, tax, and advisory servicesfirm KPMG and then started in the investmentbusiness in 1997 as an analyst withSprott Securities Inc. After five years asvice-president with a private equity group,RedTree Capital, independent investmentdealer Peters & Co. invited him to become apartner in 2003.“My proudest moments are when thingscome together,” Cameron says, reflecting onhis years of service. “The most importantthing is a terrific team of partners and othercolleagues. Each time it’s a little different.There have been some terrific successes andsome terrific saves.”In his role as Peters & Co.’s managingdirector of corporate finance, Cameron is amember of the firm’s executive committee.Peters & Co. enjoys a stellar reputation forand ensuring that the relationship is workingthe way it is supposed to,” he explains.The other, his less formal communitywork is the Community LeadershipInitiative. “In concert with another fellow,we host a dinner twice a year,” Cameronexplains. “To each dinner, we invite 20to 40 people of about our age and featurea speaker who talks about charitablegiving initiatives.”These speakers are typically well establishedin the philanthropic field, deliveringthe message that as professionals developand become established in their careers,they also think more about how to give backto the community.“[The speakers] provide different perspectives,”says Cameron. “It’s also where we canlearn about specific opportunities for volunteerleadership and how to fill those spots.” ★24 | Oilweek May 2009

darius remesatr i s i n g s t a r sSeparation blissFar from anxiety-inducing, Darius Remesat relaxesby figuring out how to improve slurry separation problemsBefore he was handed his PhD diploma in2007 from the University of Calgary, DariusRemesat counted working on his doctorate inchemical engineering among his hobbies.He loved the process of trying to solvethe knotty problems involved in improvingthe reliability of oilsands upgraderhydrotreaters—so much so that he wouldwork on his thesis in the evenings aftercoming home from his full-time job as directorof technology and business developmentfor Koch-Glitsch Canada LP.For Darius, challenges such as how todesign a soon-to-be-patented separationdevice that improves tailings solvents recoveryare easy. What stumps him is the peoplepart: how to persuade oilsands companymanagers to allow him to participate inproblem solving from the start.that Darius gleaned from work Koch-Glitschhad done in the gold mining field.While the equipment he developed isproprietary to Shell the method itself isproprietary to Koch-Glitsch, allowing thecompany to apply for a patent.Darius works with his boss MikeMcGuire out of a two-man office in Calgaryand credits McGuire with giving him “thefreedom, empowerment, and flexibility tosearch for solutions and to improve the marketposition of the company.”Darius became smitten by chemistry inthe ninth grade after he volunteered to helpout as lab assistant for his high school scienceclass. It was there that he first becameinterested in the properties of solids and fluids,how they separate and what happens tothem when they are distilled and refined.FASTFACTSBorn: March 24, 1969Education: B. Engineering Management,Chemical Engineering, McMaster UniversityFamily: Married to Ramona. They have two children:one daughter (8) and one son (4).“The biggest challenge is getting in onthe first stage before they get plugged up,”he says. Getting “plugged up” is what happenswhen companies fail to find the rightseparation formula and solvents end up inthe tailings slurry.Environmental regulations stipulatethat a company must include less than 200parts per million of solvent in the slurrythat it flushes into its tailings ponds.Companies that fail to find an efficientmethod of removing the solvents can end uplosing precious time and spending significantamounts of money on repairs.“Separation equipment is maybe two percent of the total project cost,” says Darius,“but it touches 90 per cent of the process. Ifyour separation equipment fails you’re goingto shut down or worse.”In Darius’s experience, every oilsandscompany prefers to design or at least tweakits own solvents recovery process. Companiesoften find that “normal separation solutionswon’t work,” he says. However, “if we get inthe same room [with them] at the beginningof the process, we can help them find a solutionto the problem up front.”A breakthrough occurred when ShellCanada invited him to join it in developing itstailings recovery scheme for the Albian Sandsproject. With Shell’s encouragement, Dariusdesigned a prototype for solvents recovery.The method is based in part on knowledgeHe continued along the same path in hispost-graduate pursuits, spending his first universitywork term at a separations company inUxbridge, Ontario, and then working for fiveyears as a refining engineer with Imperial Oil.In addition to “hangin’ out with my twokids,” Darius says his favourite way to spend afree hour is running in preparation for halfmarathonsand marathons.He’s also involved in his local community ofTuscany as a soccer coach, sits on the TuscanyParent/Teachers Association board of directors,which assists in setting policies, and has headedUnited Way campaigns not only for Koch-Glitschbut also for Praxair and Imperial Oil.And he’s continuing with a mentoring programhe started with a few years ago in Ontario,maintaining close contact with three boys whoare now in Grades 5 through 8.“Basically, the intent is to develop a relationshipwith children who don’t have a decent, stable adultinfluence and are suffering from economic limitations,”Darius says. “It starts with interaction duringset school time at the grade two level and you staywith them, if possible, at least through grade four.”But the mentoring isn’t limited to schoolagedkids. Darius has also spent the last sevenyears providing support and advice to fourthyearchemical engineering students at theUniversity of Calgary. He gives insight into practicaldistillation issues and equipment, delivers afew lectures, and helps the students with projectdesigns through the year. ★Photo: Neil Koven PhotographyOilweek.com | 25

i s i n g s t a r srichard campbellSteering several shipsAfter six years at Vista Projects, Richard Campbellhas become adept at setting clients on the right coursePhoto: Neil Koven PhotographyFASTFACTSBorn: Oct. 24, 1976Education: Harvard Business School, Executive Program;Haskayne School of BusinessFamily: Married to Lynn. They spend their free timebackpacking in the summer and skiing in the winter.After graduating from university,Richard Campbell decided to look for ajob in London. Not only did he find afascinating job, but he was able tochange the way the company that hiredhim operated.The United Kingdom–based companythat hired him, uSwitch.com,had recently sprung up in responseto government deregulation ofmany home services such as water,telephone, and electricity.Faced with companies competingfor their business, Britishcitizens had a hard time knowinghow to choose one overanother. Among the servicesoffered by uSwitch.com wasto calculate how much moneya client could save by choosingone provider over another.Although he may not be ableto stroll to work through HydePark as he did when he worked inLondon, Richard’s current job at theengineering consulting firm VistaProjects Ltd. provides him withplenty of scope for his talents.Over the past six years, he hasmoved into increasingly demandingand responsible jobs. Startingout in cost control and documentcontrol scheduling, he soon movedinto the position of project controlsmanager. Within two years,he was appointed project servicesmanager and tasked withdeveloping teams of managersin document control, projectcontrols, scheduling, andestimating.Today, Richard alsoholds the title of managingprincipal.The 24-year-old firmprovides cost analysis andproject managementguidance to heavy oilproducers using steamassisted gravity drainageand other nonminingproductionmethods.Althoughthe companyemploys engineers, it distinguishesitself from its competitors by alsoemploying chartered accountants andanalysts, who add financial expertise toVista’s portfolio. In this way, Vista does itsbest to help its clients avoid the costoverruns that have plagued the oilsandsindustry.Until the fall of 2008, producerswere trying to meet such tight productiondeadlines that they often hurtledahead without taking the time to do thoroughcost analyses.“We want our analytical people to reallyget their hands dirty—to predict cost overrunsas early as possible,” says Richard.Developing solid, long-term relationshipswith clients helps. Knowing their clientsover a period of years “allows us to speakour minds,” he says. “Because we’ve beensuccessful in the past our clients are willingto listen.”Providing direction to the companies heworks for, whether in the form of algorithmsas he did with uSwitch.com or in the form ofa five-year plan of action as he is currentlydoing for Vista, is a theme that stands out inRichard’s career.No doubt his training first at theUniversity of Calgary’s Haskayne Schoolof Business and then at Harvard BusinessSchool’s Executive Program gave him theintellectual framework to develop a roadmap for Vista in the face of current economicuncertainties.Not only has Richard lived and workedin the United States and the UnitedKingdom, he has also visited Nepal, India,East Africa, Argentina, and Peru. And he’scarried his skills to some of those othercountries as well: just prior to joining Vista,he fulfilled a six-month volunteer contractwith a Canadian organization calledAlternatives, and was posted to BuenosAires where he worked with local Argentinenon-governmental organizations in a varietyof roles, ranging from training and technicalguidance to software development andbasic IT issues.Outside the office, he’s involved as avolunteer with Immigrant Services Calgary,where he coaches new immigrants in theskills needed to find a keep employment.“Having travelled a lot through developingcountries, I met a lot of tremendouslybright, resourceful people.”He understands the difficulties manytalented newcomers to Canada have knowinghow to launch a job search, especiallywhen English is their second language, andhe provides them with one-on-one coachingin job search skills. ★26 | Oilweek May 2009

i s i n g s t a r smichelle strooSafety superheroFrom a basement start-up, Michelle Stroo has built the Aegis Groupinto a major provider of health and safety services in western CanadaIn 2002, Michelle Stroo and two friendsbegan working out of Michelle’s basementon a novel safety-training concept they wereconvinced would sell. The three had been laidoff when their formeremployer WesternGeco closed its doorsin Canada. They hadplenty of safetytraining, but nonehad experience runninga start-up business.“The first timethe phone rang we lookedat each other and said, ‘Whatare we going to do?’” Michelle recalls.Seven years later, the enterprisethey started, Aegis Group Inc., is a thrivingonline safety-training business. It is sohighly regarded by Michelle’s peers in theindustry that in 2008 the safety trainingassociation Enform bestowed on her itsAward of Distinction.The idea of starting an online servicecame about when Michelle and her fellowsafety instructors were discussing what mightmake the courses they gave more efficient.crews. The seasonal work gave her monthsoff to follow her passion, travelling theworld. In 2000 she brought home “a big souvenirfrom Mexico—my husband,” she sayswith a laugh. After years of working in thefield and travelling, she finally settled down.Has her business been hit by the downturn?“Often, safety is the first thing peopledrop,” she says frankly. “But we want toconvince people—the cost of an accident ishuge. It’s the iceberg effect. You only see atiny part of the accident’s impact.”And Michelle’s clients only see a tinypart of her life. On the job, she’s beeninvolved with the Canadian Association ofGeophysical Contractors (CAGC), servingas chair of its health and safety committee,and represents the CAGC on the organizingcommittee for the annual Petroleum SafetyConference. (She chaired the committee forthe 2009 edition of the conference.)Outside the office, Michelle and Aegissupport a range of organizations, includingthe Women in Need Society, the MustardSeed, and the Brenda Stafford Society,which provides shelter for women. She’salso something of a recreational runner, andFASTFACTSBorn: July 11, 1968Education: B. Comm, University of SaskatchewanFamily: Married to Daniel for nine years.Photo: Neil Koven Photography“At [Western] Geco we used to do onedaysafety orientations,” Michelle says.They found the system inefficient, however,because new workers were joining all the timeand instructors sometimes ended up teachingonly one or two people. “We thought, whatwould make this easier for people?”A quick tour of the Aegis website revealsa range of online training courses from bearand wildlife awareness to helicopter safetyto understanding the hazards of explosives.Workers can log on from home, duringlunch, or in the field. Among the advantagesthe website touts is that it is “ideal for thosewith differing abilities including those withlimited reading skills.”The website also notes that the softwaredesigners’ “creative writing offers engagingonline training that won’t leave youremployees yawning at their computers.”For a taste of lively writing, one hasmerely to click on Michelle’s blog—a kind ofletter from the editor, which she posts weekly.Michelle started her career as a recorderhelper or “jug hound” working with seismictakes part in the annual CIBC Run for theCure and the Multiple Sclerosis Society ofCanada’s annual MS Walk.“We have plans as a company to raisefunds and do a run, and we are decidingbetween the Run for the Cure or a couple ofother causes,” Michelle says. “It depends onthe distances too, since we want to be ableto invite clients, suppliers, and colleagues,and if there is a range—five kilometres to ahalf-marathon—we will be able to includemore people.”Michelle has supported Habitat forHumanity for several years, and she’s in theprocess of working out details for a “companyday” on one of the organization’s current localprojects. She’s also investigating—along withher husband Daniel Arteaga Jiménez—thepossibility of extending that reach.“We both feel rather strongly abouthelping people, especially in developingcountries, and have plans to go either withHabitat for Humanity or a couple of otherorganizations we have heard of to do work inMexico or South America,” she says. ★28 | Oilweek May 2009

ian taylorr i s i n g s t a r sCompressed wisdomAfter two decades, Brian Taylor’s compressoranalysis operation has cornered the marketToday in western Canada, gas compressorsare such a common sight that onehardly notices them—that is, unless youare Brian Taylor, the co-developer of a softwareprogram that provides instant healthreports to compressors’ owners.His company, Detechtion Technologies,boasts one-third of all compressors inCanada as its patients. Since their averageclient has 50 compressors on its books, itdoesn’t take much math to see that thatmeans a lot of compressors. This helpsexplain Detechtion’s business model, whichBrian describes simply as: build on volume.“It’s kind of like the hula hoop principle,”he adds.Since hula hoops have long gone theway of pet rocks and pogo sticks, thatcomparison may have originated withBrian’s father Alan, who founded the companyin 1998 and developed the initialversion of Enalysis.or piston rings are in need of repair andwhether the machine is running safely.Operators tend to err on the conservativeside, says Brian, often setting up the machinesto operate at less than full capability.“In a lot of cases, due to lack of information,operators don’t set up the machinesto operate optimally,” says Brian. Typically,they will settle for 75 per cent utilization.“But about six months later [after installingthe Detechtion tool] we see it rise to over90 per cent.”Almost as fast as the hula hoop spreadto every dime store in North America,Detechtion’s diagnostic tool has caught onacross the natural gas producing world. It isnow being used by producers from the Arcticto the Appalachian Basin and from Brazil toAustralia. Brian has set his sights on NorthAfrica next.One item on this star’s resume cannothelp but catch a reader’s eye—in 1996 BrianFASTFACTSBorn: Feb. 24, 1975Education: B.Sc. Mechanical Engineering,University of CalgaryFamily: Married to Tana. They have four children,all under the age of seven.After two decades in the industry thatincluded many hours working on compressors,Alan decided that operators needed adiagnostic tool that would help them usetheir compressor fleets more efficiently.Most of them used spreadsheets to discernthe health of their compressors, but theyhad so many to look after that the processtook precious time, and key indicators weresometimes missed.To solve the problem, Alan developedthe Enalysis tool for reciprocating compressors.When his son Brian, a mechanicalengineer, joined the company, he designeda version of Enalysis for screw compressors.The father-son duo has cornered 40 per centof the market—although as Brian pointsout, there really is no head-to-head competitionfor the product.When a company signs on as a client,the first step is for a Detechtion engineer toaudit its compressors. Once the basic informationis in the computer, the informationis stored on a secure website. To generate ahealth report, an operator enters real-timedata such as pressures and temperaturesand receives an instant analysis. From this,he can see if components such as valvesand an engineering school buddy persuadedthe University of Calgary to support theirdesign of a Formula 1 race car. It would bethe first time the university entered theannual student competition held in Detroit.Brian’s team raised $75,000, built the car,entered the race, and placed 67th out of 114.“That program of designing and buildinga race car is now offered by the universityas a for-credit course. That’s probablythe neatest thing for me,” he says. In theyears since, he’s helped mentor other studentsparticipating in the F-1 program, andwas a gold sponsor of the 2008 edition ofthe competition.Other activities take him beyondthe world of compressors: he’s a regularvolunteer speaker for the Dale Carnegieprogram in Calgary, and can often befound behind the serving line at theCalgary Drop-In Centre.Not surprisingly, it is Brian’s father whohas had the greatest influence on his career.There is a poignant note however. WhenBrian was growing up he says, “Dad wasalways working. I never really got to knowhim until we started working together. Soit’s been really cool for me.” ★Photo: Neil Koven PhotographyOilweek.com | 29

i s i n g s t a r sron lewkoDoing whathas to be doneThe label “dirty oil” isn’t something Syncrude’sreclamation expert, Ron Lewko, accepts sitting downWhen Ron Lewko graduated as a civilengineer, he never thought he would end upin mining. His summer work experience,after all, was entirely in building roads inhis home province of Saskatchewan.Then in the early 1990s, he took ageotechnical job with a contractor inFort McMurray. Shortly after, he joinedSyncrude Canada, where he has been eversince, making a vital contribution to thedevelopment of land reclamation.“When I got into reclamation, it wasthe start of the oilsands boom and thestart of the environmental focus,” recallsRon, Syncrude’s team leader for environmentalresearch. “We quickly realized wehad to pull up our socks to meet approvalrequirements and to reach our reclamationcommitments.”Ron assembled a team of scientists,field workers, and reclamation expertswho would eventually lead Syncrude tobecome the first oilsands operator toreceive Alberta government certificationfor reclaimed land. That certification of thecompany’s 104-hectare Gateway Hill site, aformer overburden dump, in March 2008,marked a high point in Ron’s career.“I do a lot of ski-dooing in the naturalboreal forest and compared to that, [thisreclamation site] looks completely natural,”he says.cent within four years and make the ponds“trafficable”—solid enough to walk on andallow reclamation to proceed—no morethan five years after they are no longeractively used.“It’s going to be tough,” Ron says. Buthe also points out that the often-heard criticismthat none of the tailings ponds haveso far been reclaimed isn’t entirely true.“The majority of tailings ponds arecoarse sands and you can drive on themand reclaim them, so a good percentage ofour tailings sand slopes, the perimeter ofthem, are already reclaimed,” he says.The softer materials inside the ponds,of course, haven’t been reclaimed, but theyare also still being used.Apart from managing a team withdiverse backgrounds that include wildlifebiology, forestry, chemistry, and geotech nicalengineering, Ron spends a lot of time on siteeducating employees on the importance ofland reclamation. Ron’s versatility goes handin hand with his unassuming nature.“I’m just a regular guy doing what Ihave to do,” he says.Modesty is a strength in Ron’s valuesystem. He’s deeply rooted in the communityof Fort McMurray, where he haslived with his family for the last 17 years.He serves as an elder in the local church.FASTFACTSBorn: July 28, 1966Education: Civil Engineering degree,University of SaskatchewanFamily: Married to Sherry. They have threeteenage children: two daughters(14 and 17) and one son (13).Photo: Ben RicettoOf course, in the battle over “dirty oil,”detractors will point out that reclaimingoverburden dumps is the easy stuff. “Andthey’re right because you can drive on it,”Ron says. “But now we have to do the samething [in] the tailings areas.”With an estimated 130 sprawlingsquare kilometres of tailings ponds innorthern Alberta, oilsands producers havetheir work cut out for them. At the sametime, Alberta announced in Februarystrict new rules governing tailing ponds.Mining operations will have to reduce thefine particles in liquid tailings by 50 perOfficially, he runs the administration ofthe church, but he also helps out where hecan. That often takes him to the churchrunsoup kitchen or coaching in the group’shockey league.“We call it the farm league of FortMcMurray Minor Hockey,” he says. “Thekids are ages 7 through 12, so you get somebig kids running over little kids, but wematch the lines so we don’t get too much ofthat. It’s really for kids who’ve never playedminor hockey and just would like to try itout. A lot of our players got too good for ourleague and went on to minor hockey.” ★30 | Oilweek May 2009

i s i n g s t a r stina pant-ducharmeCaptain of her destiny Passion plus an MBA plus real world expertiseequals business success for Tina Pant-DucharmeHer voice still falters at the memory ofher father urging her to get a Masters ofBusiness Administration degree. But at thetime, Tina Pant-Ducharme was young. Shehad her own ideas. She’d also just finishedher sociology undergraduate degree andstarted volunteering at Woods ChristianHomes’ Exit Community Outreach, whereshe was eventually hired. “It opened my eyesto a whole different world,” she recalls.After all, Tina had come from a supportive,caring family—a rare privilege amongstthese girls—many of them runaways, someof them prostituting on the streets.“I didn’t want to judge them, but I did.Then, as I got to know them, I realizedeveryone has a story and no one aspires tolive on the street. Something happens intheir upbringing.”Whether it was this half-year of soulwrenchingwork at Woods or the gentle,persistent encouragement of her father,Tina finally set off for Seattle’s AntiochUniversity to do her MBA.There were many paths open to Tina,but the one she chose led to Alberta’s oilpatch.She started at health and safety consultingcompany InterGroup ConsultantsLtd. From business development, she movedinto management. Then, in September of2007, the president of this 30-year firm literallyshut the operation down overnight.Tina and two other women in the firmsaw the opportunity and joined forces. Theystarted their own health and safety company,Tek Compliance Solutions Inc., andgrafted it onto InterGroup’s clientele. Initialuncertainty over how a company of threewomen would be received in the marketplacegave way to relief and then exhilarationas they met their full-year targetswithin the first six months of operations.But the next hurdle came in July 2008as the company direction began to stray.To protect Tek’s long-term prospects, Tinadecided to buy out her partners and set sailalone. Actually, not entirely alone. She’squick to praise her team at Tek.FASTFACTSBorn: April 9, 1971Education: BA, University of Calgary; MBA (BusinessAdministration), Antioch University (Seattle, WA)Quote: “Tina is one of the very few people I found whois extremely passionate about what she does,”says Tara Schneider, project administrator withTek Compliance. “She’s a perfectionist. Shehas to get it right the first time, every time. Irespect her wholeheartedly. She’s my mentor.”Photo: Neil Koven Photography“My cohorts in the program were in managementat Boeing, Microsoft, AT&T Wireless,Starbucks,” she says. “The intimidation factorinitially was massive, but what was absolutelyoverwhelming was that they all embraced meand helped me work to their level.”Surprising? Not when you know Tinaand the heart and determination she bringsto everything she does. You want to see hersucceed. You want to extend a hand becauseshe’s so eager to help others, whether theyare wayward street kids or villagers in ruralIndia displaced by the construction of adam project (she spent six months duringher undergraduate studies as a volunteerresearch assistant on an Indian governmentrelocation initiative) or other women workingto make a positive mark on the oilpatchand the community through charitablework, mentorship, and education as a memberof Calgary Women in Energy.But what still buckles her voice afteralmost a decade is that shortly after leavingSeattle with an MBA in hand, her fatherpassed away.“They’re instrumental to my success,” shesays. “We wouldn’t be successful without theircontributions. They’re an absolutely dedicatedgroup, true believers in what we do.”And what they do is help emerging oiland gas producers with their core regulatoryprograms, from corporate emergencyresponse plans to health and safety manuals.Currently, Tek consists of four employeesand eight consultants, but they’regrowing, despite the scarcity of oil and gascompany startups in this economic climate.It’s been a journey for Tina. Without adoubt, the initial months of running herown show were difficult. “Did I feel duressand pressure? Absolutely!” she says. “I reallyhad to figure out my objectives, why I wasdoing it, and why I wanted it so bad.”Why did she want it so bad?Somewhere along the way, she discoveredjust how much she loves running herown business. It’s what she was educated forand it allows her to meet new people everyday, solve their problems, and help themmove ahead. ★32 | Oilweek May 2009

greg farneyr i s i n g s t a r sMats, not mulchFor Strive Energy’s Greg Farney, the pine beetle crisis in Albertaand British Columbia opened up a new business opportunityDriving through the mountains andvalleys of Alberta and British Columbia,you can’t help but feel heartsick lookingat the rust-coloured swaths of dead treesinterspersed throughout the healthy foliage.Forestry companies have been assiduouslyculling trees killed by the pine beetle andtheir lumber yards are piled high.“They have mountains of this stuff,”says Greg Farney, a drilling company managerwho had a light bulb moment one daywhen he came up with an ingenious way toaddress the problem. Rather than lettingthe timber lie rotting and useless, why notuse beetle kill wood to make the rolloutwooden mats that oilfield operators arerequired by environmental regulation to laybeneath heavy equipment to protect sensitiveterrain?After some research and a few trialattempts, Greg discovered that it wasentirely possible to manufacture protectivemats using the dead timber.“The pine beetle resides in what youmight call the epidermal layer betweenthe bark and the wood itself,” he explains.The hard-shelled beetle lays its eggs in tinychambers, which it drills beneath the bark.The larvae hatch and begin eating this layer,destroying nutrients needed by the tree. Todate, British Columbia has lost more than33 million acres of lodgepole pine forest.discovered that the woodwas more durablethan they originallythought.They were evenlonger-lasting in somerespects than those madeof healthy wood.“We’ve circulated10,000 mats and wehaven’t charged out morethan one per cent of ourrevenue to repairs.”Greg entered into a jointventure with the Sturgeon Lake CreeNation that will give the band a franchisetypearrangement to manufacture the mats.The idea, he says, is to “provide energy producerswith equal or better products for anequal or lower price.” He hopes to negotiate abusiness arrangement with the Osoyoos FirstNation in southern British Columbia.Strive Energy specializes in deep Foothillsdrilling, a business focus that took up mostof Greg’s time and energy until he had hisepiphany regarding beetle kill rig mats. He isa third-generation oilman whose grandfathermoved to Alberta during the Depression fromKansas to work for Phillips Petroleum.In keeping with the philanthropic originof the concept, Strive Energy donatesfive per cent of its revenue to Tree Canada,FASTFACTSBorn: March 26, 1965Education: BA (Economics), University of CalgaryFamily: Married to Georgina.They have two sons, ages 6 and 4.At two small Alberta plants, one inBashaw and the other in Cleardale, Greg’scompany Strive Energy Services builds mats(patents on the design are pending in bothCanada and the United States) that are ahybrid between an access and a rig mat.Each plant takes the work on contract andemploys between 4 and 12 workers, dependingon the season.To manufacture oilfield mats, the woodmust be debarked, but it does not need tobe fumigated. But does it last as long as thewood formula that is used in traditionalmats? The latter uses construction grade firmixed with hard woods such as oak, elm,and hickory.“We didn’t think the soft wood wouldstand up that well. We almost thoughtthey’d be disposable,” Greg says, but as heand his team began making the mats, theywhich helps ensure the survival of reforestationefforts by forestry companies and contributesto new plantings in urban areas.“When a forestry company goes in anddoes its mandated reforestation programs,the survival rate of those plantings is generallyabout 15 per cent,” Greg says. “TreeCanada moves in after those reforestationplantings are done, does some soil remediationand some other after-planting care, andguarantees that 60 per cent of what theywork with will survive and thrive.”At home, Greg is an assistant coach inthe Timbits hockey program and is involved(as a member of the 1985 Calgary Dinosaursfootball team, which won a national championship)with the Calgary Dinosaurs5th Quarter Alumni Association. And inBashaw, Strive Energy sponsors a minorhockey team. ★Photo: Neil Koven PhotographyOilweek.com | 33

i s i n g s t a r slogan dayCorporate matchmakerMaking a difference in people’s lives drivesLogan Day’s career in mergers and acquisitionsWhen Logan Day’s wife, Juliana, suggestedthey use a midwife to deliver their fourth childat home, Logan said fine. But he got more thanhe bargained for when they learned all theavailable midwives were booked.“I came home one night for dinner andon my plate was a little handbook calledEmergency Home Birth Delivery,” Loganrecalls. “I asked, ‘Who’s this for?’ She said,‘Well, that’s for you. You’re going to helpme deliver this baby at home.’”So on May 14, 2008, Logan, a versatileand resourceful man to beginwith, added midwifery to his skill set,and helped deliver Everest David Dayinto this world.“It was exciting and stressful, allat the same time,” Logan recalls.This combination of emotionsruns like a thread through Logan’slife. He is a man who isn’t afraid tofollow his heart, whether it leadshim to Ottawa to work for a Memberof Parliament or into a successfulcareer in mergers and acquisitions.For Logan, life is an adventure andit’s all about the people.“Logan gets on well with aguy who works on an oil rig orthe CEO of a multi-milliondollarcompany. He’s got a greatpersonal touch and a great senseof humour,” says Ezra Levant, aCalgary lawyer who worked withLogan on Parliament Hill almost 10years ago and has since kept in touch.remove that pain, now you have a relationshipfor life.”Logan earned a Bachelor of Arts degreein Political Science and History fromConcordia University, but mentorship maybe an even more natural way of learning forhim. Some of the people who have helpedshape his professional life at Ernst & Youngare Aroon Sequeira and Barry Munro. Loganalso lists the owner of Calgary’s Bolt SupplyHouse, John McCann and, of course, hisfather, Stockwell Day.Logan’s time in Ottawa was spent as anexecutive assistant to Cliff Breitkreuz, MPfor Yellowhead, from 1995 to 2000. In 2000,he worked for Stockwell during his leadershipcampaign and then during the fall federalelection. It was an exciting time for Logan,but it also made him aware of the similaritiesbetween politics and the oilpatch.“[Both are] a roller coaster that’s up anddown,” he says. “You just have to be persistentand hang on.”This sensitivity to the cycles maypartly explain Logan’s choice of communityinvolvement. While he is blessed with afulfilling career, is surrounded by a talentedand supportive team at Ernst & Young, andenjoys a wonderful family life, he knowsothers aren’t as fortunate. Some may be hittingthe bottom in a personal cycle.“Approximately 450 Albertans will diethis year by suicide,” Logan says. “That’smore than in motor vehicle collisions.”So Logan sits on the board of TheSupport Network, a counseling, suicideFASTFACTSBorn: June 24, 1972Education: BA, Concordia College UniversityFamily: Married to Juliana. They have four children: onegirl (8), and three boys (5, 2 ½, and 9 months).Photo: Aaron ParkerAs vice-president of transactionadvisory services at Ernst & Young’sEdmonton office, Logan pulls togetherhis people skills, his understandingof oilfield services, and years of M&Aexperience to assist clients sell theirmost valuable and precious asset: theirbusinesses.“When you meet a president andCEO of a company and you identifytheir pain or find out what’s keepingthem up at night, you’ve startednow to build a relationship,”Logan says. “If you can go tothat next step and providea solution to alleviate orbereavement, and caregiver supportorganization best known for its 24-hourdistress line.Last year, he was also asked to join theboard of Kids Up Front. The group provideschildren access to arts and cultural eventsand recreation.Given Logan’s interest in politics and hisclose relationship with his father, is thereanother politician in the making here?“I love this world of mergers and acquisitions.There’s going to be so much opportunityin the next few years in the oilpatch formergers and acquisitions, so that’s my focusright now.” Then he adds, “But politics is inmy blood. I would never rule it out.” ★34 | Oilweek May 2009

cory finleyr i s i n g s t a r sService you can count onCory Finley’s Demon Oilfield Services is about much morethan its uniquely red equipmentIn considering a name for his start-upoil and gas well production testing company,Cory Finley thought, “Why reinvent thewheel?” He already ran an award-winninghigh-end custom chopper building hobby/business under the name Screamin’ DemonMotorcycles Co.“So I dropped the ‘Screamin,’’ kept the‘Demon,’ used the same colours, the samelogo, and away we go,” says Cory, founderand president of Demon Oilfield Services.Three busy years later, the venture hasmushroomed into a company with 50-plusemployees pulling in more than $4 million inrevenue every year. It has garnered honourablemention as one of Calgary’s best placesto work by Calgary Inc. magazine and Businessin Calgary magazine has also recognized Coryas one of its Leaders of Tomorrow.Not bad for a guy who launched the companymainly to provide better service andstability to a core group of loyal clients whostuck with him during some tumultuousyears as an employee.our services and treat us well,” he says.“We’ve been real fortunate.”Cory’s strength is his pragmatic, getit-doneapproach. He’s the kind of guy whowill jump in his truck at three in the morningif there are problems and drive acrossthe province to make sure they get resolvedproperly. He’s tough when he has to be, buthe also listens to his employees.He’s always on the lookout for ways toimprove the business and there are numerousrecognitions for his workers—Employeeof the Month, for example—as well as a hostof employee functions, including an oilfieldmotorcycle ride once a month in the summerwhere “all the guys ride out and we puton some burgers and have an open house.There’s lots of fun stuff here.”It’s been fun, but the last three years havealso thrown one obstacle after another in hispath: income trusts are being forced out ofexistence, higher royalties have pushed drillingto other jurisdictions, commodity pricesspiked and then tanked, followed by anFASTFACTSBorn: March 25, 1976Roots: Youngest son of long-timeoilfield services family.Other businesses: Screamin’ DemonMotorcycle Co.“For seven years, I went from one companyto the next to the next because wekept getting bought out,” Cory explains. “Alot of the clients followed me but they weregetting a little fed up with the way thingswere going.”That game of musical chairs eventuallylanded Cory in a public company that wouldtest his patience with layers of managementand bureaucracy. So he quit and venturedout on his own.A strong entrepreneurial spirit coursesthrough his veins. Inspired by the exampleof his parents, who had started and run asuccessful oilfield service firm for 37 years,Cory honed his entrepreneurial skills duringhis youth. His brothers recall how he wouldbuy cider barrels for $10, cut them, and sellthe two halves as planters for $50 a piece;or buy a motorcycle, take it apart, repaint it,and sell it for a profit.That experience served Cory well inidentifying opportunities. But it takes alot more to run a 50-employee business.In Cory’s rendition of how he came tosucceed, you won’t hear much high-levelphilosophizing.“We have good people, good equipment,and good clients [who] appreciateeconomic meltdown. Even so, with the oilpatchtrying to pull itself out of a deep pitright now, Demon Oilfield Services has managedto hang on to its employees.“We’re aligned with a lot of the midsizedcompanies and they maybe haven’tscaled back as hard as some of the biggercompanies,” Cory says.On the topic of giving back to the community,you’re not going to hear a heart-feltdissertation from Cory. But don’t be fooled.Demon Oilfield Services has a heart—morethan 50 hearts actually.“We try to support what’s important toour employees,” he says. “So the Children’sWish Foundation is one. That’s helping withterminally ill children. It’s a tough one.”The Mustard Seed, an organization thatresponds to the needs of the inner-city’sless fortunate, also benefits from DemonOilfield’s generosity, as do local sportsteams, Habitat for Humanity, and local andCalgary Christmas toy drives.The company has also adopted a sectionof Highway 2, which regularly seesDemon Oilfield Services’ equipment painteda trademark red and, occasionally, Cory’scustom-built choppers, painted and fittedout whatever way his clients want. ★Photo: Neil Koven PhotographyOilweek.com | 37

i s i n g s t a r sjacques drouinWater for the worldAs head of Montreal-based ProSep, Jacques Drouin is helpingthe world make better use of its precious water resourcesIn November 2007, when Jacques Drouinfirst took over the reins of ProSep Inc., hewas jolted by a sudden realization. He hadbecome the new chief executive officer of acompany that produces separation equipmentfor the oil and gas industry with ambitionsto expand to overseas markets.To fulfill those ambitions, Jacquesknew that one of his first challenges was torevamp the company. He began setting inplace a management system that would allowhim to run a company with offices in citiesas far from each other in both distance andculture as Houston, Kuala Lumpur, Bergen,and Manama. As he did so, it dawned on himthat his job description had changed. Herecalls saying to himself: “Oh my God, I haveto switch from being a finance guy to being ahuman resources guy.”While Jacques was setting in place anew management system, he was overseeingProSep’s growth from a single product companywith 35 employees to one offering asuite of process solutions with a staff of morethan 100. Add to that the fact that duringthe last three years, revenue that has grownfrom $3 million to $50 million, and the taskahead suddenly became even more daunting.contributing to reaching the goal of “zeroharmful discharges to the sea.”Several thousand kilometres away,Arabian Gulf producers were equallyattracted to ProSep’s technology. TheSaudis, for example, desalinate enormousvolumes of sea water before they can use itin their refineries. One of ProSep’s productscuts the requirement for fresh water in therefining process by half, thereby savingSaudi companies significant cash.Meanwhile, Jacques was figuring outways to deal with his biggest challenge. As thecompany planted satellite offices in variouscorners of the world, he had to develop a managementsystem that would ensure that theywere all working under one corporate ethos.“The challenge is not the number ofindividuals, it’s the number of diverse culturesthat we have around the table,” hesays. “When you have people from 20 differentcultures, how do you push everyone inthe same direction? How do you do this withlimited resources and 24-hour time zonedifferences?”Not surprisingly, the internationalnature of his work shapes the way Jacquesorganizes his 24 hours.FASTFACTSBorn: Jan. 7, 1970Education: B. Comm., Hautes Etudes CommercialesFamily: Married to Angela Avgoustakis. Theyhave two children: one boy (12), and one daughter (3).Photo: Michel Fyen-GagnonBut as the 39-year old president thoughtabout how to make his corporate mini–United Nations work, he realized that twothings were paramount: first, he needed toallow the field managers to run their companiesas they saw fit because they knewtheir own client base better than he did; andsecond, he needed to keep the reporting processsimple and results-driven.To Jacques’s initial disappointment,ProSep had a hard time gaining a marketwedge in the sometimes insular westernCanadian oilpatch. At the same time, however,the company was finding an eager setof new customers overseas.Among them were several companiesworking in the North Sea, where both theNorwegian and British governments hadrecently imposed tough new environmentalregulations covering the discharge of wastewaterfrom offshore rigs.The Norwegians, in fact, liked ProSep’ssolutions so much that in 2004 (a year afterJacques joined the company), ProSep wasawarded Statoil’s Executive HSE prize, for“At night, I have to close my BlackBerrybecause it keeps beeping all night long. Often,I have to get up at 4:30 a.m. to talk to KL[Kuala Lumpur] and stay at work until 7:00 pmto talk to Houston.” He also frequently workson Sundays because that is the first day ofwork in many Muslim countries. And while hehelps Norwegians and Arabs deal with waterissues, he’s not forgetting some real concernsdealing with water much closer to home.As an active board member of theAssociation des residents du 7e lac (a centuryoldorganization of homeowners in theLanaudiere region of Québec), Jacques hasplayed a key role in preserving and protectingone of the biggest lakes in the area, preservingthe lake’s forest shores, and reducingwater and noise pollution.Back on the business front, Jacques hasvolunteered his time for several lecture presentationsto the Ecole des Hautes EtudesCommerciales de Montreal (HEC) on a varietyof subjects, and has recently begun activelyfollowing and mentoring a group of MBA studentsfrom the London Business School. ★38 | Oilweek May 2009