MetroBridge Networks International Inc. (TSXV:MEB), a high-speed wireless broadband provider for businesses with operations in Canada and the U.S., has hired Thorsten Gutsche as VP of operations.
Thorsten was previously director of operations for Teraspan Networks Inc.
MetroBridge’s corporate office is in Vancouver.
Coastal Contacts Inc. (TSX:COA) has appointed Steve Wallace as VP of North American sales.
Prior to joining Coastal, Wallace held the position of director of strategic alliances and public relations with 1-800-GOT-JUNK.
Coastal is a global supplier of contact lens. Its head office is in Vancouver.
Diamcor Mining Inc. (TSXV:DMI) has promoted Dean Taylor from COO to president and CEO, replacing Wayne Wolf who has resigned to pursue other opportunities and to facilitate management changes recommended by the board.
Based in Kelowna, Diamcor is a junior resource company with operations in South Africa.
An industry veteran has joined Interactive Netcasting Systems Inc. (Insinc), a webcasting company, as its CEO.
Garry Welch brings extensive experience in business development and video and conferencing technologies, most recently as the CEO of Path Broadband.
Insinc is headquartered in Burnaby with offices in Toronto and Austria.
BC Innovation Council has named Soren Harbel as its VP of innovation development.
Harbel came to British Columbia in 2004 as assistant deputy minister with the Ministry of Economic Development.
BC Innovation Council is a Crown agency that fosters innovation and commercialization in partnership with government, industry and academia.
Ventures West Capital Ltd. has named biotech sector veteran Ken Galbraith as general partner. Galbraith joined the private venture capital company as venture partner in April 2007.
Ventures West focuses on early-stage technology companies across Canada from offices in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.
Children’s clothing retailer Please Mum has hired former Robeez executive Mikel Rhodes as COO. Please Mum also named Cathy Thorpe as VP of retail.
Based in Vancouver, Please Mum has 80 stores across Canada.
FirstGrowth Exploration & Development Services Corp., formerly FirstGrowth Capital Inc. (TSXV:FGC), has added Rick Ward to Kinetex Inc. as VP of business development.
Ward resides in Houston, where he will be representing Kinetex in the U.S. and internationally.
Vancouver-based FirstGrowth is an energy and mineral exploration services company focused on the organic growth of its subsidiary Kinetex, which offers seismic imaging services.
Thomas Sitar has been named VP of finance and CFO for Canfor Corp. (TSX:CFP). Sitar comes from the Canfor Pulp Income Fund, where he has been CFO and secretary since 2006.
Canfor is an integrated forest products company based in Vancouver with interests in 33 facilities in Canada and the U.S.
Pyng Medical Corp. (TSXV:PYT) has appointed David Bonar to the position of VP of sales and marketing.
Pyng markets a proprietary device for intraosseous infusion. Its head office is in Richmond.
Charles Brown has become the COO of Great Panther Resources Ltd. (TSX:GPR).
Brown’s background includes more than 30 years operating and developing mines in Canada and internationally, most recently as project manager for Newgold Inc.
Vancouver-based Great Panther is primary silver producer in Mexico.
Sunridge Gold Corp. (TSXV:SGC) and Crescent Resources Corp. (TSXV:CRC) have appointed Gregory Davis to the position of VP of business development. Davis comes from Crosshair Exploration and Mining, where he was VP of business development.
Don Halliday has been appointed to the position of executive VP for the two companies, with a primary focus on investor relations and fundraising.
White Rock-based Sunridge is a mineral exploration company focused on precious- and base-metal projects in Eritrea. Vancouver-based Crescent is a mineral exploration and development company with projects in Paraguay, Brazil and Manitoba.
The Vancouver Island Conference Centre in Nanaimo has appointed Elizabeth Murphy, CMP, as senior sales manager for Vancouver Island and Alberta. Murphy joined the Vancouver Island Conference Centre team in June.
The centre has also appointed Erin Williams as its new sales co-ordinator. She joined the centre in July.
TE Wealth has appointed Gordon Keays, CFA, as associate investment counsellor in the Vancouver office. Previously, Gordon was a financial advisor with a local financial institution for almost 10 years. TE Wealth is a wholly owned subsidiary of Jovian Capital Corp.
Mike Scott has joined Nexterra Energy Corp. as senior VP of corporate development.
Scott is backed by a 17-year career as a senior investment firm executive, investment banker and lawyer, the last three spent working with Cleantech companies.
Privately owned Nexterra is a biomass gasification company based in Vancouver,
There’s no place like home for one executive.
After six years in Singapore as CEO of the Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Warren Buckley is returning to Vancouver as CEO of PavCo (BC Pavilion Corporation).
Buckley’s appointment is effective January 2008.
Prior to becoming CEO of Suntec, Buckley had been CEO of PavCo, the Crown corporation responsible for the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre and BC Place Stadium.
Pacific Safety Products Inc. (TSXV:PSP) has appointed Danny Crossman as vice-president of its defence systems division. Crossman was most recently director of strategic business development for Med-Eng.
Based in Kelowna, PSP sells safety products for the defence and security markets.
Universal Uranium Ltd. (TSXV:UUL) has named Ronald Atlas as interim president for the ensuing year or until his successor is appointed. Atlas joined the board of directors in June 2006 and was appointed chairman in July 2007. Atlas will retain his chairmanship alongside his interim presidency.
UUL is a uranium exploration company based in Vancouver.
Mineral Hill Industries Ltd. (TSXV:MHI) has appointed Stephen Nelson as CFO. He replaces Peter Kohl, who has left to pursue other opportunities.
Nelson is also the CFO for the United States operations of Zeox Corp.
Mineral Hill is a consolidated junior exploration and resource development company based in Vancouver.
Rick Lee is the new chief financial officer for Zeox Corp. (TSXV:ZOX). Lee has spent more than 24 years working for public accounting firms and companies.
Zeox’s products are used in construction and oil and gas completion activity. The company is headquartered in Peachland, B.C.
Jim Mustard has joined Mantle Resources Inc. (TSXV:MTS) as its new president.
Mustard was VP and senior mining analyst at Haywood Securities Inc. until recently.
Peeyush Varshney has stepped aside as president but remains Mantle’s chairman and CEO.
Based in Vancouver, Mantle is a junior exploration company focused on zinc.
Fortress Minerals Corp. (TSXV:FST) has a new president and CEO. Ian Slater replaces Ron Hochstein, who will remain a director.
Most recently, Slater was a partner with Ernst & Young where he led their Canadian mining practice.
Fortress is a base- and precious-metals exploration company operating in Russia, Mongolia and Nicaragua. Its corporate office is in Vancouver.
Pacific Northern Gas Ltd. (TSX:PNG) has appointed Janet Kennedy as VP of finance. She assumes many of the responsibilities of Elizabeth Fletcher, who resigned as CFO last month.
Previously, Kennedy worked for one year as an independent consultant, prior to which she spent 12 years with Terasen Inc.
Pacific Northern supplies gas to 39,300 residential, commercial and industrial customers. Its corporate office is in Vancouver.
Cantronic Systems Inc. (TSXV:CTS) has created a thermography division and appointed Jon Chynoweth as executive VP of the division. He will be based in the U.S.
Chynoweth’s last position was VP of sales and marketing at Mikron Infrared.
Based in Coquitlam, Cantronic provides surveillance and imaging technology.
Yankee Hat Minerals Ltd. (TSXV:KHT) is making changes to its senior management.
Brad Kitchen becomes CEO along with his previous appointment as president, replacing Terry Fields who has resigned; Cale Thomas becomes CFO, replacing Anne McCandless who has resigned; and Stacy Broadoway becomes VP corporate affairs.
Thomas is currently the CFO and controller of a portfolio of public companies and is a finance manager at Sweetwater Capital.
Broadoway brings experience as a consultant to more than 24 public companies.
Yankee Hat is a Vancouver-based mineral exploration company with two gold projects in B.C.
Christina Cepeliauskas has joined Aura Minerals Inc. (TSX:ORA) as CFO. Prior to joining the company, Cepeliauskas held the position of CFO of Yukon Zinc Corp.
Cepeliauskas replaces Ross McDonald.
Aura Minerals is an exploration company focused on mineral deposits in South America. Its corporate office is in Vancouver.
Invicta Oil & Gas Ltd. (TSXV:IGG) has added Kathleen Butt to its senior ranks as CFO, replacing Nial Barrett who has resigned to pursue other business opportunities.
Butt was previously a tax manager with Ernst & Young LLP and currently serves as an officer in a number of public companies.
Invicta is a Vancouver energy company focused on plays in Texas.
Derek Oil & Gas Corp. (TSXV:DRK) has named Robert Hurkmans as COO. Hurkmans spent the past seven years with Occidental Petroleum Corp.
Derek is a Vancouver-based oil company focused on its property in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming.
Larry Hargrave has accepted the role of senior VP with Horizon Industries Ltd. (TSXV:HRZ), while Denver Gartner has assumed the role of chief of exploration and operations.
Larry Hargrave is CEO and co-founder of Pan American Production Co. of Houston, and Gartner is president and co-founder of Pan American.
Vancouver-based Horizon is an emerging oil and gas company building an asset base throughout the U.S.
Pine Valley Mining Corp. (TSX:PVM) has appointed Mark Smith to CEO in addition to his duties as CFO. Smith will remain a director of the coal company at this time.
Pine Valley’s corporate office is in Vancouver.
Opal Energy (TSXV:OPA) has appointed Bruce Huff to the position of CFO. Huff, who had been CFO since 2004 for Far East Energy Corp., will work in Opal’s Katy, Texas office.
In order to bring in Huff, Jim Grinnell has resigned as CFO but will continue as secretary.
Opal Energy Corp., through its U.S. subsidiary Opal Energy Inc., is focused on natural gas exploration targets in south Texas. Opal’s head office is in Vancouver.
Goldrush Resources Ltd. (TSXV:GOD) has hired Donald Willoughby as its VP of corporate development. He will be working from Goldrush’s new Toronto office.
Willoughby is currently president of Hiwill Ventures Inc.
Based in Vancouver, Goldrush is focused on gold exploration in Burkina Faso.
Norsemont Mining Inc. (TSX: NOM) has named Wayne Lamphier as VP of environment and community relations, to be based in Peru.
Lamphier comes with 20 years of technical environmental experience in the Andean region.
Norsemont is a Vancouver exploration company working in the Americas, with a focus on Peru.
Ben Jones has joined the management team of Canada Energy Partners Inc. (TSXV:CE) as CEO. Jones was previously VP of exploration for Triumph Pacific Oil & Gas Corp., whose oil and gas assets were recently acquired by Canada Energy.
Based in Vancouver, Canada Energy’s focus area is the Peace River region of northeast British Columbia.
Response Biomedical Corp. (TSXV: RBM) has appointed Wayne Kay as chief executive officer and a director.
Kay has served for the past three years as an executive advisor to several early stage companies.
Based in Burnaby, Response develops, manufactures and markets rapid onsite diagnostic tests.
Kevin Evans has been promoted to CEO of British Columbia's Industry Training Authority.
Evans, currently chief operating officer, succeeds Brian Clewes, who is establishing a management consulting practice.
The ITA works with apprentices, employers and other stakeholders to ensure quality training and skilled workers.
- with files from The Canadian Press
