Gerry Welsh is the new president and chief operating officer of ATCO Power Ltd.
Welsh, currently president of ATCO Power Canada Ltd., has worked 34 years for the Calgary-based parent company, the ATCO Group. He replaces Gary Bauer, who retires February 1 after 32 years with the company. The ATCO Group has a worldwide organization of companies engaged in utilities, power generation, logistics and energy services.
M-Tech Information Technology, Inc. has appointed Ian Johnson as vice-president of professional services. Johnson was previously senior change management consultant with Pretzel Logic Software in Cupertino, Calif.
Calgary-based M-Tech provides identity management services to clients including Best Buy and Pfizer.
A. Kirk Purdy is stepping down from the helm of Viking Energy Royalty Trust (VKR.UN-TSX). Purdy helped found the trust and has been president, CEO and a director since its inception in 1996.
Purdy will remain with the Calgary-based firm until a replacement is found.
Viking Energy Royalty Trust is an open-end investment trust that generates income from oil and natural gas-producing properties in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Jim Gardiner is retiring as chief executive and president of Calgary-based Fording Inc. and affiliates the Elk Valley Coal Partnership and Elk Valley Coal Corporation.
Gardiner steps down following the integration of those companies into Fording Canadian Coal Trust, of which he was also president and CEO.
He has been replaced by executive vice-president Jim Popowich, who has worked for Fording and its affiliates for the past 35 years.
Fording Canadian Coal Trust is an open-ended investment trust with investments in metallurgical coal and industrial minerals mining and processing.
The trust, through its wholly owned subsidiary Fording Inc., holds a 65-per-cent ownership of the Elk Valley Coal Corporation, the world’s second-largest exporter of metallurgical coal.
John Krpan is the new vice-president, western region, for Calgary-based RIS Information Systems, Inc.
Krpan has held roles at companies including TELUS, the World Bank and CGI during his more than 20 years in the high-tech sector.
RIS is an application support and maintenance company with local clients including CP Rail, TransCanada Pipelines, Talisman Energy and Enmax.
James Britton has stepped down as CEO of construction and development firm NewNorth Projects Ltd.
Britton had been at the helm of the company since Urbco Inc. reorganized into Northern Property Real Estate Investment Trust and NewNorth Projects Ltd. in May 2002.
Greg Herndier, a 25-year veteran in the real estate and development industries, has now stepped up to the plate. Herndier has been president and COO of NewNorth since April of last year.
Britton will continue as a director of the company, but will now devote his full attention to the REIT, NewNorth chair Donald Wilson said last week.
NewNorth Projects Ltd. focuses on land development, construction and building development primarily in Northern Canada. The company has offices in Yellowknife, N.W.T., Iqaluit, Nunavut, Nuuk, Greenland, Fort McMurray and Calgary.
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