Prominent Edmonton businessman Ron Triffo has been appointed the new private-sector co-chair of the Alberta Economic Development Authority (AEDA).
Triffo was appointed last week by Premier Ralph Klein – the provincial government’s board co-chair – and will begin the position in January. He replaces outgoing co-chair Doug Mitchell.
Triffo is chairman of Stantec Inc. and holds senior committee and board positions with several Alberta companies and associations.
The AEDA was created in 1994 to develop economic strategies for the province by building strong links between the business community and the Alberta government.
BW Technologies has filled two key executive positions.
Guy Gervais has been named vice-president of commercial operations for the Calgary-based firm (BWT-TSX). He is an electrical engineer who has spent the past 25 years with Vulcain Alarm Inc., a gas-detection company that BW Technologies acquired last month.
Gervais will continue his role as president of Vulcain, based in Delson, Que., just outside Montreal. The company has also appointed Gerry Robitaille to the position of vice-president of corporate development. He will facilitate the merger of Vulcain and BW Technologies.
Robitaille was previously a partner at the Foundation Group Mergers and Acquisitions in Edmonton and played a key role in BW’s acquisition of Vulcain. He will also co-ordinate the company’s activities internationally in Dallas, Oxford and Montreal.
BW Technologies Ltd. designs and manufactures a range of gas-detection equipment and employs approximately 250 people worldwide. The company has offices in Europe, the U.S., Canada, the Middle East and Australia.
CodeBaby Corp. of Edmonton has named Sandro Berardocco as its director of business development. Berardocco has more than 15 years’ experience in business development and deal structuring including senior roles with Verizon Information Services Canada and Alta Vista Canada.
He will play a key role in commercialization of the firm’s intelligent agent technology.
Scott Dykes is taking the president’s chair at Calgary-based Profile Resources.
He replaces M.L. McDonald, who will remain actively involved in the company (PFL-TSXV) as a director.
Dykes has nearly 25 years of experience in the energy service drilling industry, including senior roles at Destiny Resources Services Corp. and Double R Drilling Company Ltd., which he owned and led.
David Wilson has joined Grasslands Entertainment Inc. as chief financial officer.
Wilson has more than 15 years’ experience in public finance and replaces Ron Johnson, who has been named vice-president of business development.
Calgary-based Grasslands (GEE-TSXV) creates, develops, produces and provides proprietary television programming content.
Hawthorn Hotel & Suites Calgary has named Chantal Désilets to the position of sales director. She brings more than 20 years’ related experience in sectors including politics, the performing arts, petroleum industry and international relations.
Most recently, she managed the conference services branch of the G-8 Summit Management Office (Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade).
Hawthorn-brand hotels are upscale properties designed for the extended-stay traveller.
J. Scott Brooks has joined Calgary-based Crape Geomatics Corporation.
Previously a project supervisor with McElhanney Land Surveys, Brooks has extensive experience in parcel consolidation and sub-division as well as oil and gas and control surveys in Western Canada.
Crape provides a range of field services, land mapping and land information services.
An award-winning mathematics researcher and educator has been appointed to the University of Calgary via the federal government’s Canada Research Chairs program.
Karoly Bezdek comes from Eotvos University in Budapest, Hungary, via Cornell University, where he is a visiting professor. Bezdek begins his seven-year renewable Chair in computational descrete geometry in July.
(To have your appointments, corporate changes or photos published in this column, send an e-mail to: news@businessedge.ca)