Like a lot of previously fast-growing companies, Samsports.com of Calgary is turning a new corner.
The company, which set up shop two years ago, is cutting six positions and four contractors in an attempt to achieve immediate profitability.
Samsports chairman and CEO Stephen Corbett says the corporation, which markets sports-learning software to help amateur coaches and athletes improve their skills and performance, has reduced operating overhead by about 55 per cent.
Don W. Boone, a company officer, vice-president of operations and corporate secretary, will become a contractor. Janice E. Park, a company officer and vice-president of marketing, has taken maternity leave.
Corbett says November sales should be the best in the company’s history.
“Additionally, we have a redesigned Web site, a restructured sales organization and renewed cost vigilance. Unlike many other dot-com businesses, we have products to sell and revenue.”
Samsports trades on the Canadian Venture Exchange, and has nine employees.
The appointment of Glen Simpson as chief financial officer at Axis Port Inc. marks the company’s move from early-stage development to commercialization, says CEO Robert Thorssen.
Prior to working with Axis Port, Simpson was chief financial officer and general manager for privately owned Petrowest, an oil and gas marketing firm.
Axis Port is a Calgary company trading on the Canadian Venture Exchange. It aims to make the process of buying and selling a house, and the resulting move, a lot easier.
Through the Internet, it enables companies to offer a total home purchase and moving package to their employees without cost to the company or employee.
The company is developing a North America-wide database of realtors, who pay Axis Port a referral commission.
Axis Port, a year-old company with five employees, is traded on the Canadian Venture Exchange.
David L. Snell, chairman and interim CEO of Home Media Corp., has announced the appointment of Samuel Fisher as the company’s chief financial officer. Before that, Fisher worked with Devonian Properties Inc. a Canmore-based developer.
Home Media Corp. is a three-year-old Calgary company with 41 employees. It helps small- and medium-sized “bricks-and-mortar” companies move some of their services toward e-commerce and the Web by marketing and supplying customer service via the Web. The company currently focuses on the home-development and auto industries.
The company went public at the end of October, and is listed on the Canadian Venture Exchange. Prior to going public, it expanded its board to include company founder Snell; Robert Blackshaw of Calgary, president and CEO of IVRnet Inc. and chairman of a private company called Global Industrial Solutions; Blaine Lee of Calgary, president of international management consulting firm Leemartin Associates Ltd.; Michael K. Lee of Walnut Creek in Silicon Valley, Calif., founder and managing general partner of Dominion Ventures, which is a venture capital firm specializing in emerging growth companies; Alastair Robertson of Calgary, chairman and CEO of Northlinks Ltd., and board chairman of Electronic Manufacturing Group Inc., as well as board chairman of IVRnet Inc. (all listed on the Canadian Venture Exchange).
Yanick LeClerc, formerly a technical writer with Yes Consultants Ltd., has established his own company. He’s now president of I Write Stuff INC, specializing in technical documentation for small- to medium-sized businesses in Calgary.
Ionic Energy Inc. of Calgary has announced that Joan E. Dunne has left the position of vice-president of finance and chief financial officer to pursue family interests.
The company’s new financial vice-president and chief executive officer is Jerry Sapieha. Previously, he was CFO with Dreig Resources Inc.
Dwight Dracek has been appointed the company’s manager of business development, responsible for acquisitions and corporate reserve evaluations. He was vice-president of business development at Place Resource Inc.
Three-year-old Ionic, a local company with 21 employees, is listed on the TSE. It’s a junior exploration and production company, focusing primarily on natural gas in west-central Alberta. n n n SMART Technologies Inc. has promoted four Calgary employees.
Milena Zurbriggen is the new manager of education market development. She was formerly SMART’s special projects marketing expert.
Kathy Dunlop is the manager of technical documentation for all SMART products. Previously, she was the company’s documentation specialist.
The manager of new product introduction is David Popovich, who was previously product development manager at SMART.
Robert Sirotich is manager of industrial and mechanical design. He used to be an industrial designer with the company.
SMART is a privately owned Calgary company that designs and manufactures SMART Boards, which are interactive touch-sensitive white boards, as well as other SMART Roomware products, including optical whiteboard capture systems, mobile multi-media cabinets and meeting productivity software.
