The West Edmonton Business Association (WEBA) has added a new face to the executive office with the appointment of Karon Kosof as executive director.

Kosof joined WEBA in 1996. Since 1998 she has been director of communications, advertising and publicity.

Karon Kosof

The West Edmonton Business Association is a non-profit organization whose membership is comprised of business and professional people dedicated to the development, expansion and success of business in West Edmonton.

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Alberta-based ATCO Technologies Group has appointed Vaughan Payne as president of ATCO Travel, a member of the ATCO Group of Companies.

Payne has served as general manager of ATCO Travel since June 2000, and prior to joining ATCO held several key management positions with U.S. travel organizations, as well as a major Canadian oil company.

ATCO Travel is one of Western Canada’s largest independent travel management companies, providing a wide range of corporate and vacation travel services.

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Lewis Megaw is the new regional vice-president, Western Canada, for Export Development Canada (EDC).

Based in Calgary, Megaw will manage EDC’s offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg.

He brings to his new role more than 20 years of commercial banking experience. During the last three years, he served as senior business development manager in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Founded in 1944, EDC is a Crown corporation that operates as a commercial financial institution. It provides trade finance and risk management services to Canadian exporters and investors in up to 200 markets.

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Al Gimblett has resigned from Calgary-based Ironlink Inc., a subsidiary of supply chain technology company Moveitonline Inc.

Company officials said Gimblett resigned from the presidency of the wholly owned logistics subsidiary for health reasons.

A search is under way a new president.

Moveitonline provides shippers, carriers and logistics businesses with transportation supply chain logistics.The company utilizes its own 3PL logistics business to develop and test all of its software based solutions.

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Calgary-based Synergy Technologies Corp. has named board member Barry Coffey as its new chairman, president and chief executive.

Coffey replaces Thomas Cooley, the company’s chief technology officer who had been serving as acting CEO on a temporary basis.

Coffey previously held senior-level positions at Sony and RJR Nabisco. Most recently, he served as executive vice-president at Partminer, Inc., a supply chain management company in the electronic components industry.

Synergy Technologies (OILS-OTC Bulletin Board) is developing two patented processes to convert heavy oil and refinery bottoms into more usable crude, and to convert natural gas and other fossil fuels to hydrogen and carbon monoxide for use in a variety of applications, including fuel cells.

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RareMethod Interactive Studios Inc. is adding to its marketing and sales divisions.

The Calgary-based company, a subsidiary of RareMethod Capital Corp., has made three appointments to its MethodMail business unit. Scott Martin becomes vice-president of market development, Stefan Eyram is the new VP of business development (Canada) and Don Samoil takes on the same role for the eastern United States.

Martin joins MethodMail from Critical Mass, where he was vice-president of customer relationship and alliances. Before that, he was president and CEO of NextClick.

Toronto-based Eyram comes to RareMethod from MetaMail Inc., an e-mail marketing products company where he was an account executive. Samoil, who is based in New York, owned a consulting practice that provided strategy and management expertise to technology startups.

RareMethod Capital Corp. (RAM-CDNX) designs and implements interactive marketing campaigns.

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Calgary-based Impact Blue Incorporated is launching a new communications division and bringing on new staff.

Jeff Robinson, who joins the Calgary-based firm as vice-president of marketing, is past president of MGM Communications and has previously held senior management positions at advertising agencies in Calgary, Phoenix and Sydney, Australia.

Louis Krynski, previously the VP of creative services at MGM Communications, has been named creative director. Krynski has more than 20 years of senior agency experience in Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary.

Also joining the company is Eric Howling as creative director. He held a similar role at MGM Communications and has produced award-winning ad campaigns for several agencies.

Impact Blue is a private company which provides software development, e-business solutions, web design, advertising and communications solutions.

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Two new appointees are joining the Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board. David Carpenter and Mark McCullough take up their new duties Feb. 17.

Carpenter served as mayor of Lethbridge from 1986 to 2001 and is a chartered accountant. McCullough is currently the executive director for the Alberta Building Trades Council.

The WCB is a not-for-profit mutual insurance corporation funded entirely by employers that provides workplace liability and disability insurance to more than 1.5 million workers and 105,000 employers.

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As part of Virtus Energy Ltd.’s reorganization, Peter A. Carwardine has been named president and chief executive officer, effective immediately, and Randy Maksymowich will assume the role of COO.

The management team now consists of Carwardine, Maksymowich and Brian Kohlhammer, VP Finance and CFO.

Prior to this appointment, Carwardine had been executive vice-president, business development, and COO for Virtus since joining the company in early January of 2002. He was previously a member of the executive team responsible for building Encal Energy Ltd. into a senior producer.

Virtus Energy Ltd. (VEL-CDNX) is a Calgary-based emerging oil and gas company.

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More management changes have taken place at Bow Valley Energy Ltd.

W. DeBoni, chief executive officer and vice-chairman, has tendered his resignation as an officer of the company. He will continue as a director and vice-chairman of the board.

R.G. Moffat, president and chief operating officer of the company, has been promoted to president and CEO and has also been appointed as a new director. J.W. Peltier has resigned as a director, allowing for the appointment of Moffat.

The company said the new management and board changes are a continuation of the management reorganization previously announced last fall.

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The directors of Rise HealthWare Inc. (Rise) have created the position of chief financial officer reporting to the audit committee of the board of directors.

A.C. (Andy) Kinsey has been appointed acting CFO. Kinsey is a member of the board and of the audit committee.

Calgary-based Rise develops, installs and sells medical information systems.