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At Best Startup Canada we track over 100,000 Canadian startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top British Columbia based Chairman operating in the Manufacturing space. If you think a Chairman is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.ca.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Mark Godsy
Executive Chairman of ExRo Technologies
Mark Godsy serves as an advisor of Exro Technologies Inc., has been the CEO of Collective Protection Inc. since August 2002, and served as the chairman of Unity Wireless Corp. from 1993 to 1998 and its CEO from February 2000 to November 2000. He served as the secretary of Unity Wireless Corp.’s subsidiary from 1993 to 1995 and also from May 1997 to November 1998. Mark is an experienced entrepreneur working in the areas of corporate development and venture capital. A member of the BC Law Society, he practiced law for five years before entering business and co-founding two successful companies, ID Biomedical Corp. and Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Ltd., both of which are leading Canadian biotechnology firms. Mark served as CEO of ID Biomedical Corp. from 1991 to 1996. After semi-retirement since 1996, in 2001 Mark served as the CEO of Medcell Biologies Inc. He has also served as the chairman of Wescorp Energy Inc., and serves as a member of the business advisory board of biOasis Technologies Inc. Mark is a graduate of the University of British Columbia and received his law degree from McGill University.
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About : Exro is a clean technology company pioneering intelligent control solutions in power electronics.
Mossadiq Umedaly
Chairman of Enecsys
In April 2010, Mossadiq S. Umedaly joined Wellington Partners as Venture Partner to strengthen the resource efficiency team. He has over 22 years of experience growing resource efficiency businesses. In 2009, Umedaly became the Executive Chairman of Enecsys Ltd., a world leading solar micro inverter company. Prior to that, from 2007 to 2009, he was the chairman of BC Hydro, a $5 billion electric utility. From 1999 to 2008, as Chairman and CEO of power electronics company Xantrex Technology Inc., he transformed the $10 million test and measurement Company into a world leader in renewable power markets, took it public and ultimately sold it in 2008 to strategic acquirers for $500 million. From 1990 to 1998 he drove the growth of fuel cell pioneer Ballard Power Systems as VP and CFO; during his tenure the company went public and increased its market capitalization from $10 million to $6 billion. Prior to that, for eight years, he held senior positions in the Aga Khan Development network. He started his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers and for five years worked in the firm’s Toronto and Rome offices. Umedaly has a B.Com, MBA, FCA, ICD.D and a LL.D (hon).
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About : Enecsys manufactures grid-connected solar micro inverters and monitoring systems that offer a value proposition for solar PV systems.
Jimmy S. H. Lee
Founder, Chairman and CEO of Mercer International
Mr. Jimmy S. H. Lee is Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Executive Officer of Mercer International Inc. Previously, during the period that MFC Bancorp Ltd. was our affiliate, he served as a director from 1986 and President from 1988 to December 1996 when it was spun out. Mr. Lee was also a director of Quinsam Capital Corp. from March 2004 to November 2007 and Fortress Paper Ltd. from August 2006 to April 2008. During Mr. Lee’s tenure with Mercer, we acquired the Rosenthal mill and converted it to the production of kraft pulp, constructed and commenced operations at the Stendal mill and acquired the Celgar mill. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of British Columbia, Canada.
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About Mercer International: Mercer International operates as a pulp business and produces NBSK market pulp.
Wade Nesmith
Chairman of Primero Mining
Nesmith is currently Chairman of Primero Mining Corp. and from 2004 to 2009 was associate counsel with Lang Michener LLP (now McMillan LLP), a law firm where he previously practiced from 1993 to 1998. Nesmith has served on the boards of, among others, Polymer Group, Inc., Broadpoint Securities, Inc., and Westport Innovations, where he was also a senior officer of the Company. He also served as the Executive Director (then Superintendent of Brokers) for the British Columbia Securities Commission. Nesmith received his LLB from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1977.
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About : Primero Mining Corp. is a Canadian-based gold and silver producer with operations in Mexico and Canada.
John Proust
Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of CarbonOne Technologies
Mr. Proust is the founder and principal shareholder of numerous public and private companies. He has directed, managed and advised public and private companies regarding corporate strategy and structure, debt and equity financing, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate restructuring since 1986. Mr. Proust has held senior positions and served on the boards of many private and TSX-V/CSE listed companies. He is currently Chairman and CEO of Southern Arc Minerals Inc., Chairman and a director of Canada Energy Partners Inc., and Interim President & CEO and a director of Outrider Energy Corp. Mr. Proust received the designation of Chartered Director (CDir) from McMaster University, Directors College, Michael G. DeGroote School of Business.
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About CarbonOne Technologies: CarbonOne Technologies . engages in the development, production, manufacture, and commercialization of advanced materials.
Henry (Hank) Ketcham
Chairman of West Fraser Timber
Hank Ketcham is the Chairman of West Fraser. Hank started with West Fraser in 1973 and worked in various mill level and management positions. In 1985 he was elected President and Chief Executive Officer and in 1996 he was elected Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. Hank was appointed Executive Chairman in March of 2013 and in April 2016, Hank relinquished the executive position and was designated Chairman of the Board. Hank serves on various boards including the B.C. Jobs and Investment Board, Business Council of British Columbia, Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC), Softwood Lumber Board, Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and was the former Chairman of the Council of Forest Industries (COFI). Mr. Ketcham is also a Director of the Toronto Dominion Bank. – See more at: http://www.westfraser.com/organization/leadership/executive#sthash.vAHh5Wr9.dpuf
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About West Fraser Timber: West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. is a Canadian forestry company based in Quesnel, British Columbia.
Michael Heaven
Chairman of the Board, CEO of Aurora Solar Technologies
Mike Heaven chairs the Board of Directors and is the company’s CEO. He is also a co-founder of the company. Mike has had over 20 years experience in the development and application of measurement and control technology to a variety of industries. He has published extensively in the field of industrial measurement and process control and holds eleven patents in this area. His extensive in-depth experience in this field is particularly pertinent to the role Aurora is playing in the solar energy industry. As General Manager for PT Papertech Inc. from 2003 to 2008, Mr. Heaven drove the development and delivery of innovative machine vision systems for in-line process monitoring and optimization in paper, tissue and steelmaking. Prior to Papertech, he was Chief Operating Officer of Norsat International Inc. (TSX: NII, NASDAQ: NSATF), a company providing ground station equipment for satellite communications. Before Norsat, Mike spent 13 years with Honeywell in various senior engineering and marketing roles. Prior to Honeywell, he spent five years in the steel industry, responsible for Dofasco’s Hot Strip Flatness and Profile Control program. Mr. Heaven holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from McMaster University and is a registered Professional Engineer in the Provinces of British Columbia and Ontario, Canada. He also holds an MBA from Queen’s University.
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About Aurora Solar Technologies: Aurora Solar Technologies develops and markets Production Measurement and Control systems.
George Rubin
Executive Chairman of Clear Metals
A proven corporate team leader with the unique combination of a strong scientific background and an in-depth knowledge of financial markets and strategies. A graduate of Moscow State University with Masters Degree in Quantum Radio Physics and a British Columbia Institute of Technology graduate with a Diploma in Financial Management and a Batchelor Degree in Accounting. Chartered Financial Analyst and capital markets expert with 5 years of corporate finance experience with Canada’s leading independent investment firms. As a co-founder, Vice President and subsequently President and CEO of Day4 Energy Inc. was instrumental to developing strategic vision and directly responsible for execution of the corporate development plan including growing company operations from research and development start-up in 2001 with a total staff of 5 through 265 employees, annual sales of more than $165 million CDN and an annualized sales run rate of over $230 million CDN in under 10 years. In 2012 George co-founded Pacific Surf Partners Corp – an early stage private equity group focused on developing the highest quality M&A opportunities for corporate and private equity clients in a number of industry sectors.
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About Clear Metals: Clear Metals develops and commercialises metal oxide technology.
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