Board of Directors
Wiley Auch
Director
Mr. Auch joined the board of directors on October 5, 2006, and has subsequently been appointed to the Audit and Risk Management Committee of which he is the Chairman.
Mr. Auch is a Chartered Accountant with extensive corporate finance, financial reporting, treasury, tax, and planning experience at a senior management level. From 2003 until 2007, he was Vice-President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Gibraltar Exploration Ltd., a private natural gas exploration and production company. Mr. Auch also served as a financial advisor to Enron Canada during its liquidation between March 2002 and March 2004. He was Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of FirstEnergy Capital Corp. from 1993 to 2001. Prior to 1993, Mr. Auch was with Price Waterhouse, Chartered Accountants.
John R. Bobenic
President & Chief Executive Officer
Bachelor of Commerce, University of Calgary
Chartered Accountant, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta
Executive Masters of Business Administration, University of Calgary
Mr. Bobenic began his career in public practice with Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. A 12-year career with TransAlta Corporation followed where he held various progressively more senior positions, including President of TransAlta Energy (Chile) S.A. Following his tenure with TransAlta, Mr. Bobenic held the role of Director, Business Development, Latin America with Westcoast Energy International Inc. Since May 1999, Mr. Bobenic was the Chief Financial Officer of ENMAX Corporation responsible for finance and administration, strategic planning, and business development, including the development of independent power projects. Mr. Bobenic is the President and a Director of Milner Power Inc., Maxim Energy Group Ltd. and Comax Energy Ltd. and is a member of the Board of Directors of Jupiter Power Holdings Ltd., Maxim Power (BC) Inc. and Maxim Power Europe BV and its subsidiaries. He also serves as a Director of the Independent Power Producers Society of Alberta (IPPSA). Mr. Bobenic joined MAXIM in October 2000.
M. Bruce Chernoff
Chairman
Bachelor of Applied Science (Chemical Engineering), Queen’s University
Mr. Chernoff co-founded Pacalta Resources Ltd., a public junior oil and natural gas company with operations in Canada and Latin America, where he held various senior positions including Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Chernoff was a director of Pacalta from 1992 until it was purchased by Alberta Energy Company in May 1999 for $1 billion.
Mr. Chernoff is currently President of Caribou Capital Corp. and is also a director of several other public companies. In June 2002, Mr. Chernoff initiated the formation of Harvest Energy Trust to pursue oil and natural gas development and acquisition opportunities. He holds the position of Chairman of the Board.
William Gallacher
Director
Bachelor of Applied Science (Engineering), University of British Columbia
Currently, Mr. Gallacher is the President of Avenir Capital Corporation, a Western Canadian merchant banking firm investing in new and existing companies in a number of industries including energy. An engineer by profession, Mr. Gallacher is an entrepreneur in the oil patch, as well as in other industries and brings experience in the financial markets and corporate structuring. After several years of field experience, technical engineering and management functions in several multinational corporations, Mr. Gallacher co-founded a number of energy companies including Winfield Energy Ltd., Peak Energy Services Ltd., Highland Energy Ltd. (now Ketch Energy), Maxim Energy Group Ltd. and Atlas Energy Ltd.
Johann Polz
Director
Masters of Social and Economic Sciences, University of Economics and Business Administration, Vienna, Austria
Mr. Polz began his career as an account manager and assistant sales director with SBH Cotton Mills in Cape Town, South Africa in 1976. Following his time there, he went on to hold various positions with Swiss and Austrian industrial companies. Mr. Polz became the sales and marketing director of Jenbacher Energiesysteme AG in Austria in 1994. He was responsible for global sales and marketing of gas engine powered combined heat and power plant equipment. In 1996, in addition to his Austrian responsibilities, Mr. Polz became President of Jenbacher Energiesysteme Ltd., USA, the sales and service organization of Jenbacher for the United States and Canada. Presently, Mr. Polz is a business consultant in the field of energy generation and is focusing on developing the international power business.
W. Brett Wilson
Director
Bachelor of Applied Science (Engineering), University of Saskatchewan
Mr. Wilson began his career with Esso Resources where he worked on oilfields from southern Saskatchewan to the Beaufort Sea. In 1985, he completed an MBA at the University of Calgary and began his career as an investment banker specializing in oil and gas transactions with McLeod Young Weir Limited (now Scotia McLeod).
Mr. Wilson co-founded Wilson Mackie & Co. in 1991 to provide investment banking services to participants in the Canadian oil and gas industry. In 1993, He co-founded FirstEnergy Capital Corp., a leading full service investment bank focused on institutions and corporations in the Canadian energy industry.
Mr. Wilson has served as a governor of the Alberta Stock Exchange and the Investment Dealers Association of Canada as well as a director of TransCanada PipeLines Power L.P. from 1996 to 2005. He presently serves on several boards of directors including the Calgary Petroleum Club and The Bolt Supply House in addition to his involvement in a wide variety of community charities.