AINSWORTH - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chief Information Officer
Mr. Vukovic joined GDI in August 2020 after a 23-year career in various IT leadership and digital transformation roles. He is responsible for establishing and leading the delivery of GDI's digital and data strategy and transformation. Prior to joining GDI, Mr. Vukovic worked for Centrica PLC, a global residential and commercial energy and services firm, where he was the Global Head of Digital Field systems, Head of North American Services IT and led the global IT M&A due diligence, integration and divestiture functions. Mr. Vukovic is a graduate of York University in Toronto.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- CEO GDI Group of Companies
Since 1982, Mr. Bigras has spent his career in the construction, janitorial and facility maintenance industry. He joined GDI in 1994 and later became a major shareholder in 1998. Over the years, he has held many positions, and became President and CEO of GDI in December 2004. In his role as President and CEO, Mr. Bigras has overseen GDI's significant organic and acquisition-based growth, leading GDI to become the largest janitorial services company in Canada, and one of the largest in North America. Through his leadership, perspective and experience, Mr. Bigras has driven the development of the company's key financial strategic planning, and brings with him an exceptional track record of disciplined capital allocation and strategic acquisitions. Mr. Bigras also aspired to build a strong mechanical services company across North America, and with the acquisitions of Ainsworth, Airtron and other smaller mechanical companies in the past few years, his goal has been achieved. Mr. Bigras holds certificates in finance and management from École des Hautes Études commerciales in Montréal.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- President
Mr. Stanford started his career in 1981 as a Field Technician with Honeywell. He held various management positions with several companies involved in the maintenance and repair of building systems. Mr. Stanford had a 15-year career with Honeywell in field operations, sales, and management and was Regional Director of Honeywell from 1990 to 1995. He held various senior management positions with Stannair, Enbridge and Direct Energy from 1995 to 2006. He also held the position of President of Modern Niagara HVAC Services from 2009 to 2013, and spent the following three years as President of Airtron. When Mr. Stanford joined Ainsworth Inc., a GDI company, following the acquisition of Airtron in November 2016, he became President of Ainsworth, and was also named Chief Operating Officer in 2019.
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President, Corporate Development
- GDI in 2014 As Its Senior Vice President, Strategic Development
Mr. Hinchey joined GDI in 2014 as its Senior Vice President, Strategic Development after a 14 year career in the investment banking industry, and currently serves as GDI's Executive Vice President, Corporate Development. Prior to joining the Company, he served as Managing Partner of Milton Capital Partners Ltd., an advisory firm providing mergers and acquisitions and capital markets advisory services to public and private companies, where he specialized in the facility services industry for several years and provided merger and acquisition advisory services to the Company since 2011. From 2009 to 2011, Mr. Hinchey served as Managing Director, Investment Banking of Laurentian Bank Securities Inc. At the Company, he is responsible for the Company's mergers and acquisitions activities and strategic business initiatives. Mr. Hinchey holds an MBA from McGill University and is a CFA Charterholder.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Shared Services
Prior to joining Ainsworth, Mr. Acheampong was the General Manager - Material Solutions for Bombardier Transportation, with oversight of procurement, sales operations, health and safety, and support systems across North America. Before that, he spent four years with Wajax Industrial Components as Vice President of Operations and Business Systems. Mr. Acheampong also held various leadership roles at Price Waterhouse Canada, Carrier Corporation Canada, Direct Energy Business Services and Toyota Material Handling North America. In addition to Accounting, Six Sigma and Lean Principles certification, he also holds Master's and Bachelor of Science degrees in Business Administration.
Job Titles:
- Vice President - Prairies
Mr. Fontaine started his career as a Commercial Electrical Apprentice, before working for Pnue-Tech Controls which installed primarily Delta Controls. When ESC bought out Pnue-Tech in 1990, Mr.Fontaine joined the ESC Edmonton branch and held various positions including Installation Technician, Forman, Supervisor, Engineer, and Project Manager until 1998. The decision to join ESC was easy for Mr. Fontaine as he wanted to partake in the creation of energy efficient buildings using innovative technology. Mr. Fontaine went on to become the Edmonton Branch Manager in 2012 after holding positions as Edmonton Service Manager, Operations Manager, and Sales Manager. As the Edmonton Branch Manager, Mr. Fontaine navigated the volatile Alberta economy by creating a strong, talented and forward-thinking workplace, and by finding ways to grow the business through innovation, diversification, and outside-the-box solutions. In 2018, Mr. Fontaine became the Alberta Regional Manager and created a strong brand for the province, and in 2020 he took the role of VP Prairies at Ainsworth, a role in which he will create an interprovincial support system to allow for diversification. Mr. Fontaine is a great problem-solver, has an amazing service mentality, and has created a positive work culture within ESC. He holds a Certified Master Electrician designation in Alberta (CME) and is a Master Electrician.
John Fanneron began his career at United Technology (Carrier Corp.) as a Branch Manager. From 1988-1997 he joined ISS Energy in the capacity of Vice President of Engineering.
John joined the BP group in 1997 and played a vital role in the company's success and future growth and profitability to become one of the leading HVAC companies in NYC. As President of the BP Group, he also maintained his responsibilities for the BP Air Conditioning operations firm. John holds a degree from Calhoun School of Engineering and is Lt USNR and a graduate of Babson College's advanced leadership Institute program.
John became president of Ainsworth, USA operations in January 2021 since the acquisition of the BP Group.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Ainsworth Technology Solutions
Mr. Matthews began his career in the Fire Protection industry in 1996 as a technical sales agent with Siemens and was mainly focused on heavy industrial and major infrastructure verticals. That led Mr. Matthews to start an 18-year career with Tyco SimplexGrinnell beginning as a Fire Alarm Systems Technician, holding positions of Project Manager, Operations Manager, Solution Sales Manager, and then becoming a Strategic Executive in charge of industrial business development and P3 program management. Mr. Matthews had known ESC throughout much of his career at Tyco as a strategic partner in team pursuits and execution of some of the largest projects in Canada, competing with companies such as JCI and Honeywell. When JCI acquired Tyco in 2017, ESC was looking to broaden its capabilities as a Master Systems Integrator, and Mr. Matthews felt the humble, client-focused culture of ESC was a better fit for him. He joined ESC as Director-Building Systems, and in 2020 he became Vice President- Master Systems Integration. Mr. Matthews' broad background in systems, and a wide range of positions have allowed him to tackle Smart Buildings that have similarly broadened. This experience allowed Mr. Matthews to step back and look at whole building technologies to help achieve owners' goals and navigate the change management process. Mr. Matthews has contributed significantly to establishing ESC as a leading Master Systems Integrator, leading the company to be selected for notable Smart Building projects across the country as well as making advances in the health care vertical, including Real Time Locating and Healthcare Communications Systems.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President, British Columbia
Mr. Crosgrey began his career in the technical services industry as a facility operator for the City of Brampton in 1989, and after being promoted to Operations Manager in 1999, he started working as an Energy Management & BAS Coordinator at Brampton City Hall. It was not long after that Mr. Crosgrey joined Optimira Controls as Project/Operations Manager in 2002. When Optimira Controls was acquired by ESC Automation in 2011, ESC needed a dedicated leader to grow its Toronto branch. It was the strong core values and family-oriented culture which led Mr. Crosgrey to join ESC as Branch Manager Toronto, and then to become the General Manager for Canada and the U.S. in 2019. When Ainsworth acquired ESC Automation, Mr. Crosgrey stepped up to be Ainsworth Vice President GTA and General Manager Delta Connects U.S. In September 2021, he moved to British Columbia to lead the team as SVP BC for Ainsworth. Since 2011, Mr. Crosgrey has helped ESC Automation grow considerably and become a well-respected industry partner. With over 25 years of experience in leadership management, project services, and execution, Mr. Crosgrey provides a collaborative approach with his team to effectively deliver and manage the growth strategy in the British Columbia market. Mr. Crosgrey holds an Accounting Diploma from Sheridan College and the BOMA Facilities Management Administrator Certification.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President, Ontario
Mr. Ottavino started his career in 2007 as a mechanical engineer in the biopharmaceutical industry, working in the engineering and maintenance department at Sanofi Pasteur in Toronto, Ontario. He was responsible for managing maintenance program deployment and administrative facilities. There, Mr.Ottavino was exposed to leading projects and technical teams within a mission critical, highly regulated environment. Following his roles at Sanofi Pasteur, Mr. Ottavino accepted a position in external sales with Honeywell Building Solutions in 2011, based in the Greater Toronto Area. Mr. Ottavino joined the leadership team at Honeywell in 2016 where he served as the Director of Sales for Honeywell's Ontario region, overseeing 18 sales professionals, estimators and engineers. In 2018, Mr. Ottavino expanded his management career after accepting a position with Carrier Corporation as their Canadian General Manager. Mr. Ottavino joined Ainsworth in 2022 after accepting the position of Senior Vice President Ontario. He holds a Bachelors of Engineering, Masters of Business Administrations, P.Eng, and was ASHRAE President in 2013.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Human Resources
Ms. Kirkland began her career in 2002 with Tyco Thermal Controls as a Human Resources Coordinator where she quickly transitioned into a national HR Manager role, supporting various national and global initiatives involving performance and talent management, talent acquisition and compensation planning, as well as leading labour relations for the Canadian manufacturing division. In 2014, she transitioned to a Labour Relations role within the automotive industry and later moved to become Director of Human Resources for the Swish Group of Companies. In 2017, Ms. Kirkland joined Ainsworth as the Vice President of Human Resources.
Job Titles:
- Chief Marketing Officer
- President
Mr. Fred Edwards joined the GDI team in 2013 as President, Western Canada, and during the period from 2013 to 2018, GDI became the largest cleaning services provider in the Western Canada region. In 2019, Mr. Edwards moved on from his previous role to become the Chief Marketing Officer for the GDI group of companies. Mr. Edwards has over 35 years of experience in the cleaning services industry. Prior to joining GDI, he was the President & CEO of Servpro Cleaning (Calgary) Inc., which he grew to become one of the largest cleaning services providers in Alberta. Mr. Edwards has served as a Board Member for BOMA Calgary, and is currently a board member for the BOMA Calgary Foundation. He is an active member of the Calgary community and supports multiple charities around the city.
Mr. Mota holds an MBA in finance and the Certified Financial Analyst designation. He started his career in the energy and services industry in 2007 as an analyst with Direct Energy. In 2011, he moved to the role of Head of Financial Planning and Analysis for North America, and then to Director of Finance and Accounting for Airtron from 2013 to 2016. Mr. Mota joined Ainsworth in 2017, following the acquisition of Airtron.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, National Operations Support
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Business Development