A company is only as good as those who run it. We have a strong group working together to build and manage our properties to produce success for the company, its customers, and clients.
Devonian embraces diversity and believes in this business mosaic, where each member of the team offers a unique and necessary skill set to the company, but our combined creativity brings a much larger perspective to our development process.
Our diverse team of professionals is highly motivated, intelligent, and committed to producing excellent results. Our management team includes:
Stephen Ross, President
Devonian owes its existence — and to a large degree, its success — to Stephen’s vision. He gained what he calls “a triple PhD in business” while working in the land and housing division of MDC Holdings, a large, publicly-owned American development company. In 1990, he returned to his home province of Alberta and formed Devonian Properties, with Doug Churchill as his first employee.
Stephen developed the company’s philosophy of responsibility to our customers, investors and employees. Devonian’s success came quickly, in part, Stephen believes, because “we’re small enough to take opportunities when they come up.”
Stephen sees continued growth in the company’s future. Currently 80% of its work is being done in Fort McMurray, and other new markets are under exploration. “We try to give out a good product first and foremost,” he says modestly. “We focus on sticks and bricks, without too many moving parts.”
Doug Churchill, Vice President, Planning and Construction
Doug graduated from Ryerson in 1976 with a degree in landscape architecture and was Devonians first employee. Over the years Doug’s experience in all phases of the development process has proven to be great asset to the Devonian team.
One of Doug’s biggest strengths is a great ability to work with various municipalities and government agencies to see our projects through to successful completion. His amiable personality and considerable intellect are helpful qualities to the man whose job description involves “overseeing all interests of the company.”
Doug is a huge fan of Canmore and all the community offers.
Jamie McVicar, Vice President, Finance and Administration
When Jamie McVicar uses the words “maximum efficiency,” he’s not just talking about his dual degrees: Law and MBA, both of which he attained within three years of obtaining his bachelor of commerce. It’s a focus of his position at Devonian, where he keeps a finger on the pulse on just about everything to do with the company’s acquisitions, ventures, and financial operations.
Combined with his academic background, Jamie’s expertise in real estate development and the law — garnered from 15 years in the industry in Calgary — makes him a major asset to our team.
For the future, Jamie sees Devonian continuing to build on its biggest success and area of expertise: land development, servicing, and subdivision for single-family residences and condo developments.
Jamie has a strong faith in Devonian because he feels “a sense of potentiality in what we do. I feel like we could take a stab at anything to do with real estate development, and be successful.”
John Gillett, Chief Financial Officer
Born, raised and educated in Calgary, John has strong and varied CA experience, including in oil and gas, agriculture, small business, and real estate.
John is directly responsible for the financial reporting and fiscal management of the company and its various joint ventures. He credits his accounting team with being able to “handle a great deal of work efficiently and effectively,” but his guidance is certainly a tremendous asset to the department.
John believes Devonian’s future involves continuing to find good projects and good people to carry them out. “We’ll look for the balance between having fun and being successful as we develop projects.”
Brian Talbot, Vice President, Sales and Development
With over 20 years of real estate experience, Brian has specialized in the acquisition; disposition and leasing of existing and proposed commercial and residential properties as well as new project development and existing project redevelopment. His extensive experience with two multi-national real estate firms and a regional development company has honed his extensive experience in all aspects of real estate. Brian has been fortunate enough to establish relationships with local, regional, and national real estate owners, investors and users.
As a result of this broad experience base, Brian is very aware of what is required to enhance and maintain an asset and the key milestones required to achieve all parties goals in an timely matter.
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Devonian’s employees like the company for many reasons, but it basically boils down to Brian Talbot’s summary: lots of opportunities, no restrictions, and a good team to work with.
Jamie McVicar adds: “It’s all about lifestyle. We’re a very active group at Devonian, and there is support from the top on maintaining that.” Employees are encouraged to use their time flexibly; daily bike rides or cross-country ski sessions are common. After all, that’s one of the pleasures of life in Canmore.
As for the corporate philosophy, Jamie sums it up neatly. “Any plan that you bring to the table, as long as it has a chance of success, is encouraged. There’s a feeling that there are no boundaries.”
