Leadership Team
Arthur R. Price
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Art Price, born and raised in Alberta, has always brought a global outlook to the businesses in which he was involved. He joined Axia in 1995 with the vision of creating a company that would meet the full spectrum of Internet Protocol-based communications needs for businesses and consumers.
Art, trained as an engineer, held a number of senior executive positions in the oil patch, serving as Husky Oil's president and chief executive officer from 1984 - 1993. After leaving Husky, he spent two years as special advisor to Li Ka-Shing, Chairman of the Board of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., focusing on international investments.
He also maintains active ties to his family's agricultural roots, sitting on the board of the Sunterra Group of Companies; as well as Rancher's Beef Ltd., Calgary.
Peter McKeown
Chief Financial Officer
Peter McKeown is Axia's Chief Financial Officer and is responsible for merger, acquisition and divestiture activities.
A seasoned chartered accountant, Peter's previous start-up experience with oil and gas companies and his business acumen in all facets of financial reporting and planning were invaluable throughout Axia's fast-paced growth.
Prior to joining Axia, Peter co-founded and served as a director of Jordan Petroleum Limited.
Mark Blake
Vice-President, Marketing and Business Development
Mark Blake brings extensive international experience to his role as Axia’s Vice-President of Marketing and Business Development. He has worked in information technology in the oil patch, as a management consultant, handled software solutions for the capital markets and financial services sectors and was a contract program manager in the banking sector. He has worked from Alberta to Australia, with stops in the Pacific Rim, Europe, the Middle East and the Eastern United States.
He started his career working in IT for Shell Canada, moved to Deloitte Touche management consultants, and was then approached by EFA Software, a Calgary based company that created the first electronic trading application for the Alberta Stock Exchange. “The chance to join EFA happened at a good time,” he says. “There was a strong and growing demand for online services.” EFA gave Mark the opportunity to manage projects in more than a dozen countries including Japan, Nigeria, Palestine and Romania. He also spent 18 months in Australia, managing projects and handling business development in Southeast Asia as well as implementing projects in Saudi Arabia.
EFA was expanding into the U.S., and Mark was sent to New York City to set up an office there. He later transferred to EFA’s Toronto office before joining Axia in the fall of 2006.
Mark holds a BSc in Computer Science and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business.
Dan Chervenka, CD
Director, Technology and Security
With more than 25 years of progressive experience in complex, multi-level, high-security command and control environments, Dan Chervenka is well positioned to oversee Axia’s Operational Support Systems, Business Support Systems and security controls.
Among his accomplishments, Dan, a formal Naval officer, produced a comprehensive user interface for the Maritime Command Operational Network and was involved in developing an extremely flexible and capable classified satellite-based communication system.
In addition to receiving formal recognition for these accomplishments, he was also credited with deploying a secure communications system used by the military, the RCMP and the Transportation Safety Board in support of the Swiss Air Flight 111 disaster rescue and recovery operations in 1998.
Dan has served on the Board of Directors for the Security Professionals Information Exchange (SPIE), was the founding president of the Western Canadian Chapter of the High Tech Crimes Investigation Association, and is on the management board for the University of Calgary’s Centre for Information Security and Cryptography.
He is also a member of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, Information Systems Audit & Control Association, and the Institute for the Policing of Cyberspace. Dan also holds numerous security certifications including Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and Certified Information Security Systems Professional (CISSP). He also holds certifications in Incident Handling, Intrusion Analysis and Systems and Network Auditing from the Global Centre for Information Assurance.
Dave Ehman
Vice-President International
Dave Ehman has worked on a number of extremely challenging, mission-critical projects in the networking, SCADA, utility and aerospace industries in his 20-year career.
Dave brings this experience to his current role as Vice-President, International, providing technical expertise to Axia's international bid team.
As Vice-President of Operations, he oversaw the team that designed, built and operates the Alberta SuperNet. Dave was directly responsible for designing, managing and implementing the wireless segments of the Alberta SuperNet. His duties included identifying wireless options, overseeing the bid process for equipment and engineering, and then working with subcontractors through the construction process. Prior to joining Axia, his work on flight control and guidance systems for one of Canada’s airborne target systems took him to naval test ranges in international waters off the Atlantic seaboard and Puerto Rico. Dave also was involved in modernizing the radar systems in Canada’s Aurora maritime patrol aircraft, and helped to implement a data collection and control system for a Tacoma, Washington, power company.
He holds a BASc degree in Electronic Information Systems Engineering (Communications Specialty) from the University of Regina. Dave also is a board member of NEWT (Network for Emerging Wireless Technologies), a wireless development centre, and chairs the organization’s technology committee.
Corinne Hua
Vice-President Finance and Controller
Corinne Hua brings a strong grounding in technology to her position as Vice-President Finance and Controller. She joined Axia from the IT management software firm CA, where she was VP Finance. Prior to that she held the same position with Control-F 1 (bought out by CA); with Baseline Technologies, which provided integrity data management systems to the pipeline sector; and Big Picture Technologies, an e-business software development firm where she was VP Finance and Controller.
Corinne holds a BA in Economics from the University of Calgary, as well as her CMA (Certified Management Accountant) and CPA (Certified Public Accountant) designations.
Jim Lindberg
Vice-President, Operations
Jim Lindberg has overseen the financial operations of organizations in several industry verticals, including aerospace and forestry.
He worked as divisional controller for Sunpine Forest Products in Sundre, and was finance manager for the maintenance division of Canadian Regional Airlines in Calgary before he joined Axia in 2001 as Controller of Axia SuperNet Ltd., the division tasked with designing, building and operating the Alberta-wide Real Broadband network. He brought an eye for detail, a commitment to thoroughness and a strong sense of ethics to his role as “watchdog” for the project, ensuring that all expenses were tracked, confirmed and justified, and contributing to the project being delivered as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.
Jim, who holds his CMA, now applies those skills at the corporate level. While he maintains his focus on day-to-day operations, he also works with the leadership team to help set Axia’s business direction and evaluate new opportunities.
Drew McNaughton
Chief Technology Officer
Drew McNaughton started his career in Axia as Chief Operating Officer for Axia SuperNet Ltd., managing Axia’s implementation of the Alberta SuperNet for the province of Alberta. A professional engineer with a BASC in Systems Design from the University of Waterloo, he has worked for a variety of companies and on many types of projects, both as an employee and as an independent consultant, in his 26-year career. Most of Mr. McNaughton's experience has been with building, managing or operating large information technology programs or networks. Before joining Axia, he was an executive with Nortel Networks, managing Nortel's global information network and all of their internal network services.
With the Alberta SuperNet completed and Axia providing Real Broadband services to the provincial government and to service providers, Mr. McNaughton focused on the France public sector broadband market through Covage, a joint venture with VINCI Networks.
Dave Mullins
Vice-President, Sales
Dave Mullins leads the team responsible for selling Axia's bandwidth and value-added network services. He joined Axia after 31 years at IBM, where he held a variety of increasingly senior roles in a number of locations. Over the course of his career he developed a broad range of experience in sales, marketing, sales management and product marketing, and served as a sector sales executive for industries including distribution, government, petroleum, health care and telecommunications.
Dave was General Manager of IBM's operations in Calgary, as well as IBM Global Services Sales Executive. He also spent five years focusing on services delivery within the Government of Alberta and Calgary Health Region accounts.
Jean-Michel Soulier
President, Axia Networks France
As President of Axia Networks France, Jean-Michel Soulier is responsible for all of Axia’s business development, technical and operational activities in France. He also is responsible for the growth and financial performance of Covage, a 50-50 joint venture partnership with VINCI Networks for pursuing network opportunities in France, and for developing our partnerships with VINCI.
Jean-Michel has more than 20 years of experience in the telecommunications sector, in France and in the United States. He has worked for large organizations such as France Telecom, Bouygues and Telecom Italia in financial, marketing and product development. He also created and led World Online, an Internet provider in France. As managing director for the “Alice” Internet access service business in Telecom Italia, he created and managed a very successful DSL product launch in France.
Nicole Springer
Vice-President and General Counsel
As Vice-President and General Counsel, Nicole Springer oversees a portfolio including legal, human resources and HSE (Health, Safety and Environment) at Axia. Nicole is responsible for advising and managing the wide array of legal matters encountered in a growing public technology company, including Axia’s operations in France, and the execution of Axia’s people strategy and HSE program.
Nicole joined Axia from a national law firm where she practised in the business law group specializing in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and commercial work in the oil and gas and technology industries. Her practice included advising private and public company clients on equity financings, including private placements and public offerings, continuous disclosure and mergers and acquisitions.
Nicole is a member of the Law Society of Alberta and holds her LLB from the University of British Columbia, as well as a BA in International Studies from the University of Saskatchewan.
Dawn Tinling
Vice-President, Investor Relations and Communications
Dawn Tinling is an experienced senior communications professional with extensive media, investor and government relations experience in a variety of corporate and environmental positions. Prior to joining Axia in 2003, she was Manager, Corporate Communications for Canadian Pacific Limited.
Dawn has a MA in Political Science from the University of Calgary. She is actively involved as a volunteer for a number of non-profit organizations. Currently, she is a Board Member and chairs the Communications Committee of the HomeFront Society of Calgary, an organization committed to ending the cycle of domestic violence through a co-ordinated community approach, and is a member of the Board of Directors for Volunteer Calgary.