Since its inception, the Western Rubber Group has assembled a team of highly knowledgeable and committed people to sustain and continue the growth of the company.
Grant McIntosh, CEO
Mr. McIntosh joined Western Rubber in 1992 and has over 25 years experience in management, corporate finance and planning, and marketing and strategy implementation. Grant is very involved in setting the strategic direction for the Group. He directs the legal and contractual interests of the Group and is responsible for political, government and public relations.
Mike Roberge, President
Mr. Roberge was one of the founders of the Group in 1989. He is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the Group’s operations, production and sales. Over the years Mike has gained extensive knowledge of past and present recycling technologies and is considered to be an expert by his peers in the industry. He also possesses extensive knowledge of the North American and global markets for crumb rubber and related products.
Peter Phillips, CFO
Mr. Phillips is a CA who joined the Group in 1994. Peter had 14 years of prior experience in public practice, some of this in his native Ireland, as well as 6 years with a major Canadian Chartered bank. He also served as a controller in the environmental industry for a number of years. Peter was responsible for the implementation of all the company manuals including the safety manual. He has also developed and implemented an extensive management information system.
Upkar Dha, Assistant Controller
Upkar joined the group in January 1998 in the last years of his CGA program. He had his early experience in public practice, banking and at International Plastics Ltd. He completed his CGA program and qualified in 2002. Upkar provides invaluable assistance to the controller preparing the period financial statements and consolidations. He is responsible for the Pacific Shredding trucking division and deals with all its insurance requirements. In conjunction with our IT suppliers, Upkar manages the implementation of IT controls and deals with our accounting software supplier.
Anil Bansal, Plant Manager
Anil is responsible for all the day to day operations and the preventative maintenance programs of both Western Rubber Products and Delta Fine Grind. He is a Mechanical Engineering graduate and has extensive experience in the tire recycling industry. He has managed a tire recycling plant in Alberta and the largest crumb facility in California. Anil is very familiar with both ambient and cryogenic crumb producing methods and continues to improve the processing technology of the Group.
Bob Pitre, Operations Manager - Pacific Shredding
Bob joined the group in October 2006. He brings with him over thirty years of experience in the transportation industry. His background is in LTL freight management, logistics and distribution. His most recent experience before joining the group was as director of Terminals for Byers Transport. Bob has had extensive participation in customer service, scheduling of equipment and personnel, development of sales and marketing strategies, budgeting, cost analysis and rate preparation. His previous experience makes him ideally suited to his current position.
Mark Johnson, Manager - Human Resources, Fire & Safety
Mark spent thirty years in the aviation industry as a pilot and a trainer and brought his extensive experience to the Group in 2002. In 2003 he completely overhauled the parts department introducing new procedures for purchasing and inventory control. He had a strong desire to become more involved in the nurturing of a safety culture through training and inspections. As a result, Mark was made the Manager of Human Resources, Fire & Safety in 2005. His previous experience as an instructor has proved invaluable in setting up a comprehensive safety training program for the employees in the group. In addition to this he has spent significant time in upgrading his own skills by taking instructor courses and fire and safety courses.
