Victoria-based Knappett Projects Inc., one of the Island’s most respected and prolific general contracting and construction management firms, has some new minority owners.
Senior employees Roger Yager and Daniel Behrens have acquired “significant” shares in Knappett, with Yager assuming the position of vice-president and corporate secretary and Behrens now senior project manager and corporate treasurer.
John Knappett remains majority shareholder and president of the 34-year-old company, with offices in Victoria and Courtenay and projects across the province. “This is an important milestone for Knappett Projects and ensures a strong and committed management team into the future,” Knappett said in a statement. “I believe we have an excellent and highly skilled team and I am excited about the future opportunities and expansion this announcement brings.”
New veterinary facility for Vic West
A new veterinary hospital is opening on Monday. Vic West Pet Hospital is in a newly renovated building at 562 Esquimalt Rd., providing radiology, in-house surgery, medical management, patient monitoring, dental care and an in-house lab.
The practice is the new home of Dr. Vandeep Shergill, who has relocated from the Lower Mainland. “The beauty of the capital region was the attraction for us” he said. He also noted Vic West did not have a veterinary hospital.
Shergill has been a veterinarian since 1987. He has two sons, both completing their training in veterinary medicine, and the expectation is that they will be joining their father on completion of their studies.
Vic West Pet Hospital is a general small animal practice, with a focus on general wellness, treating predominantly cats and dogs, and is open seven days a week.
Steelhead adds financial adviser
The company planning a floating liquefied natural gas plant for the Saanich Inlet has added a new face to its executive team.
Steelhead LNG has appointed chief financial adviser Kerri Fox. Previously, Fox was with BBVA Securities. Her expertise is in structuring and executing financing for energy and infrastructure projects.
Steelhead has already added executives Paul Sullivan, the former global director of LNG and floating LNG at WorleyParsons, and Gerry Peereboom, the former head of Tangguh LNG (BP Indonesia), Atlantic LNG (Trinidad and Tobago) and BP Algeria, to the firm. All of the new executives will be based at Steelhead’s Vancouver offices.
The company is still a long way from being able to establish a LNG plant on what was the foreshore of the Bamberton Lands. Steelhead, which has partnered with the Malahat First Nation on the project, faces plenty of hurdles, not the least of which are residents on both sides of Saanich Inlet, environmentalists and other First Nations. Steelhead has proposed a floating facility capable of producing eight million tonnes of LNG a year. The facility includes a 128-kilometre natural gas pipeline.
