Rooted Locally. Reaching Globally

President

Joel isn't just the President of Startec Service, he's also the Chief Optimist. With equal parts drive and persistence, he oversees the operations and performance of both the Construction and Field Service Divisions. He holds a shared belief here that we can achieve our goals without compromising our values of accountability and performance.

With an engineering degree from the University of Calgary and over 20 years of leadership experience at Startec, Joel spearheads the company's continued growth while building a dedicated team committed to excellence. He takes great pride in the strong partnerships forged with clients, building trust and working together to solve their business challenges.

In addition to his management responsibilities, Joel is a shareholder of the company and serves on Startec's Board of Directors, along with being actively involved in the Calgary chapter of TEC (The Executive Committee).

Vice President of Operations

Having successfully run his own Instrumentation and Electrical company for many years, Gord is no stranger to strong, independent thinking — a trait shared by many of his fellow everyday mavericks. Following rapid expansion, a large service company acquired his business, and he later joined the Startec team in 2016. In his current role, Gord drives positive change by ensuring the day-to-day operations of Startec Service go above and beyond customer expectations.

Gord is an accomplished operations manager with over 15 years of progressive management experience in both private and public service companies. In addition to being a Journeyman Instrumentation Mechanic, he has a strong HSE background and experience managing multiple teams across North America. Gord holds an Occupational Health and Safety Certificate with distinction from the University of Alberta.

Regional Manager (North)

Darryl is an individual who is driven to be the best, an attitude that has made him a natural fit at Startec when he joined the team in 2017 as the Northern Alberta Regional Manager. His energy combined with a passion for figuring out system issues and refrigeration design drives him to consistently find better solutions for customers. As a leader, he is known to ignite the same enthusiasm in his team and with our partners.

Having been on the front lines of operations throughout his career, Darryl initially apprenticed while earning his Journeyman Red Seal ticket, before advancing to become an Industrial Service Manager focused on refrigeration and A/C.

Darryl's unwavering commitment to continuous learning has served to hone his unique ability to effectively communicate, mediate and liaison for both client-side and trade issues within the industry. Whether working for private firms or the City of Edmonton, he has always strived to lead with tenacity and a calming influence. Today he rolls up his sleeves to deliver the highest standards that people have come to expect from Startec.

Regional Manager (South)

With more than 25 years in the HVAC/R industry, Mike Crooks has a passion for good conversation, healthy debate, and is never shy to speak his mind. It’s this passion for active problem solving that has benefited him greatly throughout his career, and has kept him curious, earning two trade certificates along the way: refrigeration and air conditioning mechanic and class 1 gas technician.

Mike loves facing new challenges, which aligns well with the great diversity of obstacles and opportunities he works through daily within his role. Mike likes to say that one will never learn everything in this industry, and you’ll certainly never run out of challenges either, but this is also what he loves the most about working at Startec.

As he finds fulfillment through working with his team, Mike enjoys the collaborative spirit that Startec offers, along with the endless opportunities to engage in vigorous debates and conversations over challenges, that ultimately help to propel the company’s high standards for customer service. To Mike, life is all about rising to the obstacles that life throws at you, while having fun doing it!

Director of Projects

Neil became a member of the Startec family of everyday mavericks in 2002, starting in the Shipping, Receiving and Parts department. After moving into the Construction group, he entered the Refrigeration apprenticeship program from which he received his journeyman certification in 2009. Neil's broad experience, spanning from recreational and industrial refrigeration to the oil and gas market, allows him to provide innovative technical solutions for our customers.

With his background in field service as well as sales and construction, Neil's diverse talents are now utilized in bidding tenders, and providing oversight in new construction projects, existing facility modifications, and start up and commissioning. Employing an honest and straight-forward approach, Neil also solves ongoing construction challenges and provides assistance in troubleshooting difficult process related issues.

Commercial Manager

Dan gets things done. Like all Everyday Mavericks he is driven to have positive interactions with customers and solve problems. He's had that same determination since arriving at Startec when the company first expanded into the HVAC and Commercial market. Growing that division to it's full potential is his next goal.

Dan has almost 15 years of experience working in all aspects of the refrigeration trade. Through his 12 years as a service and construction mechanic Dan has worked on all types of equipment relating to the residential, commercial and industrial refrigeration applications.

In addition to being a Journeyman Refrigeration and HVAC mechanic, Dan also has his Class B gas fitting ticket, and is certified in Cross Connection and Backflow prevention.

Technical Sales Representative, Southern Region

Mike's commitment to developing strong business relationships with clients and helping them overcome challenges is second to none. His extensive industry knowledge and background experience allow him to quickly respond to their needs providing innovative, efficient and trustworthy solutions.

With over 23 years of experience in industrial and recreation refrigeration, Mike has worked both in the field performing service and construction work, as well as in the office as Technical Sales Representative managing projects. Playing a pivotal role on the Startec Refrigeration Services team, Mike's approachable interpersonal style, technical knowledge and true dedication continue to build loyal, long-term clients.

Technical Sales Representative

It's no surprise that Mavericks can come from anywhere. While Todd began his career in broadcasting as an on-air announcer and producer for radio stations in Edmonton and Victoria, his progression to Startec as a Technical Sales Representative was a natural one due to his outgoing nature and caring attitude.

It is his tireless approach to doing what is best, paired with a relentless commitment to building meaningful relationships, that makes Todd a perfect fit for helping clients find better solutions.

Todd launched his trade career as an HVAC/Refrigeration Technician at Trotter & Morton in Calgary. This experience, combined with a real passion for connecting with people thanks to his unique background in broadcasting, makes him a valuable contributor to Startec's mission, challenging the status quo to find unique solutions. He is a powerful advocate of championing higher standards and transforming the industry, with a laser focus on discovering customized and effective solutions to help our clients succeed.

Technical Sales Representative

Simon Hawke brings over 15 years' experience in refrigeration to his role at Startec as a Technical Sales Representative. Starting as an apprentice and working his way to becoming a foreman before joining Startec, Simon's ability to connect to customers and their needs long before a project begins makes Simon a perfect fit for helping clients find a better way.

It is Simon's tireless approach to doing what is best with complete transparency and accountability, that has formed long term relationships his client's trust. He is driven to infuse every undertaking with accuracy and urgency, relentlessly doing what he says, and saying what he does. Simon believes in transforming the industry by keeping it simple, and staying nimble.

Technical Sales Representative

Landon is passionate about building a sense of community within Industrial Refrigeration; for both clients and customers alike. He is proud of the industry and its enormous progress in performance, efficiency, and safety over the last decade.

After completing the Refrigeration Pre-Employment program at SAIT 10 years ago, Landon has built a successful career in Refrigeration/HVAC. After many years of experience as a Foreman, Landon transitioned to Sales, where he can apply his discovered love for human interaction in his role.

Technical Sales Representative

Chris Jelfs, unlike most, always looks forward to Monday mornings when the world reopens for another week! Chris first began his career as an operator in the oil patch, but always knew that he wanted to pursue a career that focused on providing solutions for others. Shifting from oil patch life to student life was a huge switch for Chris, but he was focused on continuous learning and creating a new career path for himself in sales. Initially his goal was to return to the oil patch and provide customer service to its industrial sectors, but instead found a different career path with Startec, one which allows him to provide solutions for not only the oil and gas industry, but for many other industries as well, including pulp and paper, power, mining, and more.

Chris defines success by the Kaizen rule of continuous learning, as he focuses on learning in all ways, always. Gratitude is one of Chris’s personal core values, as he makes sure to appreciate what he has today, while anticipating what he wants to work towards tomorrow. This is easy to do for Chris as he truly loves what he does. His passion for his career is just another reason he loves Mondays.

Technical Sales

Growing up, Dave Cameron’s dad was a refrigeration mechanic, and this eventually influenced him to pursue a career in HVAC… but not right away. By the time Dave followed his father’s advice, he already had several other careers, but still credits this decision as one of the best he’s ever made. In 2003, Dave enrolled into NAIT’s Building Environmental Systems Technology course. Working with several other companies before finding himself at Startec, Dave says that he has learned an immense amount of industry knowledge along the way. His passion for coming up with creative solutions to customers’ needs is consistently being challenged at Startec.

With a passion for people and making others laugh, Dave knows that it’s never too late to be what you want to be, something he can attest to. Today Dave defines success as doing the best one can to make a difference and to find true happiness in what you’re doing.