Investor Relations

Mr. Mannebach is the Chair and CEO of the Corporation. Mr. Mannebach, BSBA, MBA, CPA, is the Managing Partner of Blackbird Group LLC, a private equity investment and management firm. Mr. Mannebach was the CEO of Power-Sonic Corporation, a leading global provider of power supply and energy storage solutions. Prior to March 2009, he was Group President and CEO of IMI PLC’s Precision Engineering business, a global engineering firm focused on motion and fluid control technologies. Prior to September 2004, Mr. Mannebach was Group Vice President of the Industrial Technology group of Roper Technologies, a leading global provider of process control, fluid metering and pump systems. Prior to 2003, Mr. Mannebach was employed by Emerson where he served as a Corporate Officer and in the Company’s Process Control business group which focuses on process management, control valves, fluid metering and control solutions including senior leadership positions at Fisher Controls, Rosemont and Micro Motion. Prior to 1988, Mr. Mannebach started his professional career at the global accounting, tax and advisory firm of Deloitte.

Mr. Robert Velan was employed by the Corporation from February 2004 to August 2012 successively as Director, Strategic, Planning and Business Development, President of the Corporation’s subsidiaries in UK and Germany and Vice President, Marketing. From August 2012 to October 2013 he was President & Owner of Emergia Aerospace. On February 10, 2014 he was rehired as Vice President, Distribution for the Corporation and was thereafter appointed VP, Customer Service and Distribution. He was appointed Executive Vice President, International Operations on March 1, 2022 and was previously the Executive Vice President, General Manager, MRO & Aftermarket business unit. He holds an MBA from Cornell University and a professional director certification from Canada’s Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D).

Mr. Tom Velan is Director, Advisor, and Former Chairman of the Corporation. He joined the Corporation in 1973 and held various positions with increasing levels of responsibility mainly in international sales and developing and managing foreign subsidiaries. Prior to being appointed President in 2003, he was Executive Vice-President, Export Sales and Overseas Operations. In 2011 he was appointed President & CEO. In 2015, he was appointed Chairman & CEO and on March 1st, 2017, he was appointed Chairman of the Corporation according to the Corporation’s succession plan. He has been a director of the Corporation since 1976. Mr. Velan graduated with a B. Comm. from McGill in 1972. Mr. Velan holds a professional director certification by Canada’s Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D).

NOTES: 
(1) Holds the same respective offices with Velan Valve Corp. as with Velan.

Mr. Ivan Velan joined the Corporation in early January 1970 soon after receiving an MBA from University of Michigan. He has had a 50-year business career in the valve business, all at the Corporation, serving in various management positions including Marketing Manager, VP Sales – North American Market, and Executive Vice President reporting to the then-CEO, Tom Velan. Until December 2019, he was Special Advisor to President and CEO, Yves Leduc. During his employment, Mr. Velan implemented the establishment and rework of the USA and Canadian distributor and agent networks as well as the introduction of three Distribution Centers in the United States. He served on the Corporation’s Board of Directors from mid 1970 until 2013, including approximately 5 years as Chairman. He was re-elected to the board in 2020. He was the representative to the US/CAN Valve Manufacturers Association from 1980, joining the Board there a few years later and was Chairman in 2013-14. He has also served for many years in the past on Boards at Concordia University, Montreal General Hospital Foundation, and Lower Canada College, all in Montreal.

Mr Peter Velan is a corporate Director after working at Velan Inc from 1968 to 2003 as an EVP of Manufacturing, Engineering and IT. Peter Velan served on the Velan Inc. board starting from 1971 for 45 years and is a Director of Velan Holding. Peter Velan graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree from McGill.

Ms. Blanchet, D.h.c., IAS. A, is a Corporate Director, Chair of the Audit Committee and Chair of BCI. She currently serves as a director of GDI Integrated Facility Services Inc. (TSX). She also serves as a director of Solmax and EBI, where she chairs the Audit Committee. She served as a director of Resolute Forest Products (TSX) until March 2023, where she chaired the Environment and Health and Safety Committee. She previously served as Chair of the RFAQ, an NFPO that works for the development of women-owned companies and remained a member of the board until January 2024.

Suzanne Blanchet pursued a career with the Cascades group for over 30 years, rising through the ranks to become President and Chief Executive Officer of Cascades Tissue Group from 1997 to 2014. Under her leadership, she grew the Tissue Division both organically and by acquisition to become the fourth largest player in North America in the retail, commercial and industrial sectors. She then held the position of Senior Vice President, Corporate Development for Cascades where she developed and implemented the ESG plan, as well as the entire innovation component for the group. Since 2017, Ms. Blanchet is a Corporate Director.

Ms. Blanchet studied Accounting Sciences at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and is an accredited Corporate Director (ICD.A.). She has received prestigious awards including the Golden Stevie Award for the Executive Officer of Canada in 2013. In 2015, the Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) awarded her an honorary doctorate for her significant contribution as a pioneer in sustainable development and her innovative approaches in the pulp and paper sector were recognized.

NOTES: 
(2) Member of the Corporation Governance and Human Resources Committee.
(3) Member of the Audit Committee.
(4) Member of the Special Committee.

Mr. Kernaghan has over 20 years of experience in the financial services business. He held the position of Executive Vice President at Kernaghan Securities, a firm he started along with his father, Ted Kernaghan, in 2001. He is currently a partner at Kernaghan & Partners and is President of Kernwood Limited.

He also currently serves on the board of three other TSX listed companies, namely Exco Tecnologies Ltd. (TSX:XTC), Black Diamond Group Ltd. (TSX:BDI) and Obsidian Energy Inc. (TSX:OBE). Mr. Kernaghan is a graduate of the University of Toronto with a Master of Science in Theoretical Physics, and he has a Bachelor of Science, Honors degree from Queens University.

(2) Member of the Corporation Governance and Human Resources Committee.
(3) Member of the Audit Committee.
(4) Member of the Special Committee.

Mr. Daniel Desjardins, Ad.E, is an independent director. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Transat A.T. Inc., the Chair of the Risk Committee and a member of the Audit Committee since 2022. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Noranda Income Fund and a member of its Audit Committee and Independent Committee of the Board until March 2023 following the privatization of the Fund. Mr. Desjardins is an accomplished business lawyer and executive with extensive expertise in business law, compliance and risk management as well as decades of experience in financing and complex mergers and acquisitions. For more than 20 years, until December 2019, Mr. Desjardins was Senior Vice-President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Bombardier Inc. In this role, he was responsible for legal affairs, compliance, internal audit, insurance and risk management for the entire company. From 2018 to January 2021, he served as Chair of the Board of Directors of Bombardier Transportation. Prior to joining Bombardier, Mr. Desjardins was a partner at a Quebec law firm for 15 years. He began his career at National Bank of Canada.

He has been Chair of the Board of the Legal Leaders for Diversity Trust Fund since 2014 and is Chair of the Board of the Pointe-à-Callière Museum. Mr. Desjardins has received numerous professional awards and has twice been named one of Canada’s 25 most influential lawyers. In 2017, the Barreau du Québec awarded him the Advocatus Emeritus distinction in recognition of his exceptional professional career.

Mr. Desjardins holds a law degree from the Université de Montréal and a Master of Laws degree from McGill University.

NOTES: 
(2) Member of the Corporation Governance and Human Resources Committee.
(3) Member of the Audit Committee.
(4) Member of the Special Committee.