In connection with the appointment of Mr Buchanan, the Company announced the resignation of Mr Frank Guo as Chief Financial Officer. Mr Buchanan is a Director of the Board and previous Chair of the Audit Committee.
Mr Buchanan is a Chartered Accountant (1963) and has a BSA (1959) in Agriculture Economics, Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph and an MBA (1965) Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario. He has extensive business experience in both large and small companies in North America as well as international experience in Europe and the Pacific Rim.
Early in his career, Mr Buchanan was Director of Management Auditing for Avco Corporation and the Reed Paper Corporation, both public companies. His responsibilities in recent years included senior executive positions in finance, sales and marketing, engineering and manufacturing which subsequently lead to the position of President of Delphax Systems, a high-technology company in Mississauga, Boston and Europe.
Mr Knutson is the founder of Nova Bancorp Group. For a number of years, Nova Bancorp was a partner in a marine engineering business in France, but remains active in many investments through an affiliate base in Vancouver, British Columbia. Mr Knutson previously held the position of Chairman of Strategic Nova Inc. from 1998 to 2002, a diversified wealth management company based in Montreal. Prior to that, Mr Knutson held the positions of: President of a mid-sized trust company; President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of a real estate investment trust; and President of a conglomerate involved in the food, sports and real estate industries. Mr Knutson holds an Honours BA degree in Economics and an Honours B. Comm. degree from Simon Fraser University. He serves on the Board of several TSX Venture listed companies.
Mr Haig has held a wide variety of management positions in his 18-year career. His areas of expertise include planning and operations, management and development, project management, team building, and strategic partnering. Mr. Haig was the Senior International Affairs Advisor, Policy & Legislation for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). He served as Senior Strategy Advisor for Westingdale Limited, a corporate development and financing firm to its several small and mid-capitalization portfolio companies. Most recently, Mr. Haig served as President and Chief Executive Officer for US-based Bio-Fertilis Inc., an organic fertiliser company. Prior to joining the Finance Committee, he served as Special Advisor to AgriMarine's CEO since 2011.
Mr Richard Buchanan, AgriMarine's CEO, joined the Board in welcoming Mr Haig to the Finance Committee and said: "David possesses a deep understanding of the financial requirements of growth companies and the experience gained during his years at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans will be invaluable going forward." We are also pleased to welcome John as CFO, a position he held in 2010. "AgriMarine is rapidly evolving its business strategy and positioning itself as a technology developer and sustainable salmon producer," added Mr Buchanan. "We are amassing the talent to take us to the next stage of our business growth."
Grant of Stock Options
The Company also reports the grant of incentive stock options to certain of its directors to purchase up to 150,000 common shares in the capital stock of the Company pursuant to an approved share option plan. The options are exercisable at a price of $0.20 per share on or before 11 June, 2016, subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.
