Taking chances

CMAs Darrell Nimchuk and Steven Guevarra create a culture of excellence based on mentorship, effective communication, career advancement and a learning environment that supports the human spirit.

 By Andrea Civichino

Darrell Nimchuk, MBA, CMA, is not averse to taking risks.

At 38, he’s an entrepreneurial-focused business leader who has earned the title of vice-president finance and CFO for Flexpipe Systems, one of Alberta’s fastest growing manufacturing companies in the oil and gas sector.

In 2002, Nimchuk left an opportunity as the CFO and GM for an oil and gas service company, where he was directly responsible for financial, administrative and information systems, and took on the position of controller at Flexpipe Systems — a Calgary-based, privately-owned company that manufactures and sells a unique non-metallic, high pressure, corrosion-resistant, coiled pipeline product marketed primarily to oil and natural gas producers in Canada and the United States.

“I have an entrepreneurial spirit and like to be hands on taking risks most people wouldn’t,” he says. “I didn’t hesitate leaving my previous company to start with this new one. I took a pay cut to join Flexpipe but it allowed me to gain a vested interest in the company. Starting a company from the ground up and taking a strictly research and development initiative to a commercial, saleable product has been an amazing experience. Sometimes I look back at how far we have come, in such a short time, and all I can think is ‘wow.’ ” 

Nimchuk joined the company even before it had developed a commercial product. In 2001, the Flexpipe R&D team began designing a composite pipeline system which would provide the oil and gas industry with an alternative to traditionally used steel and stick fibreglass. The result of Flexpipe’s focused research came to fruition in 2003 with the release of an economically viable, environmentally friendly, easy-to-install patented technology that combines strength and durability.    

In his current role, Nimchuk leads a financial team responsible for supporting the company’s corporate finance, corporate governance and strategic business development initiatives. As such, he’s played an integral role in helping the company establish itself as a market leader in the manufacture and sales of on-shore composite pipe products. Applications include oil and gas gathering, water disposal, and injection pipelines for the oil and gas industry as well as transmission pipelines for the utilities industry. When he was hired in 2002, the management team was still in its primary stage of development — designing a company logo, creating company letterhead and establishing pricing for their products. Less than one year later, the company made its first commercial sale.

“I didn’t want to be an auditor,” he says. “I wanted my career to be based on the strategic development of a company. I didn’t want to be the guy sitting in the corner counting the beans and that was one of the reasons I went with the CMA designation. One of the benefits of the program is strategic development. It taught me managerial skill sets that are readily applicable in the real world and how to contribute to the management side of an organization by thinking outside the numbers.”

For 2008, Flexpipe is projecting between $70 and million revenue and has become a leader in sales and manufacturing of composite pipe. Nimchuk had a part in setting the strategic direction for the company from the onset, taking the company from $0 to over $70 million in sales in five years. He built an accounting group from a one-person operation to a team of 10 accountants and has created leading-edge reporting standards. As part of the executive management team, Flexpipe Systems has been recognized with prominent industry awards, including: 2006 Regional Innovative Product Award, 2006 Canadian Manufacturers and Exports Award for Canada’s most innovative business, and for two consecutive years the company has placed on “The Fast 50” — a list of the fastest growing businesses over million in Alberta.

Nimchuk doesn’t take his success for granted and singles out many individuals who have been instrumental in the growth of his career. “Regan Davis, Flexpipe’s president and CEO, supported me throughout the process by fostering an environment that stimulated career growth.” Another individual that was prominent in assisting Nimchuk to achieving higher levels was Dave Spivak. “His mentorship came at a critical time in my career,” he says. “Our vision for Flexpipe was to be a world-class company. Although we are privately owned, we wanted to have the look and feel of a public reporting company, and that meant having public style reporting practices, corporate governance policies, and financial reporting. When I joined the team I didn’t have public reporting experience. Dave Spivak helped me gain that knowledge base. As a result, it is very hard to notice the difference between a public company and our company’s reporting standards.”

Nimchuk says he tries to invest the same time in his own staff and instil the same corporate values and opportunities he was given in his career. He believes in creating a corporate culture focused on mentorship, effective communication, career advancement and a learning environment that supports the human spirit. He credits Flexpipe’s current controller, Steven Guevarra, a fellow CMA designate, on helping him create a vibrant culture of excellence.

“Steven and I have built a relationship of trust,” he says. “We not only have the same educational background but a common vision to lead our financial department and select people who fit our corporate culture,” he adds. “The old adage ‘you are only as great as the people you surround yourself with’ has never been truer as I attribute my success to those around me.”

Flexpipe’s executive team has an open door policy based on integrity and trust. They lead by example and make the time to interact with people in non-work related environments. “We take an interest in our peoples’ career aspirations as well as their personal lives,” Nimchuk says. “As a result of our team’s cohesiveness, we work hard and play hard as a team.  For example, every year, when we are done year end and the auditors give us a clean bill of health, we’ll pick a night and go out and celebrate as a team,” he says.

“Building a team culture is important,” Guevarra adds.  “Along with a good product, people are the number one resource a company has, so it’s important to keep them on board, especially in a tight labour market like Alberta’s. Collaboratively, Darrell and I bought into the same idea of treating our staff with respect and giving them the autonomy of doing their job. We don’t believe in micromanaging our staff, we are all professionals, so we give them a lot of mobility to make decisions. This builds trust, fosters respect and provides an environment for growth.”

In his own role, Guevarra is responsible for analyzing the company’s performance and strategic objectives. “I’ve been able to assist by providing strong measurement tools and analyses that ensure corporate performance is aligned with the strategic initiatives that management’s implemented. Whether it is growth through domestic or international expansion, our team can adjust and pinpoint the key performance indicators needed to be successful with Flexpipe’s strategic plan. Bringing meaning to the numbers is how value is created.”

In the four short years since joining Flexpipe’s team, Guevarra has seen in excess of a 300 per cent revenue growth rate.

“My CMA designation has certainly given me the technical skills that I need in my current role,” he says. “But what attracted me to the CMA program was the managerial aspect and learning how to stay focused on strategic initiatives and how to lead a department in the same direction,” he adds.

Both Nimchuk and Guevarra agree that strong leadership is essential as the company embarks on its next growth stage of introducing Flexpipe’s product into the international market and the CMA designation has provided them with the tools.

Andrea Civichino is editor-in-chief of CMA Management.

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