bcbusiness.ca october 2016 BCBusiness 47
Jeff Stibbard
CEO, JdS Energy & Mining
J
eff stibbard made his fortune
riding the ups and downs of the
resources sector. He started by
working in mining camps in the
arctic, moved up to manage the ekati
Diamond Mine in the northwest
territories and later took an owner-
ship stake in Western oil sands,
which developed the Muskeg river
Mine in Fort McMurray. "that whole
entrepreneurship, skin-in-the-game
program paid off," says stibbard,
especially after the company was
sold to Marathon oil in 2007. a
few years earlier, in 2004, stibbard
started his own company, Vancouver-
based
JDs energy & Mining, which
deals in engineering, construction
and management services in the
sector. it also has investment and
mine development divisions. overall
revenue has grown by about 30
per cent each year, even during the
downturns, stibbard says. "the
unique part about our business is that
we are countercyclical. the tougher
times get, the more people call for
help," he says. stibbard's goal is for
revenues to hit $1 billion in the next
five years, up from more than $300
million forecast for 2016. –B.B.
r u nn e r - u p
Jonathan Whitworth +
Kyle Washington
CEO + Executive Chairman, Seaspan uLC
S
ince it was founded in
Vancouver 130 years ago,
Seaspan has become
an iconic brand in
marine transportation and
manufacturin g. Its future was
in jeopardy during the 2008-
09 global nancial crisis, when
business dried up and the
company had to lay o™ 50
per cent of its shipyard work-
ers, 30 per cent of its mariners
and a quarter of its salaried
sta™. "The economic down-
turn was devastating for us,"
says Seaspan
CEO Jonathan
Whitworth. He and Seaspan
executive chairman Kyle
Washington decided to
chart a new course for the
company, with a focus on
federal government work.
The decision paid o™: in
2011, Ottawa awarded
Seaspan an $8-billion
shipbuilding government
contract. Seaspan has since
doubled its sta™ to 2,400,
up from 1,200 in 2009, and
annual revenues have grown
about 20 per cent a year
to nearly $700 million.
"It has been very gratifying,"
Whitworth says. —B.B.
r u nn e r - u p
I n F r a S T r u C T u r E
