About Us

George Armoyan is President of Geosam Capital Inc. and Executive Chairman of Clarke Inc. An entrepreneur with extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions and capitalizing on turnaround opportunities, he has led a number of companies to solid business results over the last 35 years and serves on the Board of Clarke Inc.

President and Chief Executive Officer, Donald E. Clow, FCA, has guided and shaped Crombie REIT into the company that it is today. Prior to joining Crombie, Mr. Clow held the position of President, ECL Developments Limited, the real estate development subsidiary of Empire Company Limited for two years. Previous to Empire, he was President of Southwest Properties, a real estate development company in Halifax. Mr. Clow is a member of the Board of Trustees for Granite Real Estate Investment Trust, a member of the Board of Governors of Acadia University and is on the Board of Directors of REALPac. Mr. Clow graduated from Acadia University with a BBA, earned his CA designation with KPMG and was designated a Fellow Chartered Accountant in 2002. A graduate of the YPO President's Program at Harvard Business School, Mr. Clow also completed the Director's Education Program, receiving the ICD.D. from the Rotman School of Business.

Wade Dawe is an accomplished entrepreneur, financier, and investor based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. During his career, he has completed deals valued in excess of $800 million for both private and public companies. Wade currently serves as Chairman and CEO of Numus Financial Inc. as well as Chairman of TSX-listed Pivot Technology Solutions Inc. He has founded or cofounded a number of successful companies, including Keeper Resources Inc. (2003), which was sold for $51.6 million in 2008, and Brigus Gold Corp. (2010), which was acquired by Primero Mining Corp, in 2014 in an all-share deal valued at $351 million. Since 2005, he has been actively involved as the principal financier of TSX-listed biotechnology company Immunovaccine Inc., where he serves on its Board of Directors.

Mark Dobbin is the Founder and President of Killick Capital Inc. From 1998 to 2003, he was the Chairman and CEO of Vector Aerospace Corporation, a globally recognized aviation repair and overhaul company. Prior to that, he spent 17 years at CHC Helicopter Corporation, the world’s largest helicopter company, where he served as senior vice president and a member of the Board of Directors. He is a 1981 graduate of Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Bachelor of Commerce (coop) program and holds an MBA from Dalhousie. He served on the Board of Directors of Stratos Global Corporation, Aurora Energy Resources Inc., Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, Verafin Inc., and Aerospace Industries Association of Canada. Recently named the Chair of the Newfoundland Innovation Council, he currently sits on the boards for Killick’s investee companies, including Max Arts-Athletics-Wellness, and Celtx.

Joe is Vice President of Real Estate & Development at Sobeys. He has worked for Sobeys since 1978 in a variety of roles including: Operations, Logistics, Merchandising, Environmental, Construction & Engineering. Joe is a member of the Advisory Board for Emerson Technology based in Atlanta, Georgia. He is community-minded and currently serves on the Summer Street Industries Board, NSCC Make Way Campaign Board as well as the Pictou County Regional Enterprise Network. Joe is also the Past Chair of the Food Bank.

Traugott Building Contractors is among Canada’s leading names in commercial centre construction. Founded in 1964 and with offices in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.

Innovacorp is Nova Scotia's early stage venture capital organization. It works to find, fund and foster innovative Nova Scotia start-ups that strive to change the world. Target sectors are information technology, life sciences, clean technology and ocean technology. Innovacorp manages the $85-million Nova Scotia First Fund, which primarily makes direct investments but also has LP fund investments. Learn more at innovacorp.ca

Victor is President at Kiel Developments. Kiel Developments Limited is a Halifax, N.S. based development company. Incorporated in 1977 the company has evolved from a home builder to commercial real estate development and land development. Victor has completed numerous successful projects involving residential subdivisions, multi-unit residential construction as well as industrial and commercial construction. Recently, his business focus is building multi residential and commercial developments and selling those developments to pension fund and REIT’s.

Jevon MacDonald has spent the last decade building high technology businesses. Most recently, he was senior partner at Dachis Group, an Austin, Texas-based startup providing social business design services and technology. He developed strategic alliances with companies such as IBM and Jive Software and helped the company grow from four employees to more than 100. He joined the Dachis Group through the acquisition of his previous startup, Firestoker.com. Born and raised on Prince Edward Island, he began his career there, cofounding Silverorange.com, a prominent web development firm. Over the years, he has been active in multiple startups at various stages of growth and is an active angel investor, providing capital for startup companies. Being one of Harbr’s investors reconnects Jevon with Harbr CEO, Dave Kim and pre-seed investor, Gavin Uhma, all co-founders of GoInstant, the Halifax-based co-browsing startup that sold to Salesforce.com for more than $70 million in 2012.

Panache Ventures is aiming to be the most active and best performing Canadian seed stage venture capital fund. Panache is led by a team of experienced operators, with a strong angel investor track record, years of institutional VC experience and a strong network in Canada, in Silicon Valley and worldwide. The fund has a founders-first philosophy, a commitment to diversity and strategically co-invests with smart angel investors and seed stage funds. The Panache partners are located in Montreal, Toronto and Calgary.

Risley is President of Clearwater Fine Foods Incorporated, a diversified holding company operating internationally. Its primary assets are a controlling stake in Clearwater Seafoods Incorporated and Columbus Communication Inc., a provider of network services and cable TV in 21 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America. He was named an Officer of the Order of Canada and was inducted into the Nova Scotia Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame in 1997. He has received numerous awards, including Atlantic Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year and a Canada Award for Business Excellence in Entrepreneurship. He is also a graduate of Harvard University’s President’s Program and Leadership.

Frank C. Sobey is Chairman of Crombie REIT. Mr. Sobey was Vice President, Real Estate of Empire Company Limited until his retirement in June 2014 after 36 years with the Company. He serves and as a Board member of the Canadian-U.S. Fulbright Program. Mr. Sobey previously served as Chairman of the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation. Mr. Sobey graduated from Harvard University Business School’s Advanced Management Program and earned the ICD.D designation. He holds an honourary degree from Dalhousie University.

Jim Spatz is the Chairman and CEO of Southwest Properties Limited, one of Atlantic Canada’s leading real estate developers. Southwest owns, operates and develops residential and commercial real estate in Atlantic Canada and extended stay accommodations across Canada. Southwest has grown its property portfolio by constructing real estate assets from the ground up, as well as the acquisition and repurposing of real estate assets with major redevelopment potential. Southwest has accumulated an extensive and balanced portfolio of properties and investments, including more than 1,500 high quality apartments and condominium units situated in the best residential areas of Halifax, and nearly 700 hotel rooms in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Southwest redeveloped and owns Atlantic Place, the largest office building in Newfoundland. It is also the majority shareholder in Premiere Suites, with over 1,500 units. Premiere is Canada’s largest coast-to- coast provider of furnished extended-stay accommodations, and is the fourth largest in North America. Southwest has four major multi-unit and mixed use projects in the planning and construction phase in Halifax, which will double the size of its Halifax portfolio in the next several years. Jim has led the company for the past 25 years. His first career was as a physician. Jim practiced Family and then Emergency Medicine for 15 years. Along with his responsibilities in the office, Jim is actively involved in a number of community activities. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Stem Cell Foundation, Halifax Port Authority and is a Life Director of Neptune Theatre. He is also a member of the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee’s (CJPAC) Advisory Board. Jim also served on the Board of Governors of Dalhousie University, Atlantic Canada’s largest university, from 2001 – 2015, and was their Board Chair from 2008 – 2014. Most recently Jim sat on the National Executive Committee for the 2017 Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference, Canada’s most prestigious leadership development experience. In 2007, Jim along with his late father, Simon, were inducted into the Nova Scotia Business Hall of Fame. In 2013, Jim received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his significant achievements and contributions to the community. In May 2015, Jim was named Atlantic Business Magazine’s CEO of the Year for Atlantic Canada. Jim is a member of WPO and CEO.

Gavin is Co-founder of Dropout Labs and formerly Co-founder of GoInstant (acquired by Salesforce.com in 2012). Gavin is a proponent of technology education where he often volunteers and is a contributor to open source software. He helped launch Volta Labs, Halifax's startup community hub and is an executive producer in the CBC documentary, Code Kids, which follows the initiatives to add programming to K-12 curriculums across Atlantic Canada.