Our Team

Great minds on your side

Our experts love saving businesses money. We’re ready to help you and create expense management strategies that work. Get to know the financial leaders who are so vital to our high-performance culture.

Principals

Ian Ball

Principal Owner & Founder

Ian Ball grew up on a farm in Central Alberta and developed a strong work ethic and an appreciation for building something with your own two hands at a very early age. With over 20 years in the credit card industry and a passion for personal success, Ian co-founded 8760 with his business partner in 2004. A professional accountant by trade, Ian revels in the details that others often overlook and takes great pride in helping his customers reduce their expenses and improve their bottom line. 8760 was founded on the premise of providing ethical, transparent solutions and to ensure a win-win is achieved for our customers and 8760 – Ian lives these values every day. Outside of work, Ian is a devoted family man, loves sports, enjoys a nice glass of wine, and is known to wager the odd dollar in Vegas.

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Pierre J. Vandendooren

Principal Owner & Founder

Pierre Vandendooren has a passion for the outdoors, living life to the fullest, and seeing his family and friends succeed. As co-founder of 8760 in 2004, Pierre espouses a leadership philosophy of “balanced success” and his focus is to inspire employees to be the best they can be in life and in their quest to take care of our customers. A professional accountant by trade, Pierre has over 30 years of experience in the energy industry and has literally journeyed from the trenches all the way to the boardroom, and every stop in between. Pierre co-founded 8760 on the principle that he wanted to use his in-depth knowledge to help our customers gain a deeper understanding of the energy markets and to help them achieve cost savings and/or cost certainties on their energy expenses. That focus and desire to help still guides 8760 today. On the weekends, Pierre can be likely be found with a fly fishing rod in hand, working on his putting game or sharing quality time with his wife and young daughter.

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Steve Carter

Owner & CEO

Steve Carter joined the 8760 ownership team in January 2023 after an engaging 12 year accounting career at MNP LLP, a major national accounting firm, where he was admitted to the partnership in 2019. Having cut his teeth in the accounting trenches, Steve led the Oil and Gas niche regionally at his firm and brings extensive experience helping small to medium sized businesses optimize their tax position, implement sound business and succession planning strategies and elevate their overall financial performance. Steve understands numbers and whether he is managing his golf scorecard, evaluating a strategic recommendation for a client, or navigating the landscape from his CEO chair, his focus is always the same – assess the situation, determine the optimal solution, help others be successful and celebrate your accomplishments. This kind of approach is a perfect marriage with 8760’s motto “we win when our customers win”. When he is not leading the charge at work, Steve can be found on the golf course, cheering on his favorite hockey team or hiking in the backcountry.

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Executives

Dale Rix

Director, Operations

Dale Rix is a long-time 8760 employee who gets energized watching Formula 1 car racing which likely explains why he excels in his role as Director, Operations. Possessing the ability to manage multiple things on the fly, navigating through tricky situations, and moving at a tremendous rate of speed fits perfectly with his responsibilities. With over 18 years of financial services experience including 12 years in the card payment industry, Dale has a deep understanding of operational issues that impact our customers and he works diligently to ensure things run smoothly day in and day out. Dale has a solid reputation with 8760’s customer base and is known as the “go-to guy” to get things done. When he is not working or watching car racing, Dale can be found enjoying a nice glass of his latest wine discovery or spending quality family time with his wife and young daughter.

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Seb McGale

Executive VP, Sales & Marketing

Seb is a transplanted Saskatchewanian and despite living in Alberta for nearly 30 years, he still cheers for his beloved Riders on any given Sunday. With over 27 years of experience in the financial services sector with a background in sales leadership, marketing, brand management, and 13 years of experience in the credit card payment industry, he brings a well-rounded approach to taking care of 8760’s customers. Seb believes that the secret to success is to have a strong sense of loyalty and commitment, to work hard but work smart, make a difference every day, and have some fun along the way. He certainly employs these values when looking for opportunities to save customers money or bring cost certainty with respect to their natural gas, electricity, and card payment expenses. On the weekends, Seb can be found cruising the highways on his motorcycle, kayaking on the North Saskatchewan River or traveling to various cities with his wife to watch professional baseball and on occasion, his beloved Riders.

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Trevor Smereka

Executive VP, Corporate Development

8760 prides itself on employing experts in the fields in which we operate and Trevor Smereka is the quintessential representation of that approach. A seasoned expert with over 25 years of business experience, complemented with a Bachelor of Commerce and a Chartered Accountant designation, Trevor brings tremendous skills and insights to his customer relationships. Energy markets are in a constant state of market and regulatory flux and Trevor’s 20+ years of expertise in the industry enables him to help our clients identify resulting business challenges and strategies that will mitigate risks or capitalize on opportunities. Trevor has worked in the electricity industry since the early days of de-regulation and has extensive knowledge in the financial, commercial, operational, trading/position management, and regulatory aspects of the industry. His hands-on experience includes financial controllership roles, commercial and contractual management of a large portfolio of coal and gas-fired power plants, and expert knowledge of long-term power purchase agreements in Alberta. If there is something our customers need to know or understand about the energy business, Trevor is one of our resident experts that likely has the answer. If there are a few hours in the week left over for personal time, Trevor turns his attention to the other passions in his life – spending time with his wife and young son or figuring out a way to shave a few more points off of his golf handicap.

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Sales

Suzanne Dodd

Director, Business Development

Suzanne Dodd is a seasoned sales expert who has a passion for seeing things grow – literally! Whether in the garden attending to her plants or working with her clients, Suzanne is driven to help every situation be the best that it can be. As a result of her determination and her commitment to always put her customers’ best interest first, 8760 has seen incredible growth with our WD co-auto dealer program which provides auto dealerships cost savings on their credit card processing and energy expenses. With over 20 years of sales experience and a deep understanding of the automobile industry, Suzanne can easily relate to the challenges and opportunities that our dealer partners face and she finds ways to help reduce their operating expenses every day. When she is not nurturing growth at home or at work, Suzanne loves to explore new worlds through her travels with her husband and young son.

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Jesse Kruper

Director, Customer Service

Jesse is a mad scientist, an athlete, and a wannabe-comedian wrapped up in a 6’ 7” frame making him one of the most interesting people on the 8760 team. His Education degree with a major in mathematics coupled with his very outgoing personality provides him with the unique ability to combine problem-solving skills with a friendly, customer-focused communication style. With over 15 years of customer service experience and a desire to please, Jesse is in the perfect role as Director, Customer Service with 8760. Jesse has a strong sense of fairness and balance which drives him to ensure that 8760 lives up to our brand promise: we win when our customers win. When Jesse is done helping customers, he enjoys biking in the Edmonton river valley, dominating a middle position on the volleyball court, and improving his (terrible) golf swing.

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Nicole Kiefuik

Director, Business Development

Having grown up on a farm in southern Alberta but spending much of her adult life in the City of Calgary, Nicole is as comfortable kicking the tires on the family tractor as she is taking in some live theater on Stephen Avenue. Nicole’s well-rounded look of the world is also reflected in her well-rounded career. With over 18 years of marketing and sales experience in agriculture, petroleum, and the power/gas industries, Nicole understands what drives Alberta’s economy and how business gets done. Her focus is to work closely with her clients to understand what will move their business forward and then finds a solution to deliver results. At 8760, our motto is “We win when our customers win” which aligns perfectly with Nicole’s personal motto of “When my customers are happy, I am happy.” Outside of work, Nicole loves exploring the great outdoors through camping, hiking and snowshoeing with her husband along with exploring the next great wine to add to her collection.

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Joshua Kinsella

Director, Business Development

Josh has a unique way of looking at things and some of that perspective comes from his world travels and his personal desire to continually learn and grow. Inspired by his knowledge that people see things differently based on their own unique circumstances, Josh takes great pride in helping educate his customers on the ins and outs of the electricity and natural gas markets. He values working together to formulate strategies designed to generate cost savings and/or cost containment based on each customers’ specific business challenges. By putting on “his customer hat”, Josh looks for win-win opportunities on a daily basis that will provide real value to his client relationships and also ensure his own personal growth and satisfaction. When he is not helping his clients, Josh loves all things sports be it watching his beloved Indianapolis Colts, cycling in a road race for a charity event, or perfecting his draw on the golf course. He also enjoys seeking out new cultural experiences in his world travels and expanding his perspective and knowledge even more.

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