Tom Zais leads BURNCO’s multinational presence and is responsible for the strategic direction, vision, growth, and performance. As an experienced leader in the cement, aggregates and concrete industry, Tom is pursuing world-class performance levels in safety, commercial and operational excellence. He most recently served as Regional Vice President for an S&P 500 company where he was responsible for the multi-state Ready Mix division in the Southern U.S. Before that, Tom served as Vice President for a NYSE company, where he was responsible for the Ready Mix business. Tom also served in several capacities for an architectural and structural concrete products manufacturer. Tom holds an MBA from the University of Houston and a BSc in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University.
Neil O'Connor leads BURNCO's Canadian Operations providing the strategic direction and vision necessary to successfully drive the growth and performance of our Ready Mix Concrete, Aggregates and Asphalt Divisions. Prior to joining BURNCO, Neil served with multinationals as an executive leader for more than 20 years in the construction, industrial gas and chemicals industries overseeing a number of independent divisions. His volunteer work includes several not-for-profit boards
Craig Hampson serves as the Chief People Officer, committed to creating a world class employee experience at BURNCO. Throughout his career, Craig has navigated organizations through growth, strategic transitions, and systemic changes. As a senior executive with a midsized bank he oversaw the P&L of the everyday banking segment before developing breadth in human capital and digitization. This unique blend of experiences equips him with the ability to activate strategy through organizational systems and a focus on people. Most recently Craig has been teaching business strategy at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business MBA program, and providing management consulting services. He holds an MBA from the University of Calgary, and a BSc from the University of Saskatchewan.
Dave Both acts as General Counsel and is responsible for all legal, compliance and risk matters related to BURNCO's business. Dave brings a proven pragmatic and results focused track-record from his time as a partner at one of Canada's largest law firms and executive legal and commercial roles at a global engineering firm. Dave has degrees from the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta.
As BURNCO’s fourth-generation owner, Scott Burns has dedicated over 35 years to the company and transitioned to Executive Chairman in his 60th year. Following in his predecessor’s footsteps, during his tenure as CEO Scott increased the firm's size by 10 times. Growing BURNCO's geographic footprint has been a key strategic focus, providing strength and diversity to our Alberta-based organization. Since 1912, family values have been an important compass for BURNCO, and Scott with his wife Tracy Wright, instill that in their children and the multinational legacy under his stewardship. Scott holds an MBA from Arizona State University and a BSc in Mathematics from the University of Alberta.
Robert (Bob) Hagerman has been a director of BURNCO since 2015 and presently is Chair of the Audit, Finance and Risk committee. He is also a partner with an international, sector-focused law firm. With over 40 years of experience, Bob practises in the areas of corporate, tax, estates and trust law with a particular emphasis on income tax, corporate and estate planning for privately owned businesses and high net worth individuals. Bob delivers practical, cost-effective legal advice on a wide range of tax issues for Canadian, US and international companies across several industries, including development, holding, wealth management, drilling, engineering and food distribution companies. In addition to serving as a director for BURNCO, Bob presently sits on a number of boards for private businesses and charitable foundations.
Dylan Hughes is a Chartered Professional Accountant and a tax partner with one of Canada's largest accounting firms located in Calgary, Alberta. His professional practice is focused on assisting privately operated and managed businesses and working with family business owners. With considerable experience assisting clients with mergers and acquisitions activity, structuring transactions and corporate group ownership, his specialty is working with clients to best structure their affairs to manage taxation and risk. Dylan is a member of the Board of BURNCO and serves as the chair of the HR & Compensation Committee.
Les Vines joined the Board in August 2023 bringing significant industry and functional experience to the BURNCO team. He spent 19 years in various financial roles with Texas Industries, Inc., a leading cement, aggregate and concrete manufacturer in North America. In 2013/2014, as Vice President – Treasurer, Chief Accounting Officer and head of Investor Relations, Les was an integral part of the six-man executive team that negotiated and coordinated the due diligence effort for the transaction that merged Texas Industries, Inc. (a $2.5 billion market cap company) into Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. In 2014, Les became the Chief Financial Officer for Roofing Supply Group, Inc., the fourth largest distributor of roofing materials in the United States. He left RSG after successfully guiding them through their acquisition by Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. in late 2015. Since then, Les has provided a broad range of financial and tax consulting services to public and privately owned businesses in addition to being an active participant in several non-profit organizations.
Wallace is a partner in FMI, the largest management consulting firm in the U.S. devoted exclusively to the built environment. He has has been with the firm for 20 years and leads its construction materials group, where he focuses on strategy development and market analysis. His experience spans both core products and a variety of specialty minerals, as well as heavy-civil construction, and his knowledge of local materials markets in North America is among the most extensive in the industry. Wallace is enthusiastic about organizational improvement and has helped a broad variety of companies get better at project controls and execution, business development, and succession planning.
