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“Don’t cheat the environment, employees or customers. It’s about that simple,” says Guy Turcotte, the 2018 recipient of the Distinguished Business Leader Award when asked about his approach to ethical leadership.

This authentic approach has been evident in every step along a career that has taken him from the village of Chauvin, Alta. where he learned business fundamentals under the blue skies on his father’s farm, to closing deals that helped generate some of the greatest value creation in the energy industry. Now he focuses on property development that delivers the splendour of the Canadian Rockies against the backdrop of western skies and cleaner energy projects that will create bluer skies around the world.

Turcotte an entrepreneur where skies truly are the limit

“Calgary is a city built by bold leaders who pursue big dreams and Guy Turcotte is a big thinker who is driven by long-term impact,” says Jim Dewald, dean of the Haskayne School of Business. “Guy has built empires, but is known for a deep devotion to his family, community and many supporters.”

Known as the founder of three energy companies, Chauvco Resources Ltd., Western Oil Sands Inc. and Veresen Inc, Turcotte is currently the sole shareholder in  and is a founding shareholder of  a Calgary-based company applying new materials and processes to upgrading oil.

“From oil and gas to real estate to fuel cells, Guy Turcotte has shown leadership and innovation in a variety of industries, all with a steadfast commitment to ethics and giving back to the community,” says Phil Roberts, board chair of the Calgary Chamber. “This is an entrepreneur that truly embodies all the values that define the Distinguished Business Leader Award. Congratulations Guy, on this well-deserved honour.”

Turcotte will be the 26th recipient of the esteemed Distinguished Business Leader Award (DBLA) that is co-presented annually by the  and the  to recognize outstanding ethical leaders in the Calgary business community.

Reputation formed through honest dealings

Turcotte’s father was influential in establishing the values that would guide this entrepreneur for a lifetime. Growing up on the family farm, he learned hard work and responsibility, milking cows by lantern light and in the evening retreating to his bedroom to pore over receipt book pages gifted from the local grain elevator — a first lesson in balance sheets. Turcotte grew up on a small farm near Chauvin, and sharing with his eight siblings was an important family value.

Leaving the farm to gain an education, his first job after his MBA was with the Business Development Bank as a project officer. Here he returned to those balance sheets and saw opportunities. This experience established his confidence in going after opportunities of his own. He founded his first company, Chauvco Resources, in 1981, and the next 25 years were marked by strong successes in the energy sector, never forgetting those core values instilled at the family farm.

“You get your reputation through your honest dealings and you only get to build your reputation once,” says Turcotte. “You can ruin it very quickly if you are on the take, even try to get a small dishonest edge. When you are honest, you don’t have any trouble sleeping at night.”

“One strong indicator of who Guy is as a person and as a fair-minded and effective business leader is that people who partnered or invested with him years ago, in some cases all the way back to 1981 with Chauvco Resources, keep coming back to invest with him again,” says Mike Tims, member of the DBLA selection committee and past recipient (2007).

Turcotte is now combining his long-term thinking with his love of nature in his work as CEO with Stone Creek Resorts, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. His vision is to create a 21st century Banff Springs experience, to share the beauty of the Rockies with the rest of the world.

As they are developing the resorts, they are thinking of greener ways to operate. “It gravitates to the top of my thought process,” says Turcotte. As an engineer he is interested in solving the problem of protecting the environment while providing visitors a stellar encounter with the outdoors.

Vision includes a future with bluer skies

At the June 21 Distinguished Business Leader Award Gala at the Hyatt Regency, Turcotte will share his passion for energy — energy efficiency, energy conservation and energy transformation with the audience.

His experience in chemical engineering, the business of energy and knowledge of capital markets is now coming to a career crescendo in Field Upgrading, a company where he is the founding shareholder. “The 15 largest ships in the world put out as much sulphur dioxide as all the cars on the planet,” Turcotte explains. The marine fuel market burns four million barrels a day — and he hopes to make this cleaner with the low-sulphur fuels developed by Field Upgrading.

“Ten to 20 years from now the skies in our major cities are going to be a lot bluer because most of our buses and many of our personal vehicles will be electrically powered,” explains Turcotte as he looks out his office window to the future.

Distinguished Business Leader Award Gala

Learn more about the Distinguished Business Leader Award and purchase tickets to the gala.