Alex Rueben Email and Phone Number

The industrial marine sector in British Columbia (BC) is broad and diverse with capacities and capabilities that are being noticed provincially, nationally, and around the globe. In promoting and representing the interests of the industrial marine sector and its supply chain, the Association of British Columbia Marine Industries (ABCMI) works to strengthen the sector and create a positive environment in which its industries can prosper and grow. ABCMI strives to represent and advocate as broadly as possible for the BC industrial marine sector. While not seeking to displace other special interest organizations that may represent companies in BC’s industrial marine sector, ABCMI spans all facets of the sector with activities which grow and strengthen our collective prosperity.ABCMI seeks to represent and support businesses involved in the following six industries: Shipbuilding, refit and repair; Small craft marine; Marine products; Ocean science and technology; Marine industrial services; and, Marine professional services.ABCMI membership confers benefits such as: positive influence on public policy; new business opportunities; reduced-cost access to international marketing and trade shows; preferential access to senior policy makers; visibility into future infrastructure and procurement opportunities; pooling of sector wide knowledge on challenging issues; consolidation of training demand to reduce delivery cost; facilitated access to government funding for industry initiatives; and, more employment opportunities for its workers.

Given its location adjacent to the Salish Sea, Camosun College is a ‘coastal college’ that is uniquely positioned to lead the development of, and deliver, training and education that will support the Indigenous peoples of BC’s coastal communities in growing their own skills, capabilities, and capacities in taking an active role in enhancing marine safety, responding to emergencies, and in monitoring and protecting Canada’s marine domain and its resident ecosystems; while also leading to gainful and sustained employment opportunities and growing the economies of their communities.

In partnership with SkillSource and industry, the Government of British Columbia is exploring the creation and implementation of a British Columbia Supplier Development Program (BC SDP) aimed at B.C.’s manufacturing and industrial service companies in the industrial marine, aerospace, energy (including utilities), and general manufacturing sectors. The BC SDP is designed to assist B.C. businesses in becoming more globally competitive and to elevate their performance as a tiered supplier in their respective supply chains. The BC SDP is intended to be multi-year, multi-sector program of support, helping companies become world-class suppliers by focusing on operational excellence.

Founded, built and operated a not-for-profit training and education centre focused on the needs of the industrial marine sector in Western Canada. IMTARC coordinates and facilitates workforce development, applied research, and supplier development to support the growth, productivity, and competitiveness of the industrial marine and related sectors. Commencing operations in February 2013, IMTARC has facilitated and implemented training for over 18,000 students in the conduct of over 1000 courses.

Director and Secretary on Board Executive. The Association of British Columbia Marine Industries (ABCMI) works to strengthen the industrial marine sector of British Columbia. Led the creation of this industry association representing the broad industrial marine sector in British Columbia including: shipbuilding and repair; small craft marine, marine products, industrial marine services; professional marine services; and ocean science and technology subsectors. Led this new association through its first year of operations to a point of self-sustainability through gaining the membership of over 90 organizations and achieving the award of several funded government projects.

Created a forum to promote a viable and competitive industrial marine sector on Canada’s West Coast that could provide high quality, reliable, innovative services to domestic and international customers. The forum included all public and private entities in shipbuilding and ship repair and was primarily focused on attracting, developing, and retaining a highly skilled workforce. The forum advanced awareness of the industry with all levels of government and other stakeholders.

The Resource Training Organization (RTO) is responsible for enabling industry leadership and direction in industry training in British Columbia's resource sector including forestry, mining, oil & gas, and utilities, as well as shipbuilding & repair.

The general mandate of the Table is to:- Confirm the overall labour demand associated with the recent $8 billion NSPS shipbuilding contract award and other significant projects and activities in the sector;- Review labour supply projections/sources and existing and planned training and other related programs and initiatives to identify opportunities and gaps: and,- Develop a coordinated workforce strategy that will. in part, inform private and public investments in labour market programs needed to support the sector.

Providing strategic advice to the ADM in exercising the functional authority assigned to the ADM on all aspects of human resource planning, management, and service delivery. Responsible for evaluating and streamlining the entire civilian human resources service delivery network across the Department of National Defence as well as improving the efficiency and effectiveness of HR services program delivery.

Chief Operating Officer of the Canadian Navy based in Esquimalt as well as of all Canadian Forces operations in British Columbia. Responsible for the oversight and management of 4000 military and 2500 civilian employees, and delivering operations on a $225M annual budget.• Led a complete overhaul of the organization’s governance structure and created a change management framework within which fiscal and human resources were carefully managed to achieve strategic objectives and deliver on institutional priorities.• Significantly reduced overhead and increased operations by 25% while managing the overall budget to within 0.5% at fiscal year end.• Improved morale of employees through advancing human resource initiatives making significant improvements to labour relations, staffing, performance management, mentoring, employee well-being, succession planning and professional development. • Created the basis of a significant functional realignment within the Navy that enhanced the in-house support to a major ship modernization project and optimized scarce resources in the conduct and implementation of crew training and new equipment trials.

Chief Executive Officer of a shipyard operating on an $95 million annual budget and employing 1300 workers represented by 14 different unions. Responsible for the engineering, maintenance and repair of the vessels of the Navy's Pacific Fleet.• Increased productivity by 52% and tripled capacity for simultaneous major work periods.• Led the shipyard through a complete physical restructuring into a modern facility, re-invigorated the workforce through workforce renewal, continuous professional development and the creation of a highly effective management team.• Forged strategic alliances with other government departments and built partnerships with industry in developing synergies to achieve mutual goals through creation of the West Coast Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Forum.• Developed a productive relationship with unions; in one instance re-negotiating a specialized work agreement that increased flexibility and saved the shipyard $430K annually.

Responsible for the mid-career professional development phase for Canadian Forces officers including the planning and delivery of course curriculum for several courses focused on developing advanced staff and leadership skills for national and international employment. Delivered lectures and conducted learning symposiums at the post graduate level.• Completely redesigned, implemented and directed a year-long Canadian Forces Command and Staff Course for Canadian and foreign military officers from 14 different countries who had been selected for advanced command and staff appointments.• Worked with the Ontario Council of Graduate Studies in establishing a Masters degree in Defence Studies. Worked with six Canadian universities in establishing and awarding parallel credits and degree options for courses offered by the Canadian Forces College.• Increased residency student graduation rate by 20%, while building the foundation for delivering education to the entire Canadian Forces officer corps through distance learning applications supported by abbreviated core residency modules.

Responsible for the training and education of non-commissioned sailors serving aboard the Navy's vessels. Led an academic institution employing 350 staff, operating on a $20 million annual budget and having an enrolment periodically exceeding 1100 students.• Implemented new courses and training techniques for subjects ranging from leadership to firefighting to naval electronics and marine diesels.• Led the Navy's training evolution from paper and blackboard to desktop computing, distributed learning networks and microprocessor-based simulation and emulation trainers.