Posted on November 29, 2022

Impact Safety Solutions announces change in ownership: entrepreneur Jeff Strank and Mikisew Group acquire majority stake in remote confined space monitoring leader.

Edmonton-based entrepreneur Jeff Strank and Mikisew Group, the business entity of the Mikisew Cree First Nation, today announced the acquisition of a majority stake in industrial safety leader, Impact Safety Solutions.  Strank now owns a majority share of the Edmonton, Alberta-based company, Mikisew Group has purchased 29 percent and the remaining shares have been retained by Carey Chonkolay. The transaction was struck with company founders, Darren and Tanya LaRocque, along with two minority shareholders.

With the change of ownership, Strank, who has served as Vice President of Impact Safety Solutions since April 2020, will assume the position of CEO, leading the company’s growth and strategy. Strank has an extensive understanding of the Alberta industrial business landscape, having successfully grown and divested Empire Camp Equipment in 2016.

Justin LaRocque will lead day-to-day operations as COO. Carey Chonkolay and David Hamilton will continue in their respective roles of Senior Vice President and Vice President of Operations.

Strank said: “Remote confined space monitoring (RCSM) is a sector in which we see tremendous opportunity for growth, both domestically, here in Canada, and internationally. Impact Safety Solutions has already established itself as a leader and a pioneer. With our technology developed in-house, and vertical integration, we are the only service provider in North America with the ability to flexibly innovate and respond to clients’ needs, as they arise. This puts us in a unique and exciting position from which to grow our market share, in a rapidly growing market. We want to thank Darren and Tanya for their vision and efforts in building Impact Safety Solutions to be the leader it is today. We look forward to working closely with Mikisew Group as we continue our expansion in the Wood Buffalo region and beyond.”

Dan Gallagher, CEO of Mikisew Group agreed: “Impact Safety Solutions has an impeccable reputation within the industrial safety technology sector and we’re excited to work with them on future innovations. We see huge potential in the business, it’s people and their technology. Having served the traditional confined space market for more than 25 years, this investment represents a shift in our business by investing in new technologies and jobs of the future to better serve our clients.”

Impact Safety Solutions was founded in 1997 by Darren and Tanya LaRocque. Carey Chonkolay joined in 2005 to accelerate the company’s growth. Today, Impact Safety Solutions provides the  largest RCSM fleet in Canada and is the only vertically-integrated provider of RCSM services in North America, with full ownership, access and control over the technology, software and hardware used in daily operations. Impact Safety Solutions has the capacity to monitor over 200 confined spaces simultaneously, and recently completed Canada’s largest ever project.

Source: Impact News Release