Allan Schofield is the Founder and President of the Blackstone Group of Companies. With over 23 years of experience servicing oil & gas, power generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and petro-chemical among others, Allan has established himself as a proven collaborative leader and industry expert in process & rotating equipment overhaul and repair as well as large-scale facility outages. A journeyman millwright by trade, his entrepreneurial approach has helped him develop the Blackstone Group and its world-class team into an industry powerhouse. Outside of the growing businesses, Allan and his wife, Bree, have a busy life raising their three young children in the Sherwood Park community where they reside.
Alex is focused on the strategy, partnerships, and integration of the organization and is dedicated to the growth campaign for the Blackstone Industrial Group of Companies. After graduating from Queen’s University with a mechanical engineering degree, Alex worked for Nuovo Pignone & GE Oil & Gas. After ‘28 quarters’ of engineering growth and successful sales, Alex joined with Allan to help build the Blackstone vision. Alex is passionate about creating, preserving, and spreading knowledge, building strong partnerships, and strengthening leadership in teams. He is highly focused on driving Blackstone to become the most consolidated, dynamic, and admired technical force in its time, while having some fun along the way. Alex resides in Houston, Texas, and Calgary, Alberta, with his talented and compassionate wife, Elayne (Layne), and two intelligent and charmingly funny kids, Hamilton and Gwenyth.
Brennan Legge is responsible for all commercial and revenue-generating activities in Canada across Blackstone’s entire enterprise suite of service offerings. Brennan has over 15 years of business development experience in multiple industries and is proven in leadership, strategic thinking, and revenue expansion. Brennan previously served as a member in the Canadian Armed Forces and currently volunteers as a director on charitable boards. Brennan resides in Calgary and enjoys spending his downtime with his supportive and loving wife, Melissa and their three young children.
William Gairdner, aka Willie, has been with Blackstone since its first project way back in 2012, at the time operating as the night shift superintendent. Over the next 5 years, Willie continued as a senior field service superintendent until hanging up the wrenches and work boots in exchange for a laptop and a cell phone in 2018. At this time, Willie took a promotion to Canadian Field Services Manager. From here, he has helped grow the business unit to some of its highest highs. When attempting to enjoy downtime from his cell phone, Willie enjoys spending time with his family and renovating his house, but he mostly enjoys hating golf.
Robert leads our industrial parts and equipment group, delivering everything from the smallest parts orders to upgrades to complete units and packages for new installations and replacements globally. As a Red Seal and Blue Seal Journeyman Millwright, he spent 16 years servicing critical rotating equipment on customer sites and in the shop. Prior to this, his career included the transport and setup of oil and gas drilling equipment and he spent time on the drilling floor with tongs in hand. This cumulative experience has given him a great understanding of the importance of reliability and the impact of downtime in the energy industry. His ongoing mission is ensuring customers have what they need, when they need it, to keep their operations running. Robert, Ellen, and their three kids live in Edmonton, where they enjoy the outdoors and time with family and friends whenever possible.
Steve McMaster is responsible for leading a team of rotating equipment experts at the Blackstone repair facility in Sherwood Park. He has effectively grown and led numerous teams of Canada’s best millwrights and machinists and continuously seeks the best talent to advance their organization. Steve specializes in root cause analysis, equipment reliability, and ingenuity. When a challenge arises, Steve is the backbone of knowledge supporting our customers. You can count on him and his team to support the industries in their most challenging tasks with professionalism and within a productive timeline. With the growing demands of industries and technology, Steve’s knowledge of rotating equipment has been an asset to customers for the past 26 years. Steve cultivates a positive atmosphere of leadership, where he believes in coaching others to lead and empowering them to utilize their strengths. Through his vision, risks taking, and entrepreneurial skills, he has developed an expert team at Blackstone Repair Services.
Dan McNamara was appointed Vice President of Talent, Culture & Performance in May of 2018. Prior to joining Blackstone, Dan worked in the upstream market as both a Sales Leader & HR Director with more than 15 years of strategic HR experience. Dan is a passionate culture champion who is constantly seeking innovative ways to support the incredible team at Blackstone/Nuovo. He is a CPHR designated professional who harnesses the lessons learned working in the sectors of technology, travel & tourism, and upstream oil & gas. When not supporting the growing business, Dan is busy at home trying to keep up with two young daughters and his wife, Dyana, who live in Calgary and love to travel at every opportunity.
James holds a CA and CPA designation. With over 20 years of experience, he has enjoyed a diverse career as a CFO. His former roles as a controller of large groups of privately held companies and as a partner in an international public accounting firm have contributed to his extensive experience in strategic planning and restructuring, as well as his in-depth tax knowledge for privately held companies operating in multiple jurisdictions.
Brian joined Nuovo Parts in September of 2018 as the Vice President of Commercial Operations and Sales, where he brings a proven track record of customer satisfaction coupled with organizational growth. Upon graduating from Michigan State University in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, Brian began his 25+ year career with rotating equipment in the oil and gas industry. He started in engineering and design before pursuing positions in sales, then leadership. Prior to working at Nuovo Parts, Brian was an Executive with GE Oil & Gas/Nuovo Pignone Group, leading their North American Downstream Technology Solutions team. His extensive personal and professional experiences continue to contribute to Nuovo’s positive response to our customer’s needs, the oil and gas markets, and our operational responsibility. Outside of growing USA operations, Brian enjoys spending family time with his supportive and talented wife, Courtney, and their energetic set of twins.
Marco is responsible for leading sales and business development for Blackstone in countries outside North America. With more than 25 years of global experience in the energy and oil & gas industries, Marco has a successful track record of sales and generation of business opportunities in large capital projects involving highly engineered equipment and integrated solutions. He began his career at Nuovo Pignone as a design engineer for centrifugal compressors and steam turbines. Since then, he has served in multiple roles with increased responsibility in GE Oil & Gas. Throughout his career, Marco has lived in Italy, the US, Canada, and Angola. The most recent positions he held in GE Oil & Gas and Baker Hughes GE included roles such as product leadership executive for offshore, executive director of commercial operations for Sub-Saharan Africa, global executive channel leader, and numerous other sales/commercial operations leadership roles in the Americas. Marco holds an MBA and BS in Business Administration and a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering.
Todd joined the Blackstone Team in July 2020 as Director of Technical Services as part of the acquisition of the Trican Industrial & Pipeline Division. Todd has over 28 years of experience working in the industry, holding various positions in operations, engineering, and management, including offshore experience off the coast of Alaska. Prior to joining Blackstone, Todd worked for Schlumberger Canada, Fracmaster Canada, and CEDA. Todd holds a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Alberta and is a registered Professional Engineer in Alberta and British Columbia.
