Reg Webster, P. Eng., is President of The Sernas Group Inc. Of the many roles that Reg undertakes, his first and foremost obligation is being accountable for the firm's leadership, growth and management as it is governed and set out by the Board of Directors. Assisted by Gord Paterson who is the firms CEO, Reg ensures that the company follows the strategic direction approved by the Board, while providing a leadership mentoring role to other senior managers within the firm.
Reg started with the firm in 1974 as an Engineer in Training. During the 70’s and 80’s, Reg assumed increasingly more technical and management positions gradually working his way to becoming President of the firm in 1992 (stepping into the shoes of the firm’s founder, Martin Sernas after his retirement). Reg is known for his broad knowledge of the land development industry in Southern Ontario. He had long been a member of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the former Urban Development Industry, also known as BILD. He is still a board member of a Local Distribution Company (LDC).
Reg is a proponent of developing long-term relationships with the firm’s Clients through the delivery of professional consulting services that anticipate the needs of the Clients; also, providing those services in a very timely manner. He continues to provide specific project management services to many large, high profile projects, which require both technical knowledge of the approval process and the ability to seek consensus in situations where the short-term goals of the stakeholders may vary.
In his spare time, Reg enjoys traveling, diving, snorkeling and playing golf.
Our CEO, Gordon W. Patterson, P.Eng., M.B.A., is responsible for the daily operations of the firm. Working with the five specialized Business Units.; Sernas Associates; Transtech; SRM Associates; Nexgen Utilities; and Geomorphic Solutions, and Ourston Roundabout Engineering in Wisconsin, he ensures that the business units stay focused on their individual and overall strategic goals and objectives.
During Gord’s 15-plus-year career at The Sernas Group., he has progressively held the positions of Branch Manager; COO and CEO. In professional practice, he provides municipal and storm water management engineering advice to land development and builder clients. Prior to joining The Sernas Group he worked 11 years with a major Canadian Land Developer and Builder.
Value is added by having long term relationships with the Clients. Through this, we gain an understanding of how the Client’s needs can be developed and the services provided that best meet those criteria. This approach allows us to look out for the interests of our Clients. He believes Sernas Group exists for the benefit of its employees, to provide them with a venue to apply and advance their professional aspirations and to provide them with fair financial compensation for their efforts.
Outside of work Gord spends his time mountain biking; traveling to places where he can hike with his family and building stuff around the home and cottage.
Michael W. McAllister, CGA, is our CFO who is responsible for the Finance Department, Information Technology and Facilities Management for the firm. Working alongside the CEO and the General Managers of the five Business Units, Michael ensures that the operational side of the business has the physical resources to meet their strategic goals.
In early 1992, Michael joined The Sernas Group as the Manager of Finance and Administration. As part of his professional practice, Michael also acts as Trustee for several landowner groups, while providing financial advice for professionals within the firm. For the first seven years of his career, Michael worked for a major oil and gas company. He embarked into the insurance industry where he spent several years fine-tuning his specialty of Finance. Subsequently, this was his entrance into the consulting field where he spent a considerable number of years. For the past 18 years, Michael has contributed his expertise in the Finance and Information Technology fields, as well as his dependability and integrity.
Michael firmly believes that the prudent management of our financial and IT resources will ensure a stable base to build the firm, and allow our project staff to refine relationships and provide our clients with the most preferred service possible.
In his free time, Michael, enjoys touring wineries with his wife. On occasion, he combines his enthusiasm of the outdoors with his keen interest in photography.
Our Human Resources Manager, Jan Fontana helps drives strategies to align business objectives and human resources programs of The Sernas Group through the following areas of recruitment, employee relations, performance management, policy interpretation, compensation, retention, and benefits administration, as well as providing consultative support to our Management Team.
Since joining the firm in 2006, Jan has helped grow our staffing levels by 30% in addition to updating several of the company’s HR functions. Prior to joining The Sernas Group, she worked in Human Resources for a manufacturing company in the Durham area.
Jan believes that the fundamental key to all human resource practices is to provide respect and opportunity at all stages of employment for our staff, while at all times, having respect for privacy and integrity with all matters. She is known to be accommodating and provides a high level of customer service to employees.
In Jan’s spare time, she enjoys spending time reading, cooking, working on a multitude of hobbies, and spending time with family and friends at her cottage.
Mr. Jim Bacchus, General Manager of the Transtech business unit, has nearly 20 years of experience in the Transportation Planning and Engineering field. Jim is responsible for the daily operations of Transtech as well as its overall fiscal performance and strategic objectives.
While most of Jim’s career has been spent working in the domestic Ontario market, he also has considerable overseas experience with a large multi-national engineering firm. When living in the United Arab Emirates he worked on several major projects throughout the Middle East, including what has become the world’s tallest building and world’s largest shopping mall (the Burj Khalifa complex), located in Dubai. In practice today, he manages and consults on all manner of Transportation Planning and Engineering assignments for Transtech on behalf of The Sernas Group Inc.
Respectful, ethical, professional. These are cornerstones of Jim’s business philosophy. Embracing these qualities ensures all clients of consistent, well-reasoned advice and a reverent approach to today’s challenges. Espousing these business approaches and providing value-based solutions founded on technical merit and contextual circumstance, builds solid, long-lasting, and faithful client relationships. Jim also believes empowering staff with the ability to provide input on important decisions creates an enthusiastic, cooperative environment that engenders open discussion, new ideas, and a healthy, efficient work force.
Jim enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, boating, and tinkering around the cottage.
Dale Dionne, P.Eng., M.B.A., PMP, is the General Manager of SRM Associates. In addition to managing projects for his own clients, Dale is also responsible for SRM Associates’ quality control processes, overall client service, and the strategic direction of the SRM Business Unit.
Over the span of Dale’s 18-year career, the last 7-plus years have been focused on his role as a Project Manager within SRM Associates; of which the last 2 years have included the responsibilities of the General Manager’s role. Prior experience in consulting engineering includes: experience in land development engineering; stormwater management; contract administration; and municipal engineering/project management.
Dale’s philosophy and approach to business in general is to try to keep things simple. He believes in placing good people in positions of authority and responsibility, ensuring that they are provided the resources and support they need to be successful, while keeping open communications. Clients want a consultant they can rely on to get the project done, and SRM Associates has built a reputation of doing just that. By assembling a team of highly skilled professionals who share the vision of taking ownership of the responsibility to successfully completing our projects, we are all mindful of workloads and taking on work that we can complete for our clients to be satisfied - each and every time.
On his own time, Dale enjoys spending time with his family, managing his son’s hockey team, and running.
Dr. Paul Villard, P.Geo. (Ontario/Manitoba), is the Senior Geomorphologist and General Manager of Geomorphic Solutions, A Member of The Sernas Group Inc. Of the many roles that Paul fulfils, his main obligation is to assure the technical integrity of the projects completed and to assure client’s needs and expectation are met. Paul founded Geomorphic Solutions in 2004 to provide expertise in earth and geographical sciences. Over the last six years, he has guided the group, which has grown to a team approaching 20 specialists. Through his direction the group has expanded to include several disciplines including fluvial and coastal geomorphology, environmental science, and geomatics. Paul has assured through this period that the group continues to be recognized for the team’s depth of knowledge that serves well a growing list of public and private sector clients.
Paul spent years in academia studying sediment transport processes in fluvial and coastal environments. In that time he was involved in various studies, including several large international projects related to geomorphology and sediment transport in fluvial, estuarine and coastal environments. Although his primary interest is applied earth sciences, he continues to be actively involved in academic research. Paul is known for his depth of knowledge related to geomorphology and sediment transport. He provides occasional lectures and in delivering technical courses in geomorphology for public agencies, municipalities and academic institutions.
Paul is a proponent of developing a team with a depth of technical expertise that gives it the ability to anticipate our clients’ needs. Like many of the Sernas Groups senior staff he continues to provide specific project management services to many projects, which require both technical knowledge and an understanding of the approval process.
When not working Paul enjoys hiking with his family, skiing and diving.
