The Thorpe Management Team
We contribute a large amount of our success in the industry to our knowledgeable and skilled team of experts. Thorpe’s management team consists of the best professionals in the industry, guiding our company to ensure we implement the highest safety, quality, productivity and customer service in all we deliver.
Chad Fletcher
Chad Fletcher
Chief Executive Officer
- Years in Industry: 33
- Years with Company: 4 ½ yrs
Chad Fletcher is the President & Chief Executive Officer of Thorpe with responsibility for all aspects of the business including the financial and operational performance of the corporation and its subsidiaries.
Mr. Fletcher reports to the board of directors and is responsible for the leadership and development of the Senior Leadership Team, including the SVP’s of the U.S. and Canadian service organizations, the Chief Financial Officer and the Director of Safety.
Prior to joining Thorpe, Mr. Fletcher progressively led a series of domestic, foreign and global organizations in senior executive roles for T.D. Williamson and Dresser-Rand following the sale of Enginuity in 2008, which he founded in 1995. Fletcher started his career in the Engineering Leadership Development Program at Tenneco after earning his engineering degree.
Education:
- BS Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, May 1988
David Arneson
David Arneson
Chief Financial Officer
- Years in Industry: 36
- Years with Company: 2 ½ years
David Arneson is the Chief Financial Officer for Thorpe based in Houston. Mr. Arneson provides senior leadership across Thorpe for finance, accounting, treasury, HR, IT, and compliance functions of the company.
Mr. Arneson has a reporting line to the board of directors and serves the needs of internal customers including the leadership team and Thorpe’s employees, but also several key external stakeholder groups including investors, CapStreet, banks and financial institutions, regulatory agencies, and of course Thorpe’s customers.
Prior to joining Thorpe, Mr. Arneson held progressively responsible executive level positions with: Lloyd’s Register Americas, Inc. as CFO, AFN LLC as CFO and Treasurer, and Willbros Group, Inc. as Vice President Finance and Treasurer.
Education:
- BS Accounting, Oral Roberts University
- Certified Public Accountant, active Texas and Oklahoma licenses
Jeff Jones
Jeff Jones
Senior Vice President – US Services & Solutions
- Years in Industry: 25
- Years with Company: 3
Jeff Jones is the Senior Vice President of US Services & Solutions with responsibility for the safety, operational and financial performance all U.S. regions, branches and business lines including refractory, corrosion and scaffolding & insulation services.
Mr. Jones reports directly to Thorpe’s CEO and actively participates in board of directors’ meetings as the leader of the U.S. business and is based in Houston, TX. He directly manages a team of region and business unit managers, the U.S. sales leader and the U.S. strategic account leader.
Mr. Jones is an executive leader with both domestic and international experience in the industrial and oil & gas markets. Prior to joining Thorpe, Mr. Jones progressively led domestic and global organizations in executive level positions including: JLG; Siemens/Dresser-Rand; and Ingersoll-Rand.
Education:
- MBA, Duke University, Durham, NC
- BS Industrial Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
- BS Business Management, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX
Jason Bodnarek
Jason Bodnarek
Senior Vice President & Managing Director – Canada
- Years in Industry: 34
- Years with Company: 34
Jason Bodnarek is the Senior Vice President and Managing Director for the Company business unit in Canada known as Clayburn Services with responsibility for the safety, operational and financial performance of all Western Canada regions, branches and business lines.
Mr. Bodnarek reports directly to Thorpe’s CEO and actively participates in board of directors’ meetings as the leader of the Clayburn business and is based in Edmonton, Alberta. He directly manages the Clayburn Operations Director, Clayburn’s safety manager and a team of regional sales professionals.
Mr. Bodnarek has progressively led organizations with the legacy Clayburn company, beginning as an Estimator/Contracts Coordinator, and advancing through various progressively responsible positions in both Sales and Operations until attaining his present position and the primary Company P&L leader and representative in Canada. He also serves on numerous boards within the Canadian region; Chairman: Joint Employers Safety Program ,Chairman: Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Pension Fund (Alberta & Saskatchewan) ,Chairman: Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Insurance Benefit Trust Fund (Alberta & Saskatchewan) ,Trustee: Bricklayers and Masons Pension Plan (British Columbia), Trustee: Bricklayers and Masons Welfare Plan (British Columbia)
Education:
- Civil Engineering Technology (N.A.I.T.)
- Management Development Diploma, University of Alberta
John Hunt
John Hunt
Vice President Business Development & Technical Services
- Years in Industry: 30
- Years with Company: 2
John Hunt is the Vice President of Business Development & Technical Services for Thorpe based in Houston. Mr. Hunt provides leadership, direction, framework, tools, and partners with the business line leaders, to ensure the translation of the business line strategies into actionable plans. Mr. Hunt ensures that all business lines have clearly defined, reasonable, focused, growth oriented, business line strategies that can be implemented and executed by the organization.
John reports directly to Thorpe’s CEO and actively participates in board of directors’ meetings. He provides leadership, direction, framework and tools with regards to marketing services, including brand management, advertising, public relations, tradeshows and presence management, in order to meet the needs of the organization driving alignment with both the Company and the business line strategies.
Mr. Hunt has progressively held operational executive level P&L leadership roles during his tenure with Thorpe. Prior to joining Thorpe, Mr. Hunt has held management and executive level positions with: Jacobs, Team Industrial Services and Plant Performance Services (P2S).
Education:
- BS Business Management – University of Houston, Houston, TX
Heeth Orr
Heeth Orr
Senior Vice President Strategic Accounts and Operational Support
- Years in Industry: 33
- Years with Company: 28
Heeth Orr is the Senior Vice President of Strategic Accounts and Operational Support for Thorpe based in Houston. Mr. Orr provides leadership, direction, framework, tools, and partnering with the appropriate company personnel to identify clearly defined, reasonable, focused, growth oriented, strategic accounts, initiatives and projects directly related to the business line strategies, developing and managing actionable plans for each.
Heeth reports directly to Thorpe’s CEO and he provides leadership, direction and support as required by the company with regards to operational activities and execution in order to meet the needs of the organization for profitability, operational excellence and long-term growth.
Mr. Orr has held progressively responsible engineering, project management, branch and operational executive level P&L leadership roles during his tenure with Thorpe and has a unique intimate knowledge of Thorpe’s customer base, customer innerworkings and contractor selection processes. He began his career with Thorpe in 1994 as a Project Engineer, and as worked in many locations in Texas and Louisiana through advancing his career at Thorpe.
Education:
- BS Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station
Paul Crane, P. Eng.
Paul Crane, P. Eng.
Vice President – Clayburn Operations
- Years in Industry: 22
- Years with Company: 1.5
Paul Crane is the Vice President for Clayburn Operations based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Mr. Crane has full responsibility for operations in Canada, and he ensures the Canadian Company operates safely while meeting business targets and initiatives.
Mr. Crane reports directly to Clayburn’s SVP and Managing Director. He is responsible for all operational activities in order to satisfy customer requirements for company services within Canada; these include safety, quality workmanship, on time delivery, on or under budget and company P&L.
Mr. Crane is an operations professional, dedicating his career to operational excellence. He started in the field as an engineer and quickly progressed to Superintendent, General Superintendent, Construction Manager, Sr. Project Manager to Operations Director. Mr. Crane hired on with Clayburn in July 2020 as the Operations Director and was recently promoted to Vice President – Clayburn Operations.
Education:
- Mechanical Engineer Diploma, Memorial University of Newfoundland
- Professional Engineer Designation, Alberta (APEGA)
Par Bennstrom
Par Bennstrom
Director – HSE TSSC
- Years in Industry: 21
- Years with Company: 2
Par Bennstrom is the Director of HSE for the Company and he is based in Houston. Mr. Bennstrom is an Executive Safety Leader with domestic and international experience in the Power Generation and Pipeline Operation and Construction and Oil & Gas Industries. He has demonstrated success based on the core belief of continuous focus on safety, quality and responsiveness that starts with caring for people. He has diverse and dynamic experience in transforming, restructuring and ultimately turning safety cultures around.
Prior to joining Thorpe, Mr. Bennstrom held progressively responsible executive level positions with: Kinder Morgan; Dynegy; GDF Suez (now Engie) and Welltec A/S. Internationally certified and recognized Health & Safety Professional with experience and expertise in Risk Assessment, Auditing, Safety Program Development and Employee Coaching / Mentoring. Recognized for developing and implementing strategies that increased compliance and employee engagement. Proven success in, Project HSMS Development, Incident Command Leadership, Environmental Monitoring, Incident Investigation and Root Cause Analysis, Hazard Identification and Mitigation, Training Program Development and Policy Implementation.
Education:
- BSME – Clarkson University Potsdam, NY<
- NEBOSH – International General Certification
- NEBOSH – Certificate in Construction Safety and Health
- NCCER – CHST and CSST
- ISO 45001 – Auditor