Greg Lefebre - President & CEO
Greg graduated in 1976 with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta in Edmonton. He articled with the chartered accountant firm of Deloitte Haskins & Sells until 1978. He then joined Miller McClelland Chartered Accountants, a local Alberta firm with offices in Edmonton and Calgary. In 1983 Greg left public practice and became the Vice President of Finance for a company involved in the development of retail shopping centres and the grocery retail business. In 1988 he joined United Management in Edmonton and became the Senior Development Manager of the Land Division which in 1992 was the largest land developer in Edmonton based on production and sales volume.
Greg was then hired by Apex in 1992 as Senior Development Manager and he relocated to Calgary. In 1995, Greg was appointed Vice President Development and in 1999 was appointed Senior Vice President and then became Chief Operating Officer of the Company in 2003. Greg has been instrumental in developing over 8,000 lots in Calgary and Edmonton in the past 14 years.
Greg has also served two terms as the Vice Chairman of the Urban Development Institute of Alberta.
Lance Floer - Chief Operating Officer
Lance graduated in 1984 with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calgary. He articled for two years with the CA firm of Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co. Lance spent the next 5 years with a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) consulting firm and was appointed Vice President, Sales and Marketing in 1990. During that time, he was involved in the implementation of GIS and Automated Mapping / Facilities Management systems for clients in the petroleum, government, and utility sectors in Canada, the US, Europe and the Middle East.
Lance entered the new home construction industry in 1992 as an Area Manager for Homes by Jayman and became Jayman’s acting Marketing Manager in 1994. He moved to Excel Homes in 1995 as Sales and Marketing Manager. Lance was part of the management team that led Excel to a CHBA National Grand Sam Award and a CHBA National Best Sales and Marketing Team Award in 1996. Lance left Excel in 1997 to pursue other business interests, and rejoined the company in 2004. Lance’s responsibilities include managing Excel’s sales, construction and service teams, key trade and supplier relationships, developer liaison, and working as a member of Excel’s multi-disciplinary product development team.
Jeff Smyth - Chief Financial Officer
Jeff graduated from Laurentian University in Ontario with a Bachelor of Commerce Degree (Honours) in 1994. He began his career in accounting with a national freight transportation company based in northern Ontario. Shortly after earning his CMA professional accounting designation in 1997 he entered the forest products industry as an Accounting Supervisor for a major pulp and paper manufacturer.
Over the next 9 years he held progressively senior roles dealing with a wide range of operational and strategic issues within forestry, pulp and paper, and wood products. In 2005, as Divisional Controller for Tembec’s Canadian forestry operations he chaired a senior task force that improved the profitability of 3 divisions in Ontario and Quebec. Shortly after, he relocated to Calgary as the Corporate Controller for a joint venture between Tembec and SGF Rexfor that manufactured and sold engineered wood products in Canada and the United States.
Jeff joined Excel Homes in 2007 as Vice President of Finance and was appointed to the position of Chief Financial Officer in 2009. In addition to leading Excel’s Finance and IT teams, he also works closely with external stakeholders to ensure the company’s financing needs are met.
Ralph Smith - Vice-President, Customer Care
Ralph graduated from the University of Calgary in 1977 with a Bachelor of Commerce Degree. Before moving into the housing industry he worked in management positions for companies such as the Royal Bank, Xerox and Digital Equipment.
In 1992 he joined Elite Homes as an Area Manager, achieving Rookie of the Year status at that year’s SAM Awards. Ralph moved back into management in 1999 as the Sales Manager for Today’s Homes and was promoted to General Manager in 2004. During his time with that builders group, Ralph was part of a team that received several Awards of Excellence, SAM awards for design and a Customer Choice SAM Award. In 2005, Ralph joined Centrex Homes as Vice President of Operations, which has subsequently evolved into his current position of Vice President, Customer Care for Excel and Centrex Homes.
Currently, Ralph has completed second year as a member of the CHBA-CR Board of Directors and also sat on the Built Green™ Committee. During his 17 years in the industry he has served two years on both the CRHBA/CREB Partnership Committee and the Economic Research Committee, and one year on the Sales and Marketing Committee.
Mike Forsyth - General Manager
Mike graduated in 1997 with a Civil Engineering Diploma from SAIT. He worked for a technical consulting firm for a brief period before entering the construction industry.
Mike joined Excel Homes in 1998 as an Estimator. He was rapidly promoted to Senior Estimator and left Excel in 2002 to pursue other interests. Mike rejoined the company in 2003 to head the Purchasing and Estimating departments. In 2007 he was appointed General Manager. Mike works closely with all department heads and plays a key role in trade & supplier relationships, product development, sales administration, and production activities. Mike also leads Excel’s Built Green™ program.
Mike currently sits on the CRHBA Associate Board, and is a member of the CRHBA Sustainable Building Council.
