Jim Bertram grew up on outdoor rinks and ball diamonds in a small Saskatchewan village. Decades later he founded Keyera Corp, which the Southern Alberta Business Hall of Fame biography puts at about $10 billion in market capitalization. The route ran through junior hockey and five oil and gas employers before Gulf Canada spun Keyera out.
From Piapot Rinks to the University of Calgary
Bertram was born in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, on March 28, 1956, the fourth of five children, and spent his early years in the village of Piapot, where he played baseball in the summer and hockey in the winter. At sixteen he left home to play junior hockey, an experience he credits with teaching him hard work, teamwork and leadership. He earned a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Calgary, where he also played hockey. After five months playing professional hockey in Germany, he came back to Calgary and began his oil and gas career, moving through progressively senior roles at Aquitaine, Canterra, Poco, Amerada Hess and Gulf Canada.
Founding Keyera Corp
Keyera emerged out of Gulf Canada in 2003, built around gas processing and midstream assets in Central Alberta, Edmonton and Fort Saskatchewan, with about 300 employees. Bertram was the founding President and CEO, and the company went public that year at a market capitalization of about $500 million. The premise was that a standalone midstream company focused on gathering, processing and moving natural gas liquids could do better than one division inside a larger integrated company. According to the Hall of Fame biography, Keyera now has more than 1,500 employees and a market capitalization of about $10 billion. Bertram is Board Chair, and he also sits on the boards of Methanex Corporation and Emera Inc., after earlier seats at several small exploration and production companies. His energy career spans more than 45 years.
A Company Culture Built Around Giving Back
Under Bertram, Keyera became a supporter of STARS Air Ambulance, which serves rural communities and industry workers, and of the United Way, a partnership that continues today through high employee involvement.
Bertram’s full biography is on the Southern Alberta Business Hall of Fame website.
