Chair post in Canada has a certain Ring to it.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey
• Position: Occupation overview

As a golfer, Grant M. Ring confesses to be a "perpetual learner." As a financial executive in Canada, the incoming FEI Canada chair for 2008-9 has clearly learned how to make himself indispensable to the organization.

In nine years since joining the chapter in Regina, Saskatchewan, Ring has been a chapter director and president and rotated through a series of posts with the national organization, including Treasurer, Vice President of Operations and Vice Chair. He says he took a liking to the people and the organization, and realized that "becoming more involved in the leadership was rewarding and valuable."

"What got me going first was the conference in Vancouver [in 1999]--I met a lot of Americans, and they were very receptive," he said in a recent telephone interview. "These were people who were jogging in the morning, and they asked me if I would come and go jogging with them. The reception was very positive."

Now acting vice president and CFO of SaskPower--the major utility in the province--and CEO of its North-Point Energy Solutions subsidiary, Ring has risen through the ranks at SaskPower since joining as a fixed-asset accountant in 1990.

The $1.5 billion-revenue company is headquartered in Regina, and he's worked in the home office his entire career.

Like many career financial executives, his trip to the CFO post has taken him through a series of progressive steps: from assistant controller to acting controller, treasurer, and a stint in 1999-2000 as manager of business and financial planning, where he was responsible for developing the company's five-year plan, financial forecasts and balanced scorecard. Prior to joining SaskPower, he was a cost accountant with Genstar Materials and a man-ager of plant accounting for Federal Pioneer Ltd., a maker of electrical supplies like switching gear.

NorthPoint Energy Solutions is an energy management and trading company with about C$130 million in sales that also generates C$300 million-C$400 million a year in internal volume to the parent company. While it has its own CFO, "We had to split the group off because in Canada, you can't have transmission and trading in the same legal entity," Ring notes.

Over the years, Ring also developed substantial expertise and interest in pension plans, and has presented at pension conferences across Canada. He has been a board member since 2003 and vice chair since 2004 of the Saskatchewan Public Employees Pension Board, and chairs the smaller SaskPower...