Nexen boss Charlie Fischer's patience and long-term vision paid off in 2005, earning him the title of Business Person of the Year

... it was a year in which Fischer, his inner circle of corporate courtiers and every one of Nexen's 3,200 employees found a dozen different ways to feel good about themselves and the work they do.

After taking a long look, Alberta Venture's panel of expert judges found plenty of the same reasons. Among them:

• Frequently applauded for transparency and ethical business practices, Nexen received an important award from the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance, a national association composed of 45 wealthy and influential institutional investors.
• Taking its lead from the man at the top, Nexen reinforced its reputation as one of the country's most supportive workplaces, cracking Maclean's magazine's list of Canada's best 100 employers.
• Community initiatives remained a key corporate priority. Most recently, Fischer accepted the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology President Partnership Award for 2005 in honour of a SAIT-Nexen partnership which goes back at least 15 years. It was a point of immense personal pride for Fischer, a trained engineer and master of business administration from the University of Calgary who, along with his wife, Joanne Cuthbertson, has championed numerous education-related causes. (A highlight of that evening in early November was a heartfelt thank-you speech by Rafat Al Akhali, one of 70 Yemeni students to attend SAIT and the University of Calgary on Nexen-financed scholarships, to the benefactor he fondly called "Mr. Charlie" - this on a night when less fortunate Arab youth were setting fire to the banlieues of France.)
• Not least, the judges took note of the tireless Fischer's personal record of volunteerism, including his ongoing stint as co-chair of Alberta Climate Change Central, which serves to underscore Nexen's principled stance on environmental responsibility. Another example, among many: as co-chair (with Ann McCaig of Calgary) of the capital campaign for the new Alberta Children's Hospital, Fischer spearheaded a $50-million-plus fundraising effort.

Read the full story on the Alberta Venture website

Read Charlie's speech from the Alberta Venture Business Person of the Year Luncheon
(pdf - 41kb)

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