Team Trusscore

Leadership Team

Meet the leadership team behind Trusscore, filled with passion and driving our disruption

Dave Caputo

CEO

Joel Koops

Executive Vice President, Corporate Development & Distribution

Steve Bosman

Chief Manufacturing Officer

Chris Marshall

Vice President of Marketing

Flavia Nadjmico

Associate Vice President of Finance & Accounting

Sturt Carter

Associate Vice President of People & Culture

Ryan Gerakopulos

Director of Research & Development

Marcus Ziesmann

Director of Manufacturing Operations

Team Trusscore Members

Hear the stories from some of our team members from across North America, people who have built successful careers and who help us achieve our goals every day.

Rana Ahmad

When Trusscore material scientist Rana Ahmad saw the job ad that would change the trajectory of her life and career, she couldn’t believe her eyes.

It was October 2021, and Rana was nearing the end of her Master of Science degree at University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa, Ontario. She knew the time had come to find a job but wasn’t optimistic of finding something that would align with her highly specialized field of study – electrochromic materials – materials that change color when they’re subjected to electrical voltage.

And that’s when she came across an online advertisement from Trusscore.

“I just laughed,” she recalls. “I thought to myself, this is exactly what I do.

“This is me.”

Today, Rana is working full-time with Trusscore’s R&D department out of the Velocity Lab at Communitech in Kitchener, Ontario as a materials scientist, and pioneering some of the most cutting-edge technology in the building and construction industry – a project to make walls change color with a swipe of a smartphone – creating, in effect, digital paint.

“This is literally the perfect job for me,” she says.

And not only has Rana been able to find an ideal career fit, she found an employer willing to support her while she finishes up her master’s degree.

“I thought it might be a big problem,” she says, of the need to finish her studies. “Instead, I’ve been supported by everyone, and able to work and finish my studies. Not many companies are going to do that for you.”

Rana is among a wave of women making their mark today in STEM – science, technology, engineering, math – fields that once upon a time were dominated by men.

At Trusscore, she says she was welcomed immediately as an integral member of the team and given a meaty, important role, one that played to her strengths and field of expertise and one that has a real-world application.

“I like working on tangible projects,” she explains. “We’re creating something that hopefully will end up in people’s hands, that people can purchase in a store and improve their lives.”

And the culture at Trusscore – respectful, flexible, and with an ingrained home-work balance – is one that suits her personality.

“I don't think that it could be a better fit,” she says. “It’s a very understanding and flexible environment. There’s an acknowledgement that work isn’t everything, and that people have personal lives outside of work. Everyone generally seems happy and without that heavy-duty stress.”

Mitch Voralek

When Mitch Voralek graduated from university and set out to find a full-time job, he had to additionally find a way to accommodate his rather unique full-time side hustle.

Mitch Voralek is a professional rugby player, a fullback and winger with the Toronto Arrows, of the Major Rugby League.

For more than a year, now, Voralek has worked as a mechatronics engineer with the Trusscore Research & Development team, even while juggling a schedule that involves travelling across North America with his rugby teammates, who are the only Canadian entry in the 13-team MRL. Not to mention the grind of travelling an hour or more on the 401 highway back and forth from Waterloo to Toronto for practice sessions and home games.

Led the Warriors

“It was pretty busy for a time during the rugby season,” Voralek admits. “But things have eased off now that the Arrows season has ended. I’m just now getting caught up with some of the Trusscore projects I’ve been working on.”

Voralek, 25, started playing rugby in high school, at Waterloo Collegiate Institute, and in 2016, after graduation, was invited to play for University of Waterloo Warriors, UW being the school Voralek had elected to attend due to its renowned program in mechatronics engineering.

In each of his four seasons at Waterloo, Voralek led the Warriors in scoring and was named an Ontario University Athletics all-star. He has played at the national team level with the Canada Maple Leafs Sevens national development program and, in 2019, was named Rugby Ontario’s Senior Provincial Player of the Year. All that brought him to the attention of the Arrows, who offered a pro contract in September, 2021.

Volarek's affiliation with Trusscore began when he was in university. Every mechatronics engineering student at University of Waterloo must complete a practical engineering project called “Capstone.” Trusscore, which has several UW grads in its Research & Development department who themselves were required to complete a Capstone project, meaning they were well-acquainted with what it involved, invited Voralek to work on something called “the hot knife” project. The aim was to find a more efficient, less wasteful, and energy friendly way to trim lengths of Trusscore products.

Dual career tracks

That affiliation eventually led to a job offer – but there was the potentially thorny issue of how to juggle a full-time job and a nearly full-time athletic career and make it work for everyone.

A series of meetings ensued, involving Trusscore Director of Research & Development Ryan Gerakopulos, Director of People and Culture Sturt Carter, Trusscore CEO Dave Caputo, as well as Voralek, and a flexible schedule was agreed to that suited all parties.

“During the rugby season I basically tried to work four 10-hour days,” says Voralek. “I’d keep track of my hours on a spreadsheet and if I was short hours then I’d work a vacation day or so and add in some time on weekends.”

The decision by Trusscore to find a way to accommodate Voralek’s rugby schedule reflects the company’s open-minded culture and support for all its team members – a belief that a person’s extra-curricular passions are part and parcel of what makes them unique and part of the upside they bring to their workplace each day.

“I believe that your life and your career should be an adventure,” says Trusscore CEO Dave Caputo. “And if there's a chance to intersect your life and career to make your dreams come true, you should go for it, all the time.

“Mitch, like rugby, like Trusscore products, is incredibly tough and resilient. And I like the idea that he could pursue his dreams while still being part of a Trusscore adventure. It’s a fantastic thing, and one we completely support.”

Material science

The R&D team at Trusscore is tasked with bringing material science to the company’s products – improving the chemistry, environmental sustainability, and enhancing performance in ways intended to make Trusscore products leaders in the building materials space. R&D projects run the gamut, including researching a way to change the color of Trusscore Wall&CeilingBoard with a swipe of a smartphone.

It was that range of projects and the commitment to innovation that Voralek says attracted him to the company – that and some other key attributes.

“It’s a growing company,” he says, “And I think the company has a good heart: What it's doing from the standpoint of replacing drywall and making a more sustainable alternative, that sits nicely with me, as well.”

On the rugby pitch and off, Mitch Voralek is tackling a future as an athlete and a building materials scientist. Team Trusscore is behind him for the win.

Arnold Struyk

Arnold Struyk has been with Trusscore since the very beginning!

When Arnold joined the team 11 years ago as a night shift line worker, he ran two extruders and packaging all by himself. The Trusscore Palmerston plant has grown in numbers tremendously, and after 7 hardworking years, Arnold and his expertise have moved over to the Shipping and Receiving department.

A typical day for Arnold begins by putting away product produced on the night shift, then checking the schedule to see what loads are coming in. He picks out the trims for the outbound orders and prepares the loads for when they need to go. Lastly, he loads the trucks and fills out the pick tickets. Arnold loves what he does because he loves the people he works with. Being the social butterfly he is, Arnold values both his team and our customers. You can feel his energy as soon as you step foot in the plant.

Being a part of the team in Palmerston for as long as he has, Arnold knows how valuable he and the team are. Organization is key when running the plant, as well as knowing our products inside and out, all of which Arnold excels at. The Trusscore Way tenet he most resonates with is “Customer First,” and all the work he does shows that. Arnold always goes above and beyond to ensure our products reach our customers, even if it means staying longer to help the team achieve that.

Arnold also loves how hands-on his job is; it shows outside of his work. He loves camping and traveling with his trailer and is an avid gardener, growing various crops in his free time.

Arnold is the embodiment of the Trusscore Way. “I am proud of the Trusscore products we manufacture. Here, it’s not like a job, and I look forward to coming to work every day.”