Expert guidance from seasoned leaders

Building the best company with the best products and services in our field requires a continual flow of knowledge, leadership and insight. Solacom is proud to bring proven leaders onto our team for their expert guidance and advice as we continually seek to grow our market presence with best in class solutions for customers around the world.

Board of Directors

H.C. (Skip) Armstrong CD – Major General (Retired)

Major General Skip Armstrong served with the Canadian Forces for almost 35 years. As an Air Force officer he had multiple operational tours and staff appointments. His command appointments included the Instrument Check Pilot School; 429 Squadron; the NATO E3-A Operations Wing; Canadian Forces Base Winnipeg; and the Canadian Forces Training System.

Following retirement General Armstrong was employed by General Dynamics Canada in Calgary from 1997 until 2003 as the Director Business Development and Director Homeland Security.

General Armstrong has extensive experience in governance, currently serving as Chairman of the Board, Solacom Technologies, past Chairman of the Board of Governors, Southern Alberta Canadian Corps of Commissionaires, past member of the Sharing Our Military Heritage campaign and a past Director of the Air Force Museum Society of Alberta. He was recently appointed the Honorary Colonel of 429 Squadron in Trenton.

Franz Plangger – Senior Management Advisor

Franz Plangger is the founder of Solacom Technologies and was co-founder of CML Technologies in 1982. During his tenure at CML, Mr. Plangger spun off two new companies in 1998, Versatel Networks and Solacom Technologies. Upon the sale of CML Technologies to Patricof and Company in 1999, Mr. Plangger took over as CEO of Solacom. Under his leadership, Solacom grew to a company of 95 employees and revenues of $16 million for the fiscal year 2009. In July 2009 Solacom sold its Air Traffic Control business unit to Harris Corporation, and focused on mission critical solutions for the public safety and military/security markets. Mr. Plangger retired from his position as CEO of Solacom in September 2010, but continues to play an active role at Solacom as Senior Management Advisor.

Apart from being Senior Management Advisor and Board Member of Solacom, he is also a Member of the Boards of Directors of the Centre de Developpement d’Entreprises Technologiques located in Gatineau and a member of the investment advisory board to the City of Gatineau (CLD Gatineau).Mr. Plangger holds a Master's of Electrical Engineering degree, obtained in 1978 from Carleton University.

Gilles Jolivet – Partner, BDR Capital

Gilles Jolivet joined BDR in May 2008. Mr. Jolivet is a telecommunications engineer with over 20 years of experience in broadcast, satellite, wireless and data transmission. He worked for several years for a large engineering consulting firm, and as Director of Engineering for an important broadcast group prior to joining the National Research Council of Canada as an advisor to small technology businesses. He joined the Solidarity Fund QFL as Investment Manager in 2000. Mr. Jolivet currently oversees 5 of BDR’s portfolio companies and served and serves on the boards of numerous telecommunication and technology firms. In addition to a degree in engineering, Mr. Jolivet holds an MBA (Finance).

Claude Vachet – Managing Partner, Kirchner Investment Management

Claude Vachet has more than 20 years of operational, venture capital and transactional experience. He has served on the boards of several high technologies companies and has worked with companies in seed, start-up and expansion stages, in turnaround situations and completed an extensive number of exits through strategic sales, IPO, MBO and secondary transactions.

Prior to joining Kirchner Private Capital Group, Mr. Vachet was a Managing Partner at Multiple Capital where he managed a portfolio of venture capital investments for Coller Capital. He was part of the management team who realized the largest Canadian secondary acquisition of a Venture Capital fund, the Innovatech Montreal privatization transaction for a total consideration of $200M. Previously, Mr. Vachet was Vice-President of the IT and Communications Portfolio at Innovatech where he managed a team of investment professionals and a portfolio of 42 early stage companies. He holds an MBA from HEC Montreal and a Chemical Engineering Degree from Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal.