10/06/2026
2026 CLARE HAYES AWARD WINNER 🏆
It’s my honour to announce DAN GRAHAM as this year’s Clare Hayes Award recipient!
Dan has been around for quite some time… and the HR archives are a little sketchy to piece together. But with some sleuthing, it appears Dan started here with UPI as an Energy truck driver on October 9th, 2001. And in August 2003, UPI and Sunderland Co-op came together as a Joint Venture and Dan officially became a Sunderland Co-op employee. In those early JV days, Dan quickly showed his work effort, attention to every detail, organization, and his willingness to learn, improve, and take on additional training, mentoring, and roles of increasing responsibility. At that time, Dan was reporting to the Energy Manager, Blaine Thompson, and when Blaine was promoted into the GM role in December 2010, Dan was Blaine’s obvious choice to be promoted and succeed him as Energy Division Manager.
If you get to know Dan, you’ll quickly observe that he’s very driven. High output, high functioning, and high expectations of the team around him. These are towering strengths of Dan’s and really are the driving force behind the growth and success of our Energy Division. As well, technology and tools are sought out, embraced and implemented. All of this is strategic; to grow the business, improve efficiency, profitability, and customer service. I need to emphasize that last point… Customer service is paramount for Dan, and by default for his team. Our customer’s satisfaction is stellar, as Dan sets this bar very high and it is the main contributor to the brand recognition Energy has in our territory and is why new customers continue to seek us out after their energy provider lets them down.
Something I’ve observed about Dan in my years here, is that he is not afraid to tackle “the new”, “the unknown”, “the tough task at hand”. I love that about Dan. And aside from Energy’s incredible results, this is the main driver for Dan receiving the Clare Hayes Award this year. Under Dan’s leadership, Energy has undergone major transformation this year. Incredible volume transformation, yes. But that growth prompted Dan to make several major changes in Lindsay. A full re-organization of his team, moving staff around to suit their skillsets, adding critical roles… all so that his team can better meet the needs of this growing business. As well, a full remodelling and renovation of the existing Lindsay office and warehouse to accommodate the new org structure, but also to improve the pride of place and professional appearance we want and need. And lastly, the propane storage expansion project that will double our capacity, allowing for future sustained growth. This has been a large project, with most of the heavy lifting happening last fiscal, now in its final stages and set to go-live at Thanksgiving.
Another asset of Dan’s make-up remains his humility. Absolutely coachable, wants to learn, wants to become enriched and the best he can be… And he pours that enrichment right back into his division and team. He won’t take credit for the success of the Energy Division or this award but instead will point to his team that made it possible. Another asset and indicator of a solid leader.
I’m very proud of what Dan, his team, and the entire Energy Division have accomplished this past fiscal. Everyone played a vital part in this success. But at the helm, Dan was the catalyst agent who was leading that charge.
Please join me in congratulating Dan for this achievement and a sincere thank-you for his contribution to our business.
- Peter Stanbury, General Manager
