About Breton SmarTek
Ian McVicar – CEO, Breton SmarTek
Who We Are
At Breton SmarTek, we come to work every day because we serve and support the people who serve and support their communities every day.
We believe that listening to people who put themselves between their communities and an emergency is beyond important.
We are driven by the strength and courage of community heroes – the firefighters, the caregivers, the searchers, and the emergency responders – who do everything possible to make their communities better…safer.
We are a group of computer nerds who are also firefighters, teachers, caregivers, and programmers. We are driven by connectedness, anchored by deep roots and inspired by community.
We are located on Cape Breton Island, home of the first transatlantic wireless station. From the place that launched the wireless age, we work hard to make information sharing easier.
The Qrew
Bobby White
Lead Developer
Karen Gillis
Sales & Support
Ian McVicar
Founder & CEO
Bobby White is the virtuoso at Breton SmarTek who weaves magic into code. He is the senior developer and rock-star of the Breton SmarTek team who turns problems into solutions and pain into pleasure. Young in years and ancient in experience, he is seasoned in full-stack development. Powered by an insatiable curiosity of all things tech, he is always learning and there is no computer code that does not bow to his will. He is the perfect developer- infinitely patient (speaking to you, computer bugs), wildly creative (because that is how the coolest stuff is built) and pathologically logical (because cool stuff must still work and be efficient). When he is not weaving his coding magic, you can find him outdoors, doing outdoor things, and doting on his little sister.
Karen Gillis is the voice on the phone, the one who is very glad you called. She manages operations, which means she is the keeper of records and boss of details. It also means she does all the other jobs no one wants to do. A teacher by training, she also has more than ten years of experience in project and budget management across multiple industries, including the energy, construction and education sectors. When she is not attempting to corral kittens, you can find her (if you search very hard) knitting socks and reading books…lots of books.
Ian McVicar is the owner and President of Breton SmarTek. He is a volunteer firefighter, former Canadian military man, tech enthusiast (he won’t let us call him a nerd), and antique car lover. He holds the rank of Deputy Chief in his fire department and has more than 19 years of experience as a firefighter. He is also an innovative, technology-driven business developer with more than 25 years in corporate and non-profit sectors and possesses both technical and management experience. In a life crammed with experiences and achievements, he is most proud of having identified a need for better communication within the fire service and worked with skilled computer developers to build a solution.
Bobby White
Lead Developer
Bobby White is the virtuoso at Breton SmarTek who weaves magic into code. He is the senior developer and rock-star of the Breton SmarTek team who turns problems into solutions and pain into pleasure. Young in years and ancient in experience, he is seasoned in full-stack development. Powered by an insatiable curiosity of all things tech, he is always learning and there is no computer code that does not bow to his will. He is the perfect developer- infinitely patient (speaking to you, computer bugs), wildly creative (because that is how the coolest stuff is built) and pathologically logical (because cool stuff must still work and be efficient). When he is not weaving his coding magic, you can find him outdoors, doing outdoor things, and doting on his little sister.
Karen Gillis
Sales & Support
Karen Gillis is the voice on the phone, the one who is very glad you called. She manages operations, which means she is the keeper of records and boss of details. It also means she does all the other jobs no one wants to do. A teacher by training, she also has more than ten years of experience in project and budget management across multiple industries, including the energy, construction and education sectors. When she is not attempting to corral kittens, you can find her (if you search very hard) knitting socks and reading books…lots of books.
Ian McVicar
Founder & CEO
Ian McVicar is the owner and President of Breton SmarTek. He is a volunteer firefighter, former Canadian military man, tech enthusiast (he won’t let us call him a nerd), and antique car lover. He holds the rank of Deputy Chief in his fire department and has more than 19 years of experience as a firefighter. He is also an innovative, technology-driven business developer with more than 25 years in corporate and non-profit sectors and possesses both technical and management experience. In a life crammed with experiences and achievements, he is most proud of having identified a need for better communication within the fire service and worked with skilled computer developers to build a solution.
What We Do
We serve the people who serve us…the people who stand for us and with us.
We serve the firefighters who risk everything for the people and property they protect; the long-term care workers who comfort and protect our most vulnerable citizens; the ground search and rescue workers who leave loved ones behind to search for the lost; and, the emergency response teams members who are the best chance of making sure an emergency doesn’t become a catastrophe.
We help these unsung heroes get their messages out; we help them to monitor the response to their messages; and we help to keep them safe while they work to keep us safe.
Why We Are
We love community. We see them as places of strength and comfort, driven by the people who live in them and serve them.
In a world that, all too often, focuses on the things that are wrong, our local communities are places where it is easy to see what is right and what is good. The people that serve their communities – the firefighters, the caregivers, the emergency responders, the searchers, the rescuers – they represent the very best of our communities.
They see strengths rather than weaknesses. They build on the things that work, not the things that are broken. They are building communities from the inside out.
We build emergency solutions that support these community heroes, systems to help them communicate better when we need them the most…during emergencies when our comfort and security are threatened.
We help them to manage the things they do because they are the people who do the right thing, often the hard thing, when no one is watching.
We believe they deserve the best we can offer because they are best of us.
Made in Canada
Our applications are designed for local level emergencies and can be customized to meet your unique reporting requirements for your local and regional government or organization.
At Breton SmarTek we pride ourselves on serving those who serve our communities. Created by emergency responders for emergency personnel, Breton SmarTek provides emergency communications software systems for a variety of industries and institutions across North America.
Our applications are designed for local level emergencies and can be customized to meet organizational reporting needs as well as local and regional government requirements. Breton SmarTek takes pride in providing customers with unparalleled customer support for our software applications. Please visit the support center or contact us directly with any questions you may have.