Craig Skauge took the reins of his family's small business and transformed it into a major player in Canada's financial landscape. Along the way, he’s balanced corporate growth with industry advocacy and a strong commitment to community giving.
Photos by 2C Media
Craig Skauge
Business Administration '01
President and CEO, Olympio Trust Company
Craig Skauge can trace his career in finance back to his first MP3 player. A lifelong hip-hop fan, he recognized the disruption the little handheld listening device would bring — and that pushed him away from taking a job offer in the music industry and toward accepting his father’s invitation to work in the family business.
While his role with the Olympia Trust Company wasn’t as sexy as touring musicians around Calgary, Skauge’s business instincts took hold as he soon started to hone in on the importance of access to capital.
"Money is the lifeblood of business," he says. "If startup companies and new enterprises can't access capital, they can't succeed."
Today, Skauge is president and CEO of Olympia, and he’s helping an incredible number of those businesses find success. He says his focus wasn't on growing the company into one of the largest financial institutions in Canada outside its Big Six banks. "I just put my head down and did the work."
And work he did, not only for his clients but for the securities industry as a whole. Skauge has helped meet the sector’s evolving needs by sharing his insights during development of a new SAIT Bachelor of Business Administration program featuring Canada’s first major in Financial Technology and Innovation.
Another role for Skauge — advocacy — was sparked when he realized the need to challenge regulatory rules within Canadian capital markets. His work with Exempt Market Dealer Advisory Committees for both the Alberta and the Ontario Securities Commissions helped rewrite regulations to strike a balance between protecting investors and allowing businesses to thrive.
After four years of being told such changes were impossible, Skauge’s efforts paid off. "So often in advocacy, there are extreme positions, but there is real value in being able to see both sides, and often there is a way to make them work together.”
Wealth creation, says Skauge, is a balance, too. "There's a point where it becomes about giving back.”
For Skauge, that means supporting organizations like Dreams Take Flight (he was on its first-ever flight after surviving a brain tumour at age 11) and creating the Olympia Charitable Foundation.
"It's our own little mutual fund of charities," says Skauge. "When employees donate, my father and I match it, and the company matches that. All of a sudden, a $1,200 donation becomes almost $5,000."
While the ultimate goal is community impact, it's also about the intersection of business and humanity. "We've built a profitable company with great values and great people." Setting a good example — both at work and at home — is important to Skauge. "When my son turned nine in June, he said, 'I want you to give this to the kids,' and handed over some of his birthday money for Dreams Take Flight. I think that's pretty cool."
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SAIT is located on the traditional territories of the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) and the people of Treaty 7 which includes the Siksika, the Piikani, the Kainai, the Tsuut’ina and the Îyârhe Nakoda of Bearspaw, Chiniki and Goodstoney.
We are situated in an area the Blackfoot tribes traditionally called Moh’kinsstis, where the Bow River meets the Elbow River. We now call it the city of Calgary, which is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta.