Helping shape our next generation of business leaders and driving investment in the city
Age: 32
Job Title: Vice-President of Finance for Nelson Lumber and President of the Association for Corporate Growth’s local chapter
When Andrew O’Dell tries to sum up his life choices in one word, he lands on unconventional. Originally from Oromocto, New Brunswick — a military town of just 9,000 people — O’Dell bucked the path many of his peers followed and moved west to Edmonton in 2014 to pursue a B.Comm. at the University of Alberta. He quickly fell in love with the city’s “big small town” character and made it his home, transitioning from chartered professional accounting to mergers and acquisitions, primarily in the tech and energy industries.
“I get bored really fast,” he admits — a trait that’s driven his career pivots. In 2022, he made the leap into private equity with Edmonton-based KV Capital, which eventually led to his current role as vice-president of finance at Nelson Lumber, a long-standing Alberta company recently acquired by the equity fund. He never imagined he’d be “slinging lumber,” as he puts it, but the challenges and constant change are exactly what keep him engaged.
That same energy fuels his work outside the office. For the past two years, O’Dell has led the Edmonton chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth, working to attract capital and raise the city’s profile as a destination for business. In that time, he’s more than doubled the chapter’s young membership, helping grow a network of emerging leaders. His flagship initiative, the annual Growth Summit, brings 200 business leaders and dealmakers — with collective net worths in the hundreds of millions — to Edmonton’s doorstep.
After more than a decade here, O’Dell has seen the city weather economic booms and busts but one thing he says has remained constant is Edmonton’s close-knit business community. For someone who left a small town behind, that sense of connection has made all the difference.
This article appears in the November/December 2025 issue of Edify
