Turtleford's Dave Smith has the distinction of being the first Canadian recipient of an international Mensa award and of 110,000 worldwide Mensa members, the first Mensan to receive two of them.
Both have been awarded to Smith by the Mensa Education and Research Foundation and will be presented at the joint U.S./Canada Annual Gathering in Boston in July.
The International Intellectual Benefits to Society Award was conferred on Smith for a combination of his professional and personal life.
A professional training consultant, he started Canada Training Group in Calgary in 1980. In 1995 he relocated the company to his hometown of Turtleford, population 525. In partnership with his son, Rob, and daughter-in-law, Jenny, they manage staff and projects throughout Canada and internationally. Canada Training Group has trained over 23,000 people in six countries and five languages with Dave personally having trained over 7,000. He is a work group leader with the Canadian Standards Association and helped develop CSA Z463, Canada's forthcoming electrical maintenance standard.
A respected electrical safety authority, he has been published over 70 times in five national magazines, and supporters believe his efforts have changed the behaviour of thousands of workers. A lifelong community volunteer he has been a musical volunteer at regional nursing homes since 1997. In 2014 he will lead a group of musical friends into nursing homes 40 times.
The Copper Black International Award for Creative Achievement has been bestowed upon Smith for the development of three mobile electrical training labs that are unique in North America.
These labs enable Canada Training Group to provide advanced electrical testing, troubleshooting and safety skills to Canadian workers that continue to save lives while reducing accidents, equipment and systems failures, according to a press release.
"Building a Better World" is the mandate of Canada Training Group, which incubated as a daydream of a 13-year old-school student, when Smith first envisioned a company operating around the globe from Turtleford.
Smith is quick to note that, although these are personal awards, he is grateful to the many others who have joined in his visions.
