Shareholders of BlueSky Organics are wondering what's happened to their investments, saying the Vernon soil and fertilizer company hasn't returned their calls in months.
The business appears to have shut down without reimbursing the shareholders.
The Morning Star spoke to three BlueSky shareholders about the company and their investments. Two of them spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.
Aaron Cadrin, from Saskatchewan, invested $350,000 into BlueSky around 2018, four years after the company was founded.
"They were really good for a lot of years, they were doing a lot of good things, and then it seems the last couple of years they got pretty flaky," he said.
Cadrin said his point of contact with the company was owner and CEO Mary Horvatincic. He hasn't heard from her in close to six months.
"I let a couple other shareholders know and they've been trying to call and text her...no one's gotten back to us," he said.
He says he knows several other shareholders who have also been stonewalled by the company.
Horvatincic did not answer or respond to multiple calls from The Morning Star.
BlueSky Organics' website has been taken down, and Cadrin says it's been down since at least December. BlueSky still has a Facebook page, but it hasn't been active since March 2023.
The company had a store on Kosmina Road, but it's no longer there. BlueSky used to do business in the same building as Okanagan Garden Centre, but Reese Jamieson, with the Garden Centre, said on Friday that the BlueSky store has been shut down since the winter.
Two other shareholders said they have received no response from the company regarding their investment status. One of them said he was sold an opportunity "that was going to make money," and in October 2018 he bought 100,000 shares for $10,000. He said he's been asking the company questions about his investment for a few years and has never got a satisfactory answer.
"I think it's criminal," the shareholder said.
At one point, an investor who encouraged the shareholder to buy shares told him he would be able to get his $10,000 back "if I wanted out," but his efforts to redeem his shares have been fruitless, with numerous calls left unanswered.
Another shareholder, from Alberta, told The Morning Star he purchased 400,000 shares and was told the company was supposed to go public years ago "because there were some deals made with Home Depot." He said he's tried ot get a hold of the owners numerous times to no avail, adding he's considering filing a complaint with the Alberta Securities Commission.
BlueSky Organics was originally jointly owned by Horvatincic and Matt Stromsten, who were formerly in a romantic relationship.
A 2023 BC Supreme Court decision ordered that Stromsten be removed as an authorized signing officer of BlueSky and forfeit control of the company. Justice Gary Weatherill called the shareholder dispute between Horvatincic and Stromsten "a domestic relationship gone sour."
According to the court documents, in 2020 Horvatincic got a restraining order that prevented Stromsten from attending BlueSky's office, as well as her home. Stromsten responded by filing a notice of civil claim in 2021 seeking "shareholder oppression remedies" and damages from being wrongfully dismissed from the company. Horvatincic filed a counterclaim a month and a half later, and two days after that she sought an injunction preventing Stromsten from accessing BlueSky bank accounts and emails, and having virtually any other involvement with the company.
"The order declared (Horvatincic) to be BlueSky's sole operator to the plaintiff's exclusion," court documents state.
Stromsten fought the injunction. In the BC Supreme Court decision, Weatherill noted that Horvatincic's lawyer had claimed Stromsten was "helping himself" to money from the BlueSky corporate bank account to pay for his personal credit card, but the judge said that in fact the credit card was largely used to cover corporate expenses which had been authorized by Horvatincic.
Weatherill allowed for Stromsten to be removed as an authorized signing officer of BlueSky and prevented him from transacting with or accessing any BlueSky bank accounts, but set aside the rest of the injunction.
The court case paints a picture of financial strife at the top of the BlueSky ladder, and there are other indications of the company's possible insolvency.
According to court documents, BlueSky defaulted on roughly $12,600 in taxes in January 2025.
In September 2023, Horizon Capital Corporation filed a petition against Horvatincic, Stromsten and the company seeking a declaration that their mortgage was in default, according to court records.
Numerous other court filings name BlueSky and its owners as defendants.
In an interview with The Morning Star in 2021, BlueSky said it was co-owned by Horvatincic and Sean Shepherd.
Last year, BlueSky was fined more than $24,000 for failing to comply with a WorkSafeBC order. It is unclear if BlueSky has paid the fine.
BlueSky's soil products were catered for cannabis producers, and in 2021 the company took home the Best Growing Media award at the Grow-up National Cannabis Awards.
