EDL Announces New Board of Directors
Mar 19, 2020
For Immediate Release
Lethbridge, AB…The Board of Directors for Economic Development Lethbridge (EDL) has announced the 2020 Board as confirmed at the Annual General Meeting held on March 18. The organization would like to announce that Sandra Mintz, Chief Executive Officer for Lethbridge Family Services, will serve as the Board President and Chair for the 2020-2021 term.
“I am thrilled about having the opportunity to work with a great organization in Economic Development Lethbridge and a Board of Directors that has a wealth of knowledge, experience and diversity” says Mintz. “EDL helps build relationships internally with partners and organizations within our community, which is now more important than ever, as the community will be looking to organizations like EDL and others to help our local and regional economy through this global pandemic. It will take hard work and dedication, but with the help of EDL, the Board of Directors, local, provincial and national partners and our business community we will all come together to help one another as best we can.”
Economic Development Lethbridge is an arm’s length organization, supported by the City of Lethbridge, governed by a 31-member volunteer Board of Directors and managed by a team of professionals dedicated to promoting economic prosperity in Lethbridge. EDL Board Members are drawn from a diverse cross-section of the community with the intention of best accomplishing the mandate and objectives of the organization.
In 2019, Board members provided guidance and leadership to many important initiatives including the launch of the Lethbridge: Brighter Together community brand, continued regional partnerships to support investment attraction and entrepreneur development, consultation on the Team Lethbridge mission to Edmonton and conducting a governance and modernization review to expand the Board from 25 to 31 members in an attempt to better represent key sectors not accounted for in the original 25-member Board of Directors set back at inception in 2002.
In 2019 Economic Development Lethbridge was recognized with a Marketing Canada Award/Brand Identity for Lethbridge: Brighter Together by the Economic Developers Association of Canada and CEO Trevor Lewington was awarded the Economic Developer of the Year Award at the Economic Developers Alberta Awards of Excellence.
“2019 was an exciting year for EDL, we had many inquiries from businesses looking to choose Lethbridge as a place to start, move or expand their operations. With the assistance from our Board and partners we managed to help 6 new businesses ultimately choose Lethbridge for their investment, we supported 21 existing businesses with growth and expansion plans while supporting 66 entrepreneur events with over 950 attendees” explains EDL CEO, Trevor Lewington. “The work that now needs to be accomplished is assessing where we can best help support and guide Lethbridge as we work our way through uncertain times. EDL has always been an organization that connects people, either to other people, resources or funding options and our Board of Directors will now be relied upon even more to help us deliver connections and information to our business community and partners when they need it the most. The world is changing daily…even hourly and our Board of Directors knows this and has been fully supportive of our organization pivoting from some key initiates planned for 2020 to focus our planning to helping Lethbridge, the Lethbridge economy and the people who work and live in our city”
-end-
For more information, contact:
Trevor Lewington, CEO
Economic Development Lethbridge
trevor@chooselethbridge.ca
403.331.0022
The 2020 Board of Directors (in alphabetical order by sector) is:
Board Chair, Community & Social Services: Sandra Mintz
Vice Chair: Mayor Chris Spearman
Past President: Jenn Schmidt-Rempel
Agriculture/Agri-Food: Christine King
Airport**: Vacant
Arts, Culture & Entertainment: Amanda Berg
Chamber of Commerce: Cyndi Vos
City of Lethbridge Councillor: Mark Campbell
City of Lethbridge Manager: Jody Meli
Construction: Vacant
Education**: Vacant
Environment: Kathleen Sheppard
Financial & Professional Services: Terry Belisle*
Health & Wellness**: Melissa Smith*
Hospitality & Tourism: Michelle Day
Indigenous: Katie-Jo Rabbit
Industrial & Manufacturing: Adriana Mercader
Lethbridge College: Sandra Dufresne
Lethbridge County: Klaas Vander Veen
Multicultural: Jan Gong*
Non-profit: Diana Sim*
Real Estate & Development: Robert Kinniburgh
Regional Economic Development Agencies: Peter Casurella*
Retail: Kevin Brees
Sector-At-Large**: Vacant
Seniors: Don McInnes
Sports/Recreation: Todd Caughlin
Supply Chain & Logistics: Brad Beerling
Technology: Chris Stasiuk
University of Lethbridge: Dr. Kerry Godfrey*
Young Entrepreneur**: Timothy Hachkowski*
Young Professional**: Ian Andrews*
*indicates new board member
**indicates new board sector
Lethbridge, AB…The Board of Directors for Economic Development Lethbridge (EDL) has announced the 2020 Board as confirmed at the Annual General Meeting held on March 18. The organization would like to announce that Sandra Mintz, Chief Executive Officer for Lethbridge Family Services, will serve as the Board President and Chair for the 2020-2021 term.
“I am thrilled about having the opportunity to work with a great organization in Economic Development Lethbridge and a Board of Directors that has a wealth of knowledge, experience and diversity” says Mintz. “EDL helps build relationships internally with partners and organizations within our community, which is now more important than ever, as the community will be looking to organizations like EDL and others to help our local and regional economy through this global pandemic. It will take hard work and dedication, but with the help of EDL, the Board of Directors, local, provincial and national partners and our business community we will all come together to help one another as best we can.”
Economic Development Lethbridge is an arm’s length organization, supported by the City of Lethbridge, governed by a 31-member volunteer Board of Directors and managed by a team of professionals dedicated to promoting economic prosperity in Lethbridge. EDL Board Members are drawn from a diverse cross-section of the community with the intention of best accomplishing the mandate and objectives of the organization.
In 2019, Board members provided guidance and leadership to many important initiatives including the launch of the Lethbridge: Brighter Together community brand, continued regional partnerships to support investment attraction and entrepreneur development, consultation on the Team Lethbridge mission to Edmonton and conducting a governance and modernization review to expand the Board from 25 to 31 members in an attempt to better represent key sectors not accounted for in the original 25-member Board of Directors set back at inception in 2002.
In 2019 Economic Development Lethbridge was recognized with a Marketing Canada Award/Brand Identity for Lethbridge: Brighter Together by the Economic Developers Association of Canada and CEO Trevor Lewington was awarded the Economic Developer of the Year Award at the Economic Developers Alberta Awards of Excellence.
“2019 was an exciting year for EDL, we had many inquiries from businesses looking to choose Lethbridge as a place to start, move or expand their operations. With the assistance from our Board and partners we managed to help 6 new businesses ultimately choose Lethbridge for their investment, we supported 21 existing businesses with growth and expansion plans while supporting 66 entrepreneur events with over 950 attendees” explains EDL CEO, Trevor Lewington. “The work that now needs to be accomplished is assessing where we can best help support and guide Lethbridge as we work our way through uncertain times. EDL has always been an organization that connects people, either to other people, resources or funding options and our Board of Directors will now be relied upon even more to help us deliver connections and information to our business community and partners when they need it the most. The world is changing daily…even hourly and our Board of Directors knows this and has been fully supportive of our organization pivoting from some key initiates planned for 2020 to focus our planning to helping Lethbridge, the Lethbridge economy and the people who work and live in our city”
-end-
For more information, contact:
Trevor Lewington, CEO
Economic Development Lethbridge
trevor@chooselethbridge.ca
403.331.0022
The 2020 Board of Directors (in alphabetical order by sector) is:
Board Chair, Community & Social Services: Sandra Mintz
Vice Chair: Mayor Chris Spearman
Past President: Jenn Schmidt-Rempel
Agriculture/Agri-Food: Christine King
Airport**: Vacant
Arts, Culture & Entertainment: Amanda Berg
Chamber of Commerce: Cyndi Vos
City of Lethbridge Councillor: Mark Campbell
City of Lethbridge Manager: Jody Meli
Construction: Vacant
Education**: Vacant
Environment: Kathleen Sheppard
Financial & Professional Services: Terry Belisle*
Health & Wellness**: Melissa Smith*
Hospitality & Tourism: Michelle Day
Indigenous: Katie-Jo Rabbit
Industrial & Manufacturing: Adriana Mercader
Lethbridge College: Sandra Dufresne
Lethbridge County: Klaas Vander Veen
Multicultural: Jan Gong*
Non-profit: Diana Sim*
Real Estate & Development: Robert Kinniburgh
Regional Economic Development Agencies: Peter Casurella*
Retail: Kevin Brees
Sector-At-Large**: Vacant
Seniors: Don McInnes
Sports/Recreation: Todd Caughlin
Supply Chain & Logistics: Brad Beerling
Technology: Chris Stasiuk
University of Lethbridge: Dr. Kerry Godfrey*
Young Entrepreneur**: Timothy Hachkowski*
Young Professional**: Ian Andrews*
*indicates new board member
**indicates new board sector