Lynda Moffat breathed a sigh of relief this week as a new St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce president and CEO was announced.
Lynda Moffat breathed a sigh of relief this week as a new St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce president and CEO was announced.
Jennifer McCurdy, who currently serves as vice president of operations for the chamber, will begin her new role Jan. 1, 2017. Moffat is currently president and CEO.
“I'm honoured that the board has put their trust in me and that I'm able to carry-on and work with the chamber,” said McCurdy.
McCurdy has been with the chamber for nine years. She served as member services director until August 2015, when she was asked to take on the newly created role of vice president of operations.
McCurdy was the team lead when the chamber created the Visitor Welcome Centre two years ago. The centre won Alberta Visitor Centre of the Year in 2015. She was also responsible for determining the new farmers' market layout during this summer's construction period along St. Anne Street.
For the past year, McCurdy has overseen the day-to-day operations of the chamber from events to member services to communications.
Lynda Moffat, who will stay on until the end of December to aid with McCurdy's transition, announced her retirement in April.
Moffat is credited with elevating the chamber to its current status. When she took the reins a decade ago, the chamber only had a couple of employees. Now it has several staff, and is a well-respected body not only in the community, but across the country.
McCurdy hopes to continue this legacy by growing the chamber's membership and staying relevant to the needs of St. Albert's business community.
Moffat believes the chamber is in good hands and is excited to begin some initiatives she previously put on hold due to her retirement, such as the creation of an indigenous relations committee and a Villeneuve Airport task force and the establishment of a chamber building in the Perron District.
“I was hesitant to start something up and then be gone,” she said.
Since McCurdy is already employed with the chamber the two will undertake these initiatives together.
Most importantly McCurdy will take over advocating for the twinning and extension of Ray Gibbon Drive.
“Especially with our long-term plans to run the LRT along St. Albert Trail… we need it to show up somewhere in their budget,” said Moffat. “It's somewhere in their list but it's not funded.”
