The Grande Prairie and District Chamber of Commerce has six new members on its board of directors, and a new man at the helm. Dennis Bell of Northstar Energy has taken on the role of Chair as of the chamber’s AGM last week.
Bell has lived in Grande Prairie for the past three decades, and has been a chamber member for almost as long. The health and safety manager says he’s seen the city bounce back strong from bad economic years.
“We moved up here 30 years ago for opportunity and Grande Prairie has never disappointed my family. There’s so much opportunity for residents here; it’s a strong local economy and just a great place to be raise a family and be part of.”
While the province hasn’t yet fully turned a corner after a couple of tough years, Bell says there’s been promising news with last week’s pipeline announcement. In the meantime, he sees the chamber as playing a big role behind the scenes in the local business community.
“We advocate for our members and we get involved with governments from the local level, provincial and even federally and they seem to listen to a chamber because it is such a strong group of local business people.”
Bell says one of his priorities will be making sure the city is prepared for the opening of the new hospital. He used to own a trucking company and has been involved with Nitehawk Year-Round Adventure Park, the Kinsmen and the Grande Prairie Petroleum Association.
Bell replaces Felix Seiler, who will stay on as Past Chair. Chris Seppola-Podsada has moved up to first vice-chair and Dan Wong to second. Six directors have retired this year, leaving room for new members on the executive. They include Becky Bozarth, Cheryl Budjak, Eunice Friesen, Larry Gibson, Brooks Hoffos, and Scott Roessler.
Wade Pilat and Cheryl Weaver have also been elected to a second term. Directors Jesse Arduini, Melanie Bell-Fournier, Tertius Genis, Frederic Grandmaison, Jason Miller, Yad Minhas, and Glen Vipod remain on.