The Grande Prairie & District Chamber of Commerce has named a new board chair. At the group’s Annual General Meeting on December 5th, Larry Gibson was given the role for 2020.
Gibson first joined the chamber board of directors in 2011. He later became an executive in 2016 which put him on the path to becoming chairperson. He says it was a long road but now that it’s here he can’t wait to get started.
“I’m excited about it; we have a great board and a great staff at the chamber…We’re in a good position to move forward and I’m looking forward to working with everybody in the area to make our business community a stronger community.”
Gibson has a background in electrical utilities, spending 30 years with ATCO Electric. Most recently, he became the Business Development Specialist at Lee’s Sheet Metal. He says working in that type of industry involves knowing a lot of different people which will help in this new role.
“You network with a lot of businesses; large industrial right down to your single small businesses as well, so you know you’re always associating and hanging out with the business community and trying to find better ways for them to make ends meet.”
Looking ahead to his term, Gibson wants to continue to build on the relationships that have been created in the past with different levels of government to make sure the business community in the city is heard. The Chamber of Commerce has around 1,300 members in Grande Prairie.