Three people have joined the Olds & District Chamber of Commerce board of directors and two others have signed on again.
All were acclaimed during the chamber's annual general meeting March 8 at the Pomeroy Inn & Suites.
New board members are David Burchat, BMO Bank of Montreal; Vicky Barzey, Expedia Cruise Ship Centers; and Doug Purcells, Pomeroy Inn & Suites. All will be on the board for a three-year term.
Two directors have rejoined the board: Bill Hall (one-year term) and acting president Ben Stone (three-year term).
Existing directors are Judy Schlichenmayer, Torrock Sales & Services, currently the board's treasurer; Tanya McDonald, Olds College; Melissa Maschke, Key Employment Services; Britnie Cook, Staples; Doug Collie, Mountain View Publishing; Tracy Gardner, Olds Regional Exhibition; and Coun. Mary Jane Harper, appointed by the Town of Olds.
New board members will be officially welcomed and brought on board and a new executive will be chosen during the board's next meeting tomorrow (March 15).
Dean Owen, who served for a three-year term starting in 2014, retired from the board and was given a parting gift.
A parting gift was also available for former chamber president Stephen Dodwell, who resigned to take a job elsewhere. However, he was unable to be present to accept it.
During an interview with the news media, Stone praised the new board members.
"David works at a bank so he has a very good approach to financial statements and he'll be an excellent addition," he said.
"I met with Vicky personally and she's wonderful. Just in the first 10 minutes, she had a great suggestion. It's a tangible suggestion that people will see in the next month or so.
"As for Doug, I haven't had the opportunity to speak with him - apart from meeting him about a month ago. But he does seem excellent and I look forward to seeing what he has to offer, which I'm sure is plenty."
Stone also praised Hall.
"Bill is excellent," he said. "As was mentioned at the meeting, it's his 10th year on the chamber board and he serves on other boards as well.
"When it comes to procedural (matters) he is just the guy to talk to. He is very up to speed and you can always rely on him. He's always great for suggestions as well. He's excellent. It's very good news that he's coming back to the board."
Stone is sad to see Owen leave the board though.
"Dean was excellent as well. It's too bad that we're losing him, but at the same time, you can appreciate that he does have other things going on in his life," Stone said.
"The amount of technical support that Dean brought - I don't know if we're going to be able to replace that. Some of the things that he had were just outstanding. Twitter, off the top of my head, was the big one.
"But at the same time, we do have to move forward, and I'm confident that we'll find somebody who can fill his shoes, more or less."
Stone said there's still time for people to join the chamber of commerce board if they wish. He's currently talking to a couple of potential new members.
New board members will be officially welcomed and brought on board and a new executive will be chosen during the board's next meeting March 15.
