Puneeta McBryan, EDBA CEO, steps down
McBryan took on the role in December 2020 — in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic — and has played a crucial part in sparking change in Edmonton's downtown and led many big projects in the core.
For five years, McBryan has been a key voice for businesses in area, helping them succeed in a time of uncertainty.
'I feel like I probably burnt out in that first couple of years, and it's been a sprint for four and a half years, it just felt it's a good time to take a beat,' said McBryan.
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She's hoping to spend more time with her son and family.
McBryan says she's proud of what's been accomplished during her term and highlighted a number of programs within service delivery, including the Downtown Shine Crew, the Hire Good Program and EDBA's Core Patrol.
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She adds that in the future, she hopes the association will grow into a public-private partnership.
'Rather than having city administration, having some resources internally, and then us being over here as this tiny organization, I think we would be a lot more powerful as one combined entity,' said McBryan.
'We'd have so much more power, more latitude, definitely more resources, and I think you can then really empower that group to work on behalf of the city and the businesses to get a lot more stuff done.'
McBryan will remain as CEO until a new one is chosen by the EDBA board.
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