The Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce’s new CEO says he wants to fight for central Alberta businesses.
Earlier this week, the chamber announced Rick More as the organization’s new CEO. He served as interim CEO since September, after Robin Bobocel left the role.
“It’s nice to lose the word ‘interim.’ It can really put a mark on what you want to achieve,” said More. “I want this chamber to be not just business driven, I want it to be community driven.”
More is the co-founder of the Smiles Thru Lindsey Foundation and director of the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre. He was also part of the team that worked to secure the Canadian Finals Rodeo in Red Deer.
A born and raised Red Deerian and longtime chamber employee, More said his experience will help him in the role.
“My 14 years here at the chamber … has been a really good exercise for me to understand what our members need and what their values are,” he said.
More said this is an exciting, but politically uncertain year with the upcoming provincial election.
“We’ll wait and see what happens, but it doesn’t matter who’s in power. We want to work with them and give the government a look at the reality of business in Red Deer,” he said, adding businesses are still feeling the impact of the recession.
“There will be great things happening in this city — we need it. We’ll fight for business all that we can. We’ll get out of this rut and get everyone smiling again.”
More said he would also like to work more with the Alberta Chamber of Commerce, especially by supporting its Vote Prosperity Campaign.
The initiative outlines the Alberta business community’s priorities for the provincial election and provides a series of recommendations for political parties to adopt to ensure growth for the province’s economy, its website says.
In March, the Red Deer chamber will celebrate its 125th anniversary. Staff members have been looking through the chamber’s history.
“It was neat to go through the different tier levels of what the chamber has gone through over the years,” he said. “It’ll be great information for our 850 members to look back and see the difference a chamber can make and improve this community.”
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
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