Guy Boston NEW Executive Director, Economic Development

 
St. Albert City Manager Patrick Draper has appointed Guy Boston as the Executive Director of Economic Development effective July 3, 2012.

Boston will be moving from being the General Manager of Planning & Engineering at the City of St, Albert, a position he has held from 2003 to 2007, and again since 2011.

Guy Boston

"I am very pleased that Guy has agreed to take on this new role. Guy brings three decades of experience in both the private and municipal sectors relating to development - from managing relationships to business development, to bringing large scale infrastructure projects to fruition - Guy has done it all, and done it well," says Draper. "He brings a depth of knowledge and extensive network of contacts locally, regionally, provincially and nationally that we need to lead the development of a thriving business community in St. Albert.

"We are moving ahead on one of Council's priorities, economic development, which was confirmed in our most recent community survey as one of the top priorities for residents," adds Draper.

"I believe the opportunity facing St. Albert is significant and a game changer. We have several hundred acres of employment lands coming on stream by the end of the year, so parallel to that process, it will be my priority to develop a vision with stakeholders on what development we want to see and how we're going to achieve that. It's a huge challenge, but I'm up for it," says Boston.

"The possibility of Guy taking on this new role took shape over the past few weeks," says Draper. "With my extensive economic development background and his knowledge of local municipal matters and the development industry, we have a unique blend of experience that is hard to find in a single individual. I am impressed by Guy's track record of brokering complex deals, creating value for organizations he's worked for, and his pioneering spirit."

Boston, a civil engineer, started his career as a bridge engineer for eight years with Canadian National Railways. He then joined the City of Edmonton, where over a 15-year period he held a variety of management positions in transportation and infrastructure before joining the City of St. Albert as General Manager, Planning & Engineering for four years. He left the City for executive positions at CH2M HILL Canada Ltd. He was responsible for growing and successfully expanding this multi-national engineering consulting firm's transportation portfolio in Alberta, then Canada, for three years before rejoining the City of St. Albert in the same general manager position he previously held.

The external search for the executive director for the newly formed economic development division commenced late September 2011 at Council's direction. 

Business & Tourism welcomes Guy to our new Division and we look forward to his leadership.

May 2012 Charts & Stats