Prior to joining Economic Development Lethbridge (EDL) in June 2005, Cheryl spent more than 15 years working with executive teams in publicly-traded corporations and public institutions.  From marketing and fundraising in post-secondary education to employee, media and investor relations in international airline and energy companies, her work has always focused on promoting and enhancing the achievement of the goals of shareholders and partners. Cheryl completed her MBA in Executive Management through Royal Roads University in 2003.  She has a double major in Print Journalism and Public Relations/Advertising through Lethbridge College and she holds an APR ‘Accredited Public Relations’ designation from the Canadian Public Relations Society.  Cheryl is also active on the boards and committees of a number of area organizations and in 2011, was awarded a YWCA Women of Distinction Award for Community Commitment. Born in Calgary, raised in Brooks and spending many years working and living in Lethbridge and Calgary has given Cheryl a strong understanding of southern Alberta’s strengths as well as the opportunities that lie ahead. She is proud to be working with a great team of people at EDL to facilitate the success of others through proactive and market driven initiatives, responsive service, enthusiastic support and quality information. Economic Development Lethbridge is an independent, not-for-profit organization with a 25-member Board of Directors representing the many industries and sectors in the region. The mission is to strengthen and develop the Lethbridge economy by initiating and facilitating proactive economic development strategies and promoting Lethbridge as an excellent place to live, learn, invest, visit and do business. Lethbridge and the surrounding economic region are important economic contributors to the provincial and national marketplaces. EDL is committed to balanced growth that increases the prosperity of our community and is focused on initiatives related to the following core business services:

• Investment Attraction
• Business Retention & Expansion
• Convention & Event Development
• Respect & Reputation

Most recently, EDL was able to work with a number of partners to build a technology commercialization centre with a focus on diversifying the region’s knowledge economy through entrepreneurial support and capacity-building. tecconnect  - An Alberta Centre for New Commerce is designed to attract, incubate and develop new and established technology companies to achieve commercialization of products and services. The centre has an Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) focus with a specific emphasis in geospatial imaging. Leveraging the knowledge assets of Lethbridge’s two post-secondary institutions, quality research capacity and highly-skilled and trained graduates as well as the strength of the established companies in the area will help expand the local and provincial business base in the tech sector.