General News
April 19, 2018
Frank McKeown to retire as BEDC Executive Director
Burlington, Ont.—April 19, 2018— The Burlington Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) Board announced today that Frank McKeown has advised the Board he will be retiring from his role as Executive Director effective June 27, 2018.
McKeown joined BEDC in 2014 and quickly began the redevelopment of the business model at BEDC to focus on supporting businesses to locate, start up and expand in Burlington. In 2017, BEDC worked with over 300 businesses to support them to relocate and grow in Burlington. BEDC has helped develop more than 4000 new jobs in Burlington over the last four years.
Among McKeown’s other accomplishments during his tenure:
- aligning BEDCs Economic Vision with the city’s Strategic Plan and the Official Plan
- launching TechPlace, BEDC’s new innovation centre focused on helping companies start up and grow. In the first year of operations, TechPlace had over 3500 visitors, hosted over 50 events and developed a LaunchPad program that has attracted high growth startups like servicePath and 3terra to Burlington
- developing a strong focus on partnerships to deliver services to the business community which resulted in initiatives such as Mohawk College Career Crawl and Burlington Day at Mohawk
- ensuring Burlington businesses benefit from the new Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster initiative announced by the Government of Canada.
Anita Cassidy, currently the manager of economic development, will be appointed acting executive director and will be a candidate to fill the role of executive director when the board conducts a search process following the municipal election this November.
Quotes
Gary Graham, Board Chair, BEDC
“On behalf of the Board, I would like to wish Frank the best of luck in the future. Frank always had the confidence of the Board which appreciated his constructive, collaborative approach and the results he achieved. We are excited to have the opportunity to work with Anita in her new capacity as acting executive director.”