EDMONTON – The Edmonton Downtown Business Association is thrilled to announce that James Robinson has been hired as Executive Director of the organization. Robinson will replace Puneeta McBryan who led the EDBA for five years.
Robinson brings 28 years of experience in place management of commercial districts, beginning in Toronto when he founded Toronto’s flagship Business Improvement Area on that city’s most famous street – Yonge Street. He established the organization, secured the funding of 2,000 businesses and property owners and built a strong team which brought remarkable transformation to the area and its businesses.
He then took his talents to England where he worked at the Heart of London Business Alliance leading the organization’s advocacy agenda, policy consultation responses, operations, and stakeholder engagement.
Most recently, Robinson was with the City of Edmonton as the Corporate BIA Infrastructure specialist. In this role, he worked across the City corporation in aligning strategies and tactics to meet the infrastructure and operational needs of the City’s 13 Business Improvement Area partners. Put simply, he embodies the value of partnerships between the business community and the City of Edmonton in bringing about positive change.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Edmonton Downtown Business Association we are thrilled to welcome James Robinson to the team,” said Mark Anderson, chair of the EDBA’s Board of Directors. “James was a standout applicant having dedicated his entire career to downtowns and Business Improvement Areas. His wealth of knowledge and track record in improving the vitality of city centres will be an incredible asset for the EDBA and Edmonton’s downtown.”
Robinson will join the EDBA on Monday, Oct. 20.
The EDBA is incredibly thankful to Puneeta McBryan for all her work over the last five years. She has shown great dedication and passion during her time as leader; she created lasting relationships and impact, advocated tirelessly for member businesses and downtown issues, and led the launch and implementation of many valuable programs, including Core Patrol which has been integral in improving safety and security downtown.