Mayor Ernie Daykin, honourary chair of the 2009 Maple Ridge Economic Summit - Best Practices for Connected Communities welcomed a host of esteemed speakers and delegates to the Maple Ridge ACT Theatre October 29th for a full day of informative presentations and networking with leaders from industry, education, government and the private sector.

Speakers and panelists included Michelle Scarborough of the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI); Pascal Spothelfer, BCTIA; Karen Chown from the Calgary Economic Development WorkShift program; Ralph Wright of Cisco Systems; Tony Geheran of Telus; an academic panel moderated by John McKendry of Kwantlen Polytechnical University; and Rochelle Grayson of rochelle.ca who entertained and informed Summit delegates with her insightful industry-insider perspective.  

In her summary comments Rochelle noted that "Maple Ridge is in a unique position to create a strong economic and social community that ties together industry, academia and government." She went on to add "the Economic Summit really showcased how Maple Ridge can compete globally, can offer a culture of life-long learning and can build a balanced ecosystem that can attract, retain and grow key talent to build both a dynamic business and vibrant social environment."

Organizers would like to thank sponsors WestJet and Abbotsford International Airport, Tradex, Portrait Homes, BIV Media Group, Connex, Downtown Maple Ridge Business Improvement Association, Shervin Communications and Mainland Contracting for their generosity. Presentations and links to Summit sponsors are now available online.