EEDC head Brad Ferguson to step down in March

Brad Ferguson, president and CEO of the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation, will step down from the position as of March 30, 2018.

"The five-year mark is a natural reflection and decision point for the leader of any major organization," Adam Sweet, EEDC's chief of staff, said in an email Tuesday. "And Brad has decided that it is time to begin the next chapter of his career."

Ferguson, who has worked for Proctor & Gamble, KPMG and his own management consulting firm, was hired by EEDC in 2012. The University of Alberta graduate was the first entrepreneur to take over the reins of the agency.

In a January speech to about 1,000 business and community leaders, Ferguson minced no words, warning that Alberta's future prosperitywas being derailed by "small thinking."

"We stopped dreaming, thinking big, being courageous in our ways," he said in the speech.

Mayor Don Ivesonsaid Ferguson's work helped transform and modernize Edmonton Economic Development, particularly around tech and innovation.

"He built the kind of organization thatwe can trust to take on the Expo Centre in the Northlands transition that is happening," Ivesonsaid."I'm sure he is going to continue [to] have a huge impactin business in Edmontonwith whatever he does next."

Sweet said an announcement on the replacement process will come from EEDC's board of directors, and there will be a public announcement about the next CEO in 2018.

Ferguson was not available for comment on Tuesday.

The board, Sweet said, "has expressed its sincere gratitude and appreciation for Brad's leadership over the past five years, and have wished him well in his future endeavours."