Michael Tremblay new head of Invest Ottawa

Ottawa's economic development agency's new leader says he has a passion and commitment to Ottawa, which probably helped win him the job.

Invest Ottawa's new president and CEO, 55-year-old Michael Tremblay, will be leaving his current role as vice president, public sector with Microsoft Canada and starting his new position on March 2.

The role of CEO at Invest Ottawa has been vacant for close to a year now.

Bruce Lazenby left the post last March, saying it was time for new blood and a different type of leadership.

That meant that Invest Ottawa recently opened a new innovation centre without a leader at the helm.

Tremblay,who was born and raised in Ottawa, said as he gets started the most important thing will be to figure out how all the various economic drivers in the region can work together so Ottawa can compete in the world.

"In the case of Ottawa, I'm very excited to work very closely with the colleges and universities that have really, really strong programs," said Tremblay who is an Algonquin College alumnus and sits on Algonquin's Board of Governors.

"The potential that we have is to really tap into that capability and work together. It's that collaboration piece that would stand out."

Decades of experience in Ottawa's hi-tech sector

Tremblay boasts of 34 years working in the technology sector and his community involvement includes work with the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

His resume includes stints with Ottawa firms, JDS Uniphase, EDS Systemhouse and Digital Equipment Corp.

In welcoming Tremblay to the new role, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said 2017 is a "landmark year" and the new CEO brings the expertise needed to help the city increase "the competitiveness of our industries, grow our economy, attract good jobs..."

Over the years, in roles with both Microsoft and before that SAP Canada, Tremblay worked on cultivating business with the federal and provincial governments.

Tremblay said having those government connections will be important as he starts the new job.

"The role I'm leaving from Microsoft has dealt with all levels of government," said Tremblay. "If we're going to punch above our weight often we'll have to tap in to having the federal government help us."

But in a city that now has several incubator and accelerator programs for emerging start-ups including the incubator at Invest Ottawa Tremblay will need to figure out the agency's place in that world.

Hecalls this both a challenge and an opportunity.

"There's a number of different incubators, a number of different organizations driving the innovation and entrepreneurship agenda. One of the challenges is going to be to ensure that everyone is working closely together."