REGINA — John Bailey has been appointed the new president and CEO of Economic Development Regina (EDR) effective March 2.
Bailey has served as the CEO of the Regina Food Bank since 2019, and spoke about his decision to pivot to EDR.
“EDR is really strongly positioned as a community builder and leader of some really great changes and advancements in our community.”
“I think it really aligns well with a lot of my values of both community building,” he added.
Bailey noted that his time with the food bank has helped establish relationships that he can transfer to EDR, especially in the agriculture sector.
“It’s really exciting to continue those relationships, but sort of coming at them with a different lens.”
Born and raised in Regina, Bailey says he sees opportunity in the city for new businesses.
“Regina’s advantage in everything comes from just the community.
“We see how inviting the business community is when corporations do make the decision to make their transition here,” he added.
Bailey is also eager to connect with local businesses to match skilled workers in the community “to ensure we have the right folks coming out of skilled trades [and] to make sure we have the right folks coming out of our universities.”
In his first year, Bailey outlined several of his goals.
“I want to make sure I’m doing is connecting with the staff, connecting with our business community to sort of see where their hearts and where their sentiments are.”
Bailey also wants to celebrate and highlight more of the accomplishments of EDR.
“It came through loud and clear through the budget process that those KPIs and those sort of success indicators are really important to city council, and I think there’s a great opportunity to tell our story through those indicators.”
In terms of opportunities, Bailey wants to ensure he’s nimble and aware of ones not currently on his radar to move and act efficiently.
As for the food bank, Bailey said they’re in the process of finding his new replacement.
