Transformational Time for Albertans

 
Transformational Time for Albertans
By Barb Burggraf
 
George Brookman introduced a very special speaker, Adam Legge who joined the Calgary Chamber as the President and CEO in September of 2010. He is the youngest president in the Chamber’s history, and continues to build on the 120 year history of those who came before. Previous to joining the Calgary Chamber, Adam held the role of Vice President and Chief Economist with Calgary Economic Development. There he became recognized as an authority in local economic performance and conditions, and delivered many economic analyses including an annual economic outlook which became the largest economic outlook event of its kind in Canada. 
 
Adam opened his frank talk by highlighting the fact that 40,000 jobs have been lost in the Energy Sector in Alberta over the past 18 months. It should be clear to everyone that it is not business as usual for Calgarians. From Adam’s perspective the world has shifted and the reality is that we may not see oil prices rise again to past levels. He pointed out that the US was our biggest customer for energy and now it is our biggest competitor. He reminded us of the resiliency of Albertans and the entrepreneurial drive that will fuel our economy again but will not be focused only on Oil and Gas production. He was bold enough to suggest that we needed to think of Oil, Gas and ?...Not Oil and Gas or ?. This subtle culture shift to truly diversifying our economy is the solution to future growth. Think bio technology, green energy, agriculture and the agri-food industry. He reminded us of past Calgary innovators like restaurateur Walter Chell who in 1969 invented  the Cesar cocktail (vodka and Clamato juice) to celebrate the opening of a new Italian restaurant in the city. Did you know that today 350 million Caesars are consumed annually in Canada?.  
 
Adam spoke about the Calgary Chamber of Commerce initiative called “Anything is Possible”. Expect to hear some world renowned expert speakers that will fuel your entrepreneurial mindset and inspire young professionals to think differently about their career path. Adam fielded lots of questions from members. Howie Shikaze thanked Adam and informed him that a donation was made to CAWST to recognize his attendance and presentation to the Club.
 
Our speaker, Adam Legge