New leader named for Chamber of Commerce serving Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows

A new leader of the local Chamber of Commerce has been announced.

Gary Bizzo has just been appointed executive director of the Chamber of Commerce serving Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.

Bizzo will replace Mark Vosper, who stepped down early April to follow his passion in animal welfare at the BC SPCA where he is now regional manager of cruelty investigations.

“I am grateful to be working in an area of B.C. that I have admired for many years,” said Bizzo.

“As we come out of an epic economic downturn it makes me realize how important taking care of each other is to the economic health of our communities. The world is becoming more localized, and the business cycle needs to work with the communities for everyone’s benefit,” added the new chamber head.

Bizzo brings a wealth of experience to the role.

In the chamber announcement, he is described as a person with vast experience in C-level positions in multinationals and also as a

business owner with a global presence.

“He is recognized as a Key Opinion Leader by numerous multinationals including Huawei, Microsoft, PayPal, IBM and others,” it read.

READ MORE: Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows chamber head leaving to follow passion for animal welfare

ALSO: Chamber eager to move to in-person events and meetings

Bizzo was also dubbed a digital marketing/communications experts who has written seven books and is the Adjunct Professor, Digital Marketing, as well as, Consumer Behavior at the New York Institute of Technology, MBA School of Management in Vancouver.

In addition he is a mentor and Board Advisor to the Richard Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship and lends his expertise in

private equity financing, investor relations, project management, management consulting for mainly startups in the biotech, hitech and resource industries.

“Now more than ever we need to work with our leaders and local governments to support our businesses or there will be a serious disconnect. I look forward to being your advocate,” added Bizzo, who officially took over the position on May 2.