The new CEO of the Prince George Chamber of Commerce plans to use her experience to move the organization forward.
Quynlan Young is in the lead role after five years as the organization’s executive projects co-ordinator. She took over Feb. 22 from Todd Corrigall.
“I’m new to the role but I’m not new to Prince George, so I understand the challenges and I understand the frustrations and I’m hoping we can see real action taken, it’s just a matter of facing all these problems,” Young said.
Young is a third-generation Prince George resident, whose grandparents, the Mracovics, started Cutbanks Autobody. Her other grandparents, the Pearsons, owned A & A Burger Bar, while her mother, Jeni Arnott, opened Playgrounds Café.
“I got to firsthand see what it takes to run a successful business in northern B.C.,” she said. “It takes everything out of you - the good, the bad and the ugly. Being a business owner is hard work and I’ve made it my life mission to do what I can to support those business owners.”
With about 700 members, the chamber is the voice of the local business community, providing networking events and opportunities and advocacy on behalf of members to all three levels of government and celebrates some of the success stories through its annual excellence awards.
Support PG was the chamber’s prompt response to the pandemic, when local businesses were feeling a sense of isolation due to mandated lockdowns designed to keep people from making physical contact with each other to prevent COVID from spreading. Eleven economic development organizations teamed up with the chamber to create a website directory to help promote businesses that remained open during the lockdowns.
“I got to oversee some pretty major projects and be at the front lines of creating Support PG and all the different initiatives we had going on over COVID,” she said.
After three years of being put on hold by the pandemic, Young plans to revive the Top 40 Under 40 campaign which singles out young entrepreneurs making a difference in the city.
