As resldenL of CreaLer 1oronLo Area Lconomlc uevelopmenL 8oard (C1ALu8), l am pleased Lo presenL Lhe many accompllshmenLs and lnlLlaLlves ouLllned ln Lhe 2011 Annual 8eporL. l am happy Lo announce LhaL we are flnally operaLlng under a mlnlmal surplus for Lhe flrsL Llme slnce 2002. 1hls ls golng Lo help Lhe $330,000 debL due Lo offlce reLroflL, membershlp losses and mlsmanaged funds.
We recenLly welcomed MarLln 1hornLon on SepL. 1 as Lhe 8oard's new vlce-presldenL. MarLln has an M8A from Cueen's unlverslLy and [olns us from Lhe 1oronLo 8eal LsLaLe 8oard where he worked as Lhe ulrecLor of MarkeLlng. Pe ls a sLrong asseL Lo our Leam and conLlnues Lo gulde C1ALu8 Lowards success. C1ALu8 came close Lo meeLlng our goal of havlng 40 new buslnesses [oln. 1hlrLy-Lwo new buslnesses [olned Lo encourage conLlnued membershlp. l have lmplemenLed a new focus Lo campalgn buslnesses Lo llnk Lo Lhe C1ALu8 webslLe, www.gLaedb.com. l dlrecLed Lhe webslLe's redeslgn and launched a soclal medla lnlLlaLlve for Lhe 8oard, coverlng 1wlLLer, lacebook and ?ou1ube. A new logo has been creaLed Lo represenL Lhe values C1ALu8 promlses Lo our sLakeholders.
C1ALu8 has upheld our corporaLe soclal responslblllLy by glvlng ouL scholarshlps Lo 1om ScoLchmer and An[all aLel. We have also hosLed a 2011 charlLy golf LournamenL LhaL ralsed $40,000 for Lhe PearL and SLroke loundaLlon.
1he lnlLlaLlves and achlevemenLs ouLllned ln Lhls reporL speak Lo Lhe remarkable dedlcaLlon of our sLaff and 8oard. We remaln proud of our achlevemenLs Lo daLe and are focused on fuLure lnlLlaLlves Lo ensure conLlnued success.