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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, D ec em be r 21 ,2 01 7 | 2 Doug Penrice, who has served as Halton Hills Eco- nomic Development Offi- cer (EDO) for nearly 10 years, is calling it a career. A lifelong resident of Georgetown, Penrice be- gan his career with the town after a long a career in the public sector work- ing for the family's manu- facturing business. He also worked as a real estate agent and served as the first full-time presi- dent of the Halton Hills Chamber of Commerce be- tween 1982. He has been in- volved with the Chamber in one respect or another for 42 years. Penrice has also been very active in the commu- nity with organizations like the Lions Club, the Citizen of the Year pro- gram and the Santa Claus Parade. "I joined the town in 2008, and since that time I've enjoyed working in a lot of areas," said Penrice. "Economic development touches a lot of areas of the town. It's surprising when you take a look at the pro- jects we work on, where economic development kind of slots in." Penrice said his prima- ry focus has been along the Halton Hills Premier Gate- way employment area, where he says more than 4 million square feet of new industrial and commer- cial space has been built creating roughly 3000 jobs. Another initiative that sticks out in his mind was being involved with the planning and implementa- tion of the town's Econom- ic Development Strategy in 2012. "It laid a roadmap of things we wanted to ac- complish and how we're going to do it. It was divid- ed into seven different ar- eas with 55 action items. And over the last five we've probably fulfilled at least 90 to 95 per cent of those action items," said Penrice. "Doug was a valued em- ployee and we appreciate all his years of service at the Town," said Mayor Rick Bonnette. "We also recognize the contribu- tion that Doug made to various volunteer commu- nity organizations such as the Lions Club and Cham- ber of Commerce." While planning to take a little time off, Penrice says he's not ready to stop working altogether. "I will continue along (in my volunteer work). I am probably going to take a little time off, but I'm not really ready to say that I want to exit the business world completely. I've been working steady for 48 years and have never been unemployed or had a break between one job and the other," he said. Penrice's position as EDO will be filled by Cas- sandra Baccardax, who previously worked for the City of Brampton for 17 years. NEWS Doug Penrice retiring from Town of Halton Hills GRAEME FRISQUE gfrisque@metroland.com Doug Penrice, who served as Economic Development Officer for the Town of Halton Hills for the last 10 years, has retired. Graeme Frisque /Metroland Media 'I'm not really ready to say that I want to exit the business world completely." - Doug Penrice SAVE THE TAX STOREWIDE SALE!* Serving Halton Hills for over 40 years! The One Store For Your Perfect Floor 26 Guelph St., Downtown Georgetown SHOP EARLY for great deals • CARPET • HARDWOOD • LAMINATE • CERAMIC • AREA RUGS • and more Floor and Home 905-877-9896 SALE STARTS DEC 27th! *Save the tax on all prices as marked. New purchases only. Does not apply to already reduced items.