Entrepreneur and local Chamber leader Val Litwin will join the BC Chamber of Commerce as its new President and CEO. Litwin, who begins the new role September 7, 2016, brings with him a substantial business and social enterprise background as well as strong Chamber leadership experience.
Over the past months, the BC Chamber Board worked with executive search firm Davies Park to lead a thorough executive search process.
“We were very fortunate to have an extremely talented group of candidates express interest in the position,” said BC Chamber Board Chair Patrick Giesbrecht. “And Val’s unique strengths and experience made him truly the standout candidate.”
In 2007, Litwin co-founded Blo Blow Dry Bar, which has since grown to more than 50 locations worldwide. In 2011, as vice-president of Franchise Operations at Nurse Next Door, he helped drive the franchise system’s fast growth into the U.S. market. Litwin also knows the social enterprise space. In 2002, he co-founded Extreme Kindness and launched volunteer tours and a web series based on committing random act of kindness across Canada and the U.S. The tours evolved into a best-selling book on corporate social responsibility and the power of communities to build social capital.
Since 2013, Litwin has served as CEO of the Whistler Chamber of Commerce, where he has grown its membership, launched a world-class educational partnership with the Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria (which was recently featured on Forbes.com) and reinvigorated the Chamber’s brand.
Giesbrecht said Litwin’s skillsets are a perfect fit to guide the BC Chamber’s growth and impact going forward.
“Val is a tremendous natural leader with a great business background and a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities that Chambers of Commerce face in 2016,” Giesbrecht said. “He brings energy, vision and entrepreneurial spirit to the helm of B.C.’s largest business organization.”
Litwin thanked the Whistler Chamber for the privilege of leading that organization for three years and said he’s looking forward to his new role with the BC Chamber.
“Chambers are among the most dynamic and necessary organizations on the planet, and not just for businesses, but for communities too,” he said. “The BC Chamber is at an exciting crossroads and ready for its next evolution. We now get to define what the future looks like with our members, with our partners and with our province. We are going to build on the strengths that have served B.C. businesses and their communities for almost 70 years – and we are also going to develop exciting new ones.”
The BC Chamber is the largest and most broadly-based business organization in the province. Representing more than 125 Chambers of Commerce and 36,000 businesses of every size, sector and region of the province, the BC Chamber of Commerce is “The Voice of Business in BC.”
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