Photo credit: City of Grande Prairie.

By Curtis Galbraith

Chamber of Commerce

Soul searching led to decision to leave city council for the CEO job at the chamber says Bosch

Mar 5, 2025 | 6:00 AM

A now former member of Grande Prairie City Council says a lot of soul searching led to her deciding to take on a new role.

Wendy Bosch recently stepped down from council and as manager of the Downtown Association to become the new CEO of the Grande Prairie & District Chamber of Commerce.

“I find that (the) Grande Prairie region is the economic driver in Alberta and I would love to see continued success on that and doing that through the (Grande Prairie & District) Chamber of Commerce can do that.”

Bosch says she would like to see this chamber be the strongest in the province.

She adds she believes this region has “a lot to show” and that this si something to “shout from the rooftops.”

“I think we need to show people who we are and that is through our marketing and through collaborative marketing, working with other organizations and municipalities.”

“If we’re all a collective voice, then we’re being seen.”

Bosch says different municipalities speaking as one region is something she says is great to see from her time on council.

“We still (are) individual municipalities and organizations (and) we follow our mandates, but to speak out loud as an entire region? It’s worked out wonderfully in the time I have been a part of council.”

Bosch says things like the new police service, sports tourism, the new sports dome and listening to ratepayers about their concerns over as new way to pay for stormwater as things that stand out from her time on council.

As for her time with the Downtown Association, she is happy with the work done to get a daytime shelter established. She also points to the City Centre rebranding and going through construction and the tough times that COVID brought as things she is proud of. Bosch says businesses are just now coming out of COVID, but are now dealing with staff shortages, inflation and what she terms “international pressures.”

Bosch started in her new role on Monday.

Because there are municipal elections scheduled for October, there will not be a by-election to fill the vacancy on city council left by Bosch’s resignation.