22 Dec, 2020

New team to help drive city's economy

The City of Adelaide is pleased to announce the appointment of five highly skilled and qualified leaders to the board of the Adelaide Economic Development Agency (AEDA).

AEDA welcomes residential developer Craig Holden, property professional Fairlie Delbridge, business leader Manuel Ortigosa, hospitality entrepreneur Oliver Brown and commercial and property investor Steve Maras.

The exciting appointments follow the recent announcement of Nikki Govan as board chair.

Council recently endorsed the appointments and Ms Govan said the successful candidates will all bring important skills and experience to the board.

“We were delighted with the number of highly-skilled applicants and it was certainly a difficult choice for the panel,” said Ms Govan.

“Decisions were made to create a skills-based board to ensure we have experience across a wide range of areas. This includes investment, economic development, retail, tourism, events and marketing and property development, and I’m confident we have achieved that through the selection process.”

Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor said the board selection panel had chosen well.

“AEDA has been established to attract business, grow our visitor economy, attract residents and to market the city as a whole while supporting Adelaide’s premier shopping destination, Rundle Mall,” said the Lord Mayor.

“This is a group that will bring a wide variety of skills and experience to the new agency and I’m looking forward to joining them on the board when we commence our meetings in February.”

Speaking on behalf of the board members, Steve Maras said that the group all share the goal of making Adelaide the best place to live, work and play but also the best place to invest.

“Next year is going to be an incredibly important year for the city as we bounce back from the impact of the pandemic and AEDA’s role will be crucial.

“We’ll use our collective skills, experience and connections locally, within Australia and abroad to ensure that the agency hits the ground running.”

Matt Halliwell