After ten solid years as Manager of Economic Development Shane Olson hangs his hat up for the Town of Okotoks.

Olson's work has contributed to increasing Okotoks business by 40 percent and some of his highlights include the Okotoks Costco, the creation of the Foothills Business Incubator, and the 2015 Together We Can Plan.

Another one of Olson's highlights was one of last years projects.

"One of the highlights last year in September, our now award-winning campaign was the viral tourism campaign: There is a Number of Things To Do in Okotoks. I will always remember that. It was a lot of fun, and it went viral across Canada, leveraging over $1 million in exposure. So it was great to see where that went and where we are taking that now."

The economic development manager says now that he is saying goodbye, there is a number of people he will miss working with.

"I will definitely miss the Town of Okotoks and all the wonderful business people in the community here. All the various stakeholders from Olde Towne Okotoks to the Okotoks Chamber of Commerce, Community Futures Highwood, among others. It's been a great run over the last ten years and we've done quite a bit to advance the community. I am very proud of the successes I have achieved here."

Olson says in the past decade he has witnessed a lot of change in the town.

"When I started in March 2006 we had 17,000 people and now we are at about 29,000 people here in Okotoks. So it's been very rewarding to work in such a great community where everyone loves their community. It's a connected community where you get to know you neighbor, it's been absolutely fantastic. My wife and my kids and I will always cherish the memories we've had here in Okotoks."

Shane Olson and his family will pack up and relocate to Strathcona County where he has accepted the position as manager of commercial development and will start as of Sept. 1.

Questions, comments, or story ideas? Email us at news@okotoksonline.com