R&I is pleased to welcome Emily Walker to the team as our Business Development Coordinator.
Emily is a double graduate from Niagara College, completing the Bachelor of Business Hospitality program as well as the Hotel & Restaurant Operations program. Emily has spent most of her career at Niagara Oast House Brewers as Operations Manager, managing and leading a staff of 50 over 7 departments.
She was responsible for sourcing and implementing a new POS system for Oast, training new employees, managing external vendor relations, creating strategic plans for the company, and coordinating events.
More recently, Emily had taken on a position as Outlet Manager at Wayne Gretzky Estates where she played a key role in the daily operations of the estate.
She’s excited to transition to the post-secondary world, especially with Niagara College, given her history here. Emily’s professionalism, strong communication, relationship management, creativity and experience with events made her the perfect candidate for the position of Business Development Coordinator. She will be working very closely with David DiPietro, R&I’s Manager, Business Development, to support the strategic planning and execution of industry and community partner recruitment for all four Innovation Centres.
“My experience thus far at NC has been nothing but positive! With support being offered from everyone I have been in contact with, I have felt welcomed and supported in this new role. I look forward to building relationships and growing with the R&I team.”
– Emily Walker, Business Development Coordinator
Being an NC grad, Emily was drawn to apply to R&I because of the familiarity with the College. “Being a Niagara College graduate, I have always enjoyed the sense of community that NC offers to both their staff and students. I thoroughly enjoyed my four years attending NC and always saw myself involved in some aspect with the projects and people at the college,” said Emily.
As she is in the onboarding process, Emily only has positive things to say about her experience so far: “My experience thus far at NC has been nothing but positive! With support being offered from everyone I have been in contact with, I have felt welcomed and supported in this new role. I look forward to building relationships and growing with the R&I team.”
In her personal time, you can find her spending many of her hours outdoors. “I enjoy hiking, softball, volleyball, yoga, and stand-up paddle boarding. I love quality food and drinks (especially craft beer) and spending time with my friends, family and cat, Goji,” said Emily.
With her new role, she looks forward to working with such a knowledgeable and passionate team within R&I. “I am also excited to work with local businesses who wish to utilize the resources and teams that NC has to offer,” she noted.
To learn more about the centres Emily will support, visit our website [ncinnovation.ca].
