Change is coming to Identity Clark County (ICC), a Vancouver-based, regionally-focused economic development group,
Last week, the non-profit organization’s Board of Directors announced it had selected Paul Montague as its new executive director, replacing Ginger Metcalf who announced her retirement last month after leading the organization since its inception 18 years ago.
A longtime community leader and volunteer, Montague is currently responsible for membership development and community outreach for the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce (GVCC).
“Paul brings a lot of familiarity with the community, familiarity with the issues and the specific role ICC plays in the community,” said Scott Horenstein, ICC board chair. “He knows the politicians in the area from Olympia to Vancouver and he seems to be a very ‘let’s get right to the issues’ kind of a guy.”
Despite the structural change, Horenstein said ICC’s overall vision would remain the same.
“When we talked to Paul about this job and we asked him what he thought the issues were, his issues were the same as Identity Clark County’s,” said Horenstein.
Founded in 1993, ICC is led by a board of local business leaders. According to its website, the organization’s goal is to “build a community with strong character, identity and a balanced economy through focused leadership by creating, facilitating and leveraging partnerships with a strategic vision and unified action plan.”
Montague had this to say about his vision of ICC:
“Number one, we’ve got some current initiatives in place, namely Land Here, Live Here, the work we’re doing with the Columbia River Crossing, the Vancouver waterfront and transportation issues. Those are ongoing and I need to continue the good work that Ginger [Metcalf] has been doing,” explained Montague. “I’m there in large part to execute the board’s vision of where we’re going.”
Montague said one of the first things he plans to do as executive director, which officially happens next month, is to meet with all of ICC’s board members and investors. Long term, he said there are some areas where he would like to see ICC branch out, but he said that is something that he’ll talk with the board about first.
“If you look at what ICC has done to date, they’ve done some projects that have made a big difference and really moved this community forward from where it was 10, 15, 20 years ago,” said Montague. “I like the vision that ICC holds for the future of our community and plan to continue with that.”
Montague has lived in Clark County for 18-years. He is a board member of the Fort Vancouver Regional Library Foundation and Columbia Credit Union, in addition to holding various other advisory and volunteer positions.
