Doug Sams, Executive Director of Oakville's Kerr Village BIA, has been named the next president of the Ontario Business Improvement Areas Association (OBIAA).
Over the past eight years, Kerr Village has seen a resurgence under Doug Sams' leadership as the Executive Director of the area's BIA. A surge of new businesses have set up shop and they keep coming to this vibrant Oakville business district.
Sams has now been tasked to bring that same level of experience to the Ontario Business Improvement Areas Association (OBIAA).
He has been appointed as the association's new president and will be the Co-Chair of the Advocacy Committee, and a member of the Communications Committee. He has sat as a board member for the past five years.
Since becoming Kerr Village BIA Executive Director, Doug Sams has coordinated several extremely successful programs creating a vibrancy, attracting ever-growing foot traffic for the street's merchants.
These have included a Christmas Market alongside the Christmas Tree Lighting, pop-up outdoor markets providing opportunities for small independent artisans, and the extremely popular KerrFest - a multi-day music festival featuring some of Canada's top musicians, not to mention the thousands of visitors who attend each day.
Now, 351 businesses are happy to call Kerr Village home.
Sams was previously a college and professional football coach for 35 years which have included the 1987 Grey Cup Championship for Edmonton, three conference championships, two NCAA I-AA playoff appearances, and a coach of the year award.
During his college coaching career, he played leadership serving on committees, boards, service organizations, and fundraising campaigns. This allowed him to develop strong public speaking, marketing and public relations skills. Rounding off his experience, he acted in 12 plays and two one-act plays.
Doug Sams earned a Master’s in athletic administration at Idaho State University and a Bachelor's in political science from Oregon State University.