BOB BLACK
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, EDMONTON ARENA CORP. &
CHIEF PROJECT DEVELOPMENT OFFICER, OILERS ENTERTAINMENT GROUP
Born in Yellowknife, NWT, Bob is a graduate of the University of Alberta, Faculty of Law and practiced law and was a senior partner with the respected Alberta law firm, Brownlee LLP, where he served on the firm's management committee for many years. During his legal career of 25 years, Bob appeared in all levels of Court, including the Supreme Court of Canada.
In October, 2009 Bob assumed the position of Executive Vice-President of Rexall Sports & Entertainment for the Katz Group, the parent company of Rexall Sports and Entertainment and the Edmonton Oilers. He has since assumed the roles of Executive Vice President of Edmonton Arena Corp and Chief Development Officer for the Oilers Entertainment Group. Bob is leading the design and construction of Rogers Place and was a member of the negotiating committee that put in place the Master Agreement for the arena funding with the City of Edmonton as well as numerous ancillary agreements thereto. Bob was also lead in the rezoning and master planning of the ICE District and leads a number of ongoing special projects relative to the ICE District.
He currently serves on the One Edmonton Committee, the Downtown Vibrancy Task Force and is a past member of the Winter City Think Tank. Bob was a contributor to the Downtown Plan and has recently joined the Board of Directors for the Downtown Business Association. In July 2010, he was named among 50 of Alberta’s Most Influential People by Alberta Venture magazine.
Transformation with Vision, Passion and Persistence
Bob Black is Executive Vice-President of Edmonton Arena Corp, Chief Project Development Officer for the Oilers Entertainment Group and directly represents Darryl Katz, one of Canada’s most influential businessmen, investors, and philanthropists. What responsibility do businesses, entrepreneurs and community leaders have in building communities? How do you take a dream that was nearly a decade in the making and whose fruition would fuel optimism of what a community can do? Bob will discuss the vision, the leadership qualities, the sound judgment, the passion and the persistence in the face of challenges that it took to design and develop the $613 million Rogers Place and ICE District as a tremendous catalyst, spurring over $5 billion in current development, to revitalize downtown and re-ignite the community spirit of one of Canada’s great cities.