Rotary Program October 23, 2008

Although Ralph Young, President and CEO, Melcor Developments Ltd. prefers to stay out of the spotlight, his achievements in both business and the community have often given the reserved real estate exec some favourable, if unwanted, media attention. Young, the CEO and president of Edmonton's Melcor Developments Ltd. for the past eleven years, has delivered solid results. In addition to his executive acumen, Young's cool polish also helps him handle potentially sticky problems. Those qualities led the city to ask him in 1998 to chair the organizing committee for Edmonton's 2005 celebrations. Some centennial proposals, most notably the $12.6-million make-over to transform downtown's Churchill Square into a cultural icon with matching $4.2-million contributions coming from the city and Alberta governments - have met with resistance from taxpayers. Neither the public backlash nor the $1.5-million shortfall in funding from Ottawa and corporate sponsors has deterred him. Young currently sits on the U of A's board of governors and is a member of the board of trustees for the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research.