Hobnob 10: Puneeta McBryan
Anyone who remembers downtown Edmonton 10 years ago can tell you it’s changed. It’s been a long time since everyone left at 5:00 – thanks to years of entrepreneurship, planning, development and investment, our downtown became the beating heart of a thriving, modern city. One year ago, the core was more vibrant and alive than it had ever been.
Then came COVID-19. As businesses closed their doors and office workers started working from home, the bustle of the core was replaced by a series of questions. Will we ever go back? Does my business need an office? And if remote work is here to stay, what does that mean for our downtown?
We at Berlin would certainly like to know. So, given that we’re a member – as all downtown businesses are – we called up the Executive Director of the Downtown Business Association to ask what she thinks. Puneeta McBryan is new to that role. Before that, she worked in the agency world, an account director and past president of the Advertising Club of Edmonton. In our hobnob here, Puneeta and Justin talk about where downtown is today, how it could come back even stronger post-pandemic, and why that matters for every Edmontonian – whether they live or work downtown or not.