The International Peace Garden has been on a quest for a new Chief Executive Officer over the past 4 months with close to 40 applications coming in from all across Canada and the United States for the position.

Tim Chapman, from Laramie, Wyoming has now been named as the IPG's new CEO.President of the IPG, Charlie Thomsen, says it's been a long process of narrowing down the 36 down to the final decision.

"All the candidates were top-notch and we could have been happy with any of them! They all had different skills and different qualities, which made them very attractive to us but we were looking for someone who had not only the enthusiasm and the passion for leading the staff at the Peace Garden, but we were also looking for someone with some horticultural background, some communication skills, and an ability to write.

"Thomsen explains what made Tim Chapman stand out above the rest.

"Tim comes with a very diverse background. He's been currently working in a plant science department down at the University of Wyoming. He has writing experience and a lot of communication skills. He's a young fella' and knows the garden through his visits, but also from friends. I think we've got a good candidate and he's very enthusiastic and ready to start !"

"We want someone who is able to go out and into the community and do some communications with government agencies and corporate organizations, and be able to do some fund-raising. We need to be able to bring more funds into the garden. That's been one of our major problems But also, be aware of what's going on in the garden and be able to lead the staff and be able to work with them."

Tim Chapman steps into his new role as CEO of the Peace Garden later this week starting with the Annual General Meeting coming up this Saturday. Charlie Thomsen gives an open invitation to all to come and meet the new CEO. 

"I invite everyone to come down and meet Tim in person and ask questions. It's a good introduction to the community and the staff for Tim. The staff has met him and the board has met him and so we're ready to go!"Having well over 30 candidates from across Canada and the United States being interested in the job was a good sign for the board.

"It tells us that we are on the map," Thomsen explains. "and when you read some of the applications and letters, you see that they had a real passion for what the garden stood for, what we were trying to do and it was a real hard choice! There were candidates who really had a passion for what the garden is all about and they wanted to be part of it"