Anthony M. Van Dam, FORREC executive vice president, has announced his retirement after 34 years at the organisation, effective October 1.
Van Dam began his career at FORREC in 1988 as a junior designer after graduating from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) where he earned his diploma in landscape architecture. Van Dam quickly rose through the ranks, and his tenure has included 25 years as a Shareholder, 20 years on the Board and 10 years as head of global business development. He was also a board member for the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) Asia-Pacific.
For over 30 years, Van Dam has provided strategic thinking and strong leadership, and has continued to develop markets and relationships with FORREC’s brand partners and international clients. Van Dam was instrumental in opening the Chinese market for FORREC, and he has continued to nurture the region into one of FORREC’s strongest and most important markets.
Anthony M. Van Dam said: “FORREC has been my home for almost 35 years, and I feel incredibly lucky and proud of the small part I played in helping to grow this company into the world-class entertainment design consultancy it is today.”
“Through it all, we have managed to maintain our greatest asset, our culture, through integrity, humility, comradery, and hard work. I will always remember my mentors who supported me along the way, and I am excited about the current crop of leaders, who are as strong as we have ever seen. FORREC’s future looks bright indeed.”
Cale Heit, president, and CEO, FORREC, added: “Anthony is an industry veteran and recognized global leader in large scale entertainment planning and design.”
“As a senior executive and leader of FORREC’s global business development efforts, Anthony’s big picture, strategic thinking and strong leadership in an ever-evolving world marketplace is highly sought after. We will greatly miss his expertise and intuition, which helped FORREC build some of the best, most rewarding client relationships.”