THUNDER BAY – Dan Stezenko says he wants the Thunder Bay chapter of Habitat for Humanity to get bigger and better under his watch.
The former grocery store magnate on Thursday was officially named the local charity’s chief executive officer, taking over from the departed Diane Mitchell.
Stezenko, who helped found Quality Market and spent a quarter of a century as an entrepreneur, praised Mitchell for guiding Habitat for Humanity’s efforts, adding he’s ready to take it to the next level.
“I just want to build on her success and … I really believe that we can build even more homes than we are doing now,” he said.
“We have a great staff and they’re highly motivated. They’re always looking for opportunities. The community has always supported charities in Thunder Bay and I really believe if we just look for new opportunities, we can grow it and continue to put more and more families into new homes.”
Andrew Campbell, chairman of Habitat for Humanity Thunder Bay’s board of directors, said Stezenko was a perfect fit to help grow both their homebuilding efforts and their thriving ReStore facility, popular with do-it-yourselfers and contractors alike.
“Dan has a tremendous amount of passion and that’s something that goes a really long way. Dan also has a really solid background in management in human resources skills, from his work at Quality Market and in the pharmaceutical industry,” Campbell said.
“Overall he was just the best candidate.”
Campbell added the organization has five properties in its possession, but must come up with the money needed to build homes for families in need. He suggested Habitat may also look at town homes, stating the biggest need for affordable housing in Thunder Bay is for single people, who are often pushed to the back of the queue behind families in need.
He’s hopeful Stezenko and his connections can help speed up the process.
Stezenko said one of his first projects will be to make revamps to the ReStore, which will likely take a few months.
