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TBI Names Lorne Meikle As President

With Grant Tipler stepping down as the President of The Biotechnology Initiative, TBI has turned to a familiar face to take on the role. Once again, Lorne Meikle has been asked to contribute his expertise and time to advance the cause of biotechnology in Ontario as the new President of TBI.

For Meikle, this is his second time as TBI President, his first term lasting three years. In addition to his past experience as President, he has spent the last three years with TBI as a board member.

Meikle believes there won’t be as much of a learning curve this time around, and for this reason he is ahead of the game. The fact that he stayed on as a board member after the conclusion of his first term, albeit in a non-voting and non executive capacity, means he is familiar with the direction TBI is headed, and what needs to be done in order for TBI to be of more benefit to the community it serves.

“For me there’s certainly no learning curve, I’m very familiar with what’s been going on, how the organization works and where it’s headed,” he states. “My vision for TBI moving forward is to continue to build on its promise as an organization that serves the life science and biotech sectors across Ontario. Whether this means developing programs, finding new ways to promote Ontario’s science technologies, encouraging stakeholder engagement, the goal is to build upon the reputation TBI has forged for itself as a voice for the industry and its members here in Ontario.”

According to Meikle this means working with government through TBI’s Government Relations and CEO committees, while at the same time expanding on TBI’s membership by reaching out to all types of organizations across the province. TBI has already taken many steps to this end, by bringing more organizations to its board and members not just from southern Ontario, but from all over Ontario.

Moving forward, his hope is to find new innovative ways to better serve TBI members.

“What I hope to be able to do for all our members is to deliver on what they think their needs are,” he said adding that one new initiative that falls under this area of focus is TBI’s new Mentorship program.

“I think our members are going to be pretty delighted with our mentorship program that’s just starting right now under Jill Osborne. The program was first proposed with the Rotman School, and we’re learning from them how to put it together. It’s a new key area that TBI will be developing in the coming months.”

Most importantly, Meikle wants TBI’s members to know that he’s there for them when they need him.

“Going back to my time as a CEO of a Canadian company, one of the things that the shareholders often said was that they could always get a hold of me. This is the same feeling I want our members to have. If they want to talk to the president of TBI, all they have to do is call.”