WATERLOO

For John Jung, moving to Waterloo Region as the new chief executive officer of Canada's Technology Triangle is a "coming home."

Jung, 57, currently is the president of the Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance, which promotes the Toronto area to investors, and now he will do a similar job here.

It was Jung's roots and long-standing attachments to this region that drew him back. He went to high school in Kitchener and studied urban and regional planning at the University of Waterloo.

"There is a certain affection for the area," he said yesterday after his appointment was announced.

He succeeds John Tennant, who is retiring after leading the non-profit organization for six years.

Although Jung starts his new role Sept. 22, he has long been promoting this region through his involvement with organizations such as the Ontario Technology Corridor.

Jung also is co-founder and chair of the Intelligent Community Forum, the New York-based think-tank that selected Waterloo as the Intelligent Community of the Year in 2007.

Although he didn't have a vote on the jury that selected Waterloo, he was in close contact with community leaders here.

"In getting to know the community again, it dawned on me this is a community I really enjoy being a part of. I would be proud to associate myself with it and promote the region and its capabilities to the world."

After graduating from UW, Jung held a number of high-profile economic development roles in Ontario and Alberta, where he was the chief executive officer of the Calgary Economic Development Authority.

Jung, 57, acknowledged that the region's manufacturing sector faces a struggle because of global economic forces. But if there is a community that is able to weather the storm and reinvent itself, this is it, he said.

"Waterloo Region has that collaborative, hugely innovative and entrepreneurial side. So with any issues that exist because of global factors, I think Waterloo Region is able to roll with those punches."

The region already has international recognition because of its universities, companies like Open Text and Research In Motion and think-tanks like the Perimeter Institute and the Centre for International Governance Innovation, he said.

rsimone@therecord.com