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Challenge Penticton kills top position

Challenge Penticton's volunteer society cut its general manager position, putting Barb Haynes out of work. The society felt it needs specialized roles rather than someone in a general management spot.
Image Credit: Richard Lam; Getty Images

PENTICTON - Challenge Penticton cut a player from the team to make room for more specialized positions.

General manager Barb Haynes was hired for Challenge Penticton's inaugural year that saw 1,400 athletes swim, bike and run in and around the city. The non-profit Penticton Triathlon Race Society released her from the position last week. Also let go was race director Laura Carleton.

Society president Paulette Rennie said staff changes need to change when the business changes.

"It was a brand new race to the city, we've had races here for 31 years (and) we were starting from scratch with lots of local knowledge with how previous races were run," Rennie says.

"Obviously, when your business grows or changes you have to make changes structurally."

Rennie said the position was terminated as it was not necessary moving forward and it is definitely not a reflection of Haynes' tremendous work and general manager expertise.

"In the first year we thought we required someone in a general management role," adding in the days leading up to the race the society realized they didn't need a generalist. "We will bring in people on long term or short term contracts to fill specific roles."

Society members let Haynes know as soon as it could about the changes.

Rennie would not reveal how many athletes have registered for Challenge Penticton 2014. She said the society has to keep those numbers secret, for now, to stay competitive with other events and organizers looking to attract the same athletes.

"We are still working on our numbers. I'm asking people to appreciate we are still in a competitive environment."

Rennie hopes people don't just focus on the staffing changes.

"I think the one thing people aren't recognizing in all of this controversy right now, is the good things this race brought to this city, that injected money back into community businesses."

To contact a reporter for this story, to send photos or videos, email Shannon Quesnel at squesnel@infotelnews.ca, call 250-488-3065, tweet @shannonquesnel1 or @InfoNewsPentict

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