LANGLEY, B.C. — The B.C. Trucking Association (BCTA) looked far and wide for a replacement for its outgoing president and CEO Paul Landry. And at the end of the day its search ended within its own walls, with Louise Yako named as Landry’s successor.

The long-time BCTA v.p. of policy, communications and partnerships, will take on her new role as head of the organization on June 1, the BCTA announced today.

“Louise was chosen after a competitive and exhaustive search that was begun in November 2010,” said BCTA chair Murray Scadeng. “A seven-member Selection Committee comprised of several Executive Committee members and two former chairs hired the executive search firm Pinton, Madden and Forrest to guide us through the process and to identify qualified candidates for the position. In the view of the Selection Committee, this process was both a necessary and a productive undertaking enabling us to consider all of our options. We met a number of qualified and skilled candidates and we are confident that we identified our best choice.”

The selection committee also found in its search that many provincial trucking associations, government contacts and other organizations that BCTA regularly works with found Yako to be “highly regarded and respected.”

“While that’s not a surprise, the affirmation was gratifying,” Scadeng noted.

Yako joined the BCTA 15 years ago as manager of government and inter-agency affairs. Scadeng said choosing Yaho means the BCTA will have a seamless transition from its current administration as well as a leader who is ready to immediately begin representing the group’s members.

As for the outgoing Landry, Scadeng said “I’d like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to him. He has placed BCTA on the government advocacy map and put BCTA in a position of strong financial stability. We owe him a debt of gratitude.”