CONGRATULATIONS are due to two familiar faces at Merkinch Enterprise on their promotion. The new Training and Development Officer, selected to replace John Lavender who left earlier this year, is Eddie McDonald.

Mr McDonald (right) who has been living in Thornbush Road for the last 14 years, first came to hear of Merkinch Technology Centre in 1997 through News & Views. He was unemployed at the time, having been made redundant from his job with an office equipment company two years earlier.

After completing his Information Technology Applications 1 (ITA1) course at MTC he took a year out to tackle an Intranet/Internet course with JET. In February last year he returned to Grant Street and took the ITA2.

A spell of volunteer work with Merkinch Enterprise followed, then he found that he had a flair for commercial training. His appointment to the staff in such a vital role as Training & Development Officer indicates the respect his work has gained within the organisation.

The Board of Merkinch Enterprise has also decided that to reflect the successful growth of the charity and its various activities, Project Manager Colin Downie should be elevated to the position of Chief Executive.

Mr Downie, who now oversees all the various activities of the charity, originally joined Merkinch Enterprise in 1994 as Training and Development Officer, becoming Project Manager in 1996. In order to help ease his ever-increasing workload, Merkinch Enterprise is to take on a full-time Administrative Assistant.