Incoming Canberra Business Chamber chief executive officer Robyn Hendry hopes to tackle challenges facing the territory's sluggish economy and boost its resilience.
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The Canberra Convention Bureau chief executive officer will take the reins from outgoing chamber leader Chris Faulks next month.
Ms Hendry said she was excited about new opportunities stemming from the merger of the Canberra Business Council and ACT and Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry last year.
But the move is not without "a tinge of sadness" after 10 years with the bureau.
"This will be a really strong place to make a change. Taking that new opportunity as the one voice for business in Canberra now is really a great opportunity and I look to explore and exploit that," she said.
Ms Hendry said she hoped to work with the chamber's membership and the government to tackle economic issues and diminish the ACT's vulnerability in the future.
"The ACT government has made it clear that we're in challenging economic times," she said.
"While on one hand you can say the reliance on government has left us in that position, that we're now not at the same level as we were in terms of government spending. Equally, we've gained skills and expertise and the need for government services has spawned a whole lot of export industries for us.
"It's a matter of harnessing our strengths and forging that new path forward."
Ms Hendry has experience in the tourism and hospitality industries in Australia and overseas.
She returned to Canberra in 1995 as general manager of the National Convention Centre and is currently a director of the Cultural Facilities Corporation and a member of the Australia Forum Reference Group.
Her former roles include president of the Australian Association of Convention Bureau and director of the Business Event Council of Australia.
Pursuing big picture projects in Canberra like Capital Metro, the new convention centre and the City to the Lake initiative was about striking a challenging balance and generating enough business to pay for capital infrastructure and services.
Fortunately for the ACT government, this was during "one of the lowest interest rate periods we've seen in our lifetime", Ms Hendry said.
"I think all of those will contribute to Canberra being a richer city and a more vibrant community," she said.
"Obviously, we need to work out how those things can be afforded. We can definitely work on more than one thing at any one time.
"We're a city on the move...some of these things in our next century will take us to being the envy of the world."
Ms Faulks will step down as chief executive officer by May 24 after seven years with the former Canberra Business Council and Canberra Business Chamber.
