Longtime leader Elizabeth “Liz” Wainwright is expected to retire from her position as executive director of the Columbia River District Merchants Exchange this summer, the organization’s Board of Directors announced Feb. 13.  Wainwright, whose retirement becomes official July 31, has been the executive director since 1996 and is only the fifth director in the agency’s history. During her tenure, the Merchants Exchange said, it began an “organization-wide strategic planning program, leading the organization through two successful five-year strategic planning cycles where 90-100% of all action items were accomplished.” Also under her leadership, the Merchants Exchange Scholarship Fund was founded in…