Business Bulletin
Inspiring people, ideas & investment
J A N UA RY / F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 2 AC T I V I T Y U P D AT E
Our inspired entrepreneur:
opulation growth! Once piece of advice we give our clients who are experiencing financial challenges is to explore all possible cost savings while continuing to invest in the things that are critical to growing the bottom line. Recent budget pressures with the City of Saint John have resulted in a number of difficult but necessary decisions being made. Even in light of these recent challenges our Community has a very strong value proposition. The latest population growth numbers for our City and region is great news and very encouraging. We need to continue investing in initiatives that are important to retaining and attracting people, idea and investment. Now, more than ever, we have to continue working together as we put on our sales hats to promote Saint John as a magnet for innovation, creativity and business investment.
Amanda Galbraith
We first met aspiring entrepreneur, Amanda Galbraith in August 2011 when she approached us with her business plan and dream of opening a premier maternity shop. In working with Amanda, Economic Development Officer, Hemant Kumar, provided prompt and honest feedback on her plan including additional information that would be needed in order to proceed. Through the support of Enterprise Saint John, Amanda was thrilled when her application for a $20,000 SEED loan was approved. She is now the proud business owner of Belly Beautiful Maternity Inc., located at 111 Prince William Street – playing her part in Saint John’s urban renaissance.
Attracting new investment During the months of January and February, Enterprise Saint John hosted 4 domestic and international investment clients. Some of our priorities for 2012 include: Focusing on developing an investment attraction strategy for the Tucker Park Knowledge Cluster; working with Saint John area companies to help them participate in the $25-billion Irving shipbuilding contract; building on the success of the Top7 Intelligent Communities designation to attract new investment, particularly in our Uptown ICT ecosystem; and helping finalize plans for downstream potash manufacturing opportunities which could result in the creation of hundreds of new jobs.
Saint John one of the world’s Top7 Intelligent Communities On January 18, 2012, the Intelligent Communities Forum, a New York-based think tank, named Saint John one of the world’s Top7 Intelligent Communities of the Year. Our Community’s application provided detailed information on broadband penetration, educational attainment, school enrolments, emerging economic clusters, our vision for increasing digital inclusion and how we define innovation in Saint John. The submission represented 173 hours of researching, interviewing and writing and represented the work of about 60 people, all of whom generously volunteered their knowledge and assistance to help us tell this very important story. The Top7 and the first-phase Smart21 application totaled 42 pages and 25,000 words and featured the accomplishments of 33 Saint John organizations. The next step is hosting Louis Zacharilla, the ICF co-founder in Saint John on March 29 & 30 after which the Intelligent Community of the Year will be announced in New York at the “Building the Broadband Economy” Summit June 6 – 8 hosted by the Polytechnic Institute of NYU.
“I can honestly say that if it had not been for Enterprise Saint John and the SEED program, I wouldn’t have been able to proceed with opening Belly Beautiful Maternity Inc. It’s not easy to get financing as a new start-up, so we are VERY fortunate to have a program like this to give entrepreneurs a boost. Just take a look down Prince William Street and you will see the huge impact that local entrepreneurs have had on the Uptown core, and it is very exciting. I’m absolutely thrilled to be a part of it!” Amanda Galbraith is an inspiring entrepreneur and owner of Belly Beautiful Maternity Inc.
“WOW!!! I've started telling the world already... Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Caribbean (Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Trinidad), Channel Islands (Jersey), China, Columbia, Croatia, Dubai, France, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Mozambique, Netherlands, Pakistan, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Syria, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, UK, Venezuela. For those of us attracting foreign direct investment, this Top7 designation is a pretty powerful addition to our toolkit... you make my job easy :)” Bernadette Fernandes, Investment Officer with InvestNB
Job fair aims to help Atelka workers
Hosting immigrant investors In the first two months of 2012, Enterprise Saint John hosted 73 potential business immigrants from China, Korea, Iran and Vietnam. In 2011, a total of 244 potential business immigrants were hosted by Enterprise Saint John from all corners of the globe.
Grand Bay-Westfield
In February, Atelka announced it would be closing its Saint John operation in May and 142 positions would be eliminated. Enterprise Saint John, in partnership with Contact NB, quickly responded and on February 18, hosted a job fair for displaced workers. In total 17 employers registered, including Xerox, IBM, Centerbeam, Wyndham Worldwide, Sitel, Investors Group, Tim Horton’s, Sunlife Financial and RBC. The job fair helped the displaced employees see new opportunities within their own Community, and for many, it will mean a smooth transition to new employment without missing a single pay cheque. Atelka is a Montreal-based inbound customer service call centre that deals with the information technology sector.
Quispamsis
Rothesay
St. Martins
Saint John
J A N UA RY / F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 2 AC T I V I T Y U P D AT E
Inspiring people, ideas & investment
Inspiring entrepreneurship
Upcoming events
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MARCH 14 ENTREPRENEUR WORKSHOP – The
t 5XP #VTJOFTT 1JUDI 8PSLTIPQT XFSF IFME GPS entrepreneurs t Conducted “Marketing Tools for Small Business� seminars on Facebook and Twitter for 48 entrepreneurs
Business pitch competition Step into the room‌ 2 minutes to pitch your idea. In a Dragons’ Den style competition, 5 finalists made it past the qualifying round to appear before the judging panel made up of Scott Walton, Enovex, and a past Pitch Competition winner; Judith Mackin, Punch + Punch Inside; and Elizabeth Rowe, Urban Deli. And the winners were‌Jennifer Law who produces dehydrated camping food and Shane Ervin, who has created VertiMOD, a module loudspeaker system. They each won $500 for the quality and passion of their business pitches.
Shane Ervin @vertimod 1 Mar We want to thank @EnterpriseSJ and Sarah Jones for the terrific event last evg at @AlleyGria restaurant! #ElevatorPitch in #SaintJohn NB.
9AM
Canada Revenue Agency is hosting this workshop for entrepreneurs, Business Resource Centre.
MA RC H 15, 21, 29
PASSPORT TO EMPLOYMENT – Catch the Wave to Employment on March 15, Employability Workshop on March 21 and Job Bus Tour on March 29. For more information contact gorourke@enterprisesj.com
MARCH 24 BOURBON QUARTER 2nd ANNIVERSARY – Get jazzed at the Roaring 20’s Speakeasy themed party. Prizes for best costume. Contact shawnverner@rogers.com
MARCH 26 BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION – 10AM
Finalists between the ages of 18 and 25 present for the top prize of $2,500!
Saint John’s ICT ecosystem gets creative February 9, over 30 key stakeholders from Saint John’s ICT sector assembled at the Saint John Arts Centre to explore creative opportunities for growth. Led by Enterprise Saint John, the half-day session sought to inform participants of The Think City, a marketing initiative in place to support ICT, and to brainstorm new ideas to generate investment, export opportunities and attract people. Key ideas included the inclusion of our educational institutions, both at the high school and post-secondary levels, stronger linkages to employment opportunities and heightened networking/collaboration among all creative people within Saint John’s ICT ecosystem.
“Thank you for including me in your ICT workshop on the Think City. I enjoyed it very much and wish to congratulate you! We are on a roll, and it is people like you, and events like this that are going to help us get there! Thanks again.� David Duplisea, Department of Energy
Workplace wellness workshop For employers making a New Year’s resolution for a healthier workforce, we’re here to help. Enterprise Saint John hosted a two-part workplace wellness workshop in partnership with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of New Brunswick. Eleven local employers participated and learned techniques for helping their employees live happier, healthier and more productive lives. In a period of anticipated growing skill shortages, those employers who pay attention to workplace health issues will have a competitive advantage over others in recruiting and retaining workers with much-needed skills.
Communications network Over the past several months, Enterprise Saint John has been leading an innovative initiative to enhance communications within the region. Working with branding consultant, Stuart Baker, and creative writer and entrepreneur, Lisa Hrabluk, a big-idea is forming which will enable us to work more collaboratively and effectively to address our opportunities and challenges. To bring about change, it begins by telling a different story than the one Maritimers have been telling themselves for far too long, or, as is often the case, by allowing others to define us through the reinforcement of regional stereotypes. On February 2, we assembled people from our Community who have expressed interest in being involved in discussing and shaping this innovative community network.
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Contact information Enterprise Saint John 40 King Street Saint John, NB E2L 1G3 phone 506-658-2877 toll tree 1-800-561-2877 e-mail info@enterprisesj.com www.enterprisesj.com www.saintjohnlifeonyourterms.ca Join our distribution list info@enterprisesj.com Join our HR e-letter list gorourke@enterprisesj.com
Grand Bay-Westfield Quispamsis Rothesay St. Martins Saint John