Business Bulletin
Inspiring people, ideas & investment
J U LY / AU G U S T 2 0 1 1 A C T I V I T Y U P D AT E
Our inspired entrepreneur: Ian McCarthy It all began with a call in the spring of 2010 to our past Board Chair, Bob Manning. On the other end of the line was Ian McCarthy, with the Manchester Millrats, a basketball team in the US Premier Basketball League. He was looking for a new home for his team and Enterprise Saint John answered the call. It took a combination of business negotiations and a personal touch. We provided recruiters with the information they needed to design a winning pitch and worked with senior members of the Millrats to give them personalized tours of our community and ensure they connected with the right key influencers. Entering their fifth year of professional basketball, their second in Saint John, the Saint John Mill Rats are now also a proud founding franchise in the National Basketball League of Canada.
recipe for success: people, ideas & investment. The successful community of tomorrow will be an innovative, dynamic economic engine with a vibrant, culturally rich central core. It will offer diversity of experience both personal and professional. It will, above all else, be a people place. That is why our region’s economic development plan is focused on the building blocks of success for both communities and business. In the simplest terms our strategy is to demonstrate that Saint John is a community where people, ideas and investment come and stay.
We wanted a basketball home team; the team was looking for a welcoming home. This is a great example of private sector investment that enhances life in a modern city. You could say, it was a slam dunk.
Attracting new investment During the months of July and August, Enterprise Saint John hosted 5 domestic and international investment clients in ICT, manufacturing and retail. While investment attraction is a long term activity, some of the specific activities we routinely undertake include: Developing and delivering executive briefings for key targeted prospects; hosting familiarization tours for qualified investment prospects; helping potential investors navigate jurisdictional and regulatory approvals; undertaking appropriate media and public relations activities to position our community as “open for business”; maintaining our website to service the basic information needs of prospective investors and pique their interest; producing relevant promotional materials for specific opportunities; and finally, attending appropriate conferences, conventions and events.
Social media training for young entrepreneurs Enterprise Saint John conducted a breakfast workshop “Social Media for Your Small Business” to help 20 young entrepreneurs embrace the power of social media. Participants looked at case studies of entrepreneurs who have successfully mastered the art of using social media to promote their small business. Using local examples, they learned the ins-and-outs of marketing tools like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs. Best practices were shared on how to grow a readership/fan base by engaging and interacting with followers in an interesting, relevant and non-invasive way.
“It provided great information on “how to” and the need for further work to improve our social media profile.” Peter Smit, happinez
“Enterprise Saint John was instrumental in the Mill Rats landing in Saint John, and their resources continue to make doing business in Saint John easy.” Ian McCarty is an inspired president and general manager of the Saint John Mill Rats
Getting the most out of Google
In July and August, Enterprise Saint John hosted 25 potential immigrant investors from Korea, China, Vietnam and Iran. We also met with an immigration consultant who works with clients from Korea and China to discuss proposed changes to regulations for immigration and the impact on the number of new immigrants to the province.
In August, local young entrepreneur and SEED client, Jacques Desjardins spoke to a group of 18 entrepreneurs about how to instantly get more business leads from Google. He covered topics such as increasing visibility, claiming small business “places” and using Google Adwords to maximize exposure. This workshop filled within 24 hours and is being reoffered on September 19th at the Business Resource Centre.
In partnership with the NB Population Growth – Immigration Division, our workforce team held an information exchange session in July with a delegation from the Canadian Embassy in France and employment agencies from France, Belgium and Tunisia. Three employers: Horizon Health, WorksafeNB and Ganong attended to learn more about recruiting skilled francophone workers from abroad.
“Thanks for putting on another great workshop. What I learned will help me and my husband increase the online visibility of our businesses.” Lisa Hrabluk, writer, editor and inspired entrepreneur
Grand Bay-Westfield
Quispamsis
Inspiring newcomers and immigrant investors
Rothesay
St. Martins
Saint John
J U LY / AU G U S T 2 0 1 1 A C T I V I T Y U P D AT E
Inspiring people, ideas & investment
Inspiring entrepreneurship These are some of the activities Enterprise Saint John undertook in July and August to support entrepreneurship: t OFX FOUSFQSFOFVS DMJFOUT SFDFJWFE POF PO POF business counselling beyond the initial meeting stage t "TTJTUFE UIF OFX PXOFST PG Wok Box with the restaurant’s reopening in early August
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Upcoming events SEPT 15
are being hosted for mentors at noon and mentees at 10 am, Business Resource Centre.
SEPT 16
“Most sincere thanks for all your help. Your efforts and guidance were a huge part of making this our most successful event to date.� Robert Fawcett, J.D. Irving – Woodlands Division “Good partners, working together!� Jim Ketterling, J.D. Irving – Woodlands Division ICT ecosystem
LEARINING THE IMMIGRATION PROCESS
9:00-1PM ~ This worship helps business owners and HR professionals learn the finer points of hiring skilled workers from abroad, Business Resource Centre.
Recruitment open house exceeds expectation Enterprise Saint John partnered with J.D. Irving Ltd. – Woodlands Division to host 17 community stakeholders for a luncheon on July 20 and promote a job fair on July 25 & 26 at Lily Lake Pavilion. In total, J.D. Irving was looking to hire 200 people – 82 for the Saint John region alone. Enterprise Saint John staff secured media interviews for J.D. Irving on CBC radio, CHSJ, the Telegraph-Journal and promoted the job fair through our business networks, e-mail, the corporate web site, Facebook and Twitter. No previous job experience was required as training would be provided. The results far exceeded expectation: 375 people attended, 271 scheduled for interviews, 193 interviewed, 8 hired and in training and 2 are currently working. Fifty are also in the 2nd round and dozens are expected to be hired in the coming weeks and months.
BUSINESS IMMIGRANT MENTORSHIP
10AM&NOON PROGRAM ~ FREE information sessions
SEPT 19
HOW TO GET MORE BUSINESS LEADS 8:30-10AM FROM GOOGLE ~ Attention all young entrepreneurs. Discover the art of online marketing from some of the best in the biz at the Business Resource Centre.
SEPT 21
SAINT JOHN CONTACT CENTRE 8:00-10AM ROUNDTABLE ~ Senior executives in the contact centre industry are invited to discuss the health of this important industry, contact gorourke@enterprisesj.com.
Business development workshops for creative entrepreneurs The Emerging Entrepreneurs program held a three-week business development workshop series for artists and creative entrepreneurs. The workshops were all about turning art into business and providing the necessary entrepreneurial skills for artists to take that step. The first two sessions covered essential business skills, financing and marketing, and the last workshop featured Vanessa Moeller, with ArtsNB, on grant writing skills. A dozen creative entrepreneurs attended the first two sessions and 15 attended the third on grant writing.
Contact information
PlanSJ: the recipe for building a vibrant and diversified workforce Throughout the 2-year process to develop PlanSJ, the City’s new municipal plan, Steve Carson, CEO of Enterprise Saint John has been an active and engaged member of the PlanSJ Steering Committee. Our Board members and staff have also contributed to each of the 9 open houses and other community engagement sessions. Earlier in the summer, a Board committee was struck to review the near-final PlanSJ DRAFT. Following a thorough internal review, a letter of response was drafted which reflected our overall support of the Plan, with only a few enhancements suggested. We were pleased that a number of our suggestions were reflected in the updated July 22 document.
Qplex host to Enterprise Saint John’s Board Enterprise Saint John’s board had the pleasure of experiencing the qplex, the Town’s new LEED gold certified recreation and conference centre during the August board meeting. Special thanks to Quispamsis Mayor Murray Driscoll for conducting the very informative behind-the-scenes facilities tour.
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Enterprise Saint John 40 King Street Saint John, NB E2L 1G3
Rothesay Council On July 11, Enterprise Saint John’s Board Chair, Tony Gogan and CEO, Steve Carson presented activities and strategic priorities for 2011 in open session to Rothesay Mayor and Council. Feedback was positive and we were thanked for our most recent efforts. The presentation was covered on July 12 by the Telegraph-Journal i&DPOPNJD EFWFMPQNFOU BU IFBSU PG DPVODJM NFFUJOHw
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