ELEVATE Cape Breton - Winter 2019

COMMUNITY INNOVATION AT WORK P6

A TIME TO CELEBRATE P25 Global Entrepreneurship Week celebrated

Inverness Beach wins human rights award

UPDATES FROM THE CBREN P26 Serving the needs of the business community

A PUBLICATION FROM THE CAPE BRETON PARTNERSHIP

FEBRUARY 2019

WELCOME TO

CREATIVE ISLAND HOW CAPE BRETON INNOVATORS ARE CHANGING THE WORLD P14

CHANGING THE WORLD FROM RURAL CAPE BRETON P20 CYBER SUCCESS IN CAPE BRETON P22

Home to more entrepreneurs per capita than any other municipality 20580409 in the province.

CBDC

Follow your dream.

Come home to Victoria County Check out www.victoriacounty.com for more information.

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The Cape Breton Partnership would like to welcome the Cape Breton Regional Municipality to the Nova Scotia REN network.

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CapeBretonPartnership.com | info@CapeBretonPartnership.com WINTER 2019 ELEVATE

FEBRUARY 2019 / VOLUME 3 ISSUE 1

ON THE COVER

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19 Company Feature BDC

WELCOME TO CREATIVE ISLAND

20 INNOVATION PROFILE Changing the world from rural Cape Breton

HOW CAPE BRETON INNOVATORS ARE CHANGING THE WORLD

22 INNOVATION PROFILE Cyber success in Cape Breton

On cover: Workers and children test-fly a huge circular kite under the supervision of Alexander Graham Bell in the early 1900s at Beinn Bhreagh near Baddeck.

Cape Breton Partnership Board of Directors Executive Alex Paul, Mi’kmaw Economic Benefits Office of Nova Scotia – Chair Sandra Killam, Seaside Wireless Communications Inc. – Vice-Chair Rob Wadden, Grant Thornton – Treasurer Sean Coyle, Sydney Casino NS – Executive Member Jennifer MacLeod, MacLeod Lorway – Secretary Directors Blaire Martell. Lobsters ‘R’ Us Seafood Osborne Burke, Victoria Co-operative Fisheries Ltd. Amanda Mombourquette, Strait Area Chamber of Commerce Dan MacDonald, CBCL Ltd. Andrew Alkenbrack, Cabot Links Resort Sean Reid, Mulgrave Machine Works Steve Parsons, Eskasoni Corporate Beth Mason, Verschuren Centre, CBU Allan Eddy, Port Hawkesbury Paper James Wooder, JBW Consulting Inc. Fred Tilley, Marconi Campus, NSCC Jennifer Martin, Membertou Corporate Brian Purchase, Schwartz Furniture Paul Breski, Nova Scotia Power Cheryl Smith, Celtic Music Interpretive Centre

Halifax Biomedical Inc.

Securicy

PLUS 4

PRESIDENT & CEO’S MESSAGE

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REGIONAL BUZZ

12 NEW MEMBERS 24 CAPE BRETON REGIONAL CHAMBER FEATURE 25 STRAIT AREA CHAMBER FEATURE 26 CAPE BRETON REGIONAL ENTERPRISE NETWORK UPDATE 28 PARTNERSHIP UPDATE 30 SPECIAL FEATURE

Alexander Graham Bell facing his wife, Mabel Gardiner Hubbard Bell, who is standing in a tetrahedral kite, Baddeck, Nova Scotia.

Cape Breton Partnership Contact

Elevate is published by The SaltWire Network on behalf of the Cape Breton Partnership

SYDNEY OFFICE 285 Alexandra Street Sydney, Nova Scotia B1S 2E8 Telephone: 902-562-0122 or 902-562-7182

Publisher: Sarah Dennis President and CEO: Mark Lever Manager, Partner Solutions: Lindsey Bunin Advertising Sales: Scott MacQuarrie Director, Sales & Marketing – Cape Breton Post 902-371-0417 scott.macquarrie@cbpost.com

PORT HAWKESBURY OFFICE 609 Church Street Suite 101 Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia B9A 2X4 Telephone: 902-625-0958 For more information about the Cape Breton Partnership visit www.capebretonpartnership.com.

For any questions about Elevate Magazine contact Nicole Simmons by phone at 902-562-0122 or by email at elevate@capebretonpartnership.com

Elevate Magazine Lead: Nicole Simmons Editor: Heather Laura Clarke Layout & Design: Peter Ross Contributing Writers: Nicole Simmons, Morgan Murray, Heather Laura Clarke, Cape Breton Regional Chamber of Commerce, Cape Breton Partnership, Strait Area Chamber of Commerce

Disclaimer Elevate magazine makes no warranties of any kind, written or implied, regarding the contents of this magazine and expressly disclaims any warranty regarding the accuracy or reliability of information contained herein. The views contained in this magazine are those of the writers and advertisers; they do not necessarily reflect the views of Elevate magazine and its publisher The SaltWire Network.

Publications Mail Agreement No. 40065080 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to the Cape Breton Partnership.

Copyright 2019 by SaltWire Network Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any article, photograph or artwork without expressed written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited.

2717 Joseph Howe Drive Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3J 2T2 Tel: 902-426-2811 SaltWire.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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PRESIDENT & CEO’S MESSAGE

Cape Breton • Unama’ki is Creative Island Cape Breton is a place built by creativity and that creativity continues to change the world.

FROM CHANGING THE WORLD WITH THE FLIGHT OF THE SILVER DART TO CHANGING THE WORLD OF HEALTHCARE AND INCLUSION AT A COMMUNITY LEVEL, THIS LOOK-BACK AT OUR CREATIVE PAST — AND REVIEW OF OUR CREATIVE PRESENT — MAKES CLEAR THAT THE FUTURE CAN BE VERY BRIGHT IF WE CONTINUE TO RELY ON OUR CREATIVE COURAGE AND STRIVE TO LIVE UP TO OUR REPUTATION AS THE CREATIVE ISLAND.”

CARLA ARSENAULT President & CEO, Cape Breton Partnership

T

he Cape Breton Partnership is thrilled to announce the launch of Creative Island — an initiative to build a culture that values and supports creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship; celebrates our rich creative heritage; and develops and supports programs, services and spaces to help increase the innovative capacity of Cape Bretoners and Cape Breton companies.

At the centre of Creative Island is the Cape Breton Innovation District, a project led by the Cape Breton Partnership with the support of Cape Breton University and the Province of Nova Scotia. This project is working to transform Cape Breton into one of the most creative and innovative places on earth. Over the coming months, you will see a number of activities to promote innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. The formation of a network of innovation spaces and hubs, a full suite of fantastic support programs across the island and a campaign to attract, retain and empower creative talent and energy in Cape Breton like never before.

“Innovation” tops the agenda of most business meetings and government policy

across the globe, but the word has been so overused that it is often misunderstood.

If you boil it down, innovation is really about creating new value and at the heart of innovation is creativity — something Cape Bretoners have in spades.

In our last edition of Elevate, we brought you the stories from the five communities of Unama’ki and the work they are doing to excel our country towards a path of economic sustainability — showing the world what it truly means to be innovative. It was the Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq who first invented and manufactured the defining piece of equipment for our national obsession: the hockey stick.

From the Mi’kmaq, who have thrived on the island for centuries, to the settlers including the French-speaking Acadians and the Gaelic-speaking Scots, along with many other cultural groups who moved to the island during the industrial boom — and brought with them the ingenious resilience of farmers and fishers — each of the cultures that make Cape Breton so unique have not only relied on creativity for centuries for their survival and prosperity, but also cherish creativity in music, storytelling, dance and much more. Cape Breton is a place that was built by creativity and remains the birthplace — or adopted home — of numerous creative geniuses, talented musicians, worldrenowned visual artists and even Novel prize-winners.

This issue of Elevate is focused on Cape Breton’s innovative past — with a feature on how the creative genius of Alexander PRESIDENT & CEO’S MESSAGE

Graham Bell, and his wife Mabel, changed how the world innovates — as well as the present cutting-edge businesses that are changing the story of Cape Breton from one of boom to bust, to one of creativity and inspiration.

In this edition of Elevate Magazine, you will read about a number of groundbreaking Cape Breton companies who have created exciting new products and have brought them to the global marketplace from right here in Cape Breton — companies like Sydney-based Securicy, a software company offering a cloud-based solution helping small and medium-sized businesses improve information security and privacy compliance.

You will be inspired by Mabou-based Halifax Biomedical, which is creating innovative technologies for medical diagnostic imaging. In many respects, they’re changing the future of global healthcare from rural Cape Breton.

You will also hear a story about the innovative work being done by the Inverness Development Association to make the breathtaking Inverness Beach more accessible for everyone, generating national recognition and garnering an award for human rights.

From changing the world with the flight of the Silver Dart to changing the world of healthcare and inclusion at a community level, this look-back at our creative past — and review of our creative present — makes clear that the future can be very bright if we continue to rely on our creative courage and strive to live up to our reputation as Creative Island.

FEBRUARY 2019

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ELEVATE

REGIONAL BUZZ FEATURE

Community Innovation: A day at the beach for Inverness Inverness Beach wins human rights award as inclusive destination

By NICOLE SIMMONS

I

nnovation is about doing things differently to solve a problem. It’s about recognizing challenges, realizing opportunities and applying knowledge and understanding to find better ways of doing things. It is about finding new value and making meaningful change.

Simply put, innovation is creating something new to make something better.

In manufacturing, innovation could be rearranging the product floor to increase efficiencies but a community level, innovation can take many shapes. In Inverness, one group sought to understand a particular problem and found a unique solution to create a better quality of life for residents and potential visitors.

That innovation was the Inverness Beach Boardwalk renewal initiative.

This past summer, the Inverness Development Association (IDA) completed $360,000 worth of improvements to Inverness Beach. Improvements included a $60,000 investment in accessible beach equipment such a mobi-mats for improved wheelchair and stroller access as well as floating wheelchairs, making Inverness Beach one of the most accessible beaches in Atlantic Canada.

Now the IDA has been recognized for that work with a 2018 Nova Scotia Human Rights Award.

“We were very excited and we were also very surprised,” IDA President Rob Burbach told CBC News in an interview in December.

“It is very gratifying to be recognized in this way.”

The 2018 Nova Scotia Human Rights

BUSINESS NEWS

Awards were presented during an International Human Rights Day celebration on December 10, 2018 in Halifax to recognize Nova Scotians for work in the field of human rights, social justice and advocacy.

The IDA received its award for the outstanding service provided during the Inverness Beach Boardwalk renewal initiative, which created accessibility for beachgoers with disabilities. But Burach says that when the renovations were originally planned, they didn’t consider the full spectrum of accessibility possibilities.

“It’s not just for the groups we think of first — which are those with disabilities who didn’t have access to the beach before and now have access for the very first time. One of the groups we found that came back to the beach were seniors,” Burbach says. “We had a bus that came down from Inverary Manor

FEBRUARY 2019

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PHOTOS STEVE RANKIN

three times a week. Some of them say this is the first time in 20 years they’ve been down to the beach even though they’re lifelong residents.”

Another group found to frequently use the new beach access equipment are those with small children, Burbach says.

“You can imagine, if you have small kids, the amount of stuff you have to [bring] down to the beach” says Burbach. “All of a sudden, all these improvements we put in made it easier for parents with small children and their strollers, as well.”

The award is one way the work of the IDA has been recognized, but Burbach says beachgoer testimonials are the most rewarding honour of all. He says the IDA will

continue working to understand similar challenges in the community, such as improving accessibility to natural sights and spreading accessibility throughout Inverness County.

“The Inverness Beach Boardwalk renewal is certainly a unique initiative that’s taken an innovative approach to accessibility and inclusion,” says Keith MacDonald, CAO of the Municipality of the County of Inverness.

“Inverness County is a welcoming community and we want to put the proper infrastructure in place so we can welcome and provide highquality experiences to everyone — visitors and residents alike.”

MacDonald says the Municipality is hoping to continue the momentum of the beach project into other areas, both for local

BUSINESS NEWS

inclusion and to the benefit of tourism and attracting new residents.

“We hope to identify other attractions throughout the Municipality and make them more accessible to visitors and residents by using innovative approaches to everyday challenges.”

The movement towards inclusivity creates a new benchmark for other innovative communities.

“This is just the beginning,” says MacDonald. “The Inverness Development Association has more plans for the area, and the Municipality looks forward to continuing our relationship with them to grow the community and make Inverness the most inclusive community in Atlantic Canada.”

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ELEVATE

Regional Buzz includes festivals like Coachella and Just for Laughs, offers administrative management with a range of functionalities including artist advancement, asset monitoring, catering support and more. Patron Technology will diversify its software from consumer-facing support — such as ticket sales and fan engagement — to fully service the event organization market as a result of the acquisition. Patron Technology intends to retain the Marcato’s current Sydney team of 13 and expand into markets beyond music festival support.

Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site receives $1.5-million for renovations

PHOTO STEVE WADDEN

Lanes at Membertou The sounds of a strike and a perfect game can now be heard in the Membertou area with the new Lanes at Membertou bowling alley. After the bowling alley closed in the Sydney Shopping Centre, Membertou Band Council conducted a feasibility study for gauging interest in opening an alley in the community which resulted in the construction of the new facilities. The alley boosts automatic laser scoring features, three multi-sport simulators and a full-service restaurant and bar. The 16-lane, family-oriented alley and entertainment facility, which opened in November, cost more than $5-million and employs about 60 people. Official opening took place on January 31.

Cabot Shores Resort builds green energy retreat centre Cabot Shores is expanding its tourism offerings this year with the construction of a green energy-operated events and retreat centre thanks to a $160,000 contribution from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA). The 1,600 sq. ft. multipurpose centre will feature a large conference room and outdoor patio. Energy efficiencies will include floor-to-roof solar panels and a wood boiler to provide heat and hot water to the building, as well as nearby yurts and cedar soaking tubs.

New communityshared equipment for Inverness/Victoria agriculture operators The Inverness/Victoria Federation of Agriculture recently received more than $260,000 in funding for new community-shared equipment for rent to its members. Through the Inverness/Victoria Federation of Agriculture machine rental services, member farms are able to access specialized farm equipment to increase productivity and encourage innovative farming methods. The new equipment will help grow established farms and attract new producers by offsetting capital-

intensive start-up costs for new operations. The equipment will include technology with biosecurity features to prevent the spread of contamination between farms, increase operational efficiencies and streamline methods for collecting, clearing and processing crops.

Marcato Digital Solutions sold to U.S. company Marcato Digital Solutions, a company that provides administrative and logistical software support for music festivals and events, has been purchased by Pittsburghbased Patron Technology. Sydney’s Marcato, whose client roster

BUSINESS NEWS

Parks Canada announced road and roof rehabilitation as well as lighting and parking lot improvements at the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site in Baddeck. The site exhibits displays including a replica of the Silver Dart and other interactive learning experiences from the fascinating life and work of the famous inventor, Alexander Graham Bell. The site is visited by approximately 85,000 people each year.

Tom Ryan Jr. launches A Giant Man from a Tiny Town Known far and wide as the Cape Breton Giant, Angus MacAskill was raised in St. Ann’s where he grew to an astonishing 7’9”. Tom Ryan Jr. launched the release of his new book, A Giant Man from a Tiny Town, during a book reading at the Inverness County Centre for the Arts where an audience of readers, youth and adults alike listened intently to the depiction of the colourful adventures of the historical figure, the Cape Breton Giant. The book illustrations were completed by Christopher Hoyt.

There is also a museum dedicated to MacAskill in St. Ann’s, Cape Breton.

FEBRUARY 2019

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PHOTO CONTRIBUTED

Back on the Rack Consignment Boutique announces “Back to the Community” initiative

PHOTO STEVE RANKIN

Back on the Rack has announced a simple and effective solution through second-hand clothing donations that will allow families and individuals to shop for clothing in a discrete and fun way. Items brought into the shop can be placed under the Back to the Community consignment account and proceeds from the sales will be given out to families and individuals through local schools, food banks and social enterprise organizations in the form of gift certificates. The gift certificates will be given to recipients anonymously and amounts will be based on individual need.

Wabo’s Pizza celebrates 25 years of delectable dining

Richmond County featured in Atlantic Business magazine

two automated filling, labelling and packaging lines — was purchased by Highlanders Cannabis Corporation. The corporation is a cannabis company registered out of British Columbia. Company president and director, Tiffany Walsh, says once licensed by Health Canada under the Cannabis Act, the former pharmaceutical plant in North Sydney may become the most advanced legal manufacturer of cannabinoidbased products in the world.

Walsh, a Sydney Mines native, has an extensive background in the cannabis industry from licensed producers, dispensaries and cannabis-tech companies.

Richmond County put its best foot forward in a 15-page spread circulated in the fall editions of Atlantic Business Magazine’s Natural Resources publication.

The advertorial cost nearly $7,000 and is widely distributed to business leaders and magazine subscribers as well as executive hotel suites and airport terminals. The paid feature is part of Richmond County’s outreach plan for tourism and economic development and highlights comparably low residential and commercial tax rates,

industrial parks, fishing industry and municipal infrastructure.

Other advertisers in the advertorial included Lobsters ‘R’ Us Seafood, the Cape Breton Partnership, Premium Seafoods Group, Nustar, Bear Head LNG and Celtic Air Services.

Highlanders Cannabis Corp. strives for Canadian cannabinoid innovation in Cape Breton Stirling Products Limited, a Northside pharmaceutical plant, along with all of its assets — including a laboratory, water filtration system, mixing units and

Perfectly perched along the scenic Cabot Trail, nestled on the Chéticamp Harbour, Wabo’s Pizza opened its doors in 1993 to serve Inverness County and its visitors. Wabo’s offers gourmet Italian dishes and Canadian favourites as well as tasty take-out options. From classic pizza to fresh seafood or chicken fingers and a burger and fries, Wabo’s Pizza has been a hometown must-have for the last 25 years. Congratulations on this business benchmark!

Headland Cultivation: Progress in Lennox Passage Headland Cultivation Inc. started conducting site clearing of 30 acres of land at the Richmond County Industrial Park in Lennox Passage this December, where they will construct a new craft cannabis facility. Headland Cultivation Co-founder and President, David Burton, says construction will begin this spring and finish later in the fall. The site will produce an annual four million grams of highend connoisseur quality cannabis.

Burton says recruitment for workers will begin this summer.

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BUSINESS NEWS

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Mi’kmaq Crane Services spurs hope for future development Eskasoni Corporate and East Coast Metal Fabrication signed an agreement to partner in the joint venture, Mi’kmaq Crane Services Inc. The company was formed with the intent of employing Indigenous operators in Eskasoni with the goal of furthered economic sustainability for the community.

Mi’kmaq Crane Services currently employs four 110-tonne crane operators and is currently working on a major project to replace the bumpers on the Marine Atlantic ferry terminal pier in North Sydney. The company also has ongoing contracts with Kameron Coal and Nova Scotia Power.

PHOTO STEVE WADDEN

Eskasoni Health Centre opens The new Eskasoni First Nation Health Centre opened its doors this October. The $10-million centre is located on the Eskasoni waterfront and is more than double the size of the previous community health centre, which will continue to operate in addition to the new patient care facility. The new Eskasoni Health Centre is the largest on-reserve healthcare centre in Atlantic Canada. It will feature a range of services and programs including a dental clinic, pharmacy, mental health practitioner, health promotion program, disease prevention and primary care centre. Many of the medical staff and doctors speak Mi’kmaq to allow for full service to community members.

Breton Forest Innovation Co-op nabs pilot funding The newly established Breton Forest Innovation Co-op was recently named one of three recipients of the inaugural Impact Investing program launched by the province. The pilot program offers funding up to $25,000 to Nova Scotian companies that make a difference in their communities. The Co-op was established last year with the purchase of the former Finewood Flooring manufacturing facility in Middle River. They are dedicated to caring for Cape Breton forests by focusing on everything from private wood lot management, sustainable harvesting, re-planting d supproting the development of value-added forestry and wood product businesses on the Island.

The Purple Frog, Nisqnanamuksit sqolj, translated by Bernie Francis

PHOTO STEVE WADDEN

Celtic Air TIANS award The 41st Annual Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia summit awarded “New Tourism Business of the Year Award” to Celtic Air Services, which provides aircraft and concierge services around Cape Breton Island. The Port Hastings-based private airline company provides helicopter tours through the scenic Cape Breton highlands for visitors near and far. Not just an airline, Celtic Air offers full-service packages including concierge services — such as booking golf tee times, hotel and accommodations, fishing and whale watching charters, restaurant reservations and dining tables and customizing authentic Cape Breton vacations to each visitor’s interests.

BUSINESS NEWS

A new children’s book by Nova Scotian author, Angela Jeffreys, was translated into Mi’kmaq by Membertou First Nation elder, Bernie Francis, late in 2018 with hopes to improve access to Mi’kmaw language books to promote cultural identity. The storyline follows a frog named Hubert who is teased for being different and tries to demonstrate acceptance and diversity. Jeffreys hopes the book will appear in First Nations schools across the province and more children’s books will become available in Indigenous languages.

FEBRUARY 2019

Breton CannaPharms plans ahead for 100 jobs with cannabis processing plant purchase Breton CannaPharms Ltd. has applied to Health Canada to be a licensed producer under the Cannabis Act to produce medical and recreational cannabis product in Port Hawkesbury. If successful, the license would allow them to produce 12,500 kilograms of cannabis per year and would create an additional 50-100 jobs in the region. The Breton CannaPharms application is currently the largest applicant on the island for the license with a 75,000 sq. ft.

14-acre property.

Wreck Cove’s Sew Inclined celebrates 25th anniversary Located along the Cabot Trail, Sew Inclined recently celebrated 25 years of making one-of-a-kind hats, jackets, purses and more.

Specializing in period, medieval and historical clothing designs, Barbara Longva can design customized, unique designs from customer’s ideas and transform them into a personalized reality. She has

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an extensive list of theatre productions and cast costumes for movies and plays including My Fair Lady, Oliver, Annie, Scrooge and Charlotte’s Web. Congratulations on this milestone, Barbara!

Major tourism attraction: Atlantic Memorial Park kicks off Phase 1 Phase 1 of Atlantic Memorial Park — a park established to commemorate the significant contributions of Sydney Harbour to Canadian wartime efforts — has come to fruition with a recent funding contribution of nearly $1-million from all levels of government, including three federal departments, the Government of Nova Scotia and Membertou First Nation. Phase 1 of the park, which will span approximately 120 acres, will be launched by the restoration of the command post at Chapel Point Battery. The restoration is expected to be completed

by December of 2019. Additional phases for the park will include a family park and play area, a replica Indigenous encampment, walking trails through wooded areas, a replica Vimy Ridge battlefield, nearby beach access and a

PHOTO STEVE WADDEN

Strait Supplies celebrates 50 years in Cape Breton From zip ties to life jackets, buoy paint to fall arrest equipment, safety glasses to welding machines and marine transmission devices, Strait Supplies has served Cape Breton’s industrial market, small business owners and individual consumers with knowledgeable and friendly support since 1968. Fifty years later, the Point Tupper company continues to assist hundreds of industry customers find quality inventory including items for welding, plumbing, heating, fishing, marine, hydraulic and general safety.

Cliffside monument. The establishment of the park, which is expected to be completed over the next five years, will compliment current offerings from the Fortress of Louisbourg and the

Alexander Graham Bell Museum in Baddeck. Tenders for engineering, architectural work, construction, security and administration services for the project have been awarded.

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BUSINESS NEWS

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New members CAPE BRETON REGIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PRINCE ST. AUTO REPAIR Prince St. Auto Repair is a full-service garage and used car dealership. Services include MVI, tire changes, repair brakes, front end repairs, oil changes, engine diagnostics, rocker panel repairs and more.

500 Prince Street Sydney, NS 902-539-7676 LISA YOUNG LEE INC. We offer handcrafted luxury healing jewellery made by local Reiki Healers. Our jewellery is made with positive intentions and is infused with Reiki healing energy.

13 King Street North Sydney, NS 902-800-2044 CABOT PHYSIOTHERAPY & MASSAGE THERAPY CLINIC A multidisciplinary clinic providing Physiotherapy, Massage Therapy and other services.

1125 Kings Road Sydney River, NS 902-849-9800 (Glace Bay) 902-562-1502 (Sydney) HARBOURVIEW MONTESSORI SCHOOL Harbourview Montessori School offers day school for pre-primary to Grade 9 and an after-school reading clinic for children between the ages of 5 and 13.

290 Murphy Road Sydney, NS 902-539-8884 JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF NOVA SCOTIA JA Nova Scotia provides hands-on experiential learning in the classroom and through extra-curricular activities. Programs focus on financial literacy, workplace readiness and entrepreneurship.

98 Centre Street Sydney, NS 902-454-4564

COLLEGIO TECHNOLOGIES INC. We are committed to helping people and organizations develop their technical skills. We can teach you how.

347 Nepean Street Sydney, NS info@collegio.ca

STRAIT AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ST. PETER’S PIRATE DAYS A not for profit festival run by volunteers in St. Peter’s, Nova Scotia. We are here to celebrate, draw our communities back together again along with drawing local, national and international tourists, help change the way people view local festivals and their earning potential as well as add to our local economy on a consistent yearly basis. Come visit us the middle of each September and join in the fun. There is something for every member of the family.

St. Peter’s, NS www.visitstpeters.com/pirate-days CARMICHAEL ENGINEERING Regardless of the type of facility you may be responsible for, be it for occupant comfort or industrial process applications, Carmichael Engineering offers the most comprehensive range of services for every conceivable type of building and thermal system.

19 MacIntosh Ave, Unit 1 Port Hawkesbury, NS 902-539-1093 STRATHSPEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE Strathspey Performing Arts Centre (SPAC) is a not for profit that offers an opportunity to enrich the community through live music and theatre arts, in a professional performance venue. SPAC is located in the Allan J. MacEachen International Academic and Cultural Centre, a shared space with Dalbrae Academy and the Alexander Doyle Public Library. Nestled in the rolling hills of Cape Breton’s musical coast, SPAC is a key destination for locals and friends from away.

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LINDSAY CONSTRUCTION Simply put, Lindsay Construction builds relationships as much as structures. We’ve been earning that trust since 1959 by approaching each project with quality design and workmanship, integrity, and pride. Whether civil, industrial, commercial, or institutional, from our Sydney, Dartmouth, Moncton, or St. John’s office, your building project is in the right hands when you partner with Lindsay Construction.

358 Keltic Drive, Building 2, Unit B Sydney, NS 902-468-5000 FOOD 4 CHILDREN SOCIETY Supplying Children and families with food. In School and at home. They support several Programs: Breakfast Programs; Snack Programs; Lunch Programs; After School Programs and Back Pack Programs. Providing children in school with fresh fruit, snacks, drinks, etc. Professionally administered in the school environment. Doing their best to eliminate child poverty. We provided over 135,000 meals and snacks to children in 2017-18 in Quad Counties.

49 Wall Street Cape George, NS EXITRITE PLANNING SERVICES INC. If you’re a business owner contemplating the inevitable transition from your business, you may be wondering where to start, how to prepare the business for sale, how to choose your successor, and how to tap into the expertise you will need. exitRITE understands your challenges. We develop the Transition Pathway that suits your situation and serve as your Navigator, guiding you through the steps. Our approach reduces costs, gives you control over the process, leaving you free to run the business.

337 Main Street Port Hood, NS 902-209-6726 EASTERN VETERINARY TECHNICIAN ASSOCIATION Provide membership for veterinary technicians for the atlantic provinces.

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FEBRUARY 2019

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V-POTTERY A pottery studio where Victoria BoninMacKenzie creates wheel thrown and hand built functional earthenware pottery and teaches pottery making classes and workshops to students of all ages. Studio is located in the La Goelette a Pepe Café building.

2393 Highway 206 Arichat, NS 902-631-2995 M. BERRIGAN LAND SURVEYING LTD. M. Berrigan Land Surveying is a locally owned and operated Land Surveying company in Antigonish County. We are well positioned to serve central and North Eastern Nova Scotia, and Southern Cape Breton with the ability to venture anywhere in the province if needed.

54 St. Mary’s Street Antigonish, NS 902-870-5907 SPEEDY GLASS, SIGNS & ACCESSORIES Glass replacement, signs and accessories specialists.

2 MacInnis Road Port Hawkesbury, NS 902-625-3028

CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONALS For most organizations, sustainability requires change. Change Management Professionals serves small, medium businesses & NFP organizations, leading change that resolves people, operations or process challenges to build capacity, realize growth and seize opportunity.

Whether it’s concern about attracting/ retaining “right fit” people, frustration over the status quo holding you back, or worry for how employees may react to a new way of doing things, we make change successful & less stressful.

337 Main Street Port Hood, NS 902-463-6577 MATTHEW F. HART LAW Our goal is to provide professional, ethical and sound legal services to our clients in Inverness and Victoria Counties.

137 Twining Street Baddeck, NS 902-295-1245 FRASER HATT LAW Law Firm.

QUINCY STREET MARKET There’s a reason we live by the sea — for the salt in our hair & the sand on our feet.

Designed to celebrate this life by the sea, Quincy Street Market balances beautiful art and craft from the region with carefully selected clothing, linens and home decor from across Canada and beyond. Quincy Street Market is a space for falling in love.

What could be better? Shop Quincy’s artful retail for the things you need, the things you want and the things you love.

15876 Central Avenue Inverness, NS 902-258-3388 THAT DOG PLACE That Dog Place Inc offers daycare, boarding and grooming. Daycare and boarding is based on pack play so your dog is well-socialized and gets lots of exercise in our large secured fenced in area. Your dog will feel right at home with our home-like set up. Our professional groomer pampers your dog of all breeds and sizes, and even grooms cats, too.

93 Reeves Street, Port Hawkesbury, NS 902-625-9663

45 Lakeside Drive Melville, NS

Syndey MeMorial Chapel & Cape Breton CreMatoriuM

Licensed Funeral Directors available to personalize your Funeral Pre-Arrangements

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WELCOME TO

CREATIVE ISLAND

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HOW CAPE BRETON INNOVATORS ARE CHANGING THE WORLD

PHOTO DOUBLE SPACE

Alexander Graham Bell and his wife Mabel built the impressive Beinn Bhreagh Hall on their Baddeck estate in 1892 for $20,000.

ONE OF THE FIRST AND MOST SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENTS IN CREATING A HUB OF SKILLS WAS ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL’S TEAM OF LIKE-MINDED THINKERS WHO GATHERED AT HIS FAMILY ESTATE AT BEINN BHREAGH NEAR BADDECK, NOVA SCOTIA, THIS EARLY NOTION OF RELIANCE ON TEAM WAS DISTINCTLY CANADIAN. COPIED AROUND THE WORLD, IT HAS EVOLVED IN OUR OWN TIME INTO A CONCEPT NOW REFERRED TO AS ‘THE HUB.’†

STORY MORGAN MURRAY

O

n a chilly February morning, 110 years ago, a group of men skated onto a frozen lake pushing an airplane they had been building in a converted barn nearby. One of them, a local man, climbed onto the small wooden seat perched right in front of the built-from-scratch engine, with his head inches from the fuel tank. They fired up the engine and the pilot took off. He climbed the flying machine to about 500 feet and flew a few times around the lake. It was the first successful powered flight in the entire British Empire — and it happened in Cape Breton.

The flight of the Silver Dart is one of the crowning achievements in a long list of scientific and technological breakthroughs — including work on aeronautics, hydrofoils, communications, agriculture and much more — that took place at Beinn Bhreagh,* the impressive estate of famous inventor Alexander Graham Bell and his entrepreneurial wife, Mabel Hubbard-Bell, on the shores of the Bras d’Or Lake just outside of the village of Baddeck.

While the Silver Dart was a great leap forward for aviation, perhaps the greatest and most world-changing invention that took place at Beinn Bhreagh was the entirely new method of inventing that led to the creation of the Silver Dart.

The Silver Dart was the product of the Aerial Experiment Association, a group led

by Bell and managed by Mabel, that brought together a group of creative specialists, tinkerers, builders, inventors and outside-ofthe-box-thinkers from the local community and around the world to solve an unsolvable problem: human flight.

Unlike many of the great inventions of the early industrial age, which were the works of solitary geniuses tinkering away in a workshop — like Bell himself when he invented the telephone in 1874 — the work done at Beinn Bhreagh by the Aerial Experiment Association was something else entirely.

Invention, for the first time, came to be the work of purpose-built teams.

It was an idea, this Cape Breton model of innovation, that caught on far-and-wide very quickly. If the 19th century was the

century of the solitary genius inventor, the 20th became the century of the creative team. Bell, Edison and Volta became NASA, MIT and Silicon Valley. The speed at which technology advanced in the hands of these teams, both privately and publicly funded, accelerated exponentially.

It was just 60 years between J.A. Douglas McCurdy’s first laps around the Bras d’Or Lake on a plane built of sticks and cloth in a barn to Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon.

The evolution of this Cape Breton approach to innovation has seen it grow beyond just solving impossible technical problems, to the basis upon which many places around the world are now looking to quell the effects of slowing economies, dwindling resources, falling birthrates and the disappearance of major traditional industries.

The systemization of innovation has created a cottage buzzword industry of researchers, policy makers, economic development organizations and entrepreneurs all puzzling over how to build stronger “innovation ecosystems” with more robust

†From: Ingenious: How Canadian Innovators Made the World Smarter, Smaller, Kinder, Safer, Healthier, Wealthier, and Happier by David Johnston and Tom Jenkins (Signal, 2017). *Beinn Bhreagh means “Beautiful Mountain” in Scottish Gaelic

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FEBRUARY 2019

On February 23, 1909, the first flight in the British Empire took place near Baddeck when J.A. Douglas McCurdy took off in the Silver Dart, a plane he and the Aerial Experiment Association built themselves.

PHOTO DOUBLE SPACE

Rabbit Snare Gorge, a mordern cottage near Inverness designed by Omar Ghandi (NS) and Design Base 8 (NY), has won a number of awards for design and architecture.

Protocase co-founders

Doug Milburn, left, and Steve Lilley. together empowered creative people working are being found to bring new money, new employment and new economic prosperity to regions much more reliably than putting all of our eggs in one industrial basket.

And now, one of Cape Breton’s greatest and most unsung gifts to the world is coming home.

What began here at the turn of the last century with a man strapped to a flying machine has grown to a man walking on the moon, to billions hurtling through cyberspace, to millions being treated for sickness and disease and to countless other miracles. Unfortunately, much of that has happened outside of Cape Breton, which has spent more than a century living through the exhilaration of an industrial boom, the devastation of an industrial bust and the desperation of the post-industrial fall out.

The story of Industrial Cape Breton is

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well known. Around the time the Bells were building Beinn Bhreagh, several major collieries and the massive Sydney Steel Plant were opening. An economic and population boom followed — the population of Cape Breton more than tripled. Industrial Cape Breton was very much the Fort McMurray of its day.

Then came the decline and fall.

By the 1960s, the prices of coal and steel began to slide and ground fish stocks — the other pillar of the Cape Breton economy — began to decline. The plant and mines were nationalized in 1968 but their efforts could only delay the inevitable. In 1992, the North Atlantic cod fishery collapsed — and in 2001, the Steel Plant and the last of the mines closed for good.

Almost all at once, industries that employed tens of thousands at their peak were gone.

The fallout was devastating.

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“clusters,” “superclusters” and “hubs” that will create more “collisions” to “incubate” more “start-ups” and “accelerate disruption” to lead, ultimately, to more “exits” and more “unicorns.”

While the jargon is enough to make your head spin, all of this thinking and working towards stronger ecosystems is really just trying to figure out how to create more opportunities for creative people from a greater variety of backgrounds to come together — and to get the skills, the tools and the know-how they need to create new value for their communities and find new ways to create prosperity.

This represents a significant shift in thinking about how economies can be grown and communities can flourish. No longer can giant mines, mills or plants be expected to show up with thousands of jobs and save a region.

Instead, well-connected, well-supported and

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COPOL INTERNATIONAL LTD. PHOTO COREY KATZ

BRETON BREWING

PHOTO STEVE WADDEN

Unemployment and poverty rates skyrocketed and thousands of young people moved off the island for opportunities elsewhere.

The population of the island has shrunk by a third and those who have stayed are aging.

Cape Breton is now the oldest region in the country.

While it might have felt the effects more acutely, the collapse of backbone industries wasn’t a phenomenon isolated to Cape Breton. Much of Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canada — like many former industrial centres in North America and Europe — saw traditional industries disappear in the 1980s and 1990s, leaving similar patterns of poverty, unemployment, shrinking and aging populations.

To try and get a handle on this, the Nova Scotia government established the Commission on Building Our New Economy, or the Ivany Commission, which released its report in 2014 entitled Now or Never: An Urgent Call to Action for Nova Scotians. The report lays out, in no uncertain terms, that “Nova Scotia is on the verge of a significant and prolonged decline” if significant measures aren’t taken immediately.

Among those significant measures, the Commission points out the need to increase economic growth through innovation and increase the population by attracting new immigrants. In addition to this, the Commission pointed out that the province is plagued by negative attitudes and cynicism — a product of decades of decline, collapse and poverty — that hold us back from taking

At its peak, Industrial Cape Breton employed more than 10,000 steel mill workers and coal miners. Both the major mining operations and the Sydney Steel Mill were state-owned since the late 1900s, both closing for good in 2001.

chances, being innovative and welcoming and tackling daunting problems. These negative attitudes, the Commission emphasized, must be dealt with the same urgency as the economic and population problems. If we don’t solve both, we won’t solve either.

And so, Nova Scotians — and Cape Bretoners — have gotten to work.

Governments, post-secondary institutions, business and community organizations have been working together like never before to try and turn the fate of the province around by increasing efforts to attract more newcomers and work on building world-class innovation ecosystems, which has helped grow a burgeoning sense of optimism.

In many ways, this is not about the reinvention of Cape Breton. It is not the creation and imposition of something new and different. It is about the re-stoking of a flame that has dwindled after the tumult of the past several decades.

There is nowhere else on earth better suited for a dramatic post-industrial innovation-driven boom than Cape Breton.

Creative courage and community are at the heart of innovation. It is daring to try new things, to tackle big problems, to solve the unsolvable — and this, though it has been overlooked for a long time, is a quintessentially Cape Breton thing.

Much more than well-to-do scientists from Boston with a summer home on a hill, the Bells were Cape Bretoners. It is their home. It is where they are buried. It is where they did some of their most ambitious and COVER STORY

important work. It was the character of their adapted home that motivated them to do that work and inspired them to do it in a truly revolutionary way.

The Bells didn’t move to just any island, they moved to Cape Breton Island — to Creative Island — home to some of the most creative, welcoming and resilient people on earth.

From the Mi’kmaq who have thrived on Unama’ki for millennia on their ingenuity and hard work; to the Gaelic settlers from Europe who built prosperity from the land and the sea with their wits and resourcefulness and share with the Mi’kmaq a deep appreciation of creativity expressed through music, storytelling and craft; to the past and present crop of world-class artists, thinkers and entrepreneurs like Annette Verschuren, the Rankin Family, Rita MacNeil, Kate Beaton, Arthur MacDonald and many more; to a long-standing and robust informal economy of entrepreneurs, predominantly women, supporting their families and their small communities; to the current group of leading-edge companies like those found on the following pages.

When you begin to take stock of the creative courage inherent in Cape Breton and the tight-knit and welcoming communities that inspire and support this creative courage — to take on the world, to welcome the world, to change the world — you start to see that maybe it wasn’t the creative genius of the Bells that rubbed off on Cape Breton, but the other way around.

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WHAT IS INNOVATION?

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INNOVATION has come to represent a kind of miracle cure for ailing economies around the world.

However, its ever-growing popularity has led it to increasingly become an empty buzzword detached from meaning. This is a problem, as cloudiness of what it means can get in the way of making meaningful change, and can reinforce systemic issues — such as inequality — that perpetuate the very problems it promises to fix.

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So, what does it actually mean? If you boil down the dozens of definitions of innovation from various sources from around the world, the common thread is that it is a creative act with valuable consequences.

Simply put: innovation is creating new value.

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This new value can take different forms, such as economic (new companies or products), social (new social programs), cultural (new artwork), etc. But the value side of innovation is usually determined by large and complex forces — the marketplace — that are out of anyone’s control.

Creativity, on the other hand, is the active part of innovation. It’s the thing that people do. It’s a behaviour born out of the confidence to make change, to experiment, to fail, to build anew.

Innovation systems (also known as ecosystems) are the mix of institutions, organizations, policies, cultures and places that provide the context within which people and teams access the creative courage, supportive communities, know-how, skills and tools necessary to create new value.

PHOTO LOTTI ANDERSSON / 123RF

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INNOVATION PROFILE

w Innovative Cape Breton Business – Halifax Biomedical Inc. (HBI)

STORY NICOLE SIMMONS

N

ova Scotia’s health and life sciences cluster boasts more than 100 companies with revenues exceeding $300 million and employing more than 1,500 people with an average annual salary that is nearly $25,000 above the provincial average.

With the ever-evolving commercialization of health and life science products, companies are embracing the more than $50 billion global medical sector with new and innovative technologies that change the way medical professionals work, conduct research, manufacture and distribute products and diagnose patient illness and treatments — and at the forefront, for Nova Scotia is Halifax Biomedical Inc. of Mabou, Cape Breton.

With an entrepreneurial father and a mother who worked as a nurse, it’s not surprising Halifax Biomedical Inc. founder and CEO, Chad Munro is a combination of both.

Beginning his career developing products in Switzerland for a global orthopedic implant company, Munro worked directly with physicians treating severe trauma patients who had been involved in ski and motorcycle accidents — many of which were challenging clinical cases where it was difficult to determine the most effective treatment.

“It was very meaningful work and I enjoyed it very much. However, I quickly realized there were many gaps in treating these patients,” Munro says.

Munro saw these industry difficulties firsthand and knew that better medicine meant a change in the way patients injuries and illnesses were diagnosed.

“Better pre-operative patient assessments, better treatment selection, better application of technology during surgery, better patient outcomes — all of these are driven by diagnostics and analytics,” says Munro.

From this realization, Halifax Biomedical Inc. (HBI) was born.

The Mabou-based company incorporated in 2004, and has a goal of improving patient health outcomes by providing quality clinical services and advanced research products to orthopedic and joint replacement companies across the globe. The development of their innovative technologies and clinical trials help companies efficiently determine the appropriate treatments, causes, pre-operative measures, expected outcomes and more.

“We focus on very difficult but also very important healthcare issues that can save billions of dollars and avoid a lot of unnecessary patient complications,” says Munro. “Our current development is a kind of standing movie. It is like taking many Computerized Tomography (CT) scans each second, but with less X-ray doses than one CT — and the patient stands and moves.

This test will help surgeons determine if you should receive a very expensive and risky spine surgery.”

Attempting to crack this clinical issue of selecting the right patients for surgery meant Munro and his team at HBI have needed to invent several new technologies over the years — but that isn’t new for this seasoned Cape Breton company.

“Almost everything we have done with development projects and in providing service has not been done before,” says Munro.

“We rely heavily on our creativity to create new ways of solving some very challenging problems. This includes some of the most advanced machine learning image processing software that exists in our field today.”

HBI’s road to becoming a world-leader in a very crowded and competitive sector began with the courage to never turn down a challenge.“We simply charged for an upfront study and then figured out how to do it. So far, we have always found a way to make it work.”

Topping the list of HBI’s most recent accomplishments is the announcement that the company received clearance from the U.S. INNOVATION PROFILE

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Radiostereometry Upgrade product. It is the first product launched under a joint development agreement between HBI and and global giant GE Healthcare and is now available for sale to customers in the United States.

The radiostereometry upgrade takes two simultaneous X-ray images for precise 3D measurements, and can be used for bone and implant positions — as well as for the evaluation and detection of joint replacement pain and spine instability in patients who have chronic lower back pain.

HBI has also successfully created and secured four new Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes with the American Medical Association (AMA). CPT codes offer doctors and healthcare professionals a uniform language to code patient diagnosis, medical services and procedures to streamline tracking medical records and

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Nearly 15 years ago, Chad Munro had a home in Switzerland, an undergraduate degree and an ambitious goal — to contribute to the next wave of innovations through diagnostics that would one day change how the world does medicine.

WE FOCUS ON VERY DIFFICULT BUT ALSO VERY IMPORTANT HEALTHCARE ISSUES THAT CAN SAVE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS AND AVOID A LOT OF UNNECESSARY PATIENT COMPLICATIONS.”

CHAD MUNRO, FOUNDER AND CEO, HALIFAX BIOMEDICAL INC. PHOTO STEVE RANKIN

increase accuracy of treatment. The codes are used across the United States to report surgical, radiology, laboratory, anesthesiology, evaluation and management of patient medical history.

“Securing those codes was a major accomplishment, partly because there are thousands of codes already in place that describe any possible medical procedure or step-in care that could happen in a medical environment, so we knew we were doing something new and different,” says Munro.

Obtaining new codes is difficult, but Munro says it’s essential for hospitals to adopt new technology and innovation in medicine.

“We had to create the new codes because our imaging and use of implantable bone markers was new and novel,” says Munro.

“It normally takes many attempts and a lot of money to get into this very mature system.”

However, that wasn’t the case when Munro

travelled to Los Angeles to present his case to the AMA coding panel.

“After a few hours of listening to presentations from other multibillion dollar medtech company CEOs, I was called to give a fiveminute presentation,” Munro recalls. “It went well, and our new AMA codes were approved as submitted. It was a great experience.”

Having a global impact on any sector is a remarkable achievement, particularly for a small company based in rural Cape Breton.

So why did Munro choose to start his company in tiny Mabou?

“Mabou is a special place. My wife and I really wanted to raise our family in a safe, creative, beautiful and culturally rich environment,” says Munro. “We like to live in and really experience nature. We chose Mabou specifically — and have stayed — because of how wonderfully we have been welcomed into the community. People really INNOVATION PROFILE

help each other in Mabou, and that has meant a lot to our family and our staff.”

He says his family and his staff are always his first priority — in life and as an entrepreneur.

“My close relationship with my wife and our two daughters is absolutely the biggest success story in my life. There is no comparison,” says Munro. “Entrepreneurship is a journey that requires support of the entire family.”

But seeing former HBI employees take on their own entrepreneurial challenges is another kind of reward, says Munro.

“Hopefully, I am inspiring them to impact change — or I made it look really easy? I’m not sure,” says Munro. “But I really enjoy seeing former staff take on new challenges, and no one cheers louder when I see them succeed. We need more entrepreneurs in the world.”

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INNOVATION PROFILE

Cyber success in Cape Breton Innovative Cape Breton Business – Securicy STORY NICOLE SIMMONS

W

ith his home life infused with the entrepreneurial spirit, it’s not surprising that Darren Gallop would one day create a business. But what he did with that company — and the ones to follow — is truly the work of a Cape Breton success story.

Pairing born-entrepreneurial traits with his avid musical passion, Gallop took the plunge into the professional music industry in his 20s — playing with several different groups and showcasing his talents in performances across North America.

As he dove deeper into the industry, Gallop decided to turn his attentions to other artists and open his first small company. Working as a manager with a small team based out of

Cape Breton, he had some local success with bands and artists like Slowcoaster, Carmen Townsend and the Tom Fun Orchestra.

“We had a handful of ECMAs and things like that, but it was there that I had my first technology idea,” says Gallop. “That idea turned into Marcato.”

It started as a tool to help touring musicians. Gallop eventually grew Marcato into a backend festival management tool that provided support to more than 300 clients, including some of the biggest music festivals and events in the world: Burning Man, Coachella, Just for Laughs, Disney, Live Nation and Bonnaroo, as well as many Atlantic Canadian festivals like the Stan Rogers Folk Festival, Cavendish Beach Music Festival, Celtic Colours, East Coast Music INNOVATION PROFILE

Awards and Halifax Pop Explosion.

In 2018, Gallop completed his journey with the company he’d begun 10 years earlier. He sold Marcato to a Pittsburgh-based company so he could focus his sights on a new venture.

“It was in building that company that I first started learning a lot about security and cyber security,” says Gallop. “We had a lot of clients that had confidential information about their customers, and when we started working with some of the larger entities — like Disney and Live Nation — we began getting a lot of questions around data security. As that space started to heat up, we had to learn a lot about building policies, procedures and technical controls.”

It was during this time that Gallop was

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THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS WE REALLY LIKE ABOUT BEING IN CAPE BRETON. AFFORDABLE OFFICE SPACE, A LOT OF SUPPORT FROM THE COMMUNITY, GOVERNMENT SUPPORT AND AN EXTREME AMOUNT OF DEDICATION FROM EMPLOYEES — WHICH LEADS TO LOW TURNOVER AND VERY LITTLE POACHING FROM AREAS WITH LARGER TALENT POOLS.”

DARREN GALLOP CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, SECURICY

PHOTO STEVE WADDEN

A strong leadership team, customer-driven service and being in the right space at the right time.

These are Darren Gallop’s proven staples for building a successful start-up.

first introduced to the security space, and it eventually led to him becoming a Certified Information Security Professional (CISP).

As a newly-certified CISP — Gallop began contemplating logical avenues and workflows for securing company information.

“Having been in the software world for a while — and being attuned to software as a solution to a problem — I became thinking of ways to help other companies do what we did at Marcato,” says Gallop.

The timing of Gallop’s certification came around the time that the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) were being put into law in Europe. The GDPR restricts the export of data outside of Europe for the protection and privacy of individuals, and enforces that data controllers must put in

place appropriate technical and administrative measures to ensure proper data protection principles.

“It was obvious that there was a need for a product to help businesses meet privacy and security compliances,” says Gallop. “I knew it was going to boom rapidly. It was great timing to have the idea, and that’s what brought me to where I’m at now.”

Enter Securicy.

Securicy was developed to help small- and medium-sized businesses embed information security and privacy compliance into their culture by providing a cloud-based solution that gives teams one place to manage their information security and privacy compliance strategy — from the development policy through to its implementation and compliance reporting.

“The majority of our customers are in Boston, New York and Silicon Valley,” says Gallop. “After that, there’s a handful in Toronto, a couple in Montreal and a few that are from Nova Scotia.”

There are several security standards Securicy can help businesses meet compliance requirements for, which are based on common best practices for managing information securely, such as ISO 27001 and NIST 800171. Each standard requires companies to implement policies and procedures, engage senior management, provide training for employees and ensure regular data backups are in place.

“We want to become a leader in this compliance play as it continues to blow up.”

It was this first-to-market work that lead Securicy to be selected as one of the Top 10 companies for the 2018 TechStars cohort in Boston.

“We identified Boston as a really interesting space with a significant number of startups where a massive amount of venture and angel investment happens in the ecosystem comparatively to other cities,” says Gallop.

“There were well over 1,000 applicants to the TechStars competition, so we were lucky to have been chosen.”

When 2018 drew to a close, Securicy was still in beta — with only about 50 customers — but the company anticipates it will quadruple revenue over the 2019 calendar year.

“We’ve identified a product market fit for our platform, we have improvement plans and all kinds of opportunity to further the product, and we have a developed product ready for market,” says Gallop. “We’re really in customer acquisition mode now.”

INNOVATION PROFILE

With their product launch, Gallop is working diligently with partners, other companies that resell technology, security providers and directly with mid-market companies to get the platform into the hands of those companies that need it most.

“We’re building a big company to solve a big problem, and we’re moving quickly.”

Securicy’s next steps will be in the development of text recognition and applied machine learning to drive customer value.

“We’ve always looked at our customers’ problem creatively and tried to draw lines from where they are in this very moment to get them to the point where their problem is solved — and how we can provide more creative means to get them there more easily,” says Gallop. “It’s really now that we understand the pain points more, and so we are very purposely innovating from a technical perspective.”

Over the last two years, Securicy has managed to attract, relocate and transition a talented team of 14 employees from areas including Halifax, Toronto and Calgary.

They are currently hoping to fill senior positions with potential candidates from Boston and Toronto. However, Gallop says remote office space for presence in other markets is definitely an option.

“There are so many things we really like about being in Cape Breton. Affordable office space, a lot of support from the community, government support and an extreme amount of dedication from employees — which leads to low turnover and very little poaching from areas with larger talent pools,” says Gallop. “Every time we hire, if the person can be here, then that’s preferred. But at the top of it all, it’s what is going to be best for the company.”

Gallop and his co-founding partner, Laird Wilton, are committed to hiring top-tier employees as a critical contributor to the company’s success and they say many strong candidates are right here in Atlantic Canada.

With a large international student body at Cape Breton University, and increased immigration, the pool of talent in theregion is growing.

“We’ve already spoken to a few international students who have computer science backgrounds and I think there’s an opportunity to really tap into that,” says Gallop. “We want to have a remote presence in other markets, but the substantial portion of the Securicy team will always be in Cape Breton.”

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CAPE BRETON REGIONAL CHAMBER FEATURE

Why local matters

Supporting Cape Breton businesses results in prosperity in our communities valuable factors. For example, there are many establishments in Cape Breton that are a part of chains that are spread across the country.

However, the owner of that particular location is, in many cases, an individual who is from, existing in, or serving Cape Breton.

They are living in the same communities as their customers and employees, and want to have success, not just by making a profit, but also by being an impactful community member. So, consider getting to know who is behind the brand name when you go shopping.

SHOULDN’T THE DOLLARS WE SPEND BE A REFLECTION OF OUR VALUES?”

PHOTO BROOKE CAGLE / UNSPLASH

CONTRIBUTED BY Cape Breton Regional Chamber of Commerce

Y

ou might be surprised by how close your dollar stays to home when you invest in local business.

There are some common misconceptions when it comes to determining what is and isn’t considered local. Cambridge English Dictionary defines local as from, existing in, serving, or responsible for a small area.

This is a broad definition, but that is because by being more specific, you risk excluding

So often, we associate shopping local with higher prices. However, if you break it down and consider the supply chain, the time and the labour put in, it makes sense. In fact, at many locally owned businesses, prices are more reasonable than you would expect despite not having the same buying power as competitors. As for products and services that are organic, fair trade, artisan, etc., you are paying for higher quality. Those purchases offer uniqueness that is difficult, or even impossible to find elsewhere. Besides, a higher percentage of that money is going back into the community.

It is estimated that for every $10 million Amazon makes, only 10 jobs are created, while the average local business would create 57 jobs.

Local businesses generate 70 per cent more local economic activity per square foot than big box retail stores. Dollars spent at local establishments generate three and a half times more wealth for the local economy compared to money spent at chain-owned businesses.² In Nova Scotia, the agri-food industry alone is responsible for 10,000 jobs across the province. So, when you shop local in Cape Breton, you’re paying for more than products and services. You are investing in jobs, building the local tax base, and creating an attractive business environment for new startups. These are perks that we all benefit from whether we are consumers, employees, or entrepreneurs.

CAPE BRETON CHAMBER UPDATE

We often forget how much we already depend on local business to provide for the community. Local businesses are more likely to sponsor events taking place in our neighbourhood, and employees at independent stores are more likely to have a better understanding of the products they are selling and provide better customer service. Small businesses care about the community and want you to help them help you. They are aware of the intense competition they face and aim to be as efficient as possible with their services, adding value wherever they can.

Additionally, local businesses are likely to operate more efficiently and consider the environment a priority. SMEs are widely considered as the “original sustainable businesses” because of simple everyday practices they enlist. We can’t forget that small businesses have a stake in the local community, and therefore, care more for the environment they live in. Local employers are also more likely to treat staff fairly and provide more opportunity for advancement.

Furthermore, food security might seem like something that is only a concern for overpopulated countries with exhausted agriculture industries, but if Nova Scotia were cut off from the rest of the world, we would run out of food in a matter of days. Buying local creates more demand for producers, and in turn, creates a more self-sufficient community. Plus, locally produced food must comply with rigorous health standards and is, in most cases, higher quality.

Buying local is worth every penny.

Supporting business here in Cape Breton is critical for growth and prosperity. It is important for each of us to fully embrace local businesses and the important role they play. Making small commitments can make a huge difference when you are trying to change your consumer habits. In 2019, we encourage you to look here first. Explore new places to shop in Cape Breton and find out who is selling products that you love.

Follow local businesses on social media and keep track of upcoming promotions while helping them build a following and gain exposure. Tell your friends about that great experience you had or product you found. Attend local events and support your community by attending concerts, festivals, marathons and so on. Consider this a call to action. The beginning of your new and improved local consumerism.

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STRAIT AREA CHAMBER FEATURE

A time to celebrate!

Global Entrepreneurship Week celebrated in the Strait Area

Richie Mann, Strait Area Chamber of Commerce President, presents the Excellence in Business Award to PolyTech Products Ltd., Baddeck.

CONTRIBUTED BY Strait Area Chamber of Commerce

O

n November 14, 2018, the Strait Area business community came together to celebrate business success and Global Entrepreneurship Week — the world’s largest celebration of job creators, innovators and business owners who turn dreams into economic growth. Held at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre, the Fall Awards Dinner is hosted by the Strait Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber’s Fall dinner celebrates business success and recognizes outstanding customer service, safety champions and new businesses.

Top honours of the evening went to Polytech Products with General Manager Reid Campbell accepting the Excellence in Business Award. Polytech Products Ltd. have been manufacturing high quality Europeanstyle tilt/turn windows in their Baddeck factory since 1988. Polytech’s customer base includes residential and commercial clients

Rising Star – New Business Award Recipient, Cutting Edge Studio & Boutique, Port Hawkesbury.

Outstanding Customer Service Award Recipient, Amanda Martell of St. Joseph's Credit Union, Petit-de-Grat.

across Atlantic Canada, and they have made a concerted effort to adopt environmentally friendly manufacturing processes where excess PVC material is saved and repurposed for new window construction. Starting with just a few employees, they have grown to employ thirteen people and opened a second sales office in the Burnside Industrial Park in Dartmouth.

They are an excellent example of how small businesses can succeed in rural Cape Breton.

The Rising Star New Business Award was granted to Cutting Edge Studio and Boutique in Port Hawkesbury, and Martin Marietta Materials located in Mulgrave received the Export Achievement Award.

Michelle MacNeil of the NSCC Strait Area Campus took home the Safety Champion Award and the Outstanding Customer Service Award went to Amanda Martell of St. Joseph’s Credit Union in Petit de Grat. Other accomplishments were recognized during the evening including businesses honored for being in operation for 25 and 50 years or more. The Club 50 honourees included Strait Supplies and Norvon Enterprises, and

the Club 25 inductees were C.J. D’Intino Engineering, and NuStar Energy LP. “The early winter storm didn’t dampen spirits at the dinner,” said Amanda Mombourquette, Executive Director of the Strait Area Chamber of Commerce. She noted that, “entrepreneurship, hard work and innovation are very strong in the Strait Area, which is evident from the award winners. We received a record number of nominations for the Rising Star New Business Award and that truly speaks to the entrepreneurial nature of our communities.” The Strait Area Chamber of Commerce is committed to recognizing business achievements, and to fostering business connections across the region.

The Strait Area Chamber of Commerce 2018 Fall Dinner and Awards Gala was sponsored by Port Hawkesbury Paper, Bearhead LNG, Nova Scotia Business Inc., BDC, InRich CBDC, the Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia, the Municipality of the County of Richmond, the Cape Breton Partnership, 1015 The Hawk, and Sound Source Pro Audio.

Banking that goes further.

East Coast Credit Union is more than a bank and you are more than a customer. You’re a member—and we make a local impact by ensuring your money stays right here in your community.

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STRAIT AREA CHAMBER UPDATE

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ELEVATE

UPDATE FROM THE CAPE BRETON REGIONAL ENTERPRISE NETWORK

Celebrating rural business

Carla Arsenault, President & CEO of the Cape Breton Partnership and CBREN, speaks at the Richmond County Business Dinner.

Jeff Stanley, Cape Breton Partnership and CBREN

CONTRIBUTED BY Cape Breton Partnership

T

he Cape Breton Regional Enterprise Network (CBREN) is a partnership of the Province of Nova Scotia, the First Nation communities of Eskasoni, Membertou and We’koqma’q, and the Municipalities of Victoria, Richmond and Inverness counties.

The network is governed by a private sector Board of Directors and is administered by the Cape Breton Partnership. The network’s primary goals are to lead regional economic strategies, to support the development and attraction of new businesses and promote the retention and expansion of existing businesses.

Bernadette Power, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA)

Mary Tulle, Destination Cape Breton Association (DCBA)

CBREN HOSTS BUSINESS DINNERS IN RICHMOND AND INVERNESS COUNTIES

& CEO Carla Arsenault, who provided an overview of the Partnership’s initiatives and introduced Richmond County Council’s Brian Marchand and Cape Breton Partnership Richmond County Economic Development Officer, Jeff Stanley. Keynote speeches were given by Mary Tulle, CEO of Destination Cape Breton, and Bernadette Power, Acting Director of Tourism at the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA). The presentation gave an overview of the recent tourism season, including Richmond County’s place in it, and stressed the importance of pushing tourism’s supposed boundaries — physically, geographically or seasonally.

The Cape Breton Partnership hosted two business dinners this past fall, partnering with the Municipalities of Richmond and Inverness Counties and the Strait Area Chamber of Commerce. More than 230 residents, businesses, students and community leaders gathered to celebrate and discuss local business and economic development projects at the events.

On October 22, the Dundee Resort and Golf Course hosted the Business Dinner in Richmond County. Attendees were greeted

by Cape Breton Partnership President CBREN UPDATE

FEBRUARY 2019

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Carla Arsenault, President & CEO of the Cape Breton Partnership and CBREN, speaks at the Inverness County Business Dinner.

On November 5, the Inverness County Business Dinner was held at the Salle Paroissiale in Saint-Joseph-du-Moine. The event’s schedule included a welcome message from Inverness County Warden, Betty Ann MacQuarrie, an update on the Cape Breton Partnership and its initiatives from Carla Arsenault, and a keynote address by the Honourable Lena Metlege Diab, Nova Scotia Minister of Acadian Affairs and Francophonie and Minister of Immigration.

The business dinner marked the Minister’s first official event of the 2018 National Francophone Immigration Week.

Jeremy Martell and Lena Metlege-Diab, Nova Scotia Minister of Acadian Affairs, Francophonie and Immigration

The Inverness County business dinner also provided an opportunity to introduce Inverness County businesses with the CBREN’s newly-appointed Economic Development Officer (EDO) for Inverness County, Lynne MacLennan. MacLennan will be responsible for supporting activities that will attract investment and business opportunities to the region, as well as work directly with businesses to help them grow and expand. Inverness County businesses are encouraged to contact Lynne MacLennan to learn more about the programs and services available to them at 902-258-7365 or lynne@capebretonpartnership.com.

7727330

CBREN UPDATE

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CAPE BRETON PARTNERSHIP UPDATE

Partnership hosts 2018 Investor Summit

PHOTOS NEIL GASCOYNE

CONTRIBUTED BY Cape Breton Partnership

T

he Cape Breton Partnership unites businesses and communities across Cape Breton to drive the economy forward. The Partnership is a proud product of the private sector and an agent of positive change for Cape Breton and the people that live and work here.

On October 4, 2018, the Cape Breton Partnership brought together nearly 200 business, community, and government leaders from across Nova Scotia for the annual Investor Summit — presented by Bear Head LNG and Atlantic Lottery Corporation —

at the Keltic Lodge at the Highlands in Ingonish Beach.

The Investor Summit is a unique event where delegates from a diverse range of industry sectors are invited to network, collaborate and discuss issues facing the local economy.

With the theme of “Innovation” at the forefront of this year’s Investor Summit, the summit’s agenda included presentations from emerging businesses such as The Headland Cultivation Company in Richmond County.

The day-long event also included updates from traditional businesses doing innovative work in their sector, such as Highland Bow and Arrow — an archery attraction making strides in Skir Dhu — and Ethical Swag, which provides promotional items with the environment in mind.

PARTNERSHIP UPDATE

Another highlight from this year’s agenda included keynote speaker, John Norman, CEO of Bonavista Living, from the community of Bonavista in rural Newfoundland. Norman spoke of the town’s rich heritage that creates a unique sense of place, spurring economic regeneration and inspiring imaginative new development throughout the town’s historic downtown core. Norman says this was achieved through the preservation and restoration of the existing heritage of Bonavista, protecting and capitalizing upon its resources while creating a more livable community for all.

The Partnership also presented the fifth annual Impact Awards at the evening dinner to honour and recognize individuals and companies who have made a significant impact on the economy through new investment in Cape Breton.

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VITAL CAPE BRETON EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS VETED AT CEREMONY.

PHOTOS COREY KATZ

VITAL CAPE BRETON EXCELLENCE AWARDS On November 2, 2018, the Cape Breton Partnership and the NextGen Leadership Society hosted the fifth annual Vital Cape Breton Excellence Awards at Centre 200 in Sydney. The Vital Awards are a unique celebration that recognize youth and young professionals between the ages of 16 and 40 who have made significant contributions or impacts to their community, school or workplace. The Vital Awards also reserve a special category recognizing local employers who show a continued effort to give young people professional work experience and meaningful employment.

For the fifth anniversary, a fourth category was created: Vital Innovation Excellence Award.

Whether it is through entrepreneurship, volunteerism, cultural leadership, career excellence or by creating meaningful employment, this year’s Vital award winners prove that there is vibrancy among the region’s best and brightest.

The 2018 Vital Cape Breton Excellence Award Winners are as follows: Vital Excellence – Employer Category • Fortress of Louisbourg Association • Rodgers Law Offices • Kitpu Security • Marine Atlantic Inc. • Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources

Vital Excellence – Employee Category • Holly Chisholm, Innovacorp • Cory Musgrave, Orenda Software Solutions • Kelsey MacNeil, EPIC Youth Peer Program • Morgan Currie, Marcato Digital Solutions • Janine Hussey, New Dawn Homecare Vital Excellence – Individual Category • Dr. Jen Maher, Health & Wellness Activist • Dylan Yates, Cape Breton Environmental Association Founder & Environmental Advocate • Allison Harvey, Paramount Pharmacy • Kenneth MacKenzie, Cultural Leader & Community Volunteer • James Forsey, Talbot House Board Member & Community Volunteer Vital Excellence – Innovation • Live Life in Tents, Lee and Liam Fraser All of the recipients recognized at the Vital Awards were honoured for their achievements, commitment to supporting their peers and for making Cape Breton a better place to live, work and play.

Guests were treated to a night of hors d’oeuvres and music, offering opportunities to network with Cape Breton’s next generation of up-and-coming leaders and change-makers.

PARTNERSHIP UPDATE

CAPE BRETON • UNAMA'KI IMMIGRATION SUMMIT On November 15, 2018, the Cape Breton Partnership and its immigration partners held the Cape Breton • Unama’ki Immigration Summit at Cape Breton University’s Verschuren Centre. This event brought together newcomers, students, business leaders, government officials and community members who are focused on the important issue of immigration and the great work Cape Breton is doing to support its newcomers.

The morning portion of the summit featured an update from the Cape Breton Local Immigration Partnership (CBLIP), and showcased a newcomer storytelling session where newcomers shared their stories of immigrating to Canada. Following the CBLIP Update, delegates at the summit attended a luncheon with a Keynote Address from Francis McGuire, President of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

Delegates at the Summit also heard from Shelley Bent, Director of Programs at the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration, as well as Omar Tag El-Din, Program Lead for the Atlantic Immigration Pilot at the Cape Breton Partnership.

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SPECIAL FEATURE

Continuing to grow Recent graduates impact global research

By HEATHER LAURA CLARKE There are a couple of factors that made expanding their business in Sydney a good bet for Cornerstone Research Group Inc. One was the talent: people like Sheryl Fogarty, a BSc graduate of Cape Breton University. Another factor was confidence in the potential for business growth in the area says Partner and Senior Director of Data Analytics, Chris Cameron, who grew up on Cape Breton Island.

Yet another critical factor in Cornerstone’s decision to expand in Nova Scotia was the provincial funding support the company received that helped them hire talented new graduates to drive their research.

“Having accessible funding programs like Graduate to Opportunity (GTO) helped make our decision to open an office here possible,” says Chris Cameron. “It has allowed us to

train and invest in our new grads, and make them permanent full-time employees who are in turn enriching our quality of work.”

The Graduate to Opportunity program provides a salary incentive to small businesses, start-ups, social enterprises and non-profits who commit to hiring a recent post-secondary graduate. Employers receive 25 per cent of Year 1 salary (35 per cent if the grad is diverse) and 12.5 per cent of Year 2 salary.

For Cornerstone Research Group, this funding meant using advanced talent to enhance their global impact.

“GTO creates jobs and gives graduates an opportunity to show employers what they are capable of, and it gives Nova Scotia businesses an edge,” says Cameron.

The majority of Cornerstone Research Group’s work takes place outside of Canada, and some of that work is made possible by the work of the new grads they’ve hired.

In 2018, Cornerstone hired CBU grad Sheryl Fogarty, and Meaghan Bartlett, a

graduate of Mount Saint Vincent University’s Science Communications Program at their Sydney office.

Together the two new research associates now propel several diverse projects including systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials, medical writing, and working with clients to support health technology assessment and reimbursement submissions around the globe.

“In a few years, they will be leading research projects,” says Cameron. “Right now, they are working on a whiteboard animation video to convey technical science to the general public in a less technical way that will be published in a major medical journal.

The scope of projects that they impact here continues to grow.”

To learn more about the GTO program and how you can hire and onboard educated youth with funding visit the Graduate to Opportunity website at www.novascotia.ca/ programs/graduate-to-opportunity.

YOU GIVE THEM ADVICE AND THEY GIVE YOU PERFORMANCE, ENERGY AND ENTHUSIASM. THERE IS SO MUCH TO BE ACHIEVED WITH YOUNG TALENT JOHN READ, CEO, FUNDY LANGUAGE ANALYTICS

The Graduate to Opportunity Program provides salary contributions to small businesses, start-up companies, social enterprises, and non-profit organizations to help hire a recent grad. To breathe new life into your workforce, visit NOVASCOTIA.CA/GTO

SOMAYEH KAFAIE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND MACHINE LEARNING DEVELOPER FUNDY LANGUAGE ANALYTICS

SPECIAL FEATURE

OPEN for

BUSINESS Open for BUSINESS

Progress Edition • June, 2018

Cape Breton’s business review and forecast hits the street May 24th.

Don’t miss your opportunity to advertise your business in this special feature produced by the Cape Breton Post.

Deadline for booking is May 3rd. Let all of the Island know what you have to offer.

Contact one of our media consultants today to get more details David Smith Mickey Fahey Kevin Currie Brandon Baker

david.smith@cbpost.com or at 902-577-8795 mickey.fahey@cbpost.com or 902-577-8786 kevin.currie@cbpost.com or 902-577-8785 brandon.baker@cbpost.com or 902-577-8798

WINTER 2019 ELEVATE

LHC Building

Prime Office & Commercial Space Available

295 Charlotte St 7,000 square ft

500 George Street 4,000 square ft.

Can Be Designed to Suit

Royal Bank Building 1,789 square ft

Harbour Royale Development Ltd. M. Chernin – President 500 George Street, Sydney, Nova Scotia

Phone: 902.539.4146 mchernin@ns.aliantzinc.ca