It's The Economy, Stupid

Bill Belliveau mentions my recent piece on the need to attract more business investment here in his T&T column today. I have never met Bill Belliveau but I enjoy his columns and his CBC panel discussions. I also think he…

They say age brings understanding. Maybe. For me, the older I get the more I realize how little I really do know. I had a few conversations over the past week that have highlighted this fact. The bottom line is…

Just got off the telephone with Hal Fredericks, one of the first real economic developers in Atlantic Canada. He read my column and called up. Fredericks cut his teeth in the 1950s with the original APEC and worked for years…

The economic development biz in New Brunswick has lost one of its finest, sort of. Neil Jacobsen, formerly of Enterprise Saint John has been recruited as ADM with the Dept. of Energy. The TJ’s Shipley has a good piece on…

Someone sent me a quick email saying New Brunswick doesn’t need Soviet style economic planning. I think they believe that because I am advising that governments and community leaders get focused on existing strengths and look for ways to build…

Warning: Rant ahead. Probably among the most caustic I have written in a while. Most likely because it is my 40th birthday this week and almost the 18th anniversary of my taking a job at the NB Dept. of Economic…

Our old friend Trevor Macausland serves up a think piece in this interesting new blog (only a few posts). I think it’s the same guy?

My invitation to this event seems to have been lost in the mail. If you are not able to download it, this story covers the upcoming session on growing entrepreneurs put on by the NB Biz Council in February. A…

This is pretty juicy stuff. I think I’ll write it up in my TJ column soon but I’ll give you a sneak preview. The recent release from the 2006 Census provides some interesting data for consideration by economic development professionals.…

I heard on the radio this am a ‘social’ advocacy group in Saint John decrying any attempts by NB Power to ‘subsidize’ large power users on the backs of residential and small business users. While the fleeting glance at this…