“I’m shocked, shocked to find there is gambling going on in here.” Upon hearing the news that Avis is closing a 220 person call centre in Fredericton, here is the reaction of Liberal MLA T.J. Burke. Federicton-Nashwaaksis MLA T.J. Burke…
Continue ReadingThe long term view
Sometimes it takes an outsider to crystalize things on an issue. I spent an hour this afternoon talking with a U.S. researcher who is studying efforts to lure jobs and investment from one province to another in Canada. We were…
Continue ReadingStirring the pot
Maybe small biz week is not the best time to bring this up but… Still, running a small business can be challenging even in the best of times. Statistics Canada figures show that every year, roughly 150,000 new small businesses…
Continue ReadingPlaying the cataclysm card
Driving home yesterday I heard about Canada’s record home sales last quarter. I have been reading in the New Brunswick paper for weeks about record low unemployment, population growth, strong home starts. Yesterday we were told that all the growth…
Continue ReadingFactCheck.Campbell
Just a note on the story in multiple newspapers this morning about the 6% rise in hourly earnings year over year. I can’t find the source of this data. Statistics Canada estimates released yesterday show the July 2009 data but…
Continue ReadingHalifax- Global emerging outsourcing centre
….on this new list of 50 global outsourcing centres. Toronto is the only other Canadian location on the list. There are no US locations on the list. I see that Halifax actually dropped this year from last but it is…
Continue ReadingWhat can we learn from Chile?
I have been impressed with Chile ever since I first studied its aquaculture industry back in the early 1990s. Someone sent me this article and I thought I would share it with you. It’s about Chile’s efforts to attract high…
Continue ReadingA value proposition example
Somebody sent me this story. It is a good example of building a tailored value proposition to make yourself attractive to an industry. Iceland has been busying itself laying fibre optic cables to connect the country with North America and…
Continue ReadingOur top export
It’s kind of funny how New Brunswickers keep showing up in the books I read. In the last six months I have read books about Churchill, Mellon, Carnegie and T. Roosevelt and they all reference New Brunswick or New Brunswickers. …
Continue ReadingFiguring out the creative economy
To be honest with you this is exactly what I find frustrating about the ‘creative economy’. There is very little pinning down real economic opportunities. Here is a 100 page report on Canada’s Creative Corridor the prestigious Martin Prosperity Industry. …
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