I just read John McLaughlin, the President of UNB’s, comments in the Telegraph Journal and I had to reach for the Pepto. It seems every time I hear about this NextNB initiative, I get acid reflux. Mr. McLaughlin is rightly…
Continue ReadingOn beer and economic development
Last night at the theatre, I saw the new New Brunswick tourism advertisement that co-brands New Brunswick with Alpine beer. It’s a relatively good promotion with the actors singing ‘New York, New York’ while taking in New Brunswick’s top tourism…
Continue ReadingAnother day, another auto plant in Ontario
Ho hum, southern Ontario just won another auto manufacturing plant. A 1,500 person Toyota plant to be set up near Woodstock, Ontario. $600 million in new investment. A payroll that will likely top $65 million per year. Is there one…
Continue ReadingAnd now… the rest of the story
There used to be an old commentator on U.S. radio namded Paul Harvey who became famous for his And Now the Rest of the Story segments. He would tackle some intiative from a new angle and provide insight that no…
Continue ReadingDifferent approaches to promotion
Every province in Canada does some level of promotion to the outside world that it is a ‘great place for business’. Some do it better than others. I have often said that if you advertisments go to the U.S. or…
Continue ReadingAl Hogan on the government payroll?
You would think that Al Hogan over at the Times & Trashscript must be on the government payroll the way he fills his ‘We Say’ editorial pages with glowing reviews of everything the government does. Today’s We Say is no…
Continue ReadingGross national happiness
The Second International Conference on Gross National Happiness is taking place in Antigonish this week. The conference is “profiling initiatives around the world that integrate sustainable and equitable economic development with environmental conservation, social and cultural cohesion, and good governance.”…
Continue ReadingWhat are they teaching in schools these days?
A young person wrote a letter to the editor of the Telegraph Journal this week with an ambitious defense of the current government’s strategy for economic development. He stated in his letter that “New Brunswick’s economy has never been better“.…
Continue ReadingTip your hat to Harriet Gratian
I spend a lot of time talking about the need to bring in external businesses to set up here and create much needed jobs and economic growth. I think this is not only vital but essential to our economy surviving…
Continue ReadingUbisoft? Hard Realities
Just another day in the bizarro world of economic development in New Brunswick. We use taxpayers funds to build a highly regarded animation/multimedia training program at the community college in Miramichi and then we ‘invite’ Ubisoft (a France-based games development…
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