March 2021 | Volume 30 Issue 03
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HALIFAX CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | MARCH 2021 | VOLUME 30 ISSUE 03 THE URBAN WILDLAND BLUE MOUNTAIN Keeping Halifax wild Pg 13 NUANCES IN BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL LOOKING AHEAD AT Looking at business resilience WOMEN'S DAY VOGUE OPTICAL in a pandemic Celebrating women in podcasting Offering unique value Pg 16 Pg 21 Pg 26 AFFINITY PARTNERS As a member of the Chamber you gain access to many benefit programs that can save you or your company money. You can recover the cost of your membership many times over just by taking advantage of these money and time saving benefits from our Affinity Partners. Find out more here. TABLE OF CONTENTS: We started out of the ashes of the dot-com crash in 2000, unsure if there was a business to be had, or whether it was even 04 Events & Policy possible to survive in Nova Scotia, let alone thrive.” 05 President’s message — Mike Johnston, President & CEO, REDspace 25 06 New & Noted 09 Members in the News COVER STORY: 13 The Urban Wildland Blue Mountain Keeping Halifax wild 15 NovaScotian Crystal Tribute 16 Nuances in business A look at business resilience NUANCES IN 16 21 BUSINESS Board of Directors – Officers Volume 30 • Issue 03 21 Special Feature Gavin MacDonald, Cox & Palmer, Chair Mark Sidebottom, Nova Scotia Power, Vice-Chair Business Voice is published 11 times a year for members Margaret Chapman, Narrative Research, Past Chair of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce and Metro Halifax’s IWD: Women in podcasting Richard Butts, Clayton Developments Limited business community. Views expressed in Business Voice Faten Alshazly, WeUsThem are those of the contributors and individual members, Roger Boutilier, Nova Scotia Association of REALTORS and are not necessarily endorsed by, or are a policy of, 26 Profiles: Directors the Halifax Chamber of Commerce. Stefanie MacDonald, Halifax Paper Hearts No part of this publication may be reproduced without REDspace: Celebrating 20 years Michele Peveril, Halifax Port Authority written consent of the publisher. While every effort has been Brad Proctor, McInnes Cooper made to ensure accuracy, the publisher cannot be held Captain D.E. Mazur, Maritime Forces Atlantic responsible for any errors or omissions that may occur. Looking ahead at Vogue Optical Caroline Wolfe Stewart, Nova Scotia College of Nursing Please address editorial enquiries Andrew de Freitas, Canadian National Railway and changes to information to: Christopher Googoo, Ulnooweg Halifax Chamber of Commerce 30 Trends Hon. Joanne Bernard, Easter Seals Nova Scotia 100-32 Akerley Boulevard David Rideout, MetroWorks Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B3B 1N1 Work life balance? How about Martha Casey, VOLTA Tel: 902-468-7111 Karim George, InTouch Communications Fax: 902-468-7333 work life sway? Ann Divine, Ashanti Leadership [email protected] Chris Cowper-Smith, Spring Loaded Technology www.halifaxchamber.com Professionals upskilling to stay Chamber Staff relevant Patrick Sullivan, President and CEO Becky Davison, Vice President, Marketing Cover photo credit: Corey Isenor In a negotiation, those who Kent Roberts, Vice President, Policy Sandra White, Director of Finance and Administration offer first win Emma Menchefski, Communications Manager Mina Atia, Communications Coordinator 34 Working for you Untangling workplace conflicts 35 Thank you to our webinar speakers 3 BUSINESS VOICE – MARCH 2021 EVENTS & POLICY For a full and up-to-date list of Chamber events, please visit CHAMBER EVENTS halifaxchamber.com/events Contact [email protected] for sponsorship opportunities WEBINARS Building Resilience and Chamber 101 CHAMBER MASTERCLASS: Confidence in Canada’s with Patti Dow, Finding Your Dream Customers Financial System Member Services Specialist Online March 11 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM March 17 March 19 REGISTER HERE 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM 12:00 PM - 1:15 PM REGISTER HERE REGISTER HERE VIRTUAL EVENTS BUSINESS SUPPORT SERIES: 2021 HALIFAX Cindy's Benefits New forms from CRA - How Will Meeting This Affect your Tax Return? BUSINESS March 23 AWARDS March 26 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM FREE! 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM REGISTER HERE March 25 REGISTER HERE 5:00 PM - 9:30 PM REGISTER HERE For more info on Chamber policy and advocacy work, please visit POLICY & ADVOCACY halifaxchamber.com/advocacy Thoughtful Thursdays Over the past eleven months, the Halifax Chamber has been working diligently to ensure our members are up-to-date and aware of the programs, services, and announcements that could impact their business. We have also spent countless hours chatting with members, producing relevant webinar material, and advocating the government for increased supports and common-sense policies. While there is still much work to be done as we begin recovery, we thought this might be a great time to introduce a new series to the Chamber's LinkedIn page: Thoughtful Thursdays. Our advocacy work is often quite specific, focusing on issues like taxes, transit, and red tape. But now we are providing another platform for more open discussions on trending issues, current events, and business ideas. Check back on Thursdays for a new piece once a month and leave us a comment or send us a message. We would love to get a conversation going in hopes of inspiring a more thoughtful Thursday. This month's piece is on Affordable Housing. Read here and let us know your thoughts in the comments! 4 BUSINESS VOICE – MARCH 2021 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE International Women's Day Reflecting on how far we've come and how far we have to go @prezhfxchamber And for women entrepreneurs, they lack One of the potential candidates said the access to capital. The pandemic amplified $60,000 entry fee was a barrier for her. these structural barriers. And I imagine others felt this way as well! Black, indigenous and immigrant women, These structural issues need to be women with disabilities and women addressed at the root: we need more in the LGBTQ2S+ community are all women in government leadership roles. impacted by these barriers even more. We need more women making decisions. We did see some positive news this year We’ve done the studies; we’ve seen how like the first woman mayor in the Cape to address the inequalities. It’s time to get Breton Regional Municipality, Amanda to work. PATRICK SULLIVAN McDougall, and gender parity on the PRESIDENT & CEO Halifax council. Celebrate International Women’s Day this year by supporting women in business, t’s hard to believe we’ve been in this We also elected our first Black woman on donating to not-for-profits that support pandemic for one full year. It was council, Iona Stoddard, for District 12 in women, and by educating yourself and Imid-March 2020 when Prime Minister our 200-year history as a city. others on the inequalities that still need Trudeau asked Canadians to ‘stay home’. addressing. Since then, the world has adapted to This is a huge milestone, and we are so Zoom meetings, virtual workouts and proud of Amanda, Iona and the rest of the Enjoy reading this issue and especially mask-wearing. councillors, but this just proves how far the IWD: Women in podcasting story we have to go. about women entrepreneurs in Halifax. With the arrival of vaccines, there’s a hopeful feeling in the air in Halifax. There were no women in the Nova Scotia We’ve stayed the course for so long, but leadership race. people are still kind, still generous and still respectful. We know it’s been a long year on Zoom, but Nova Scotians know the more we work together to stay safe, the sooner we can get back to meeting and being together in person. And the sooner we can start tearing down the inequalities highlighted by the pandemic. It’s no secret––COVID affected women significantly more. After hosting Wonder Women last month and with International Women’s Day happening on March 8, I wanted to reflect on how far we have to go for equity in Canada. Women find themselves in industries greatly restricted by the pandemic such as the service industry and the self-employed. Women are still the primary caregivers for children and elderly parents. Several Canadian studies last year showed women still do most of the housework, and it actually increased during COVID. They manage the unpaid work. 5 BUSINESS VOICE – MARCH 2021 NEWSMAKERS NEW & NOTED We welcome our new Chamber members 440PARK STRATEGY programming on behalf of the 2,000 Performing Arts Photography. 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PERSONAL CARE & SERVICES - Mark Fraser BIG WAVES Photography Bedford, NS (902) 441-9113 Brook Thorndycraft Halifax, NS CASABLANCA AUTHENTIC [email protected] MOROCCAN CUISINE 440park.com (647) 218-8303 BUSINESS & PROF. SERVICES - [email protected] Abdelmalek Saoudi Management Consulting bigwaves.ca 1532 Queen St EDUCATION & PROF. Halifax, NS AEROVISION CANADA INC. DEVELOPMENT - Org. Development (902) 434-2272 (CASA) [email protected] Trevor Bergmann BLAIR BROWN - RETIRED casablancahfx.ca 504-6940 Mumford Rd MEMBER RESTAURANTS, FOOD & BEVERAGE Halifax, NS - Restaurant (902) 450-2824 Blair Brown [email protected] Halifax, NS (902) 209-0925 CONSEIL DE DÉVELOPPEMENT aerovisioncanada.com ÉCONOMIQUE DE LA [email protected] NOUVELLE-ÉCOSSE (CDENE) ARBOUR WEALTH INC OTHER - Retired Member Le Conseil de développement Ed Hickey BNV MEDIA INC.