ATLANTIC SHOWCASE GREATER MONCTON Dieppe | Moncton | Riverview 68 | Atlantic Business Magazine | September/October 2013 PROMOTIONAL FEATURE Surging opportunities By Alec Bruce Online extras: atlanticbusinessmagazine.com | 69 ATLANTIC SHOWCASE in 2011, the municipality remains one of key to Greater Moncton’s the most affordable housing markets in success can be narrowed down the country. The total value of building The permits issued in 2011 reached $184 to three critical pillars. “One is location,” says million, the second highest level on Denis Melanson, Interim CEO of Enterprise record. Add to this, retail sales reached $2.1 billion in 2011, 17 per cent higher Greater Moncton. “Another is the labour than the Canadian Cities’ average. force. And the other is our cost-effectiveness.” In less than 30 years, the City of Dieppe population (23,310) has more than quadrupled (up by more than 25 per cent since 2006, alone). Across the Indeed, he says, “On the location Moncton, and Riverview to make their Petitcodiac River, the Town of Riverview side, we really are logistically well- homes and places of work and enterprise has enjoyed a 20 per cent hike in its centered for any company that wants in recent years, this “offering” has been population (19,128) since 1986. Like to increase its exposure to the Atlantic irresistible. Moncton, both of these communities Canadian market. We have one of the Greater Moncton (population: 112,438) display all the metrics of eminently fastest growing international airports in is the fifth-fastest growing Census livable, dynamic centres: A booming, Canada, and we have the rail capabilities. Metropolitan Area (CMA) in the country. yet still affordable, housing market, We are also very close to the New England In fact, the region has typically attracted comparatively low unemployment market.” at least three times as many people rates, comparatively high participation As for labour, he says, “We have one every year than any other area in New rates, robust retail sectors and plentiful of the highest percentages of post- Brunswick. recreational and cultural amenities. secondary grads in the county. About Since 1990, the CMA has added more It’s no wonder, then, that Greater 59 per cent of our labour force has post than 25,000 jobs to its workforce. The Moncton is becoming one of the secondary education, which is higher annual unemployment rate is one of Atlantic region’s true Meccas for than the national average. Having access the lowest in the Atlantic region and skilled newcomers. If you are on the to qualified labour is very attractive for substantially below the national average. outside looking in, all of this might any business. Having a high percentage In Moncton (population: 70,000), seem miraculous. After all, in the wake of bilingual workers is another plus.” home sales in 2011 reached the fourth- of the past decade’s global financial Then, there is the cost competitiveness. highest level in the city’s history. Yet, downturns and resulting recessions, “KPMG continues to rank Greater with an average house price of $158,561 Greater Moncton’s success is almost Moncton as the number one place to do counterintuitive. Still, Greater Moncton business in North America,” Melanson has never just let things happen to it. THE AREA BOASTS A says. “And of course, there are other KPMG NAMED Consider, by way of example,BILINGUAL a (FRENCH factors, including quality of life, a safe GREATER MONCTON AND ENGLISH) LABOUR THE NUMBER 1 PLACE ceremony at Moncton City Hall last place to raise a family. This adds to the FORCE, LOW TAXATION TO DO BUSINESS IN year when representatives from Google beautiful mix of the offering.” RATES, AND A SUPERB NORTH AMERICA Canada were on hand to present the For the droves of diverse, skilled QUALITY OF LIFE. FOR 2012. municipality with its Google eTown professionals who have chosen Dieppe, THE AREA BOASTS THREE UNIVERSITIES, TWO PUBLIC COMMUNITY COLLEGES, AND SEVERAL PRIVATE POST-SECONDARY COLLEGES. 70 | Atlantic Business Magazine | September/October 2013 THE CANADIAN MONCTON REAL ESTATE ASSOCIATION WAS ONE OF FIVE DESIGNATED GREATER CANADIAN CITIES MONCTON AS ONE OF THE TO WIN A GOOGLE TOP FIVE SAFE HAVENS ETOWN AWARD FOR REAL ESTATE IN 2012. INVESTMENT IN CANADA. THE AREA BOASTS A KPMG NAMED BILINGUAL (FRENCH GREATER MONCTON AND ENGLISH) LABOUR THE NUMBER 1 PLACE FORCE, LOW TAXATION TO DO BUSINESS IN RATES, AND A SUPERB NORTH AMERICA QUALITY OF LIFE. FOR 2012. THE AREA BOASTS THREE UNIVERSITIES, TWO PUBLIC COMMUNITY COLLEGES, AND SEVERAL PRIVATE POST-SECONDARY COLLEGES. PROMOTIONAL FEATURE THE CANADIAN MONCTON REAL ESTATE ASSOCIATION WAS ONE OF FIVE DESIGNATED GREATER CANADIAN CITIES MONCTON AS ONE OF THE TO WIN A GOOGLE TOP FIVE SAFE HAVENS ETOWN AWARD FOR REAL ESTATE IN 2012. INVESTMENT IN CANADA. The Chocolate River station is located on the Petitcodiac River in Riverview Award, the first community to receive and houses many local businesses and events. the honour in Canada. The Google eTown Award is designed to recognize those towns where small businesses are investing in online tools and resources to find new customers, grow their business, and improve their operations. “We are, of course, extremely proud and honoured to be the first Atlantic Canadian community to be awarded with the Google eTown Award,” said Deputy Mayor Merrill Henderson in accepting the award. “We are a tech-savvy city, which thrives on new ideas. We enjoy being at the leading edge and strive to be innovative and creative in all that we do.” In fact, Google looked at thousands of cities and towns across Canada to identify one town in each of five regions that demonstrated strong engagement and potential for growth in the digital economy. Some of the criteria were local businesses utilization of some of Google’s business products including, Google AdWords, the Canada Get Your Business Online initiative, and products such as Google Apps for Business. The Google eTown Award was the latest in a long list of honours the City of Moncton has received over the past few years, a testament to how the City and Online extras: atlanticbusinessmagazine.com | 71 PROMOTIONAL FEATURE THE AREA BOASTS A KPMG NAMED BILINGUAL (FRENCH GREATER MONCTON AND ENGLISH) LABOUR THE NUMBER 1 PLACE FORCE, LOW TAXATION TO DO BUSINESS IN RATES, AND A SUPERB NORTH AMERICA QUALITY OF LIFE. FOR 2012. Champlain Street in Dieppe is full of retail opportunities, also boasts Champlain its businesses continue to succeed. “Our Place, the largest mall in the province. entrepreneurial spirit, and the growth of small and medium business in our city, THE AREA BOASTS is testament to the fact that Moncton has THREE UNIVERSITIES, tapped into the digital economy, and the TWO PUBLIC COMMUNITYcity’s knowledge-based sector continues COLLEGES, AND SEVERAL to grow,” added Henderson. “That is why PRIVATE POST-SECONDARYin 2009, the ICF recognized Moncton as COLLEGES. one of the Top 7 Intelligent Cities in the world.” Today, this bilingual community is a major Canadian customer contact and back office centre with a robust “near- shore” IT outsourcing industry. And it continues to leverage its success with a plan thatTHE calls CANADIAN for new partnerships MONCTON withREAL regional ESTATE universities ASSOCIATION to deepen the WAS ONE OF FIVE region’sDESIGNATED knowledge economy, GREATER diversify CANADIAN CITIES MONCTONthe IT economy, AS and ONE actively OF promote THE TO WIN A GOOGLE tech-basedTOP FIVE entrepreneurship. SAFE HAVENS ETOWN AWARD As forFOR the REALfuture, ESTATE Greater Moncton IN 2012. continuesINVESTMENT to refuse INto rest CANADA. on its laurels. Riverview, while maintaining its reputation for residential opportunities, is undertaking a coordinated approach to promoting commercial development. Says Shane Thomson, the Town’s Director of Economic Development: “We have the urban context with the small-town feel. We have a largely residential community where a large portion of the region’s workforce lives. There are high levels of education, high levels of disposable income. There is an available workforce. And we think it’s time that companies start to recognize this. Additionally, we’ve had some recent investments in infrastructure, such as the bridge, and the Gunningsville Boulevard, which have unlocked opportunities for commercial growth. We have the development of a big box Online extras: atlanticbusinessmagazine.com | 73 In Moncton, we dream big! We dream of new businesses starting up and then we watch them growing up. We dream of locations for those businesses and then we build industrial parks. Moncton has a skilled bilingual workforce, low corporate taxes, a quality of life second to none and a central location that makes us a transportation hub. It also has the new Moncton Industrial Park West and the ever growing Caledonia Industrial Estates, with sites ready to help make your dreams a reality. Moncton Industrial Park West and Caledonia Industrial Estates, where your dreams meet our dreams. MONCTON INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 655 Main Street, Moncton NB E1C 1E8 506 857-0700 www.moncton4businessdreams.ca [email protected] THE AREA BOASTS A KPMG NAMED BILINGUAL (FRENCH GREATER MONCTON AND ENGLISH) LABOUR THE NUMBER 1 PLACE FORCE, LOW TAXATION TO DO BUSINESS IN RATES, AND A SUPERB NORTH AMERICA QUALITY OF LIFE. FOR 2012. PROMOTIONAL FEATURE THE AREA BOASTS THREE UNIVERSITIES, TWO PUBLIC COMMUNITY COLLEGES, AND SEVERAL PRIVATE POST-SECONDARY COLLEGES. The scenic waterfront of downtown complex in Findlay Park on the retail Moncton at dusk. side, with 50-plus acres of land yet to be developed adjacent to national chains.” Currently, Riverview boasts more than THE CANADIAN MONCTON 500 acres of land to be developed; overREAL ESTATE ASSOCIATION WAS ONE OF FIVE 200 acres are zoned commercial. DESIGNATED GREATER MONCTON AS ONE OF THE CANADIAN CITIES Paul Lavoie, for one, is convinced.