V21N6 2010:V20N3 2009 10/27/10 9:53 AM Page 8 Briefs Good to Grow Photo: Sandor Fizli NS economy blooming with economic opportunity A NEW WALL (shown above) in Dartmouth resource sector that we need to figure out.” Stephen Hartlen, head of Innovacorp, is looks a lot like an old-fashioned property Technology companies like Research in excited about Nova Scotia’s tech future. hedge. Green shoots poke out from a layer of Motion, the BlackBerry giant, already have a Innovacorp handles the province’s Nova sod and 7,000 plants, berries and flowers strong Halifax presence. Up-and-comers like Scotia First Fund to support emerging busi- combine to create a sensational seasonal Norex, which recently started building apps nesses in the life-sciences and technology display of al fresco art. The wall is alive, for Google from its Bayers Lake Business Park sector. Innovacorp’s High Performance Canada’s first living wall east of Vancouver. headquarters, are poised to take advantage of Incubation business model focuses on growing It’s joined by a green roof and other environ- Nova Scotia’s low operating costs and talented entrepreneurial ideas by providing infrastruc- mental innovations at the Nova Scotia pool of university graduates. ture, mentoring and investment. Community College’s Centre for the Built Connecting it all are people like Tim Burke “We’re seeing a lot of interesting opportu- Environment. Consider it the new Ivy League. and Stephen Hankinson, the brains behind nities… medical-technology devices coming “Inspire” literally means to “breathe in” Tether. Tether is a downloadable application out of the universities, out of the hospitals,” he and the living wall encourages Nova Scotians that lets SmartPhone users access their phone’s says. “It’s not going to replace the size of the to take a deep breath and peer into a clean, data plan via their computer, meaning you Eastern Canadian navy or the hospitals, but green, technologically advanced future. It have free wireless access anywhere you have there’s enough opportunities percolating out seems a good metaphor for the future of Nova cellphone coverage. The idea for Tether came of the universities and hospitals that I think Scotia’s economy. in 2008, when Burke got his first BlackBerry. you’ll see a fairly stable and growing medical- Stephen Lund, president of Nova Scotia He now had internet access almost anywhere, technologies industry,” Hartlen says. Business Inc., sees seeds today that could but some jobs require a laptop and he was fed A key part of that will be improving access flower tomorrow, like the recent arrival of the up with paying for his BlackBerry and paying to capital. Businesses need talented people and South Korean manufacturing giant Daewoo again to access the internet in cafes and talented people want competitive salaries and Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering in airports. He saw the problem and Hankinson long-term prospects. If a new company has Pictou County. With the Province’s help, it’s came up with a solution. Tether launched in only 12 months of capital, it’s going to turning the old TrentonWorks railway cart March 2009 and has sold tens of thousands of struggle to attract workers. Such companies manufacturing plant into a factory that will copies in more than 100 countries. Recently wind up in perpetual fundraising mode and it’s build wind turbine towers and blades. It will back from a major RIM conference in difficult to move forward. Hartlen says the eventually create 400 jobs in the area and Orlando, Florida, Burke says they’ve just province needs to attract the attention of Daewoo officials told reporters in March started tapping an immense global market. venture capitalists to shore up its economic 2010 that it intends to build offshore oil and “Tether is a perfect example of what the future. “We have some, but we don’t have gas platforms in Trenton. It’s also looking at opportunity is (here) in the IT sector. There is enough,” he says. tidal turbines. nothing to manufacture. We sell directly, Back at NSCC, faculty and students are “We have to pick some key sectors that we online, 24/7. Ninety-nine point nine per cent busy planning for that future. Don Bureaux, can be world leaders in and make sure we put of our users have no idea where Halifax is, NSCC’s acting president, predicts that trades- our efforts behind that,” Lund says. “We and nor do they care,” Burke says. “It’s an people of the future will blend ecology and could be a world-class financial centre. We amazing opportunity, business-wise. With e- technology, putting sustainability at the core could be a centre for aerospace and defence commerce and the world wide web, you really of almost everything. “The Centre for the expertise, IT, gaming, clean-tech, niches in the don’t have to be anywhere else to make a huge Built Environment will play a key role, manufacturing sector. We also have a whole mark.” looking at how to make residential and 8 | Atlantic Business Magazine | November/December 2010 V21N6 2010:V20N3 2009 10/27/10 9:53 AM Page 9 Taking Care of Beezness Moncton chef saving bees, making honey for hotel guests THERE’S A BUZZ these days around the Delta Beauséjour in Moncton. For starters, Chef Stefan Mueller and his culinary team feature a seasonal 100 Mile Menu in the Windjammer – an elegant four diamond restaurant. Impressed with the food selection and quality available in the region, Mueller jumped on the local bandwagon last year and successfully introduced the 100 Mile Menu. It features everything from locally raised boar, buffalo and wild rice to award-winning cheeses. But this year he went a step further. On the rooftop of the hotel there’s a new herb garden, replete with a bee hive. “The bee population is declining,” says Chef. “This is one way we can help. And the bees are happy with all the wildflowers next to the river.” The honey will be used in the Windjammer and will also be offered as welcome gifts for special guests. By Sandra Phinney )'(' ;<DF commercial buildings greener and more at home in the environment.” :C<8I8E:< <M<EK “How do you take the benefits of nature and put those into a building and actually ><K LG KF ,#,'' F== have them sustain themselves?” Bureaux asks. :8J? GLI:?8J< GI@:< FI “We’ve had to be pioneers in the use of that +#''' F== " (%0 C<8J< FI technology because of the uniqueness of the =@E8E:< I8K< environment in which we operate here in Nova Scotia.” It’s also training for the emerging tech sector. One aspect will be creative people )'(')'(' working in the gaming industry, IT and communications and a second will be the @E=@E@K@ >*.>*. engineering technologists who service the 8cc N_\\c ;i`m\ 9cl\ Kffk_\eXYc\[ future infrastructure connecting mobile @ek\cc`^\ek B\p Jpjk\d *%.C <e^`e\ *)/ ?G 9fj\ 8l[`f Jpjk\d I\Xi M`\n Dfe`kfi phones, BlackBerries and satellite televisions. n`k_ DG*&OD IX[`f Jleiff] “That technology is changing so rapidly that our technology programs are going to be getting those types of jobs tomorrow,” Bureaux says. “We’re absolutely locked with industry. It’s sitting down with those industry partners who are being faced right now with those problems for which they have no human-resource solutions and saying, ‘These are the business problems you’re facing. What type of skill sets do you need clustered together in a single human being?’” )'(')'(' The “nimble” college has a better than 90 per cent placement rate and a 94 per cent @E=@E@K@ <O*,<O*, satisfaction rate among employers, showing 8cc N_\\c ;i`m\ @ek\cc`^\ek B\p Jpjk\d their crystal ball skills are strong. If it’s right 9cl\ Kffk_\eXYc\[ Ifle[ M`\n Dfe`kfi )>9 Dlj`Z 9fo _Xi[ [i`m\ Gfn\i I\dfk\ this time, Nova Scotia’s looking at a bright, =ifek Xe[ I\Xi JfeXi Jpjk\d =fc[`e^ i\Xi j\Xk green, innovative future based on brains and businesses grown right out of the province’s !N_`c\ jlggc`\j cXjk% HlXek`k`\j Xi\ c`d`k\[ jf Zfd\ \Xicp ]fi Y\jk j\c\Zk`fe% fertile soil. By Jon Tattrie *+-(*+-(B B\dgk\dgk IfX[#IfX[# ?Xc`]Xo?Xc`]]Xo 0') 0') +,,$,/''+,,$,/'' (See pages 76-89 for more stories fi\^Xej`eÔe`k`%Zfdfi\^Xej`eÔe`k`%Zfd on Nova Scotia’s industrial strengths.) Online extras: atlanticbusinessmagazine.com | 9 V21N6 2010:V20N3 2009 10/27/10 9:53 AM Page 10 Briefs Best Big Idea Innovative Halifax entrepreneur wins $10,000 A PRODUCT that allows businesses to safely to secure financing. With the prize money, he share confidential documents electronically says he will be able to complete the project has won Nova Scotia’s first ever Best Big Idea and have it market ready in just a few Competition. Milan Vrekic, owner of Mojo months. Labs, was awarded $10,000 after judges The system encrypts data and provides the determined his TitanFile system was the best end-user with a digital key. The owner of the entrepreneurial idea of 118 submitted. information is notified when the file has been The competition was launched last August opened. After the information has been by the Nova Scotia Co-operative Council in viewed, both the owner and the end user have partnership with the Department of the option of deleting the information Community Services, Affirmative Industries completely.