Brain power When it comes to intellectual capital, New Brunswick is in the know - Atlantic Business Magazine
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FOCUS NB
Brain power
When it comes to intellectual capital,
New Brunswick is in the know
A strong knowledge sector is
a true sign of an economy’s
vibrancy. Knowledge industry
jobs are typically higher-pay
positions and help support
the growth of other sectors.
The knowledge economy
also supplies a vitality and
excitement that is essential
for attracting outside talent,
especially younger workers.
Picturesque Edmundston is a magnet for knowledge workers. Photo credit: Digiphoto
E dmundston, a city of 17,000
people nestled in the prov-
ince’s northwest, near the
Quebec and Maine borders,
proves that knowledge industries
Edmundston is also home to The
Hive, a government-funded incu-
bator program for New Brunswick
immigrants and new entrepre-
neurs. The Hive is already produ-
can grow in rural areas. cing new businesses.
“While a pulp mill still stands The result is a city punching
proudly downtown, Edmundston’s above its weight in the knowledge
economy has greatly diversified sector. “In today´s ever-changing
over the past 20 years,” explains world, the knowledge industry has
Mayor Cyrille Simard. become a key factor for sustain-
He points to a modern Univer- able economic development and
sité de Moncton campus and a competitive advantage,” Simard
newly constructed New Bruns- says. “We can no longer rely on
wick Community College. Both natural resources to grow our
are near the francophone high economy. A shift toward a know-
school, sports pavilion, and a new ledge economy is a road to better
$21-million community amphi- sustainable economic growth,
theatre, which is under construc- prosperity and a better quality of
tion. “This entire area, with its life.”
institutions and sports, cultural
and community facilities, is called
Edupôle,” Simard says proudly.
The city also boasts the
Northern Hardwoods Research
Institute, which is the result of an
innovative partnership between
the private forest sector, govern-
A nother important chapter
in that story involves the
province’s valuable and
growing bioscience sector. The
number of bioscience companies
ments, and Université de Moncton. in New Brunswick has tripled in
68 Atlantic Business Magazine | January/February 2017 SUPPORTED CONTENT
the last decade, and the industry has
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seen $100 million invested in major 1 888 739-8361
projects since 2012.
Central to that growth is BioNB, www.choicehotels.ca/cn240
a not-for-profit organization that
supports the commercialization of
bioscience. BioNB’s team of science
and business professionals help (506) 739-0000
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entrepreneurs turn scientific tech-
nology into business opportunities,
in industries such as forestry, agri- www.bestwesternedmundston.com
culture, aquaculture, marine, life
sciences, and medical technology.
BioNB’s Virtual Incubator Program, (506) 263-0000
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preneur’s technology, management,
market, and financial readiness. www.daysinnedmundston.com
That assessment is used to create a
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“Given the province’s history in 1 800 576-4656
traditional industries like forestry,
agriculture and fisheries, we have
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unique physical and research assets
that set us apart,” explains Meaghan
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NEW BRUNSWICK
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research initiatives and a pipeline of
BIoSCIENCE IS
talent coming from our academic
institutions.”
WhERE ThE aCTIoN IS
Investors are shifting their
investment focus to bio
Bio venture investments have
outperformed IT venture investments
in the past decade
Life sciences investments see
TWICE the amount of high
value exits than IT
ThE # of
NB BIo
CompaNIES
haS TRIpLEd
IN ThE LaST Investment-ready bioscience companies in
dECadE
New Brunswick are seeking partnerships!
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ventures through coaching, networking,
community building and navigating access
to funding. Learn about investment opportunities in bioscience at BIONB.org/invest
SUPPORTED CONTENT atlanticbusinessmagazine.com | Atlantic Business Magazine 69
E ducation is at the heart of
any strong knowledge sector.
With its world-class universi-
ties and education programs, New
Brunswick is no exception. Central
this course teaches them to see
ventures and opportunities from the
perspective of investors,” explains
Duncan McCormick, a second year
MBA student who is also a leader
in that education landscape is the in the Activator program. He will
University of New Brunswick, the be taking the Venture Assessment
oldest English-language university course next term.
in Canada. The Activator Program pairs
At UNB’s faculty of business ad- entrepreneurship students with
ministration in Fredericton, a variety entrepreneurs or inventors. The
of programs (including four differ- students lead the business from
ent MBA programs) are helping to idea to launch as they take a ser-
train and prepare the next genera- ies of entrepreneurship courses. At
tion of skilled entrepreneurs, man- least one business is launched in
agers, and business leaders. the program every year, and those
Duncan McCormick chose UNB Fredericton’s
Many programs offer experien- MBA program because of his interest in companies have raised millions of
tial learning, where students learn entrepreneurship; as a leader in the Activator dollars in equity financing and gen-
by working with businesses and program he is helping to launch a startup. erated millions in sales.
non-profits. For example, there’s a “The core component of UNB’s
year-long course where students Venture Assessment course. The business programs provide students
interested in finance manage the New Brunswick Innovation Founda- with a ‘toolkit’ that they can use to
Student Investment Fund, a real tion teaches this innovative course, launch businesses, create oppor-
pension fund on loan from Vestcor allowing students to work side-by- tunities for themselves and others,
Corp. And the students have done side with NBIF staff to assess ven- or make existing businesses thrive
exceedingly well: the fund started tures for possible investment. “Most in the face of changing trends and
at $1 million and is now worth $8.5 of the entrepreneurship courses different challenges,” McCormick
million. teach people how to recognize adds. “That approach has made
In the entrepreneurship concen- ideas, analyze markets, write busi- UNB a leader in innovative business
UNB_BusAdminMBA_AtlBusDec_HalfpgBleedFIN.pdf 1 2016-11-30 11:51 PM
tration, students can take part in the ness plans, pitch to investors, but education.”
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70 Atlantic Business Magazine | January/February 2017 SUPPORTED CONTENT
A t University of New Bruns-
wick’s College of Extended
Learning, high quality educa-
tion and teaching excellence is being
exported far beyond New Bruns-
Most recently, the College is devel-
oping programs to help combat
mental health issues in the work-
place. O’Brien notes that mental
health issues are costing Canadian
to assist in the development and
delivery of programs to help people
cope with stress in their lives and
at work. “The College of Extended
Learning has an opportunity to be
wick’s borders. businesses a reported $33 billion a significant player in this space,”
The College of Extended Learning per year in lost productivity. “The O’Brien says.
is one of the most robust and issues are significant, and people In turn, the College will continue
comprehensive university continuing are starting to realize the need for a to grow its position as a Canadian
education units in Canada. Its goal is proactive approach,” he says. education leader.
to provide higher education oppor- That’s why the College of Extended “The knowledge industry is a key
tunities, including professional and Learning is collaborating with people economic driver for this region,”
personal development program- across the country, including mental O’Brien adds. “Knowledge is an
ming, for a non-traditional student health leaders, multinational corpor- exportable and transferable product
base. That includes adults, part-time ations, and national associations that crosses every border.”
and distance learners, and profes-
sionals.
“Tens of thousands of people from
across the country have graduated
from our programs,” notes Kelly
O’Brien, the College’s director of
business development, pointing to
British Columbia and Alberta as key
markets. “Our major growth areas
are external to this region and extend
across the country and all over the
world.”
The College of Extended Learning A management
program for
team has grown to 70 employees
and specializes in developing online
courses, with systems and processes
to support an online student base.
millennials.
“Knowledge is
an exportable
and transferable
product that
crosses every
border.”
Kelly O’Brien
director of business development
UNB College of Extended
Learning
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SUPPORTED CONTENT atlanticbusinessmagazine.com | Atlantic Business Magazine 71
N ew Brunswick communities
are also passionately leading
the charge in expanding
the province’s knowledge industry.
There’s no better example than in
with the City of Fredericton’s first
economic development strategy,
Vision 2000. It focused on diversi-
fying the community from a govern-
ment and university town to a know-
York (in 2008 and 2009). The city’s
most notable initiative was building its
own fibre optic network to close the
digital divide, and to ensure residents
and businesses had the digital infra-
Fredericton, the capital, with the ledge-based economy. The goal structure and connectivity needed to
impressive work being done by Ignite was to become a “smart city”. In the grow. Fredericton also built Canada’s
Fredericton, an economic develop- years since, Fredericton has attained first, free wireless network: Fred-
ment agency and steward of the that global brand equity through eZone. Fredericton has also been the
community’s Vision 2020 Economic numerous achievements like being site of two of Canada’s largest tech
Development Strategy. named twice as “One of the World’s exits, with Salesforce.com acquiring
Ignite Fredericton’s mission is to Top 7 Intelligent Communities” by the Radian6 and IBM acquiring Q1 Labs
fuel entrepreneurs with the resources Intelligent Community Forum of New for a combined $1 billion.
they need to create economic Ignite Fredericton is building on
growth. The ultimate goal is to make that legacy. The organization has
Fredericton the startup capital of packaged Fredericton’s assets into
Canada. Among the agency’s key what it calls the “Innovation District”,
roles are: attracting investment and a two-kilometre radius encompassing
talent, developing population growth over 60 research and development
strategies, and readying companies organizations. Innovation District is
for export and growth. anchored by Knowledge Park and
The agency works in tandem with the University of New Brunswick —
two other key organizations: Planet responsible for the output of more
Hatch, a business accelerator that than 75 per cent of the province’s
provides startup services, coaching university-related research.
and mentoring, and collaboration Additionally, Ignite Fredericton is
space; and Knowledge Park, which using the Smart Grid project currently
is New Brunswick’s only technology being developed by NB Power and
and research park and a clustering Siemens as a case study for marketing
environment for knowledge-based its Digital Product Development
companies. Living Lab model (DPDLL). The
The result is a hub of entrepreneur- DPDLL packages the assets of Ignite
ship in the capital region. And their
“We just launched Fredericton (talent, research, digital
combined efforts have already deliv- a first of its kind infrastructure) and regional market
ered impressive results: since January export acceleration attributes to attract investment. And
2015, more than 70 startups have Guthrie says there’s much more
formed, 410 direct jobs have been program called being developed to boost Frederic-
created (along with 156 indirect jobs), Export Igniter, ton’s knowledge sector.
and four major investments have
been attracted to the city.
which will help take “We absolutely anticipate more
growth,” she says enthusiastically.
“The knowledge industry is a key our export-ready “We just launched a first of its kind
driver of our economy,” explains companies to the export acceleration program called
Laurie Guthrie, an economic develop-
ment and marketing specialist with
next level.” Export Igniter, which will help take
our export-ready companies to the
Ignite Fredericton. Laurie Guthrie next level.
Guthrie notes that the seeds for economic development “We are working on some exciting
Fredericton’s knowledge industry and marketing specialist initiatives,” she adds, “and there will
growth were planted in 1992, Ignite Fredericton be more news to come in 2017!”
72 Atlantic Business Magazine | January/February 2017 SUPPORTED CONTENT
Open Networks,
Technology, 4 Universities &
and Data 7 Training Colleges
Accelerator
Programs 60+ Research
Organizations
Leading Digital
Infrastructure
Representative
Market Demographics Small Size, Nimble
Decision-Making
Sophisticated
R&D Support Services User Community
and Public-Private
Partnerships
It’s a city-wide brainstorm session.
The world moves too fast to innovate in isolation. Linear progression of R&D to commercialization no longer exists.
Successful companies are finding ways to collaborate, cross-pollinate, and co-create with partners, researchers and users
to produce more effective products and services faster.
Fredericton’s Digital Product Development Living Lab enables innovators to create and validate their products and
services in complex real-world settings with real-world users. With leading digital infrastructure, a willing user
community, and one of Canada’s best research pools, our living lab eco-system attracts the world’s current and future
thought leaders in digital products and services.
Find out why Siemens Canada, IBM, and Raytheon chose Fredericton’s Digital Product Development Living Lab.
T he knowledge sector is
central to the work being
done at Opportunities NB,
a crown corporation that works to
attract and support prospects that
grow the economy and create jobs.
Opportunities NB provides support
services and resources across the
province, all aimed at attracting new
investment, boosting New Bruns-
wick exports, growing small busi-
nesses and startups, and supporting
creative entrepreneurs.
Opportunities NB is the lead or-
ganization for four pillars of the
New Brunswick Economic Growth
Plan 2016: supporting New Bruns-
wick becoming the hub for Smart companies are looking for. Those
Grid development; advancing the people will be critical to the evo-
growth of the business support ser- lution and growth of this sector,”
vices sector; identifying economic Lund explains. “One of the goals
opportunities from the legalization will be to increase the number of
of marijuana; and identifying and business service centres in stable
developing opportunities in the sectors such as banking, finance, in-
global cybersecurity market — a key formation technology and research.
component of the province’s grow- “Cybersecurity is Skilled workers will be needed for
ing and valuable knowledge sector. the fastest growing jobs such as system management
Last May, New Brunswick secured specialists, technical services pro-
a Canadian milestone, becom- sub sector of IT and fessionals and customer centre rep-
ing the first province to launch a will be for the next resentatives.”
comprehensive cybersecurity plan.
Opportunities NB is supporting the
20 years.” When pitching New Brunswick to
prospective investors, Lund always
provincial cybersecurity ecosystem Stephen Lund highlights the province’s knowledge
(and in turn growing the province’s chief executive officer sector. Recently he spoke to more
technology sector) in partnership Opportunities NB than 100 business people in Los An-
with New Brunswick’s innovative geles.
universities and colleges, as well as of the 192,000 Canadian IT jobs “I told them about our IT eco-
CFB Gagetown, one of the largest projected by 2021 will be in cyber- system, including our universities,
military bases in Canada. security. and how we have been a lead-
“Cybersecurity is the fastest Lund and the Opportunities NB er in the IT field in Canada, and
growing sub sector of IT and will team are also working to expand about how New Brunswick univer-
be for the next 20 years,” says Ste- the province’s contact centre sec- sity graduates are revolutionizing
phen Lund, Opportunities NB’s chief tor, a knowledge industry that New traditional industries around the
executive officer. Brunswick has excelled in for more world. I talked about how we have
“We recognized this global chal- than two decades. international companies like IBM
lenge as an opportunity and be- Contact centres are a major em- and Salesforce and that two Silicon
came the first province in Canada ployer in New Brunswick: one out Valley companies chose to set up
to launch a comprehensive plan of every 20 workers in the province operations in New Brunswick. I told
with our partners last spring,” said (18,000 people) is employed at al- them that New Brunswick is a leader
Lund. “With the establishment of most 90 centres. Contact centres in in Smart Grid, and that we are the
Cyber NB, we are positioned to take Moncton, Saint John and Frederic- epicentre of cybersecurity in Can-
a leadership role in Canada.” ton account for 85 per cent of this ada,” he continues. “To say people
Lund has 30 years of experience employment but centres also exist are impressed with what we have
in the financial and economic de- in Miramichi, Bathurst, Campbell- done and are doing is an under-
velopment industries, first in com- ton and Edmundston as well as in statement,” he adds.
mercial banking, later as vice-presi- many rural communities, providing “We all need to keep telling our
dent of Canada’s largest national valuable employment. In all, contact story.” •
venture capital firm. He notes that centres contribute more than $1 bil-
the worldwide cybersecurity market lion annually to the province’s GDP.
is estimated to grow from $77 bil- And Opportunities NB is growing FEEDBACK
* dchafe@atlanticbusinessmagazine.com
lion in 2015 to $170 billion by 2020. that figure.
a @AtlanticBus; @BioscienceNB; @UNB;
And there’s plenty of potential for “We are focused on continuing to @IgniteFredNB; @OpportunitiesNB;
job growth: approximately 67,000 develop the skilled workforce that #BrainPower
74 Atlantic Business Magazine | January/February 2017 SUPPORTED CONTENT
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