There are challenges to operating a business in every market, and Greater Halifax is no exception.
The Partnership developed SmartBusiness to help local companies - small, medium, and large - address the unique challenges of doing business in this city. We go to you and find out what obstacles you're facing. Then we develop and provide solutions that clear the way for a vibrant, growing economy.
Following are recent examples of concerns businesses have mentioned to us and how we responded.
- Halifax start-up company reaches new markets and is one to watch
- Neocon International gets the credit
- Dartmouth company taps into $1 billion in provincial spending
- On task in rural HRM
- New space gets underway for Halifax media buyer
- Local aerospace company recruits internationally, adds 21 people to roster
Halifax start-up company reaches new markets and is one to watch
When speaking with QuickSnap Inc., the company talked about wanting to explore sales prospects in new markets, particularly in the United States.
SmartBusiness referred the company to Action Team member Nova Scotia Business Inc. (NSBI) to discuss exporting and upcoming trade missions. As a result, QuickSnap participated in an NSBI trade mission to Florida and negotiated with Disney as well as with Champs Sports' 600 US retail outlets regarding the company's innovative product - a clip that eliminates the need to tie shoelaces.
A fairly new company with lots of ideas, QuickSnap now contacts the Greater Halifax Partnership every year for advice and assistance on making the connections needed to grow its business. In addition to working with NSBI, the Partnership has also linked QuickSnap to the Saint Mary's University Business Development Centre to help the company with business planning and related activities.
Always working on new ways to grow the company, product inventor Dave Reynolds and business partners Drew McKenna and Riad Byne appeared on CBC's Dragons' Den Season III on October 13, 2008. They successfully pitched the company's product to secure $125,000 in financing from the Dragons proving that QuickSnap is a company to keep an eye on.
Neocon International gets the credit
Neocon International, a division of Exco Technologies Ltd., designs and manufactures thermoformed, pressure formed, blow molded, and injection molded plastic products for the automotive, transportation, and marine industries. This includes cargo control equipment, plastic linings and trays, and other accessories for customers such as Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Subaru, and Toyota, just to name a few. The company also carries out prototyping and product verification testing from its world-class facility in the Burnside Industrial Park.
While hard at it innovating new product concepts, the company was not taking full advantage of opportunities around R&D incentives. So the Greater Halifax Partnership put the company in touch with the Business Development Bank of Canada's consulting group to discuss the Scientific Research & Experimental Development (SR&ED) program and Neocon's potential for making a claim.
The SR&ED program is an industrial R&D tax incentive offered through the Canada Revenue Agency. It encourages companies of all sizes and in all sectors to conduct R&D in Canada and is the largest single source of federal government support for industrial R&D. Companies can earn an investment tax credit of 35% up to the first $2 million of qualified expenditures and 20% on excess amounts.
Making a SR&ED claim demands detailed documentation, tax law knowledge, and the ability to clearly describe technical R&D projects and processes. After hearing about the benefits -- including Neocon's eligibility for a sizeable claim -- the company signed on with the Business Development Bank of Canada's consultants to complete the intricate application process for the two most recent fiscal years. As a result, Neocon International was successful in receiving a significant tax credit.
Dartmouth company taps into $1 billion in provincial spending
Located in Dartmouth, Mil-Aero Electronics Atlantic Inc. specializes in the assembly as well as the test and supply of high performance electrical cables and harnesses to the military, aerospace, and industrial markets.
Through the SmartBusiness initiative, the Greater Halifax Partnership has visited Mil-Aero Electronics every year since 2004. The company's President, Paul Greedy, always looks forward to these annual consultations describing them as his opportunity to really stand back and look at his business and pinpoint opportunities for growth.
SmartBusiness has generated more than ten referrals on behalf of this company to date. Most recently, and as a means of expanding its customer base, the Partnership put Mil-Aero Electronics in front of contacts at the Nova Scotia procurement office to discuss the company's product offerings and identify avenues for selling to various government departments. Following this meeting, the procurement office added Mil-Aero Electronics to its supplier database. The Province of Nova Scotia spends $1 billion on goods and services each year.
On task in rural HRM
A sharp downturn in the U.S. housing market and the strong Canadian dollar forced MacTara Limited in Upper Musquodoboit to shut down its sawmill and lay off 100 of its 160 employees in December 2007.
To mitigate the negative effects on MacTara and its employees, the Greater Halifax Partnership became involved in a task force formed specifically to assist the sawmill. While MacTara worked to secure a buyer for its operation, the Partnership and the Nova Scotia Department of Education co-chaired a Transition Team that supported employees affected by the layoffs.
In addition to coordinating training programs and career counseling services for former MacTara employees, the Transition Team contacted businesses in the Halifax Regional Municipality, in Colchester County, and in East Hants to determine existing staff complements and identify current or upcoming staffing needs and then put on a job fair involving those employers who would benefit from the skills and training that the former MacTara workers had to offer.
In early 2008, Enligna AG, a German company with a focus on renewable energy, bought MacTara Limited. The new owners hired 60 former MacTara employees with the majority of the remaining displaced workers being linked to job opportunities elsewhere.
"The Greater Halifax Partnership has been an active member of this task force from the beginning with the intention of assisting employees affected by the events at MacTara. Their ability to pull the business community together and gain access to services has been beneficial," said Gordon Shupe, President & CEO. "Through the Greater Halifax Partnership's involvement in this transition team, MacTara has been able to draw on these contacts for the purpose of solidifying key components of a plan to restructure operations in Upper Musquodoboit. This type of involvement demonstrates the true sense of partnership within Halifax. The anticipated rebuild of this plant is exciting and positive news for this rural location."
New space gets underway for Halifax media buyer
Halifax-based Time + Space Media was set to begin construction of its new building. Before bringing in a crane to erect the steel, however, some nearby power lines needed to be moved. The contractor was having trouble making arrangements with Nova Scotia Power to complete this work so Time + Space Media's president, Donna Alteen, called SmartBusiness for help. Within 24 hours, the Partnership successfully connected the company with a representative from Nova Scotia Power and the power lines were moved the next day.
"Thank you very much for getting Nova Scotia Power's attention on this project. I really appreciate the intervention", said Ms. Alteen.
Alan Richardson, Vice President responsible for Customer Service with Nova Scotia Power, thanked the Partnership for bringing the matter to the forefront. "It enabled us to get to the bottom of the root cause and fix the problem immiediately," he said.
Local aerospace company recruits internationally, adds 21 people to roster
During a consultation with I.M.P. Aerospace in Spring 2007, SmartBusiness learned the company was having challenges recruiting skilled labour in Halifax. Given the lack of qualified workers locally, I.M.P. would be attending job fairs in international markets and needed to clearly understand the process for international recruitment from an immigration perspective while also determining which recruitment program option would best suit the company's needs.
In response, SmartBusiness made a referral to the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration on behalf of I.M.P. Aerospace. The Office of Immigration worked quickly to assist I.M.P. in determining the best way to bring chosen candidates to work in Halifax after the job fairs.
I.M.P. had great success recruiting in the United Kingdom. Of the 60 candidates that the company interviewed, 21 were hired with positions varying from engineers to managers to planners. A second recruiting trip that summer resulted in another 13 employment offers.
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