In Nova Scotia: More Newcomers

When California's technology powerhouse Cisco Systems came to Nova Scotia this year to build a new internetworking engineers training facility, they found their U.S. neighbors Keane Inc. of Massachusetts and OSP Consultants of Virginia already in place to take advantage of Nova Scotia's growing technology base. And the anticipated number of firms preparing to make the move to Nova Scotia from the United States and around the world is mounting.

"I've never seen so many quality leads on the books and quality opportunities," said Greater Halifax Partnership Director Francis MacKenzie. "It's not just double, but quadruple," he said, projecting several new manufacturing and call center announcements before year's end. New investment across Nova Scotia will increase at least 18 percent this year, province economists have projected.

"Nova Scotia has more universities per capita than the rest of the country. It's got a higher educated work force per capita than the rest of the country," said Robert Roy, CEO of the Pictou Regional Development Commission in New Glasgow, where more than 2,000 businesses operate in what has become a world-class manufacturing and trade center. "That's translating into success in attracting high-tech companies into this area."

Canada's largest contract teleservice company, Phonettix Intelecom Limited of Ontario, will open a new center in Halifax in September. Mentor Networks Inc. of Ontario, which designs and produces multimedia training products, moved to Halifax earlier this year.

Orenda Aerospace Corp., a subsidiary of Magellan Aerospace, is building a new multi-million dollar aircraft engine plant through its subsidiary Orenda Recip Inc. at a former Canadian Forces base at Debert near Truro. The closed base became an industrial park now operated by the Colchester Park Development Society. And in the energy sector, Nova Scotia's Sable Offshore Energy Project is poised to begin providing natural gas to consumers by the end of 1999, promising a new wealth of spin-off economic development opportunities.

Halifax will become the new home of a future $250 million Bayer and Red Cross Plasma Fractionation Plant now nearing construction stage. Make that Greater Halifax. Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, Sackville, Sheet Harbour and Musquodoboit amalgamated last year, turning a handful of cities and smaller communities into what is now Canada's 10th largest city and a new, united front when it comes to economic development efforts.

Nova Scotia is also enjoying a booming film sector that translated into more than $30 million in direct spending in the province last year. Nova Scotia has become the setting for Hollywood movies ranging from "The Scarlet Letter" to "Two If By Sea." And homegrown film companies such as Halifax-based Salter Street Films are expanding. Halifax is also the home of the recently opened ITT Sheraton Casino, introducing a new entertainment venue to its growing tourism sector.

Nova Scotia already is home to hundreds of plants and offices with familiar names ranging from Michelin Canada, Volvo Canada, Pratt & Whitney Canada Inc., Litton Systems Canada, DynaTek Automation Systems Inc., Applied Microelectronics Inc. and I.M.P. Group International Inc. The Greater Halifax area is home to 11 business and industrial parks, including Burnside Industrial Park, which alone houses 1,200 companies.

Several multi-million dollar infrastructure projects are under way with more newcomers ahead. Nova Scotia's MT&T this summer launched its province-wide ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) broadband switching network, the first dedicated to carrying multimedia communications at high speed. Air Canada and Air Nova by the end of this year will have completed the bulk of $9.5 million in major enhancements to the terminal at Halifax International Airport, Canada's fastest growing international airport.

A five-year, $46.3 million upgrade is now under way at the Port of Halifax, with a $5 million redevelopment of the Pier A Terminal completed in May. General cargo volumes at the Port of Halifax, Canada's third largest container port, surpassed 3.3 million tons during the first quarter of 1997 -- a 16 percent increase over last year's first quarter.

Halifax, home to a high-tech work force, is also attracting an increasing number of new knowledge industries. Companies cite Halifax's proximity to major customer bases in the U.S. Northeast.

A rail link from a major Canadian National Rail intermodal freight terminal added to the Halifax port in 1993 has boosted traffic from the midwestern United States to Halifax in the last year. The port also reduced wharfage fees on traffic from the midwestern United States 98 percent last year and again by the same percentage this year to encourage more traffic. "We're placing a lot of our attention into transportation and being able to move product very quickly," MacKenzie of the Greater Halifax Partnership said.

Technology also has become a fast-growth sector in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton, which boasts four business and industrial parks. "A cluster of them have developed here, especially in the multimedia side," said Glen Sampson, marketing and planning analyst for the Cape Breton County Economic Development Authority. Sydport Industrial Park also is home to a film sound stage serving the region's growing film and television production sector.

Now a Bridge Away More Newcomers				A 'Living Lab' New Directions
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