This week's Insights Podcast features a revealing interview with oil & gas veteran, Phil Knoll who has held senior roles with major companies like AltaGas and Duke Energy as well as Maritime & Northeast Pipelines and Corridor Resources (now Headwater Exploration) in the region. Knoll was CEO of Corridor Resources when the Gallant Government in New Brunswick imposed a moratorium on shale gas exploration. Headwater Exploration is the only company still producing natural gas in Atlantic Canada from its field near Sussex. He talks about shale gas exploration and its safety records over decades in terms of environmental impact. He also provides an estimate of the size of gas reserves in New Brunswick which would be sufficient to supply the current needs in the region for the next century. Currently Atlantic Canada imports hundreds of millions of imported natural resources, money that could benefit the region if the gas from the region was developed. Knoll also points out that natural gas will be needed for the foreseeable future in the transition to green energy in order to ensure sufficient baseload to meet peak demand, especially during the heating season. This is a conversation that everyone should listen to in order to better understand the transition to a green economy.

There are 140+ financial technology (fintech) firms located in Atlantic Canada ranging from small startups to Verafin with more than 900 employees in St John’s. Fintech employs over 4,000 people in Atlantic Canada. Why is this sector thriving in Atlantic Canada? This week Don and David talk with Lori Weir, Co-Founder and CEO of Four Eyes Financial about fintech and why so many firms are choosing Atlantic Canada. Four Eyes is a rapidly growing firm based in Saint John with 50+ employees and ambitious plans to expand their business into the United States and the United Kingdom. What is the value proposition? What can we do to support this growing cluster of firms? Lori, Don and David answer these questions and more.
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Nova Scotia's Efforts to Transition to Green Energy

On this episode of the Insight Podcast, we feature a conversation with Peter Gregg, the CEO of Nova Scotia Power, who is faced with the challenge of ensuring 80% of electricity is produced by green energy resources by 2030. That is indeed a challenge given only 43% of electricity is currently produced by green energy (mostly wind). Nova Scotia is also faced with being the highest user of coal generated electricity and has a mandate to stop using coal by 2030. As Gregg mentions, some of the current coal generating plants will be closed and some will be repurposed to use natural gas to meet peak electricity demands. The transition will be expensive and the impact on affordability for users is still to be determined. For example, there is a need for high-capacity battery storage to support wind power. Gregg also talks about the need to increase generation capacity by 60% by 2060 to serve a growing population and energy demand and the challenges of climate change which has seen a 54% increase in the frequency of winds above 80 kms/hour in the last five years. He also discusses a number of other renewable energy sources, including nuclear power.

This is a continuation of a conversation that you can revisit on your favorite podcast platform. There are many ways to describe David Hawkins. He is a pioneer in marketing & communications, he is a serial entrepreneur, he is a community builder and a successful businessperson. He is also a legend in Atlantic Canada, although that is a label he is uncomfortable being called. How else do you describe someone who helped develop an industry sector in our region by creating Hawk Communications as one of the early and most successful marketing and advertising agencies that continues to this day. In this wide-ranging two-part Insights Podcast series, we talk with David about his career, some of his most memorable campaigns and clients, and the factors that led to his success, as well as the current state of marketing and advertising in the era of social media and the dominance of Google and Beta in the field of advertising. It is a fascinating conversation with one of the region's most fascinating personalities.

David Hawkins is a Marketing & Advertising Legend

There are many ways to describe David Hawkins. He is a pioneer in marketing & communications, he is a serial entrepreneur, he is a community builder and a successful businessperson. He is also a legend in Atlantic Canada, although that is a label he is uncomfortable being called. How else do you describe someone who helped develop an industry sector in our region by creating Hawk Communications as one of the early and most successful marketing and advertising agencies that continues to this day. In this wide ranging two part Insights Podcast series, we talk with David about his career, some of his most memorable campaigns and clients, and the factors that led to his success, as well as the current state of marketing and advertising in the era of social media and the dominance of Google and Beta in the field of advertising. It is a fascinating conversation with one of the region's most fascinating personalities.

CFIB's Dan Kelly Talks about Small Business Challenges

On this episode of the Insights Podcast our guest is Dan Kelly, the President & CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), an advocacy organization with a hundred thousand small and medium sized business members. SMEs represent about half the GDP in Canada and more than sixty percent of total employment in the country. There are 1.2 million SMEs in Canada, not including sole ownership businesses. In a wide ranging conversation, we discuss the regulatory burden in Canada with a focus on the region and CFIB's efforts to reduce red tape. Kelly credits the work of the Nova Scotia government with leading the way in Atlantic Canada in this regard. He also discusses the challenges associated with repayment of CEBA loans for small businesses that have led to an increase in bankruptcies across the country in the last year or so. In addition, we talk about the generational transition of business ownership underway, with more than 75% of business owners expecting to exit their businesses within the next ten years and their research which indicates few business owners are properly prepared for that transition.

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A Conversation with the New President of Dalhousie University, Dr. Kim Brooks

This episode of the Insights Podcast features a wide ranging conversation with Kim Brooks, the first female President & Vice-Chancellor in the long history of Dalhousie University. Dr. Brooks' appointment was very well received by the Dalhousie community as one the rare Presidents who was chosen from within. She has been at Dalhousie since 2010 and held senior management roles including Dean Law (her speciality is tax law) and Dean of the Faculty of Management. Her vision is to have the university serve the greater good of Nova Scotia and to further engagement with the community as a civic university. We talk about the university's important role as an economic enabler, as an employer (more than 6,500 employees with a payroll over $400 million), as a talent and immigration attraction institution, as an incubator of start-up companies and as a major research player in Atlantic Canada. Her unbridled enthusiasm for the university and its future is apparent and infectious. This is probably one of our best podcasts to date in terms of content.

Canada's King of Supplements is a Nova Scotian

Roger King started his business while attending Saint Mary's University as a way to supplement his income as a student and has turned his supplement business into a leading national brand. King recently opened his 100th Supplement King retail outlet in British Columbia and has plans to open one hundred more in the next three or four years. His strategy is to license his brand to those interested in owning multiple locations. In the next year alone, he will open an additional 26 outlets. The company's outlets generate more than $100 million in revenues and employ about 1,000 people nationally. The company's head office is in Dartmouth, where a head office staff of twenty manage the marketing and product distribution for the chain. All products carry a natural product number to ensure their products are safe and effective. Supplement King and Popeye's Supplements are the two largest companies in this market segment, each currently with about the same number of outlets. It is clear that Roger King's ambition is to become the number one brand in Canada, before turning his attention southward to the US market. It all began in Nova Scotia, demonstrating again that this region can compete with anyone, anywhere.

Upcoming podcasts include Dan Kelly, CEO of CFIB and Kim Brooks, CEO of Dalhousie. To stay up to date, subscribe to our newsletter here.