Building a Global Seaweed Empire from Halifax, Nova Scotia

 In what David Campbell calls one of his favourite conversations this year, he and Don Mills speak with Jean-Paul Deveau, the president and CEO of Acadian Seaplants Limited.

Acadian Seaplants is a Halifax-based seaweed company with a reach and scope that's far greater than most poeple realize. The company doesn't just produce seaweed, it turns it into highly valuable research products that it ships to 80 different companies.

JP tells Don and David about his father, Louis Deveau, who might have been content shipping dried seaweed and earning a good living. Instead, he built an innovation-based company producing agricultural bio-stimulants and other value-added products that are shipped around the world.

Acadian Seaplants is one of the most research-intensive companies in Atlantic Canada, with a research team of 50 staff and 15 PhDs. The company has operations in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ireland, and Scotland. JP has worked with his father for more than years and has big plans for the company in the years ahead.

The Insights podcast combines the experiences of an economist, David Campbell, and a social scientist, Don Mills, to explore the challenges and opportunities facing Atlantic Canada, promote data-driven decision-making among policymakers, and encourage a wider dialogue and debate leading to greater prosperity for the region.