Insights with Don Mills and David Campbell- An Acadia Broadcasting Podcast

While everyone has likely heard of Michelin, very few understand how important the company is to the economy in Nova Scotia.Recently, the tire maker celebrated its 50th anniversary in the province. Michelin is the second largest tire manufacturer in the world, behind Japan-based Bridgestone, with 132,000 employees worldwide.This week, Don and David have a rare and somewhat exclusive interview with Andrew Mutch, Michelin's president for North America (Canada).Michelin is the largest private company in Nova Scotia, with three manufacturing plants and 3,600 employees. There are also 6,000 active retirees in the province, further contributing to the economy. The company is the largest single exporter in the province with $1.2 billion in tires being exported last year.It is also a highly innovative company. Andrew talks about Michelin's development of hydrogen energy cells as an example of this innovation. He also speaks more about the company's recent announcement to invest a further $300 million in the province. This podcast lifts the lid a bit off the somewhat reclusive company. 

Across Canada, First Nations have been developing partnerships related to natural resources development, ensuring good stewardship and substantial economic benefits to the communities.This week on the Insights podcast, Don and David talk with Karen Ogen, the CEO of the First Nations LNG Alliance. It's a group set up to raise awareness among First Nations of the importance of natural gas and other energy sector development to the prosperity of their communities.Karen was formerly Chief of her community for six years and has spent her career advocating and supporting Indigenous economic development. She talks candidly about the challenges and how First Nations should be fully engaged in the development of the land and natural resources.Karen provides her thoughts on what Atlantic Canada can learn from First Nations and natural resources developed in western Canada.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.

 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.

On this week’s Insights podcast, Don and David talk with Pat Whalen, the chairman and CEO of Luminultra Technologies Ltd., a New Brunswick company specializing in biological diagnostic testing.Even if most people don't immediately recognize the name, Luminultra is a great example of a Fredericton success story. The company was founded and has been headquartered in Fredericton for decades. Although it does nearly all its business outside the region, it has no plans to move its head office.Luminultra's reach is global and it has offices in six different countries, with its head office and manufacturing facilities in Fredericton. Pat weighs in on how the business environment in New Brunswick has been instrumental to the company’s success.As a company that spends 10 times more than the average on research and development, Pat provides his thoughts on how we can stimulate more business-led research and development in the region.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.Search for “Huddle Insights” on podcast platforms like Apple and Spotify, and follow the show so you don’t miss an episode. You can also listen to past conversations there.

Ed Greenspon, the president and CEO of the Public Policy Forum (PPF), and former P.E.I. premier Wade MacLauchlan join Don and David to talk about the PPF’s Atlantic Canada Momentum Index.The PPF is a national think tank grappling with some of the biggest challenges facing the country. There is a lot of good news in this report and a number of challenges as well. Has Atlantic Canada turned a corner? Is the future bright?Don, David, Wade, and Ed weigh in on some of the biggest issues and opportunities facing the region from immigrant retention to business research and development.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.Search for “Huddle Insights” on podcast platforms like Apple and Spotify, and follow the show so you don’t miss an episode. You can also listen to past conversations there.

This week on Insights, Don and David have a conversation with Andrea Feunekes, the president, CEO and co-founder of Remsoft Inc., a global software company based in Fredericton. Andrea is also the chair of the New Brunswick Business Council.Remsoft has been in business for 30 years and is one of the oldest software development companies in New Brunswick. Andrea co-founded the firm at a time when there were very few female-led tech companies.She tells us about her journey, the challenges and the rewards of building a successful company that now has clients on six continents. She also weighs in on several important issues: the difficulties so many entrepreneurs have breaking through the $1-$2 million revenue ceiling and the importance of diverse workforces for the province and region to maintain the recent positive momentum in economic and population growth. She also shares why she believes Canada is behind much of the rest of the world when it comes to its forest management practices, and why companies must listen to their young workers when they make demands of their employers. 

After the federal government privatized national airports in the 1990s, most underwent massive modernization. There is no better example than the Halifax Stanfield International Airport.The Halifax International Airport Authority (HIAA) has invested $750 million in transforming the airport since taking control about 25 years ago.Don and David's conversation with HIAA CEO Joyce Carter looks at the role the airport has as an economic enabler for the region, the challenges presented by the pandemic, the authority's efforts to rebuild air traffic, and the future of air travel from Halifax, especially within the region.During the pandemic, the number of routes was reduced from 46 to just four and the airport had to take on $150 million in debt to survive. Nonetheless, Carter expects a full recovery by 2025.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.Search for “Huddle Insights” on podcast platforms like Apple and Spotify, and follow the show so you don’t miss an episode. You can also listen to past conversations there.

Is modular housing really the answer to New Brunswick's housing crisis?The stereotypical images of flimsy buildings and low-quality mini-homes don't reflect today's reality. New technologies and practices mean modular construction can be used to create high-quality buildings, sometimes as high as 30 storeys. In Sweeden, about 85 per cent of homes have some modular element to them.Brandon Searle is at the forefront of modular technology in the Maritimes. He's the Director of Innovation and Operations at the University of New Brunswick’s Off-site Construction Research Centre.Searle joins Don and David on this week's Insights Podcast to talk about the work the centre is doing, and how modular construction could help address the Maritimes' housing crisis.The Off-site Construction Research Centre has worked on more than two dozen projects and aims to be a national leader in the sector. According to Searle, modular construction is not only well-positioned to help with local housing demand, it could grow as a home-grown export sector 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.Search for “Huddle Insights” on podcast platforms like Apple and Spotify, and follow the show so you don’t miss an episode. You can also listen to past conversations there.

Moosehead Breweries is a New Brunswick icon. The company has been in business for more than 150 years and is described as “the last major brewery in Canada still owned by Canadians." With annual sales of $200 million and a staff of nearly 300 people, Moosehead is one of the larger manufacturing companies in the province.Andrew Oland, the company's president and CEO, joins Don and David on this week’s Insights podcast.Andrew tells Don and David about the company’s long history since Susannah Oland started the firm in 1865 (he is the 6th generation), and the bumps it encountered along the way, including burning down "several times."  He discusses the challenges and opportunities of being primarily focused on export markets and provides insight into how New Brunswick can continue to generate the second-most GDP from the brewery sector out of province in Canada.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.Search for “Huddle Insights” on podcast platforms like Apple and Spotify, and follow the show so you don’t miss an episode. You can also listen to past conversations there.

Only 2.8 percent of the world's venture capital is given to women entrepreneurs, yet women-led startups outperform their male counterparts.Sandpiper Ventures is a women-led venture fund (which in itself is a rarity) that invests in seed-stage tech startups with women founders who hold C-suite positions. Sandpiper is based in Atlantic Canada, although invests beyond the region.Sandpiper recently raised an initial $20 million fund. Our conversation with one of the fund's three founders and managing director, Rhiannon Davies, looks at the challenges women entrepreneurs face, the opportunities for investors focused on this segment of the market, and Sandpiper's investment strategy.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.Search for “Huddle Insights” on podcast platforms like Apple and Spotify, and follow the show so you don’t miss an episode. You can also listen to past conversations there.