SmartCity Blog

Halifax's Hub City Assets

By Fred Morley

 
Halifax is Nova Scotia’s and Atlantic Canada’s Hub City, one of 9 in Canada identified by the Conference Board.  What this means is that a healthy growing Halifax economy helps the economies around it succeed and they, in turn, help Halifax grow.  It’s a healthy symbiotic relationship.  A stronger Halifax means a stronger Nova Scotia and a stronger Nova Scotia means a stronger Halifax.  It’s not rocket science, but it’s a concept that didn’t carry much weight in Nova Scotia until lately. 

Halifax Stanfield International Airport is one of those hub city assets that make the concept real.  Stanfield accounted for over $1.27 billion in economic activity last year (2008), 11% of all economic activity in Nova Scotia.  The airport handles more passengers than all other airports in the region combined.  With about 5500 direct employees it’s larger than many towns with many of the same services, retailers, hotels, cargo, even a church. 
 
The Halifax airport is an important enabler for many sectors of the province’s economy.  It generates 55% of the province’s tourism revenue, many of them business travelers flying to and from Atlantic Canada’s business hub.   It is critical to our high growth and high wage sectors like banking, insurance, IT and aerospace and defense.  In short the airport connects us to the world and is one of the sectors that give us our Hub City status.

Next….more hub city assets, the port, the health care sector, universities, our regional and head offices.

What do think makes Halifax work as a hub city?

Fred Morley is the Executive Vice President and Chief Economist at the Greater Halifax Partnership

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Vote for Youth in Greater Halifax

The Y2E Project, a Greater Halifax Partnership initiative, was launched in October 2008 to connect priority youth with local employers to find a job. The goal was to build a framework that would help individuals between the ages of 15 to 30 years old, who face various challenges, find and retain employment. The initiative addresses both the growing labour shortage and youth unemployment issues in Greater Halifax.

Built by our community, Y2E Framework will connect priority youth not only to jobs but to the education, opportunities and support services they need to start their career right here in Greater Halifax. We often hear the story of youth wanting to stay in Halifax but are unfortunately forced to more elsewhere to find employment. The project will also help employers hire young people who bring energy, new ideas, and valuable skills to their businesses.

The initiative’s framework has been entered into Aviva’s nationwide community competition to win up to $250,000 in funding. Hundreds of ideas from all over Canada are currently competing for a spot in the semifinals. The winner will be announced on January 25th, 2010.

Your votes until November 29th will bring us one step closer to success.

This funding will help us build the Y2E Connection tool – an online community operating system that will connect youth and employers in Greater Halifax to the services and opportunities they need to make and maintain a successful job match.

We have the Vision. We have the Plan. We have the People to Make it Happen!

Vote now for the Y2E Connection and help build the buzz.

Learn more about the Y2E Framework

We appreciate your support!

Cynthia Giles & Krista Hall
Y2E Project team

Guest blog post by Jim Carroll: Today's economy is all about opportunity

I spend my time these days with the CEO's of a huge range of global organizations. I'm working with them when I'm pulling together my keynote for an association or leadership conference, or when I'm leading a management off-site. It's a remarkable opportunity, because I'm witnessing first hand what some senior executives are thinking as they pursue strategies which will pull them out of this economic downturn. For the news headlines of economic terrorism: today's economy is all about opportunity.

The new, next economy.

I'm witnessing organizations have a razor like focus on several key areas.

What are they focused on?

• Mastering fast markets: they're immersed in a world in which product innovations occur so fast that that "time to market" is now measured in weeks rather than years.

• Product innovation: They're busy ensuring that they have a continual pipeline of new products or services that will generate new revenue as old revenue is displaced.

• Dealing with disruptive technology: They're dealing with the fact that a furious pace of technological innovation continues unabated, with the rapid emergence of new technologies that change entire industries: what happens, for example, when our cell phones and smart phones become the credit card infrastructure of the future?

• Customer engagement: They are involved in rapidly changing the method by which they engage with their customer base and re-energizing their brand, knowing that consumer mindset has become increasingly difficult to capture as the relentless march of social networking technologies continues unabated.

• Business model innovation: They are busy innovating with business models, knowing that the only certainty for future success is uncertainty. Consider Wizzit, a South African bank that is based entirely upon the exchange of text messages. That business model disruption right there!

Given all this turmoil, there's plenty of opportunity for strategies which are opportunistic in nature -- and that's some of what I'll focus upon when I visit Halifax next week. I look forward to returning to the old home town!

Jim

Jim will be speaking at the Greater Halifax Partnership's Building Our Future event on Tuesday, November 24th at noon. The topic will be about Game Changers: Transformative Trends to 2020. Click on the icon below to read more about the event or to register.

 

Jim Carroll is a Futurist, Trends and Innovation expert. He is a Halifax native; a graduate of Halifax West High School and Dalhousie University.  He has gone on to establish a global career providing high level strategic advice on future trends and innovation and was recently named by Business Week as one of four leading sources for insight into innovation issues.

The Greater Halifax Partnership is the catalyst for economic growth and confidence in Greater Halifax, the economic hub of Atlantic Canada.

Big city with small town feel: A student's perspective

By Natalie Cormier

As I sat at my desk last week, I took notice of an article. Each year, the Globe & Mail releases its Canadian University Report which highlights the results of their student survey. As a senior university student, one particular article titled “Halifax: the ultimate college town" forced me to reminisce on the past four years I have lived in Halifax.

I am grateful I choose Halifax as my destination. For the past four years, I have been exposed to a thousand new things that now make up who I am as a student, employee and individual.

Moving from a small Cape-Breton fishing community, Halifax first appeared overwhelming. As I entered my first year as a public relations student at Mount Saint Vincent University, I realized the exact opposite.

I quickly learned my way around the city. Like the 23,000 other full-time students that call Halifax their “home away from home”, I have taken full advantage of my university experience. I must admit that my time in Halifax has slightly changed my habits. I now enjoy the taste of chai lattes and regularly practice yoga. In my opinion, this city is the ideal place for any student looking for a great study-play balance. What better way to celebrate the end of a semester than sitting outside with friends at the Lower Deck while listening to great music?

Halifax’s vibrant yet relaxing lifestyle has convinced me that this is where I want to begin my career. Living in a place that has weathered the worst of the economic storm has left me with great confidence. I will soon make the transition from student to employee and look forward in continuing my adventure here in Halifax.

-Natalie Cormier is a senior Public Relations student at Mount Saint Vincent University. Natalie is currently a co-op student at Greater Halifax Partnership.

Images courtesy of: Nova Scotia Come to Life