By April Sampson

PORT HAWKESBURY- The need for innovation in rural economies was the topic of the day Wednesday, as NovaKnowledge took over the Civic Centre's Shannon Studio with its 2006 road show and debate series. NovaKnowledge is a non-profit, member-based organization that promotes economic innovation in Nova Scotia through the creation of a provincial vision for the knowledge economy.

"Nova Scotia's future depends on the knowledge economy," said John Odenthal, Director of the Knowledge Economy Report Card for NovaKnowledge. "What we mean by that is we can't depend totally anymore on resource extraction, selling commodities in bulk and low wages as our competitive advantage. Whatever industry you're in, whether it's manufacturing our tourism, the future is based on how much you innovate, innovate and innovate. That's going to be our competitive edge. That's what the knowledge economy means."

As part of the 2006 road show and debates, the Civic Centre played host to two sessions Wednesday, a morning session on environmental economy opportunities and an afternoon debate entitled "Tomorrow's work force: wining the war for talent." During the morning session on environmental economy, participants discussed the shift that has begun to occur in today's economy as energy costs rise, environmental regulations become more stringent, and consumers become aware of waste management, the environment and "clean" products. Participants in the session also discussed the benefits of seizing opportunities in the new environmental economy by looking at two local examples in Ocean Nutrition Canada Ltd. and the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre.

"Ocean Nutrition is a complete example of a company finding a waste product can actually be a new product," said Odenthal. "The food nutrient they make is out of fish oil that would otherwise be a waste product and the waste they have gotten from that process, they have now spun off into bio-diesel and bio-fuel. They also use some of their leftover waste product to turn into heat for their plant, therefore saving fossil fuels and saving cost for themselves. It's a perfect example of the environmental economy."

During the afternoon debate, participants got to hear the views of three panelists before posing questions on the state of tomorrow's workforce and the difficulties in recruiting and retaining skilled labour in rural Nova Scotia. Sean Reid, General Manager of Mulgrave Machine Works, sat on the panel during the debate and said his company is actually a success story in terms of the retention of skilled labour. He said that while a small number of his employees went West in search of higher paying jobs, most eventually returned to Nova Scotia for the quality of life that he described as one of the biggest assets the region has to offer.

Chad Munro, CEO of Halifax Biomedical Inc., agreed with Reid, noting that businesses in North Eastern Nova Scotia need to take advantage of their location and use that as a selling point for potential employees. "There is a resource here that is not anywhere else in the world and that is quality of life,” said Munro, adding that businesses need to consider emerging talent from other regions and countries that may want to make the move to Nova Scotia because of the lifestyle the province offers.

John Ouellette, Innovation and Skills Facilitator for the Strait-Highlands Regional Development Agency, also sat on the panel and noted that both Reid and Munro are among the minority with their stories of successful business development and workforce recruitment and retention.

"I'm quite alarmed in a lot of ways by the people problem," said Ouellette. "We need a strategy; someone needs to develop a strategy to promote our area as a life destination." Ouellette said that one key to the expansion of the knowledge economy in the Strait area is using trained individuals to the fullest advantage. He pointed to call centres as an example where development organizations have used a "band-aid response to stop the bleeding" rather than regarding them as knowledge centres who's skilled workers can be used to grow the economy and attract new business.