PORT HAWKESBURY: Some pretty clever minds are now under one roof.
“What we have here is a one-stop shop for businesses, whether they’re looking to start up, to grow, whether they need advise in facing challenges,” said Amanda Mombourquette, the executive director of the Strait Area Chamber of Commerce (SACoC).
She was speaking to The Reporter at an open house hosted by the Business Service Centre last Wednesday.
“It doesn’t belong to any one of us; it belongs to all of us. The chamber was the catalyst behind this, but it really is a collaborative space,” she said.
The Business Service Centre is located at 609 Church Street in Port Hawkesbury. Under one roof are the offices for the SACoC, the Cape Breton Partnership (CBP), the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), the Eastern Strait Regional Enterprise Network (ESREN), and Nova Scotia Business Inc. (NSBI).
“There are other community partners that we welcome in, like InRich BDC,” Mombourquette said. “They aren’t here full time, but they’ve been here in the space with us.
“It’s a collaborative working space for us to make sure businesses can access services quickly, and don’t need to spend a lot of time trying to learn to navigate the system. As a chamber of commerce, that’s a big thing for us. Advocacy is what we do.”
The concept for such a hub space came about a year-and-a-half ago, as Mombourquette discussed the idea with the chamber executives and the board of directors. Soon, business development groups were lining up.
“They were sold by the idea that we could provide a hub space and give them access to reception services, WiFi access for their clients, and all that stuff,” Mombourquette said. “We take care of it all for them.”
The building is owned by KingMac, and Winmar is the restoration specialist spearheading the renovations.
“We really wanted to have a fresh and open space, so we took the site, made sure the colour schemes were cool and open,” Mombourquette said. “Everything is fresh and new. It looks really good now.”
John Beaton, CEO of the ESREN, said Port Hawkesbury is a key location.
“We can capture stuff on both sides of the causeway,” he said. “There are a lot of businesses here that are transient, serving both the mainland and Cape Breton. It makes a lot of sense for us to be here. Business shouldn’t have to figure out where to go to get help.”
Keith MacDonald also stopped by the Wednesday afternoon function. He is the President and CEO of the CBP, and he said having an office in Port Hawkesbury is a great thing for his group.
“I’m really pleased with the layout of the facility, and we’re very excited to be working closely with a number of our ongoing economic development and business organizations. This will lead to further collaboration and assisting any businesses that have questions,” he said.
ACOA was represented at the open house by Karen Malcolm, who serves as an account manager for the group. She was very impressed with the new space, and she said she can see lots of good things come from having so many group