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Stephen Lund
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As a native New Brunswicker (born and raised in Saint John) and a faithful reader of the Telegraph-Journal, I've followed the progress of this province for the past several decades. Maybe the benefit of distance has allowed me to see the positive changes in my hometown. As I traveled throughout Saint John this past holiday weekend, I was struck by the optimism and pride people have in this city.

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Photo courtesy NSBI

Saint John native Stephen Lund attributes Nova Scotia’s success at attracting business investment to its business-like approach: “If you’ve got a health issue, you go to a doctor; if you’ve got a business issue, shouldn’t you go to a business person?”

Yes, you're facing challenges, but you're not alone. A slowing global economy, the high Canadian dollar, rising energy costs, out-migration, an aging population, and low productivity levels are the challenges facing Canadian businesses from coast to coast.

I've been asked to provide some insight into how New Brunswick can learn from the NSBI model. While I'm in no position to tell any other province how to do its job - I have just as much to learn from my counterparts around the world - what I can share is a bit about my experience in Nova Scotia.

Nova Scotia Business Inc. (NSBI) is a business development organization. It was created "to take the politics out of economic development." It is run like a business, which means we have control over two very important things: our hiring process and our budget. This business approach works. More importantly, it works for our clients. It's very simple: If you've got a health issue, you go to a doctor; if you've got a business issue, shouldn't you go to a business person?

Without giving away too many state secrets, I want to share with you some of the things I've learned over the last seven years at NSBI. Although we are equally focused on helping our local companies grow and expand around the world, I will, for brevity's sake, restrict my points here to our investment attraction efforts. Attracting the right investment is vital to the growth of any economy. The following five things are, in my experience, paramount to any successful strategy and would, in fact, apply to most companies.

First and foremost, know your value proposition. Identify your competitive advantages and articulate what sets you apart from other jurisdictions around the world. You've got to know what you're selling.

You also have to know who is buying and what companies are looking for. I've long said the top three things businesses look for are people, people, people. Cost, a good business climate, infrastructure, and geographic location are all important, but they pale in comparison to the need for talent.

Hire the best people to do the job - and let them do it. I truly believe I've got the best team anywhere. We are professional and proactive. More importantly, we are accountable and results-driven. Having the ability to recruit and retain the best people is absolutely critical!

Pick winners. Go after great companies in sectors you can support. Play to your strengths, and focus on long-term, sustainable jobs. For example, it might mean building on Saint John's position as an energy hub, promoting Fredericton's IT strengths, or leveraging Moncton's success in the contact industry to attract higher-level outsourcing work.

But having a great value proposition is not enough. You have to put the puck in the net. You have to deliver results, and the only way to do it is to be proactive. Don't wait for the phone to ring because it seldom does. If you want success, you have to go after it, period. This work takes passion, dedication, and talent.

That's how we were able to secure more than 50 investment attraction deals, creating thousands of high-paying, sustainable jobs for the people who live here. It's how we landed the hottest IT company on the planet, the biggest hedge fund administrator in the world, three of the top defence companies globally, and the world's No. 1 reinsurance provider. I'm proud of our success.

When I look at some of the exciting things happening here in New Bruswick, I believe this province is poised for big things. There will always be challenges and you'll always have naysayers. But that's what leadership is all about - getting the right people on the right page.

In the end, our guiding principle is clear: create long-term, sustainable opportunities for the people who live here. That's been our approach to business development. And it's worked for us.

Stephen Lund is President and CEO of Nova Scotia Business Inc.