A month of momentum; let’s keep it rolling

It has been a good month for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians: Brad Gushue won his second Brier; Liam Hickey brought home a silver medal from the Paralympic Games; and Kaetlyn Osmond won gold and bronze medals for her spectacular skating performances at the Olympics in Pyeongchang.

On the local business front, we have seen a number of very important and promising announcements, each highlighting plans for the future of Newfoundland and Labrador, each building on our natural strengths and on global opportunities.

The Government of Canada announced that Atlantic Canada’s Ocean Supercluster was selected as part of its Innovation Superclusters Initiative. The Ocean Supercluster is a private-sectorled group of big and small companies, academic institutions and not-for-profit organizations operating in Canada’s ocean industries, working together to boost this country’s capacity to innovate and modernize.

Private-sector investments will be matched dollar for dollar by the Government of Canada. Valued at over $100 million, it has the potential to further advance this province’s position as a world-class leader in finding solutions to the challenges of developing resources in and around the ocean.

Partners in this initiative came from a variety of sectors, including offshore oil and gas, fisheries and aquaculture, transportation, aerospace and defence, and clean energy. Over the next decade, the Ocean Supercluster is expected to generate more than $14 billion in GDP and more than 3,000 jobs.

In this province, we have proven ocean technology leadership, now by bringing diverse sectors and expertise together, we will create new technologies, and new solutions. It is the type of 21st-century collaborative innovative thinking that defines the economy of the future.

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador released Advance 2030, a plan for future oil and gas development in the province. Among other things, it outlines a strategy to double offshore oil production by 2030 and lays the foundation for a natural gas industry. These developments stand to be very positive for our economy.

We have lots to build on in the oil and gas sector. Newfoundland and Labrador already produces 25 per cent of Canada’s conventional light crude. In just two areas offshore – West Orphan and Flemish Pass – our resource potential is 37.5 billion barrels of oil and 133.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Despite sluggish oil prices we have attracted seven new international oil companies, such as Nexen, Hess and BP, to our province. In the past two years these companies have committed $2.6 billion to exploration.

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador also recently released the technology work plan, which outlines plans to increase technology-sector business activity in our province and increase private-sector jobs that support the creation, development and adoption of technology throughout the province. A key goal is to support the growth of 40 technology firms over the next two years.

Across all industries, and particularly in our knowledge-based economy, an agile workforce is key to success. Trades and technical skills, in both traditional areas as well as new and specialized technologies, are in high demand. To help prepare our students, the government announced that coding is being added to the K-12 curriculum.-these are just a few examples of the positive announcements recently made by the government that relate to the business community.

We challenge the government to focus on implementation of these plans and work to ensure there are measurable targets and goals in place that define success.

There are many other areas of strength in our local business community. Consider our tourism industry. Last year, we welcomed over 553,000 visitors to our beautiful province. Non-resident visitor spending reached an estimated $575 million in 2017, an increase of two per cent over the previous year.

The result is the highest annual level of non-resident visitation and tourism spending in the history of the province.

This success highlights the incredible product that exists in our province and the tremendous effort of tourism operators.

Newfoundland and Labrador has an abundance of opportunity and I am delighted that being the chair of the Board of Trade affords me the opportunity to see first hand many of these shining examples of businesses and people that are seizing new ways of doing things and helping Newfoundland and Labrador succeed.

The last month has delivered much to celebrate and great promise for our future.

We need all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians working together to ensure this province’s prosperity. Minister Seamus O’regan recently spoke to the St. John’s Board of Trade and outlined his intention to bring all groups together to have a respectful conversation on the future of Newfoundland and Labrador. We welcome this opportunity.

I, for one, am optimistic about our future and promise to celebrate our successes every chance I get.