Strait-Highlands Regional Development Authority

 We all know why skating rinks don’t have windows. Because sunshine, amplified by glass, would ruin the surface. But if you’re twirling around the rink at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre on Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Island any time soon, you’ll notice natural sunshine streaming in—with absolutely no effect on the ice.

Impossible, right?

Wrong.

According to Blaine Gillis, CEO of the Strait-Highlands Regional Development Agency (S-HRDA), anything is possible in this part of Nova Scotia. And this environmentally friendly civic centre is just one example.

The S-HRDA’s job is to help businesses in the region’s communities develop, grow and succeed. Among the ways it’s doing that are through its Green Action initiative and eBusiness Pilot Project.

As part of the Green Action initiative, the S-HRDA assisted the town of Port Hawkesbury in obtaining $1.8 million for the civic centre from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Green Municipal Fund. But how does a green building build business? Gillis explains that he and the Green Action team see green as very good for business: “Most of the money we spend on energy leaves our communities, and much of the energy we use is wasted. It makes sense to use energy more efficiently and to develop locally available supplies of energy in ways that the income generated circulates in the local economy.”

The innovative windows that allow in light, but not heat, were made by a local company, Sydney-based Advanced Glazings Ltd. Now, the Centre doesn’t need lights on during most days, even when it’s overcast, a significant cost saving that allows for investment elsewhere. And the Centre’s sophisticated heating system actually works in reverse, so that rather than cooling down the ice; it is removing heat from it. That extracted heat keeps the building at a comfortable temperature. And to double community benefit, the excess is shared with the high school next door, which uses it to heat the swimming pool.

“The municipalities of Inverness County, Richmond County and the town of Port Hawkesbury, which we represent at the S-HRDA, have taken a leadership role in facing the challenges of climate change.” says Gillis. Gillis believes the efforts will be good for the environment and for building sustainability in the region’s mostly rural communities.

The S-HRDA hopes the Green Action initiative will reduce the area’s carbon emissions by 20 per cent and possibly result in new local energy sources such as wind farms, hydro and the reuse of methane from dump sites and coal mines.

The S-HRDA is also looking at the opportunities that broadband Internet offers rural-based businesses. A two year eBusiness Pilot Project is just ramping up to help local entrepreneurs become more Internet savvy in order to find new markets.

Gillis uses the example of MacIsaac Kiltmakers, a family-owned business in St. Peters that produces traditional, hand-sewn Scottish kilts. This company has been successful in using eBusiness to increase their markets and sales. Since establishing a web presence with on-line sales transactions, MacIsaac Kiltmakers, has tripled the demand for their traditional, hand-sewn Scottish Kilts and Celtic accessories. “In order to keep up with the demand, says Gillis, ‘there was a need to hire and train staff in the ancient kilt making craft.” The S-HRDA was able to assist the company by navigating a number of government programs that would allow a Master Kiltmaker from Scotland to temporarily work with the business in training additional staff. Today, MacIsaac Kiltmakers sends kilts around the world. “You can move product quite quickly anywhere from here,” adds Gillis.

And thanks to the Strait of Canso Superport, it’s just as easy for goods to arrive. This ice-free cargo port is probably the second largest in Canada next to Vancouver, says Gillis, and shares many of the same geographic advantages of its sister port of Halifax, which offers the shortest ocean voyage time for North American trade crossing the North Atlantic. The Superport has the added bonus of being surrounded by large tracts of virgin land. “More and more on a global basis, ports are moving out of the downtown areas so developers can build terminals in Greenfield sites in a way that works better for shippers. Greenfield sites such as ours represent many cost advantages in terms of operations,” says Gillis, who is convinced the port can be an economic engine of growth, not just for the local area, but for Nova Scotia, Atlantic Canada and beyond.

Along with cargo ships, there’s another vital import the S-HRDA is working to attract: newcomers.

Immigrants “build businesses and the community,” says Gillis. “They bring fresh ideas and different approaches to things. We’ve had a number settle in our region who have entrepreneurial skills and have set up businesses. Others are very plugged into the cultural scene, and that’s been very rewarding.”

For example, two German stone sculptors who moved to the area are selling pieces in Germany and the US—with price tags in the thousands of dollars. “The international influence rubs off on our local artists,” says Gillis. “It opens doors.”

To entice more immigration to the region, the S-HRDA has launched an Immigration Navigator project in partnership with Antigonish RDA to guide immigrants through their settlement, as well as to help make the area’s businesses and communities even more welcoming.

Other very successful newcomers to the area have made the short move to Cape Breton Island from mainland Nova Scotia. In February 2007, for example, Halifax Biomedical, an engineering consulting company that delivers specialized research services and develops medical devices internationally, decided to make Mabou home base. The company’s website states, “This location was chosen to attract and retain biomedical engineering professionals by offering a unique quality of life that is difficult to find in urban centers.”

Anyone who has visited Cape Breton understands that uniqueness. It consistently ranks as one of the “world’s top islands” for tourism, and thousands flock to Cape Breton every year to sail the Bras d’Or Lakes, tour the Cabot Trail and just relax in the natural beauty and generous bonhomie. After that experience, some find that going back home is no longer an appealing option. Gillis smiles as he talks about a new neighbour: “This was a gentleman with no connection to Cape Breton who visited the island a few times and fell in love with it. So he bought some property, and now his whole family lives here. He owns two stores in a western Canadian city, and I see him regularly sailing the lakes and taking calls from his stores.”

So that old adage “You’ve got to go where the business is” is not necessarily so anymore. As Gillis says, “There’s a different way of doing business. And we’re making it possible right here.”

Feature story written by Margaret MacQuarrie