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Four separate municipalities, thousands of businesses -- all coming together under one new amalgamated municipality. Not everyone was enthusiastic about the possibilities when Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford and Halifax County merged to form Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996.

Greater Halifax Partnership focuses on five areas of economic development: business retention and expansion, business development, investor relations, research, and trade development. In Nova Scotia, 80 per cent of new jobs come from existing businesses. In greater Halifax, this includes focusing on industry sectors that offer significant potential for the economy, such as life sciences, energy, information and communications technology, transportation and logistics, advanced manufacturing and aerospace. In addition, Greater Halifax Partnership is making Nova Scotia even more accessible. "We are in the best place for access to world markets," Dempsey says. By organizing and supporting such changes as providing pre-clearance for business people at the airport and having more business destinations in Nova Scotia, it helps Nova Scotia open up to the world.