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Good news on the economic front: 2010 is going to be a year of good fortune and wealth according to the Chinese five elements astrology calendar. Yes, it’s the year of the Tiger – and latest GDP results from Statistics Canada indicate that the economy is preparing to roar. Following a steep decline early in 2009, Canada’s real gross domestic product advanced 0.4 per cent in November, a third consecutive monthly increase. As was the case in September and October, most major industrial sectors increased their production. The goods-producing industries (+0.6 per cent) grew for a third month in a row, while the services industries increased 0.4 per cent. Mining and oil and gas extraction, and wholesale trade accounted for about 60 per cent of the overall growth. Several other sectors also recorded increases, such as finance and insurance, construction and the public sector (education, health and public administration combined). Conversely, retail trade and utilities declined in November, while the manufacturing sector remained unchanged.
PEI Software Company Changes Hands
DeltaWare, one of the most well-known and highly decorated software companies in Atlantic Canada, has been bought out by MAXIMUS (NYSE: MMS). According to DeltaWare founder Ed Lawlor, the change in ownership won’t adversely affect jobs in the firm’s Charlottetown’s office. “DeltaWare will remain a Canadian, Prince Edward Island-based company. All jobs will remain in PEI, (the) staff complement will continue to grow and existing management will stay in place for the long term,” the company reported on cbc.ca.
DeltaWare, formed in 1992, specializes in custom software solutions for the healthcare industry. The firm has approximately 90 employees and has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Employers in Canada. In November 2009, DeltaWare was honoured with a Corporate Citizenship Award during the Canadian Health Informatics Awards and CEO Ed Lawlor was named one of Atlantic Canada’s Top 50 CEOs in 2002 by Atlantic Business Magazine. MAXIMUS, based in Reston, Virginia, has more than 6,500 employees located in more than 220 offices in the U.S., Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and Israel. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Secure Data Centre opens in Halifax
Halifax-based telecom firm Internetworking Atlantic Inc. (IAI) has expanded its service offering with the opening of a Tier III Data Centre. IAI is a privately owned company that operates over 600 kilometres of fibre-optic infrastructure servicing business, institutional and government customers throughout the region. Specializing in the provision of high-bandwidth fibre-optic telecommunications services, the 1,800 sq. ft. Data Centre will provide high security hosting services.
Since 2002, IAI’s fibre-optic networks have provided critical, high speed, fibre-optic interconnect services for customers such as the IWK Health Centre, Capital Health, HRM, the Halifax Port Authority and the Atlantic Lottery Corporation. The company’s entry into the Data Centre sector represents a natural progression of IAI’s fibre-optic telecom and IT service offerings.
President Bruce MacDougall commented on the company’s expansion, “The new facility is designed to provide high quality IT hosting services to enterprise, government and medium size businesses.” MacDougall added that, “this, combined with IAI’s extensive fibre-optic network in HRM, will provide a secure, carrier neutral facility for hosting client computer servers, data storage operations, and telecommunications equipment”.
Valerie Payn, President & CEO, Halifax Chamber of Commerce
What’s in a Name?
The Halifax Chamber of Commerce is hoping its city council will soon start using what the Chamber calls the municipality’s real name – Halifax, not HRM (Halifax Regional Municipality). “If you ask someone in Toronto or Vancouver what the capital city of Nova Scotia is, they don’t say HRM, they say Halifax,” said Chamber president Valerie Payn in a published release. “Encouraging everyone to use the city name of Halifax will bring together our business community and create a more united city front within the rest of Canada and on the international stage.” A Chamber-conducted survey in 2007 found that 68 per cent of respondents refer to the city as Halifax, not HRM. Council is reportedly considering the issue.
