News Release
Enterprise Fredericton AGM Wrap-up (News)
June 28, 2010
By STEPHEN LLEWELLYN
llewellyn.stephen@dailygleaner.com
Fredericton's Knowledge Park is hunting for a new general manager.
Longtime general manager Laura O'Blenis has resigned, Enterprise Fredericton's annual general meeting was told Thursday night.
Susanne Alexander, the new chairwoman of the board of directors at Enterprise Fredericton, said finding someone of the calibre of O'Blenis won't be easy.
"It will be very difficult because certainly Laura O'Blenis has been there for an extended period of time," she said. "To some degree she actually built the position."
The Knowledge Park has three buildings and they're full. The plan is to expand up to 17 buildings in the next few years. The Knowledge Park has a $65-million-a-year economic impact on the community in taxation and salaries.
"The recruitment process is already underway for that," said Alexander.
"I understand that there are actually some very good candidates that have already indicated some interest in the position."
Alexander said it will be a new experience for Enterprise Fredericton and the Knowledge Park to have a different person with a different personality in that position.
Alexander, publisher of Goose Lane Editions in Fredericton, also commented on her on new role by saying it is unusual and unexpected for a business development organization to be headed by someone from a creative enterprise.
"Enterprise Fredericton has a lot of ambitious goals over the next year," she said about her one-year term.
"Investing in clean technology is a real preoccupation for Enterprise Fredericton."
Another priority is growing Fredericton's population, said Alexander.
She told the meeting that the Greater Fredericton area, which includes Oromocto and New Maryland, is a unique mix of urban and rural with a mixture of businesses that require the mind and the hands.
Alexander said the population is increasingly diverse and multicultural.
At one time Goose Lane Editions needed only English and French editors, but now it requires them in many different languages and have no problem finding them, she said.
Alexander said Fredericton has the highest per capita ratio of businesses in Canada and the highest per capita of book buyers in the country.
In this era of access, choice, outsourcing and automation, it's vital for a community such as Fredericton to know its strengths and weaknesses and use its creativity and ingenuity for collective success, said Alexander.
The annual general meeting also welcome two new board members: Paul Leger and Alex Scholten.
Enterprise Fredericton has an operating budget of $1.194 million in 2010, a projected surplus of $25,511 and assets of just less than $14 million.
"We never have enough money," joked Alexander. "The issue with an organization like this is that there is always more that you can do. We're always faced by the challenge of having a bigger ambition than our budgets."
She said the staff of nine full-time and three part-time people are ingenious in the way they manage the budget.
"I have every confidence we will find what we need," said Alexander.