CORNER BROOK — From his perch as business consultant with the Department of Business, Mark Ward believes the province is perfectly poised to become an economic powerhouse.
Ward was in the city Wednesday to speak at a Greater Corner Brook Board of Trade, where he told members of the business community about a number of opportunities and programs available to them through the department.
The department has grown to about 40 employees in the approximately five years since its creation. Ward said the mandate is to create foreign investment throughout the province. Part of this plan has included a strategic investment in such industry sectors as oil and gas and ocean technology.
In his address, Ward said the department’s Business Attraction Fund, which offers as much as $29 million in customized financial assistance, is a flexible initiative which through grants, loans or payroll rebates, is designed to attract large scale business to the province.
While the fund specifically targets companies with hundreds of employees, it can still be useful to smaller ventures and Ward said the mandate is to enhance what is already in place in the province.
“Our goal is to fill in the gaps of the local industry,” Ward said. “We’re not going to give money to (a company) to come to Corner Brook and compete with local manufacturers here, that’s not going to happen.”
The recent slowdown in the oil industry in Alberta has many companies looking elsewhere for projects. According to Ward, one current hot spot is in the North Sea, with countries such as Russia becoming major players in the oil industry. Ward said geographically speaking, the province is perfectly situated to be a central hub for projects in the Arctic, North Sea and Gulf of Mexico.
In fact, one company, which Ward was careful not to name, is close to an agreement to manufacture oil and gas equipment in Newfoundland before barging it to the North Sea. The plan would provide the company an alternative to an original plan to manufacture in Alberta, move the equipment to Texas via a train before being shipped by barge to Russia, a initiative which would cost $2 million in transportation fees alone on a $5-million piece of equipment.
He said there seems to be a growing sense of optimism in the province and its his department’s job to continue spreading the word
“About 10 years ago, I don’t know if Newfoundlanders had an inferiority complex or not, but we shouldn’t,” he said. “There’s so much opportunity out there around the world now, our department has to get out more to talk about the different programs we have to offer.”
