Atlantic NewsMakers: Pirie, White launch Kula Partners

[HALIFAX, NS] – Carman Pirie and Jeff White launch Kula Partners: Carman Pirie, former vice president of Social Media at Colour, and Jeff White, founder of Brightwhite Design Group, today announced the launch of Kula Partners. Kula Partners is a marketing agency built for our hyper-social world. It will work with a range of regional and national clients creating marketing strategies and programs designed to grow brands by connecting people to each other. The new agency launch comes at a time when participation in social networks has become the number one activity on the Web. Increasingly, brands are seeking agency partners that can help them create and manage their online presence as a central part of their marketing effort. The new agency provides clients expertise within three main service areas: social media marketing, web design and development, and content planning and creation. The agency’s Web design and development expertise builds upon Brightwhite Design Group’s reputation as a provider of smart, effective interface design coupled with Web standards-based front end development and solid back-end development using the latest open source tools.

[STELLARTON, NS] –Developer to pay costs of changes to Stellarton roundabout: A developer interested in the former Heather Hotel property in Stellarton has agreed pay for any changes made in the town’s roundabout plans to accommodate its development. In order to get access to the former Heather site an extra lane is proposed along part of north Foord Street and the developer says it will foot the bill to have the extra lane incorporated into the roundabout construction. The developer will deposit a cheque for estimated extra costs prior to the tender and the original costs will be subtracted from the tender costs, thus coming up with the price the developer would be responsible for. Stellarton solicitor Hector MacIsaac says the proposal to include the new lane as part of the roundabout construction was discussed in Halifax with engineers of the Department of Transportation. “It was the simplest and best solution,” MacIsaac says. The News

[KING’S COUNTY, NS] – Construction, demolition debris business wants to expand service offerings: Kings County council has given initial consideration to amendments to an existing development agreement that would allow more flexibility and other accessory uses at a construction and demolition debris disposal (C&D) site on the North River Road at Magee Lake. The matter will now go to a future public hearing. County planner Ben Sivak says the original development agreement for the 38-acre property in the Forestry Zone was approved in 2003. The provincial Department of Environment (DOE) licenses the operation, including monitoring, reporting and contingency plans. The proposed amendments would permit the development of an accessory transfer station, composting facility and soil disposal site. Sivak says each accessory use will require a license from DOE. DOE says the applicant has applied to operate a transfer station and that the information submitted meets its guidelines. However, DOE would not issue approvals until the municipality permits the use. – By Kirk Starratt, The Advertiser

[SUTHERLANDS RIVER, NS] – Student entrepreneurs debut ‘A Business of Our Own’: The cafeteria at East Pictou Middle School was a marketplace of a different kind Wednesday afternoon. Usually it’s a busy spot at lunchtime, but the lineups weren’t limited to the lunch counter. The school’s Grade 7 students have been hard at work for the last five weeks; they’ve put business plans together, acquired loans and developed three unique products for the student population. The activity was part of a Junior Achievement project dubbed ‘A Business of Our Own’. It’s a pilot, designed to provide students with the opportunity to learn the entrepreneurial spirit and to gather some fundamental business smarts.
The common experience – Pictou County entrepreneurs may agree – is that nothing in business ever goes 100 per cent according to plan. But that’s fine. The unknown variables often provide lessons just as valuable as known variables. – By Sean Kelly, The News

[HALIFAX, NS] – Senate votes down amendments to consumer bill: Canada is on the verge of adopting a new consumer protection bill, but it won’t contain the many business-friendly amendments proposed by Liberal senators. The amendments arose out of concern the new legislation, which gives federal inspectors new powers to search, for, seize and recall dangerous consumer products, went a little too far. The majority of members in the upper house didn’t share this opinion, since they voted 44-42 to defeat the proposals. The bill now moves on to third and final reading in the Senate.

[ANNAPOLIS ROYAL, NS] – Arts council close to collapse: The Annapolis Region Community Arts Council (ARCAC) is in danger of failing after the undisclosed actions of it now former Executive Director Gene Lane came to light. On October 29, while Lane was absent on vacation, ARCAC employee Sophie Heath discovered a number of disturbing and serious administrative lapses while attending to routine correspondence and paperwork. She immediately notified the board chair, Helen Opie, and on November 2 the board met with Lane. Not all the details of that meeting were disclosed, but the executive director apologized and the board accepted his immediate resignation. The board has since engaged a forensic auditor, whose work is still continuing. It has been learned that ARCAC’s Joint Stock registration and status as a charitable organization was lost in 2006, without the knowledge of the board. ARCAC now has no corporate status, and the volunteer board has been operating from crisis to crisis since November. Not all of the irregularities have been resolved from what the auditors, Grant Thornton Accounting, call the worst bookkeeping mess they have ever encountered, but it is known the council has debts of more than $160,000 and virtually no operating cash resources. Utilities bills from the Town of Annapolis, Bell Aliant and NS Power are “months in arrears.” and there is some possibility that Revenue Canada could seize assets to pay a tax assessment of $95,648. ARCAC is contractually required to mount two Canada Council funded exhibitions next year, but the funds received from Canada Council have disappeared, as have grants from the Town of Annapolis, the provincial culture ministry and Wal-Mart intended to develop the adjacent property. These funds must be returned to the donors if the work is not commenced in 2010, which is now extremely unlikely. – By Dave Tinker, The Spectator

[FREDERICTON, NB] – Foundation invests $500,000 in Saint John company: The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation has announced a $500,000 investment in Encore Interactive of Saint John. The company, which is best known for its creation of a software system that uses a TV remote, computer or cell phone to allow viewers to watch, record and share television shows, is getting the money to fund growth and expansion into the marketplace. Encore is also looking at using its technology to allow Internet, cable or satellite providers to offer the same services, as well as adapting it to access and control systems in the home via partnerships with the energy, health-care and smart house industries.

[STRATFORD, PE] – Stratford looking for ‘affordable sewer treatment plant solution’: Town council here took the first step Wednesday to remove an open lagoon sewage treatment plant on the town’s waterfront. A master plan carried out in 2006 called for the removal of the lagoons so that the town could create an urban centre along its waterfront. The waterfront plan calls for a higher density, mixed-use urban centre with waterfront parks and trails, streetscapes and high quality architecture. At a meeting last night, town council passed a resolution committing itself to identifying and implementing “…an affordable sewer treatment plant solution.” That solution would either eliminate or at least minimize the physical and aesthetic impact of the current open lagoon. The town will begin more formal discussions on removal of the lagoons in January. Any project would have to be cost-shared between the federal, provincial and municipal governments. – By Wayne Thibodeau, The Guardian

[SUMMERSIDE, PE] – P.E.I. now home to country’s big cheese: – Summerside-based Amalgamated Dairies Ltd. took home a lot of hardware from the British Empire Competition, held recently in Belleville, Ont. The array of trophies includes the competition’s prestigious grand champion award, naming ADL the top cheese maker at the event. ADL won first prize in the old (aged 12-15 months) and extra old (aged 24-36 months) individual cheddar categories. It also placed third in the medium cheddar (aged 3-6 months) competition.
Scores in each category are tallied to determine the grand champion. The Central Ontario Cheese Makers Association, a non-profit organization founded in 1928, runs the British Empire Competition – By Stephen Brun, The Journal Pioneer

[ST. JOHN’S, NL] – Nearly $1 million in retrofits for Freshwater Road housing units: The Honourable Tom Hedderson, minister of Transportation and Works and minister responsible for Newfoundland Labrador Housing (Housing), today announced an investment of $929,000 to completely retrofit eight social housing dwellings on Freshwater Road in St. John’s. Kelloway Construction Ltd. has been awarded the contract. The project will see an eight unit, three-bedroom property converted into eight two-bedroom units. The retrofit will involve the replacement of existing windows, doors, siding, strapping, window wells, building wrap, insulation, roofing, chimneys, and basement wall repairs and modifications. The units will receive new electrical and plumbing systems and new street service connections. New kitchen cabinets and bathroom fixtures will be installed along with related exhaust vents. The attics will be insulated with energy-efficient blown-in cellulose. The anticipated completion date for this project is August 2010.

[ST. JOHN’S, NL] – Going global: A new, locally developed software program already attracting high-profile clients has received a $500,000 provincial investment to go global. Bluedrop Performance Learning’s CoursePark technology is the world’s first learning management network. It allows businesses to manage staff training online using their own curriculum or purchase courses from a global library. The hundreds of courses the program offers range from personal development to business and health and safety skills. The software is already in use in about 10 industries by clients such as Cougar Helicopters, the Toronto Stock Exchange and Irving. Access to the software costs $89 for up to 50 employees, and it’s free for up to 15. It launched publicly Nov. 3 after piloting for over a year. – By Kerri Breen, The Telegram