Sponsored by:
ARCHWAY INSURANCE
Why did you choose Halifax?
I’ve always believed in Halifax. It’s a vibrant place with so much to offer. It’s a beautiful location, with a unique culture, a well-educated workforce and so much potential. We’re now seeing real growth and investment in the future happening in the area. I’m optimistic that the positive energy will continue and there will be even more opportunity for businesses to launch and develop in Halifax.
What is something new that’s happening at your company?
In the past year, our company has more than doubled in size. Beyond Halifax, we have 22 locations across Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, employing more than 150 professionals. With expansion has come new opportunities for upward mobility and career growth for our employees. It’s incredibly exciting to be able to support employee ambitions through career advancement and have new opportunities open up as a result of our rapid growth.
What is one thing people may not know about your business?
Insurance is actually all about people. We’re an incredibly curious bunch with insight on what’s going on in the community. Our true purpose is helping individuals succeed. We protect businesses against loss so that owners can focus on growing their companies without fear of financial ruin if something goes wrong. It’s incredibly rewarding to be able to play a role in helping companies secure financing required to expand to a new location. We take a lot of pride in the success of our clients.
HOME INSTEAD SENIOR CARE
Why did you choose Halifax?
Halifax has a great business community full of supportive and inspiring leaders such as Janet Knox, Dale Godsoe and so many more. There are so many opportunities for networking and occasions to learn from other business owners. Halifax is a dynamic city that welcomes newcomers, promotes and encourages an entrepreneurial spirit, and it was something we wanted to be a part of.
How have you helped Halifax grow?
Recruiting talented homecare workers is challenging, especially with a growing aging population. Beginning in 2013, Home Instead Senior Care introduced skilled Jamaican caregivers to Halifax through the temporary foreign worker program, contributing to the growth of the labour market. It has been incredibly gratifying to watch as the workers we invited to Canada become permanent residents or Canadian citizens. They have invited family members to Canada and are also starting their own families in Halifax.
What is something new that’s happening at your company?
We are moving! Staff at Home Instead can work long hours when the day-to-day routine gets hectic or when new clients need our help. Our new office in the Halifax Professional Centre will feature a “chill zone” for hard working staff to unwind in the middle of a long day and will serve as a place to crash when snow storms take over the city. Either way, minimizing stress for our staff while being available for vulnerable senior clients, is a top priority.
INTERTALK CRITICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS
What would you say is your organization’s biggest achievement?
We work in an industry that is “behind the scenes.” Public safety and the service first responders provide seems to come to the forefront only when there is an emergency, or when you find yourself in need of help. However, there is never a lull even at the most mundane of times. InterTalk helps these agencies perform at their best by ensuring communication is always available. We have become known within our industry as an innovative and extremely capable systems provider, providing province and state-wide dispatch systems across North America — all from right here in Halifax. To say that a small Halifax company is providing the radio dispatch system for the world’s sixth largest economy — California and the California Highway Patrol — speaks to the level of success we have achieved.
How have you helped Halifax grow?
Halifax is our home, and we strive to provide a place to showcase the talents of homegrown professionals to work on the world’s stage. We have doubled our workforce in the past four years, with the majority of staff being local Haligonians. We also are active participants in university co-op programs for computer science, engineering and business, providing real opportunities for students to learn through “baptism by fire” and contribute to projects we are actively working on. We hope to continue promoting Halifax as a leading technology center in the years to come.
Why did you choose Halifax?
We are proud Haligonians and Nova Scotians who work all over North America and the world, yet we cannot imagine being anywhere else. We see ourselves and Halifax as having much in common — we share an emerging, innovative outlook toward our future. When the time came to decide on a location for a new company headquarters this past year, we quickly dismissed the notion of moving away — even though all of our work is outside Nova Scotia — because of the common fit between our paths toward the future.
MEZZA LEBANESE KITCHEN
What would you say is your organization’s biggest achievement?
It would have to be the success of our recent effort to begin franchising. Within the past year we have developed a robust plan and have successfully franchised four locations: Sydney, Upper Tantallon, Dalhousie’s Student Union and Cole Harbour. Each of these locations exceeded our expectations and we’re incredibly proud of our franchise owners. Hopefully we can keep us this momentum as we move into the new year and continue bringing Mezza to towns across Nova Scotia — even across the border into other Maritime provinces.
Why did you choose Halifax?
My parents immigrated to Halifax in the 1960s, so while my family’s roots have always been in Lebanon, I was born in Halifax and it has always been my true home. I couldn’t imagine working or growing my business anywhere else. I have been serving great food to the Halifax community since I was 16-years-old and I have no plans on stopping.
What is one thing people may not know about your business?
People may not know that our chicken comes from Berwick, Nova Scotia, and our beef comes from Prince Edward Island. We’re extremely proud to support local farmers. In addition to offering local meats, we also prepare all of our sauces in-house with our generations-old family recipe, which means that they’re fresh every time.
What's one piece of advice would you give to a new business?
My one piece of advice to any new business would be to never stop innovating. Risks have to be taken to try something different or new. The moment you stop innovating your business, someone else is getting ahead of you. It is crucial to be pushing the envelope and exploring new technologies to stand out from the crowd.
PAVIA GALLERY - ESPRESSO BAR & CAFÉ
How have you helped Halifax grow?
We are not a local company looking for global or international growth — instead we are company looking for global recognition for being an example of a truly local and sustainable business, which has a real impact on the local economy. By working hard to use local suppliers (such as Meadowbrook Farm, Coldspring Farm, Abundance Acres Farm, Rousseau Chocolatier) we are ensuring that the money spent at PAVIA fuels our local economy.
How can we continue to build a vibrant downtown core?
Our city has some incredibly strong corporate leaders who understand what it takes to be great. We need to invest in each other’s strengths. We need to not lease our spaces to the highest bidders from Multinational chains, which do nothing to contribute to our overall landscape. We need to work in partnership with local businesses that are going to make our community stronger. In doing so we ensure that Haligonians, by default, use our downtown to directly invest in an infrastructure that nurtures our local economy.
What is one thing people may not know about your business?
Most people don’t realize the lengths we go through to source our ingredients and make our food. We produce everything from scratch in our kitchens and bakery. Not only are we sourcing almost entirely from local farms (produce, meats and cheeses) and using free-range eggs, we recently made the huge shift to fairly-traded sugar, cocoa, coconut and chocolate chips in all of our baked goods. As well, we now use biodegradable “togo” containers, bags, straws, coffee cups, lids and sleeves, with the goal of reducing our use of disposable plastic products and becoming a part of the vital global movement to reduce waste, which ends up in our oceans and landfills.