Ron Gaudet is CEO of Economic Development Greater Saint John, formerly known as Enterprise Saint John. (Photo submitted by Economic Development Greater Saint John)
An economic development official in Saint John says things are trending in the right direction, but there is still a lot of work to do.
Economic Development Greater Saint John (EDGSJ), formerly known as Enterprise Saint John, has released its 2018 annual report.
The 42-page document, entitled Dear GSJ, is described as a letter to the community and a report on the regional economy.
Ron Gaudet, the CEO of EDGSJ, said he would suggest the greater Saint John region is in a transition period.
“We’re evolving as an economy, we’re evolving as a community, we’re becoming more welcoming, and I think that generally the numbers are trending in the right direction,” said Gaudet.
“We have a lot of work yet to do but we think that at least we’re taking the issue very seriously.”
According to the report, weak private sector investment and the tightening labour market are two factors holding back the region’s economic potential.
Gaudet said many of the issues facing greater Saint John are not necessarily unique to our region. He points to the ongoing challenge of finding enough workers for the industries which need them.
“That being said, we have been able to fill 350 unfilled jobs in the last six months,” he said.
Those jobs were filled through the Filling Unfilled Jobs initiative, which worked with companies facing considerable employment needs to craft a shot and long-term plan for their workforce.
Gaudet said in this competitive environment, we need to revisit how we do human resources, how we recruit, and the salaries we pay.
“We’re in a very different world than we were five years ago, even two years ago,” he said
Despite the challenges, Gaudet said the region also saw a number of wins in 2018. Nearly 1,000 newcomers moved to the region last year, pushing the population past the 130,000 mark for the first time.
“We need to continue that momentum,” he said. “We need to grow our population, we need to be really conscious about retaining our youth.”
Greater Saint John will need to see a significant increase in population attraction and retention efforts going forward, according to the report.
It also said there needs to be a continued focus on workforce expansion, an infusion of private sector investment, and continued promotion of the region as a great place to live and work.
In order to make it happen, Gaudet said the region will need to focus on collaboration.
“We have to understand that economic development doesn’t belong to an individual, organization or government department, it belongs to a community,” he said.
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