Locked on Local

Ed Teal is a local brewer and owner behind York County Cider situated in Fredericton’s north side. Growing up with an appreciation for cider, a traditional English beverage made from fermented apple juice, Ed has put a lot of thought into both the product and the vision behind his beverages. Ed joined me this week to talk about where he sees York County going from here.

Born and raised in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Kevin and Jen Stewart have always wanted to bring a business they were passionate about to their hometown. While living in Toronto for 10 years, they developed a love of spirits while frequenting local distilleries and during the COVID-19 pandemic, it it was the right time to come home and open a distillery and tasting room in in their hometown. Kevin joined us to talk about why he chose to make the jump into entrepreneurship and where he sees First Light going forward.  

Connell Farm in Lower Cambridge is a commercial flock of 80+ sheep for processing in an on-site abattoir established in 2021 right in the middle of a pandemic. The business/ farm is focused on selling meat (lamb and pork) direct to customers from the shop, at farmers markets, online, delivery, and to other butcher shops.

Born on a farm in NB, Danielle Connell is sticking to her roots. She is a certified Chef, has a Bachelor's degree, and has worked in the academic R&D ecosystem since 2008. Danielle joined us to talk about the business and why she loves it.

Big Sky Ventures Inc. is a Certified Organic and Certified Kosher Sea Buckthorn Berry orchard and licensed winery in Chipman, NB. Beth Fowler and Clay Bartlett partner in the operation of the farm which, other than growing the whole fruit, also makes value added products such as raw juice, dehydrated powder, skin care and wine. Sea Buckthorn has nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, culinary, environmental and cosmetic applications, and Beth joined me to dig deeper into the business case and why the potential for growing a citrus fruit in New Brunswick was intriguing.

Jeff Mundee is a game designer with over 15 years of experience in the video game industry, working in a wide range of roles, projects, and companies and now the Director of Design and Development for Spandrel Interactive. Spandrel Interactive is a software development company that leverages leading-edge innovation and game design experience to build advanced virtual training simulations, products, sales experiences, and other interactive experiences for a wide variety of clients. The company was founded in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, in 2020 and has been developing multiple projects across the country.

Jeff joined the podcast to talk about what Spandrel is doing and to discuss the idea of using games for things that aren’t games.

Born and raised in Fredericton, Duncan Clowater spent close to 6 years travelling around the world and working in different places. Duncan grew up working in a family plumbing and heating business,  until at age 48 he took a left turn to try something completely different.  Duncan opened The Dandy Paint Lounge. Located in Downtown Fredericton, the Dandy Paint Lounge is a place where you can sit down and relax alone or with friends, paint and have a drink if you like. Whether your painting on a traditional canvas, or joining a group to create art on a record or ukulele, Duncan joined Andrew to talk about this new addition to Fredericton's business community.

Stefanie Loukes is the founder of Rabbittown Beverage Company, a specialty craft beverage retailer located in Fredericton. Stefanie and her team create hand-crafted alternatives to traditional ready-to-drink iced teas. All of our drinks are rigorously made with the same high standards: Organic, raw & unpasteurized, non-GMO, gluten-free & vegan. In this discussion, Stefanie talks about how tea can be more than just a drink and how her business plays a role in the region.

Matt Clancey is a professional engineer with a background in project management. With a passion for innovation, he constantly seeks to pioneer new processes and methodologies in the aerial application space. As the Director of Ground Operations, Matt is responsible for the Field Operations, Fire Support, Research, and GIS teams at Forest Protection Limited and his team plans and executes FPL’s aerial application programs. Since 1952, Forest Protection Limited has had the mandate to preserve and protect the forests that sustain our ecosystems, our communities, and our economies. They are a global leader in full-spectrum forest health management.

Rosemary Gong owns RosieSKIN Salon Spa, a boutique salon here in Fredericton, which offers luxury facials, hot stone massages, manicure and pedicures, and more.

Rosemary has two masters degrees, one is computer science and one in marketing, 15 years R&D experience, 7 years in the beauty industry and has her Medical esthetics diploma in Fredericton. Rosemary immigrated to Fredericton in 2018 and has a lot to say not only about her journey, but the role the community has played in her business.

Asad Khan, is the owner of Halal Station, an online grocery store that exclusively sells 100% halal products. Asad and his wife moved to Fredericton with his family in 2019 and decided to start their own catering business. While larger supermarkets sell some halal products such as packaged chicken, Asad says it is difficult to find other cuts of meat such as goat, lamb and beef.

Halal Station offers a wide variety of South Asian products including spices, beverages, and the ever-popular range of halal meats.

Asad spoke with me about how the Fredericton market makes it a great opportunity for potential growth and makes it a great place to test new products or services.

ThermTest innovates and develops laboratory equipment, which measures thermal properties, or the manner in which a material transfers heat. They manufacturer and supply various measurements systems for solids, liquids, pastes and powders to North American and International markets. Dale Hume, President and founder describes his research laboratory as being unique in Canada, if not the world, in terms of diversity of measurement equipment. Both Dale Hume and Lesley Hillier, the Chief Global Strategy Officer, joined me to chat about what’s next for Thermtest.

The Food & Accommodation sector has been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with restaurant owners facing new challenges every day. Mike Babineau has been in this game since the late 90’s, progressing from dishwasher to now owner of five local restaurants: Cora’s Breakfast & Lunch, RustiCo, Cannon’s Cross Happy Baker, and the Diplomat. Mike joined the podcast to talk about how he is keeping up with it all.

Cameron McNeil recently announced The Par 94 Bar and Golf Lounge: the first downtown golf destination in Fredericton, hosting golf simulations in its 3600 square foot location. Listen in to hear about why he jumped into the world of entrepreneurship.

Many businesses are looking to go full steam ahead in 2022, and that means implementing new action plans; creating new strategies; simplifying decision-making and more. I pulled in Andy Clark from Clarkie Consulting to walk us through what businesses can do right now to prepare for 2022.

#SupportFredLocal sounds like any other support local campaign, however with this iteration, currently in its fourth phase, the committee did something a bit different. The committee, which consists of the City of Fredericton, Fredericton Tourism, Ignite Fredericton, Fredericton Chamber of Commerce, Business Fredericton North and Downtown Fredericton, decided to focus on our regions local talent for this campaign, so the committee worked with creators within the city to help us build content and share the stories of our businesses.

Laura Clendenning was the first creator. She not only has a strong following here in the region, but she is also a business owner, owning the sweat club and sweat supplements. Laura joined me to talk about her business how the Fredericton region has been supporting here (and vice versa) through the past couple years.

During a time of disruption such as the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for a business’s products/services can fluctuate dramatically. In speaking with our businesses, adapting to consumer behavior and maintaining your sales prospects can be quite a daunting task. This week, I asked the team at Atlantic Growth Solutions to join me. Specifically, Kent Murphy, Mark Haines-Lacey and Kyle Holder all took the time to talk to me and give advice to our business community on where their focus should be on holding onto those customer relationships.

Adam Harris is the CEO of C-Therm Technologies, an organization that provides sensor solutions for R&D, manufacturing and quality control environments, offering the latest in rapid non-destructive thermal analysis instrumentation. Adam has led the growth and development of C-Therm Technologies from their early days as a Startup to now a global competitor, now being the controlling shareholder of the company. Adam joined the podcast to talk about what the next few years look like for C-Therm and the industry as a whole – and more importantly how he keeps up with it all.

Asif Hasan, CEO at Simptek joined the podcast once again to continue the conversation on green economy. Joining him this time was Keelen Gagnon, COO and Winston Morton, CTO to hit topics such as grid edge economy, the virtual energy audit product, and more!

Many listeners will be very familiar with the work Krista Ross and her team does. I have known Krista for a few years now, and since March 2020, I would argue our paths cross at least weekly as a result of the work the are doing for the business community. That’s why when I wanted to have a conversation with Krista about the last year in the business community and what we see the future looking like in Fredericton.

Asif Hasan, CEO & Co-founder of Simptek, a company that helps residential homeowners and electric utility companies to better understand, engage and predict energy usage. On this subject, I wanted to pick Asif’s brain on everything green economy, and he absolutely had things to say.

Andrew Carnell, owner & operator of Montana's Fredericton, took some time out of his schedule to talk about owning a franchise, business through a pandemic, and how Montana’s here in Fredericton has played an important role for family gatherings and special occasions.

Scott Everett is the CEO and co-founder of Eigen Innovations, which creates AI business solutions for customers all around the world. Scott joined me to talk about a series of topics including how Eigen started, the Fredericton community and how COVID-19 is shaping the future of automation.

Jim Middleton sat down with Andrew to talk about the upcoming opening of the Fredericton Northside Creators Market, a market filled with those who make, create and grow. Jim talked about his journey from feeding his passion of art which led him to selling it as a vendor, and here we are – Jim and his board of directors breathing new life into a very important venue for supporting local.

2020 marked the 20th anniversary of Habitat for Humanity in the Fredericton area. More specifically, you can find the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store on St. Mary’s street on the Northside. I sat down with the CEO, Perry Kendall, to ask him how 2020 went after the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tax season is fast approaching and for many small businesses, there are numerous new programs and opportunities. I invited Candace Sears of KPMG to join me and walk us through some things your business should be prepared for.

Ray Harris of DataWazo and Andrew talk all things data!

Norm Couturier joins Andrew to chat about all things 3D Planeta and entrepreneurship!

About half way down University Avenue is a business called the University Rite Stop, and when walking in, any customer will soon realize the wide variety of foods this business has to offer. I had the opportunity to speak with Yousouf Ibraham, who shared his story.

After a year like 2020, what better way to blow off some steam than by throwing axes. HaliMac Axe Throwing is one of Fredericton’s newest businesses. We got in touch with Paul MacInnis who is the co-founder of HaliMac to talk to about what brought him to this type of business and how the opening has gone so far.

Join us as we interview Fredericton's business community!