City ambassadors honoured for singing capital's praises
Published Tuesday November 10th, 2009
A chance encounter with an old military connection landed Fredericton a new business opportunity and it was all because Lt.-Col. Paul Kearney decided to extol the virtues of New Brunswick and its capital city.
It also earned Kearney the Business Ambassador of the Year award at the annual awards ceremony held at city hall Monday night.
Kearney, the commanding officer of Canadian Forces Base Gagetown's joint meteorological centre attended the 2009 Paris Air Show as part of a New Brunswick Aerospace and Defence Association delegation earlier this year.
"At the Canadian ambassador's reception, there was this gentleman scoping me out from across the garden. I thought 'I know that guy,' " Kearney said. "We had actually served together (in the forces), he and I, 20 years before."
The man turned out to be Ian Glenn, chairman and chief technology officer of ING Engineering Inc., a company that specializes in unmanned aerial vehicles.
Glenn said he was interested in expanding in the vicinity of the military base and Kearney had all the connections and background information to steer him to Business New Brunswick, Fredericton International Airport and Enterprise Fredericton representatives.
A luncheon was arranged and the rest, Kearney said, is history.
"Before I knew it, I had started to generate the lead and the next thing I knew he was talking to all the right folks," Kearney said. "I am over the moon about this. This is just so great ... In this amazing country we call Canada we have a really special city called Fredericton. We're connected. We're intelligent. We are so capable here in this city. We punch well above our weight."
The company is working on setting up a location here.
Kearney is one of 263 volunteers who pack business card CDs with them on their travels and hand them out to businesses looking for new locations, to people looking for immigration opportunities and others who might want to call Fredericton home.
Teenager Christopher Murray, who handed out Fredericton business card CDs while travelling as a violinist with the Long Island Youth Orchestra this year, said he wasn't a bit shy to hand out the Fredericton promotional information.
"I love living here with the universities and all the parks," Murray said.
He also handed out the city information kits while travelling through Denmark, Norway and Iceland.
David Lee, president of the city's Korean Association, was recognized for promoting Fredericton internationally.
He has distributed more than 500 information packages and 100 audio-visual CDs about the city and has helped more than 200 international students and families settle in Fredericton.
"This celebration is for you," said Mayor Brad Woodside to the roomful of business ambassadors. "What all of this translates into is economic growth and prosperity for our city, for our children and for future generations.
"This is one of Canada's best places to live. We cannot, and should not, rest on our laurels. We shall work together to continue this momentum, make connections and advance this community."
Kearney collected a crystal award and a BlackBerry Storm sponsored by Telus. Lee earned four rounds of golf and a four-month fitness pass from Kingswood. Murray received an award and an iPod Touch courtesy of the city.
An updated promotional video produced by Outreach Productions was unveiled Monday night. The video has testimonials from Susan Holt of Research In Motion, Lee Corey of Corey Pet Foods, Graham Brown of ADI and Woodside.
A French version is in production and the video will also be translated into Mandarin and Korean.
The video relies on the business leaders to tout the city's young, university-educated workforce, its placement on the East Coast as a low-cost location in which to conduct business, its wireless capability and its lifestyle amenities.
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