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Despite small population N.B. can thrive, with a little co-operation, says Gerry Pond

Gerry Pond thinks New Brunswick is the little province that can.

"When it comes to developing the information and communication technology sector," he said during a recent interview, "size doesn't matter."

The chairman of Mariner Partners Inc., a firm specializing in Internet Protocol TV and video, said ICT can thrive in areas with smaller populations.

In the past New Brunswick has been overlooked because it doesn't have a big city, but with advances in technology and travel that has changed.

"But when companies look for sites to expand or start a business they want a city with at least 500,000 people," he said. "Anything smaller than that is below their radar."

Pond said it's time that the province's three biggest urban centres - Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton - pool their resources.

"At a very operational level we have to synchronize our efforts so that the small city issue is not a stumbling block for our economic development," he said.

A report based on numbers from Statistics Canada and prepared for Propel ICT revealed that the three main urban centres - Fredericton, Saint John, and Moncton - are comparable to each other in terms of ICT opportunities and the strength of the sector.

The report said 80 per cent of ICT workers in New Brunswick are located in Saint John, Moncton and Fredericton - compared with only 48 per cent of the total workforce.

In addition, Fredericton still has a slightly higher percentage of ICT workers in its labour market but the gap between the capital and the two other biggest cities has decreased between 1996 and 2006.

Although Mariner's head office is located in Saint John, the tech firm also has satellite offices in Fredericton and Moncton.

"We operate out of the three cities," Pond said. "It's a common labour pool so we don't look at them as three different municipalities. To folks outside New Brunswick I explain that we have three cities about an hour plus apart. In many urban centres this is a commute that is done every day."

While his focus may be on marketing the province's three cities to garner more attention, Pond said the rest of New Brunswick can't be ignored.

"We have seven cities in the province," he said. "We need to identify the strengths of each city and every region."

Pond said that although the private sector has an important role to play, the government can help incubate smaller companies in order to breed marquee businesses.

"The ICT company in New Brunswick needs an anchor company like RIM," he said. "When there is no McCain or Irving of IT it can be hard for the sector in the province to get attention."

Government support for companies to attend trade shows and market their abilities abroad are helpful, Pond said, but added that they could be more "surgical."

"We can do a lot with private sector investment but if you're at the early stage of development in your industry you are going to need some form of government assistance," he said. "Even in the heart of Silicon Valley - which is the biggest engine in the world for IT - there is still university support or other public sector monies involved in the background."

Pond said Mariner has tapped into programs through Business New Brunswick that have helped the company grow.

"But I think as an industry our approach could be more organized - especially between the three cities," he said. "There is a lot of potential if we pool our resources."