Atlantic Business Summit 2010, June 18 at the MaRS Discovery Centre

The Atlantic Business Summit is a unique networking and learning experience where business and political leaders of the Atlantic region converge for one day of discussion and interaction.

East Coast Connected was proud to present the third annual Atlantic Business Summit on Friday, June 18, 2010 in Toronto.

This year the Atlantic Business Summit featured a keynote presentation, Away; Not Gone For Good - Future Prosperity of Atlantic Canada, by Kevin Stolarick, Research Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute. Elizabeth Beale, president and CEO of the Atlantic Provincial Economic Council, and Elizabeth Parr-Johnston C.M., Ph.D., president of Parr-Johnston Consultants, former president and vice chancellor of the University of New Brunswick, gave a keynote discussion on Changes and Opportunities on the Road to Prosperity.

Attendees also participated in facilitated breakout sessions focusing on solutions that will address the future prosperity of Atlantic Canada. These session topics included:

  • Opportunities for an aging population: Boomers to Zoomers
  • Outmigration to circulation: bridging home and away
  • The war for talent: training, education and recruitment

The First Angel Network (FAN) sponsored ECC’s Lobster Trap; an Atlantic take on choosing and rewarding great business ideas from the region’s entrepreneurs. Top young companies from FAN’s short list of potential prospects will present their business cases before a panel of high profile executives.

Atlantic Business Summit Diary 3: Maritime Provinces’ Strategies for Growth

Canada’s Maritime provinces are doing all they can to prepare for the demographic challenges and worker shortages in the coming years, and are taking the lead in preparing for the future economy. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island’s representatives at the 2010 Atlantic Business Summit had plenty to say about their provinces’ recruitment and economic growth strategies: in particular, they hoped to spread the good word to former and potential residents about living and working on the East Coast. Read more

Atlantic Business Summit Diary 2: Kevin Stolarick and the Future Prosperity of Atlantic Canada

The 2010 Atlantic Business Summit was the site of some open and frank discussion about the employment and economic outlook for the East Coast. At the centre of those discussions was Kevin Stolarick, Research Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute. His opening keynote address, “The Future Prosperity of Atlantic Canada,” was a wide-ranging and candid conversation. Stolarick tackled trends in North American professional and economic development, and pointed to the ways the Atlantic provinces could capitalize on a pervasive new attitude. Read more

The 2010 Atlantic Business Summit Diary 1: Optimism, Vibrancy, and Challenges

On the morning of June 18, at the MaRS Centre in Toronto, some of Atlantic Canada’s best minds met with their counterparts from Ontario for a day of discussion, networking, and debate about “The Road to Prosperity” in the Atlantic region. The 2010 East Coast Connected Atlantic Business Summit got off to an enthusiastic start. The introductory speeches to this third Summit shone through with a commitment to the future prosperity of Atlantic Canada, but also contained a sober recognition of the challenges facing the eastern provinces. Read more

Inside The Lobster Trap: Meet the entrepreneurs and judges going claw to claw

The afternoon of this year's Atlantic Business Summit will become a battleground. Enter the Lobster Trap, where aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their business concepts to a panel of Atlantic Canadian business moguls and angel investors. They've cut their teeth on decades of entrepreneurial experience, so it will takes more than passion to convince these boardroom leviathans that your idea is worth their attention.The contenders are: Read more

Your ABS 2010: Meet Victor Boudreau and Ian Thompson

New to the Atlantic Business Summit are the moderated breakout workshops. Entitled "The Future of Atlantic Canada: Demographic Bust to Economic Boom," the Hon. Victor Boudreau will be offering introductory remarks to kick these sessions off. Read more