A view of uptown Saint John. (Image: Brad Perry)
The business collaboration in Saint John during COVID-19 is getting the city noticed.
David Duplisea, CEO of the Saint John Chamber of Commerce, said he is proud of the model and how it’s working so effectively.
He said the chamber is working collaboratively with other economic development agencies including Economic Development Greater Saint John, Uptown Saint John, Opportunites New Brunswick, the Business Improvement Association, and Develop Saint John.
“It’s an excellent example of the collaborative nature of this group and how we’ve been able to pivot pretty much as soon as it happened,” he said.
Duplisea said lobbying efforts remain strong and successful, which is good because in some cases they’re learning as they go.
He said it will be up to us to define the new normal and what that will look like because we probably will never return to the way we were before.
“As business associations, we’re collectively the voice of business in our whole region and it’s part of our mandates, it’s important that we gauge the pulse fo the region to better understand if the programs are working, where are the gaps and what are the lessons learned,” he said.
Duplisea said he’s been hearing the city is the envy of other jurisdictions because of the work done.
“Our business community is resilient,” he said.
“It’s creative and it’s innovative, and we’ve seen a lot of examples of companies that have been able to pivot quickly and reinvent themselves in order to keep the lights on.”
