Celebrating campus and community coming together
Author: UNB Newsroom
Posted on Jan 23, 2020
Category: UNB Saint John
This morning the community celebrated the relocation of the University of New Brunswick Saint John’s Master of Business Administration (MBA) program to its new Uptown location.
The move to UNB’s Grand Hall, the former Scotiabank building in the heart of the city’s business and social core, will augment the MBA program and enhance the student experience through greater community and industry connections. Economic Development Greater Saint John (EDGSJ) has partnered with UNB to co-locate their start-up incubator called Block One and its related entrepreneurship programming in the building.
The UNB Saint John MBA program is home to 93 full-time students from around the world with over 20 part-time students also taking advantage of program offerings and contributing to the diversity of the learning experience. Over 80% of the students plan to stay in New Brunswick upon graduation.
This move was made possible with funding provided by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and UNB.
“Our government is committed to investing in projects that will help Atlantic Canadian companies become more competitive and succeed in the global economy,” said the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages, and Minister responsible for ACOA. “This investment will help the local business community get ready for the future by contributing to immigrant retention and developing the talent pipelines they will need to become more productive and develop world-class products and services.”
While still connected to the larger UNB Saint John campus and all its services to support student life, the new space was created as a hub of entrepreneurial excellence in the city’s historic Uptown. This entrepreneurial gateway will see the co-location of a community-based accelerator and incubator program and a shared, collaborative space for innovation and learning.
“I’m thrilled to see our government’s support for this important project,” said Wayne Long, Member of Parliament for Saint John - Rothesay. “It’s exciting to think about the ideas, imagination, knowledge, skills and capital that will soon be colliding in this beautiful space, right here in the heart of Saint John, and how much our entire region will benefit.”
“Having a space to share ideas, experiences and energy is exactly the type of environment we hope to create,” explains Dr. Petra Hauf, UNB Vice-President Saint John. “This is unique in that it provides our MBA students with direct access to information, mentors and experiential opportunities in either the corporate, social innovation or entrepreneurial space.”
Collaboration, innovation and impact are the themes that tie the partnership between UNB and EDGSJ. Leveraging one another’s strengths, the partnership aims to enhance the MBA program student experience and increase the impact of entrepreneurship programming available in Saint John.
With an estimated 120,000 people heading towards retirement in the next decade and only 82,000 young people potentially entering the workforce, New Brunswick is facing a significant gap in the labour force. To fill the gap, the number of international students and newcomers who choose to come to Saint John to help our companies grow needs to increase.
“It’s exciting to see the partnership that brings MBA students and entrepreneurship programming together. This will accelerate innovation and support a vibrant business community. Let’s be aspirational and use this as the first step in the development of an innovation district in Saint John,” said Ron Gaudet, Chief Executive Officer, EDGSJ.
On hand for the announcement were UNB President, Dr. Paul J. Mazerolle, UNB Vice-President Saint John, Dr. Petra Hauf, MP Wayne Long, Mayor Don Darling, and EDGSJ Chair Andrew Oland, along with significant representation of the region and industry.
Media contacts
- UNB - Heather Campbell, hcampbel@unb.ca, (506) 648-5697
- EDGSJ - Alison Ziemianski, alison@edgsj.com, (506) 647-3033
Photo: L-R: Susan Wilson, UNB; Sheriff Salaam, MBA student; Wayne Long, MP; Paul J. Mazerolle, UNB President; Petra Hauf, UNB Vice-President Saint John; Andrew Oland, EDGSJ Chair; Don Darling, Mayor City of Saint John; Shelley Rinehart, MBA Director; Tammy Morin, UNB. Credit: James Walsh, Rod Stears Photography & Video.