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Memramcook, New Brunswick

Introduction

The Village of Memramcook is a rural community of over 4,000 people located a short 15 minutes commute from Greater Moncton. Ease of access has fostered a fluid network of commuters and encourages touristic activities.

In terms of business, Memramcook is home to the prestigious Monument-Lefebvre and Memramcook Institute. This newly refurbished historical building is the heart of the community.

With its Learning & Vacation resort offerings, the Institute boasts complete hotel, convention, business and language learning capacities.

The Belliveau Orchard is another success story. From its beginnings in the early 1930s, the Orchard has evolved into a full blown apple orchard supplier, which has branched out its operations into specialty wine and liqueur production of solid reputation.

With its beautiful rolling hills, it is a natural location for the 520-acre Memramcook Valley Golf Club. The 18-hole course is host to the New Brunswick Open.

A Solid Pool of Workers

In addition to the core population of Memramcook, companies looking to establish in the community may draw workers from the 150,000 persons living within 30 minutes commute.

The low mobility rate of Memramcook is testimony to the presence of a stable workforce. As Greater Moncton is feels the pressure of demographic explosion, Memramcook is the place to turn to.

A Quality Labour Force

Memramcook has continuously attracted workers from across Southeastern New Brunswick and supplied workers for adjacent communities. Yet the Village still shows room for growth as employment and participation rates are slightly lower than in Greater Moncton.

In addition, the town’s population is thoroughly bilingual, an asset for any company doing business wishing to cover all markets of North America.

In general, the New Brunswick workforce is known to have relatively low rates of worker absenteeism and among the lowest rates of workforce turnover in North America. Memramcook is exemplary in these respects.

Industry Overview

Memramcook has a solid industrial base with a number of agriculture and agrifood manufacturing firms, a varied retail sector and ever-growing tourism infrastructure.

Memramcook is also home to the Athène Learning Centre, where specialized language education (of French and English) is offered to the public and government officials.

Companies looking to establish operations in Memramcook will be joining a community with a number of highly successful, globally exporting firms.

Selected Major Employers

Organization:	Industry:	Employees:
Institut Memramcook Learning & Vacation Resort	Services	150
Foyer St. Thomas	Healthcare	60
Belliveau Orchard	Agriculture	40
Athène	Educational	25

Cost Environment

As Greater Moncton has among the lowest operating costs in North America, nearby Memramcook also offers a highly competitive cost environment to its community.

Operating Cost Index*

City	Back Offices/ Call Centres	Mfg. Facilities	Software Dev.
San Jose, CA	118.5	109.1	109.0
New York, NY	116.1	109.2	107.9
San Diego, CA	109.6	103.4	103.4
Boston, MA	108.6	103.7	102.8
Chicago, IL	108.5	101.2	102.0
Atlanta, GA	99.3	97.7	99.0
Phoenix, AZ	97.9	100.1	100.0
Toronto, ON	95.1	94.0	94.8
Vancouver, BC	93.2	97.2	96.0
Moncton, NB	82.0	92.0	92.2

Source: KPMG Competitive Alternatives — The CEO's Guide to International Business Costs, G7-2004 Edition.

* Business costs are expressed as an index, with the United States being assigned to the baseline index of 100.0.

Regional Economic Assets

The Village of Memramcook offers all of the lifestyle and cost advantages of a small semi-rural community while at the same time its proximity to Greater Moncton provides companies with close access to a number of world-class economic assets including:

The Scoudouc Industrial Park (5 min. drive)

One of the province’s most important industrial parks, the Scoudouc Industrial Park is home to a number of highly successful manufacturing companies such as North America’s largest private label beverage manufacturer, Cott Beverages Canada and the world's largest maker of glass containers, Owens-Illinois. The park features over 300 acres of available, low cost land and rail access.

Greater Moncton Int. Airport (10 min. drive)

Offers multiple daily flights to Canadian and U.S. destinations.

Mount Allison University (10 min. drive)

One of the highest rated universities in Canada, Mount Allison is located in the nearby community of Sackville, NB.

Université de Moncton (15 min. drive)

A French-language university with over 7,000 students, U de M provides a pool of professional workers for the region.

Two New Brunswick Community Colleges (15 & 20 min. drive)

The community colleges in Moncton and Dieppe graduate hundreds of skilled, technical workers each year that feed into the region’s manufacturing and high tech industries.

Quality of Life

Companies that establish in Memramcook are locating in a community that is known to have a high quality of life. A peaceful environment which keeps its workers and children free from big city hassles, the region offers beautiful rural views, a number of cultural, recreational venues and numerous sporting amenities.

Cost of Living

One of the reasons why Memramcook has a competitive operating cost environment is the relatively low cost of living for local residents. For example, the cost of housing — the largest cost of living expense — is much lower than would be found in larger urban centres. The monthly cost of owning and maintaining a house is Memramcook is almost 20% lower than in the Greater Halifax area.

Village Infrastructure

The Village of Memramcook offers companies a welldeveloped infrastructure. Yet, in this setting Memramcook still manages to retain its rural feel next to a big city.

Village Centre

The Village of Memramcook has all of the basic amenities required for its businesses to thrive. Amongst the main business circuit — the Valley Route, Main Street and Central Street — room still exists for future development within the heart of the community.

Residential Growth

In this semi-rural community, there is ample land which is available for residential development and this has been cited as a future area of growth.

Commercial Space

Two domains have been identified as interesting assets to be developed. First there is available land along the Trans- Canada Highway, which passes on the east side of the municipality. As such, ease of access is a key attribute of this location. Secondly, there is available lots within the community itself that may serve the interests of prospective business and the community.

Agricultural Space

The Village has indicated its desire to further the growth of its agriculture industries. Therefore land is made available in Memramcook for those who wish to establish themselves in this sector, amongst other successful entrepreneurs.

Available Land

185 Sq Km and 142 km of linear roads.

Internet Access

The vast majority of residents and businesses have access to high-band Internet access.

Tax Rates (2006)

Provincial: $2.25/$100 evaluation Municipal commercial: $2.0718/$100 evaluation Municipal residential: $1.3812/$100 evaluation

Tax Base (2006)

Over $160 million.

Investment Opportunities

The Village of Memramcook and Enterprise South-east, the regional economic development agency, have identified several types of companies and business interests they are looking to attract to the region. The sectors and areas of demand identified include: