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Sackville, New Brunswick

Introduction

Sackville is part of the entry way to North America. Virtually all road and rail traffic between Nova Scotia and the rest of North America passes through the Town’s limits.

In terms of business, the Town of Sackville is home to Mount Allison University, which boasts the first completely wireless campus in Atlantic Canada, is a magnet for research and obtained #1 MacLean's ranking, in all of Canada, for alumni satisfaction.

In addition to this institution, the Town has attained a critical mass in the culture, tourism and entertainment sectors. Art galleries, theatres, music venues, all add to the economic vitality of the Town.

Moneris, a 200-employee contact centre has chosen Sackville for its location and proximity to Mount Allison, which offers the possibility of continuous learning and a highly qualified pool of workers.

The Town of Sackville just received funds under the Canada-New Brunswick Infrastructure Program to construct a $3-million regional civic centre. In short, Sackville is an excellent place to work on all counts.

Sackville — A Magnet for Workers

In addition to the core population of Sackville, companies moving into the community could also seek workers from the 150,000 persons living within a 30 minutes commute.

The 2001 Census indicates that a good part of the population is of prime working age: 25-54. Furthermore, the moderate mobility rate of Sackville is testimony to the vitality of the workforce.

A Quality Labour Force

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

The population of Sackville is highly educated. Across all levels, residents of the Sackville area show higher qualifications than the provincial average.

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. Sackville is exemplary in these respects.

Industry Overview

Sackville has an economy based on the presence of Mount Allison University, a niche retail sector, tourism infrastructures and the manufacturing industry.

Sackville is also home to a dynamic cultural sector. Owens Art Gallery, the oldest university art gallery in Canada, is shouldered by Struts Gallery, Live Bait Theatre, Mount Allison’s Performing Arts Series to name a few.

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

Selected Major Employers

Organization:	Industry:	Employees:
Mount Allison University	Educational	450
Sackville Memorial Hosp.	Healthcare	250
Moneris Solutions Inc.	Business Serv.	211
Drew Nursing Home	Healthcare	120
Sodexho Food Services	Manufaturing	60

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 Town of Sackville offers all of the lifestyle and cost advantages of a small, dynamic 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 (25 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 (25 min. drive)

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

Prince Edward Island (45 min. drive)

Access to Prince Edward Island is made easy by the a 45- minute drive from Sackville to the Confederation Bridge, with a 10 minute drive across the Strait.

Université de Moncton (30 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 (30 & 30 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 Sackville are locating in a community that is known to have a high quality of life. While being able to general close to 50 Rhodes scholars, the town thrives on its cultural amenities (from blues to the opera, arts & crafts and theatre), community involvement and business development climate.

Cost of Living

One of the reasons why Sackville 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 Sackville is almost 20% lower than in the Greater Halifax area.

Town Infrastructure

The Town of Sackville offers companies a well-developed infrastructure for any prospective entrepreneur.

Downtown

With close to 80 businesses in this area, the economy activity is testimony to the fact that the business community caters to their own and offers niche services and products that rival the entire region… the entire province.

Residential Growth

Sackville has continued to show solid growth with 42 single family dwellings being constructed in the town and an additional 18 multifunctional units. Future subdivisions include a 20 unit senior-style area and a planned 20 lots for single family dwellings and another potential 43 lots.

Commercial Space

In addition to the downtown area and the industrial park, the town also has available space for commercial development, which are easily accessible and affordable.

Sackville Industrial Park

The Town of Sackville has set aside 48 acres of land, 500 metres from the Trans-Canada Highway along the CN rail line, and zoned it for industrial and commercial development.

Services

Power: Three phase overhead 12kv Water: Municipal Sewage: Municipal Road Surface: Paved

Transportation

Road: 500 m to Trans-Canada Highway Rail: CN Rail Sea: 2.5 hours to ports of Saint John and Halifax Air: 40 km Moncton Airport

Site

Zoning: Industrial Size: 48 acres. Cost: up to $12,000/acre serviced Covenants: Serviced lots regulated for setbacks, parking, side/rear yard and landscaping

Internet Access

The town is serviced by three providers and residents have access to broadband services.

Tax Rates (2006)

Provincial: $2.25/$100 evaluation
Municipal commercial: $2.3025/$100 evaluation
Municipal residential: $1.1.5350/$100 evaluation

Tax Base (2006)

Over $411 million

Investment Opportunities

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