Eric Mourant Resigns As President and CEO Of The 3+ Corporation
MONCTON – Eric Mourant, the President and CEO of 3+ Corp., has resigned, the economic development agency for Greater Moncton announced Tuesday. Mourant served in the position for two and a half years with the organization in the midst of an ambitious growth plan for the region.
Mourant resigned effective October 1 “for personal reasons and he’s looking for new opportunities,” Chairman of the Board Martin Haynes said in an interview with Huddle.
“To transition effectively, we have a couple of senior people taking the lead while we start the search. You know, these things can take time. So there’s no set timeline. The board will start the due diligence process and look for a candidate,” Haynes said.
Business Intelligence and Operations VP Frederic Gionet and Don Moore, the Director of Entrepreneurship and Business Startup, will serve as acting co-CEOs. The CEO role is split so Gionet and Moore can continue with their work under their respective mandates as well.
3+ presented its five-year strategic plan for Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview as a tri-community in January, aiming for a three-to-four per cent GDP growth annually. This is an ambitious number, as the average annual GDP growth for the region was 1.6 per cent from 2012-17, and the Conference Board of Canada projects a 1.9 per cent growth from 2018-2021.
Under this plan, 3+ also aims to attract more national and international firms to the region, nurture business expansion activities, and develop workforce-based programs that would boost business investment. Moreover, it wants to see the creation of 20 to 30 startups a year.
Haynes said the leadership change won’t impact the strategic plan and its implementation.
“The plan was done and at the end of the day, it’s been approved by the organization. We’re working with the Greater Moncton economic development teams, so the strategic plan is bigger than one person. It’s the organization’s plan, it’s the communities’ plan,” he said. “Don and Fred were highly engaged with the work behind that, and they’ll be the leadership around the table with the economic development teams. Everything will continue.”
“We’ve had a number of years of success, the organization’s been around a long time and we’ll continue to drive ahead and we’re looking forward to the community breakfast in November,” Haynes added.