Stephen Palmer Gets on Board with Propel ICT’s Growth Program
There’s a new face at Propel ICT’s Growth program. Current director of the board and former co-CEO of Remsoft Stephen Palmer has taken the lead at the Growth program to identify high potential Propel alumni and other companies to help get a final leg up.
Palmer says he is helping kickstart the Growth program by leveraging his experience and contacts to the benefit of companies that need a little extra push.
“As a person who is entrepreneurial and believes in Atlantic Canada and is proud to be from here, I think it’s important that we have businesses that succeed, that add value in the community, that provide meaningful jobs,” he said. “I was asked by Anita (Punamiya) and Dave Grebenc to get involved and I thought about it a bit and I said ‘sure. I’d love to be involved at this stage and see how far I can take it.’”
Palmer says he’s motivated by success and enjoys thinking about business models that both work and don’t work. He says that he’s thought over the years about what the ingredients to success are and the patterns associated with success. He hopes to put some of that to use to create more success stories and help make the private sector stronger for generations to come.
“I’ve been directly involved with some businesses in this region that have succeeded in a tangible way,” he said. “When you’re in it, it’s a lot different than talking about it and I’ve been in it. That’s what I’ll be able to bring to the table.”
Candidates chosen by Propel will be based on whether companies are interested in this kind of help and whether they can work together to achieve higher levels of growth. Palmer says the process is not mechanistic, though, and that there are many different factors to consider when determining how and where companies need help.
Palmer is hopeful that he can find at least one company, a “unicorn,” in this region that could one day be worth at least a billion dollars.
“That would be an overarching objective. Whether that happens or not is to be determined,” he said. “But obviously you need a rich foundation and a rich ecosystem of many startups, (some work, some don’t) many midstream businesses, some grow to a level and then stop growing. You’re hoping for that rare business that breaks through all that and gets to the kind of stage we’re talking about.”
“I have tremendous respect for the entrepreneur and it’s a lonely and difficult pursuit but when it works it’s a beautiful thing.”