What I Learned Covering Business In New Brunswick
Inda Intiar has been Huddle’s Moncton correspondent since late 2017. This is her last piece as a staff writer, her reflections on covering the greater Moncton region for more than three years.
When I joined the Huddle team in late 2017, I wanted to write about small businesses, innovative startups, and enterprises that help address socio-economic issues in the region. I wanted to help tell the stories of inspiring, passionate and resilient entrepreneurs.
Little did I know that Covid-19 would bring me into many conversations with those entrepreneurs in some of the most challenging times for them. They pivot, twist and turn in every way to keep their businesses alive, and to grow.
These days, I’ve been walking around Moncton and its surroundings a lot more than I did before. It’s the easiest way to stay active during busy days, especially when the local gym I go to had to close during the red phase.
Those walks have allowed me to take stock of the growth I’ve seen in Greater Moncton and New Brunswick during my more than three years covering business and economy with Huddle. That’s more than three years of closely observing the growth of this city and province, and seeing challenges arise with it.
The skyline has been changing as more buildings are being constructed in downtown Moncton where I live, and also across the river in Dieppe. Sometimes I bike or walk all the way to the Riverview side of the riverfront. Last summer, Holy Whale’s beer garden and a night market made for a lively outdoor gathering.
Over the past four years, Greater Moncton’s population has grown by about 10,000 people. Building permit filings remain record high during a pandemic because more residential and industrial properties are being built.
But we also lack affordable and accessible housing. Economic inequality is right in front of our faces as homelessness and poverty become more visible. However, conversations about inclusion and progressive environmental policies and urban development are becoming louder as we seek to build a more vibrant, diverse and inclusive home.
When I first moved to Moncton, there wasn’t a wide range of ethnic foods on offer. Now, there are multiple international grocery stores and ethnic restaurants. I visit those stores every week to buy food that reminds me of my cultural heritage.
I also frequented my neigbourhood cafes and co-working spaces to write. On a hot summer day after work, I usually stroll over to the neighbourhood bars and microbreweries to see friends. I visit these places so often, I’m on a first-name basis with some of the baristas and servers.
When Covid-19 put us on lockdown back in March 2020, as much as I worried about the health and safety of my community, and family and friends in other parts of the world, I also worried about local businesses.
I didn’t want to see those cafes, international grocery shops and ethnic restaurants fold. Selfishly, I thought it would give fewer local choices for consumers like me, making Moncton dimmer and more boring.
As a business journalist, I feared a lot of my chats with entrepreneurs would turn away from discussions about growth and innovation, and towards more stories of permanent closures – a financial and mental hit for those entrepreneurs.
What I’ve come to realize is entrepreneurs are creative, resilient people, especially in the toughest of times.
In my mother tongue, Indonesian, one of the words often used to describe entrepreneurs is “pengusaha,” which literally means “one who makes an effort.” It comes from the base word “usaha,” meaning the exertion of mental and physical energy to achieve a purpose.
I think it’s a fitting word to describe small business owners here, too, some 15,500 kilometres away. The effort they’ve put into building their business, whether it serves a social purpose, fosters community, makes use of their skills and passion, or for their livelihood, is not small.
In New Brunswick, 97.9 percent of businesses are small enterprises. The same goes for Canada as a whole, according to the 2019 federal small business statistics. They’re truly the backbone of our economy.
During my time at Huddle, I’ve spoken and connected with social entrepreneurs, creative entrepreneurs, start-up founders, restaurant, cafe and brewery owners, gym operators, salon owners, owners of adventure companies, solopreneurs, local retailers and everyone in between.
As I wrap up my work here, I realized, and I’m grateful, that they’ve all taken a risk.
One way or another, no matter where they came from, they believed enough in themselves, in the people in their team, and ultimately, in this region. They have faith that we will support their endeavours by buying their products or services, and rally behind policies that will help them thrive.