A Chat With New Enterprise Saint John CEO Ron Gaudet – Cyclist and ‘Change Agent’
Last week, Enterprise Saint John announced their new incoming CEO Ron Gaudet, a veteran in the field of economic development who once led growth efforts in Moncton.
Originally from New Brunswick, Gaudet spent the last seven years leading economic development agencies in Windsor- Essex and the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and doing project work with several Ontario communities, including the City of Guelph, West Lincoln and Huron County. He also served as a special advisor on Innovation Strategies for the University of Windsor’s, Innovation Centre and Industrial Courtyard.
Before his move to Ontario, he was the President and CEO of the Greater Moncton Economic Development Corporation (GMEC).
Huddle got a chance to chat with Gaudet this week about his approach, successes and his thoughts on moving back home:
What made you want to take this job in the first place?
Firstly, I’m a New Brunswicker at heart. So [I’m] returning to my province, one I care very deeply about. I started my career right out of university in Saint John, as a junior economic development officer, but serving a very large region from Sussex to St. Stephen.
My career for years has been focused on being a change agent, going into areas that have had some challenges and to try to work with community stakeholders, politicians, industry to have a different reality, a positive change. The challenge excites me. I guess one could say I’m a bit of a sucker for punishment, but the challenge is exciting to me.
Why do you care about economic development and why do you think it’s important?
Not to be cliché, but I’m passionate about economic development. I’m passionate about getting community leaders and community stakeholders excited around a vision. I know the power of when people can get connected and have a concerted focus on positive things. Growing the economy, bringing new people into the region, embracing the people that you have and celebrating successes. I get excited about what can result from that.
In New Brunswick’s case, I really see the glass more than half full. I think historically Saint John has been so important to the provincial economy. I would like to see Saint John and the province as a whole doing better than it is currently and I think it’s a shame for it not to be happening. I think that we need conviction to make it happen.
What role do you see Enterprise Saint John playing in terms of creating jobs?
Depending on the circumstances and the situation, I would see ESJ playing a key facilitator role. A leadership role in some areas. A collaborating role, bringing people together, industry, levels of government and community leaders together.
There’s a facilitation role, but beyond that I think there is a leadership role and I think we have to be an agency that is prepared to talk about the challenges but from the standpoint of helping people to see what can be achieved.
What experience have you had working in communities that are struggling on the job file?
That has been my career, certainly in Moncton. When I arrived in Moncton there was a 40-year history of outmigration. There were 700,000 square feet of vacant space in the downtown. There was 15 per cent unemployment. There was major industry closed down. There was an outmigration of people.
In Windsor-Essex, when I arrived, it was at the height of the world recession. The auto industry was in the toilet; there were 250 companies that were in that supply chain that were threatened. Again, a 15 per cent unemployment rate, industry leaving, people leaving. So my career has really been focused on how do you deal with that situation and how do you try to accomplish and put in place strategies to turn that around.
When I say that I’m hardwired for a challenge, that’s what I’m talking about.
You worked in Moncton when it was in a downturn, but now it’s grown to be the biggest city in New Brunswick. What do you think Saint John could learn from Moncton?
Let’s put thing in perspective. I’ve been in southern Ontario for the last eight years. One city, Mississauga, has a bigger population than the whole province of New Brunswick. If you combine the eight cities of New Brunswick, it’s less than 300,000 people in total. Of that, you can say there is a workforce of maybe 160,000. So it’s really important that New Brunswick is doing well, that the cities of New Brunswick are doing well and that outlying areas are doing well.
I think what Saint John can’t do is try to emulate another community, but I think it has to understand that it’s historically important to the economic fabric of New Brunswick. It has a strong manufacturing base. It has a strong export focus. It has trade talents that the rest of the province does not have. You want to build on that historical strength, but you also want to say, “what are those new sectors that we can excel in? How can we transfer some of these skills? How can we promote ourselves better? How can people understand how beautiful our architecture is and our waterfront?”
The basket is bountiful, but we need to do a better job of projecting that internally so we believe as a people, but also externally so that others start to see Saint John and the area as a place that is exciting, vibrant, relevant, has its act together and an area that doesn’t fight its wars in the media. An area that is focused on elevating not just the economy, but quality of life. So people say, “you know what? This is a great place to live. This is a great place to work.”
Was there anything you did or any strategies you used while working in Moncton that you’d like to bring to your work in Saint John?
There are lessons that can be learned. In my background, my focus is on building strong internal teams. Really supporting the staff of ESJ, making sure that their voices are heard and that people can grow and they can excel in their jobs and people enjoy their jobs. Beyond that, I think externally we have to build real relationships with those agencies that touch or are involved in economic development.
We have to work with local and regional chambers. We have to work with the workforce development folks. We have to work with the college and the university. We have to work with the member municipalities. We need to know each other’s strengths so that in some cases, ESJwill be the leader on a file. In other cases, ESJ will support, encourage and mentor. My vision is to build a strong team, build true regional collaboration, start to change the dial so that when people think of the area, they’re thinking about the positive aspects of it.
Over the last year, Enterprise Saint John has taken from heat locally by some city politicians about the work ESJ is doing and what role they’re playing in terms of creating jobs. There seems to have been a lot of miscommunication there. How would you work with politicians and stakeholders locally so they have a clear understanding of the role the agency plays?
That’s one of the areas that some people see as a challenge. I see it as an opportunity. The good news is that people are not focused on economic development and if they’re asking questions at either the political level or stakeholder level, then it’s because they’re concerned about how their money is being spent, what kind of results they’re getting.
I think that’s a good opportunity, particularly for somebody new, because I haven’t been in the middle of that pond. I can come in, I can listen, I can meet with the respective communities and stakeholder groups from the standpoint of, “how do we improve?” I don’t want to comment on what Enterprise Saint John has been doing, what I’d like to focus on is how can we do things going forward that will address some of these concerns.
First, I want to listen. Then I want to intentionally come to an agreement on how a) What are the expectations? b) How are we going to measure those? and c) How would you like us as an agency to report on those [measures]?
I want to have really open and transparent relationships with local media. I don’t want to hide behind numbers. I don’t want to hide behind the approach. I don’t want to hide behind the strategy. I want to be an open book. With politicians and stakeholders, I want to hear their concerns … At the end of the day, I would like to find consensus around how we go forward.
Which community is Saint John most like compared to the other communities you’ve worked in?
Every community is unique. Every community has its inherent strengths. Right now I’m doing a project with Sarnia-Lambton which has a port. It is in close proximity to the U.S. border … There’s a lot of traditional petrochemical industries there.
I’m also working with North Bay, and they’re a little bit unique and remote from southern Ontario, but again, a traditional industry, agricultural, tourism type economy.
There are parallels, but there are none that are just the same.
What would you say has been your greatest success in economic development?
I’ve [led] organizations that have really helped coordinate efforts in economic development, and in the end having positive results. Windsor-Essex is doing very well today. I’ve been able to work in the Waterloo region which is considered Canada’s Silicon Valley. It’s dramatically growing. It has a strong entrepreneurial culture. My success has been in building great teams and building collaboration and building strategic partnerships and that has resulted in positive outcomes. I don’t for a minute take credit for all of that, but our organization that I’ve led has been the quarterback in that process.
Besides the new job, what are you looking forward to most about living in Saint John?
I’m excited to get back. I love to hop on my bicycle and explore. I thought I’d miss water, but there is a lot of water in southern Ontario with the Great Lakes. What I’ve really missed, to be a bit corny here, is the rolling hills. I’ve missed the roadways that take turns in the countryside and everything isn’t straight lines. Southern Ontario is very flat compared to New Brunswick and the coastline is very different, so I look forward to that.
I look forward to re-engaging with old friends. I’ve been blessed and surprised with the number of messages coming in the last week from people who want to get reacquainted, so I’m excited about that.