Moncton’s Dovico Will Hire 13 New People With Government Investments
MONCTON – Dovico Software will hire up to 13 full-time workers and invest in research and development efforts with the help of funding from the provincial and federal governments.
After a press conference Monday, CEO Yves Doucet said the company has already started hiring for a range of jobs – programming, marketing, product management and quality assurance, software developers and testers.
“We’ll be posting but we’re not necessarily looking for a [specific] skillset. We’re looking for the mindset,” he said. “We’re always looking to hire. So over the next year, year-and-a-half, we’ll be looking for the right people for our team.”
Dovico currently has nearly 30 employees. The new hires will be accommodated in Commerce House on St. George Street, where the 25-year-old company’s office is currently located.
“We have enough space to expand in this building. We have access to other offices here,” Doucet said.
Opportunities New Brunswick is investing up to $110,069 to support these new positions and fund market development activities.
The province’s Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour is also investing $20,800 through the One-Job Pledge program, which provides employers with a $10-per-hour wage reimbursement for work and training given to a recent post-secondary graduate.
The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) is providing a repayable loan of $332,250 through its Business Development Program.
The company is also continuing to invest in its own growth. It will provide top-ups to the wage subsidies from the province and do ongoing research and development.
“Last year, we spent over $1.7 million in [research and development] and we’re gonna spend some more of the company’s own money,” said Doucet.
He said two-thirds of the company’s budget is spent on research and development efforts. He couldn’t disclose what products are being worked on for the next year-and-a-half, but he said he’s “excited” about them.
“R&D is expensive, but it’s an investment in the future,” he said. “We’re focused on the process of how to develop products. So yes, it’s expensive and yes it’s risky, absolutely. But if you don’t invest in the future and learning yourself how to become better, how to serve your customers better and how to serve the world better, you’ll have nothing. You might as well just retire, and I’m not ready.”
Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Health and MP for Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe, says the province needs to support the growth of innovative companies like Dovico.
“We must encourage small and medium-sized companies to remain innovative and compete on a global scale,” she said. “This investment in Dovico Software Inc. is helping to create jobs for the region while supporting growth for the information technology sector.”