Uptown Location For MBA Program Creates ‘Collision Space’ For Students And Community
SAINT JOHN – More than 400 people gathered in the old Scotiabank building on King Square Thursday for the official opening of the MBA program that has been relocated uptown from the University of New Brunswick’s Saint John campus in Tucker Park.
MP Wayne Long, on hand to announce that the Atlantic Canadian Opportunities Agency (ACOA) contributed $750,000 to help facilitate the move, said it’s good for the city and the 93 students in this year’s class.
“The university saw the opportunity to bring the MBA program into the heart of this city – what a profound change this is going to make to our uptown core, while also creating a space that will allow spontaneous connections and ideas to come to life. This building is central to the heartbeat of economic development in Saint John,” said Long.
“Within a short walk, you have Economic Development Greater Saint John (EDGSJ), ConnexionWorks, the Saint John Newcomers Centre, several major corporate headquarters, our tech cluster, real estate firms, and all three levels of government, not to mention being a dining, shopping and cultural hub.”
Dr. Petra Hauf, the vice-president of UNB Saint John, says the central location creates a “collision space” for students and the rest of the community.
“We need what I like to call a ‘collision space,’ where people meet, reflect, talk to each other and share – share ideas, share experiences, share energy, share passion,” said Hauf. “This collision space will give our MBA students in the uptown the opportunity to get involved with the business and social communities on a formal and informal basis as they work on projects, meet at the market or bump into people at the coffee shop.”
Andrew Oland, CEO of Moosehead Breweries and chair of EDGSJ, says being closer to small and large employers will make it easier to get people from the “classroom to the workforce.”
“We have, within a block or two, $4-billion-plus companies [like] Irving Oil Limited, J.D. Irving, Limited, Cooke Aquaculture and Ocean Capital, and they’re all in hiring mode,” said Oland.
“When you talk to them, they’re all looking for employees of all stripes, including MBAs. Through EDGSJ, we’re going to make sure we bring our big employers as well as medium-sized and smaller size employers in both for-profit and non-profit [organizations], working to get as many graduates who want to stay in Saint John to stay in Saint John.”
EDGSJ will also help with programming at the new location, partnering with UNB to co-locate their start-up incubator called Block One and its related entrepreneurship programming in the building.
Most of the students in the MBA program are from other countries and the politicians and business leaders recognize the value of having highly educated, skilled newcomers close to companies who could hire them when they graduate.
“This building and the people it holds will be powerful in addressing the skills shortage, population decline and need for innovation,” said Long. “Here we have a physical hub to foster entrepreneurial ambition, research commericalization and help grow the labour market in southern New Brunswick with a special emphasis on newcomer attraction and retention.”
Sherif Salaam, an MBA student with an undergraduate degree from UNBSJ, says the new building is first-rate and with an ideal location for international students who want to work here after they graduate.
“The new location is beautiful, the classrooms are spacious, the furniture is comfortable and the learning technologies are world-class. For this beautiful location, we are grateful,” said Salaam, who is from Nigeria.
“It gives my colleagues from different counties a sense of belonging in Saint John by placing us in the heart of the city. We are thankful for giving us a business-school feel, a business-school environment. It puts us closer to the business leaders and our potential employers, and government offices and agencies.”