Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Two Hundred and Twenty Five Years Ago Today

The first United States census was authorized. The census is important to the United States not just because it gives us a much more accurate count of how many residents and citizens there are (as opposed to interim projections) but because the resulting counts are used to set the number of members from each state in the House of Representatives and, by extension, in the Electoral College.

It also influences how more than $400 Billion per year in federal and state funding is allocated with respect to neighbourhood improvement projects, public health programs, education programs, and transportation. So, while it might be annoying to have to answer those questions every ten years and reaffirm your Pastafarianism or Jediism, it is necessary.

Shubenacadie Sam, For Your Own Good, Stay in Hiding!

Two weeks ago, we told Shubenacadie Sam to be afraid because LOLCat was waiting to have a few choice words with him.

Let’s just say LOLCats across the province, who are still trying to find his hidey-hole, are still not very pleased with Shubenacadie Sam. Case in point:


 

While most of Atlantic Canada has not reached record setting levels of snowfall yet (unlike Halifax’s good friend Boston), LOLCats across the Atlantic Provinces are having to dig their way out of the house like poor Rudiger (and they are not happy about it).


Nova Scotia is the Greatest Nearshore Location of All and Halifax is Still the Best Place to Do International Business in North America

And if you haven’t caught on to this profitable little secret yet, you should!

What is the doctor referring to?

Way back (but no so far back that one requires the wayback machine) in the beginning, the doctor penned a post informing you that the best place to do international business in Canada is Halifax, Nova Scotia (which he remind you of six years later). The reasons for this were many and included (compared to other major Canadian cities) low operating cost, low cost of living index, low crime rate, low unemployment, an award winning international airport, the Port of Halifax, a perfect time-zone (4 hours ahead of Los Angeles and 4 hours behind London), a lot of culture, even more education, and a plethora of leading and innovating companies to help you get to where you want to go. Moreover, a study a few years ago found that Halifax offers a company the cheapest headquarters location in North America in addition to all of these other benefits (with an average cost 8% below the US low point in the Indianapolis-Carmel-Fishers area and 30% less than one of the the US high points in New York City).

But now it seems that the secret is coming out of the bag, as per this recent post over on the industry leading outsourcing blog Horses for Sources (HfS) that recently publicized that Nova Scotia is the greatest nearshore location of all. (Which means that you’re running out of time to act ahead of your peers and take advantage of all of Halifax has to offer at incredible savings that will go straight to your company’s bottom line.)

According to HfS’ post, Halifax, which exists in a region with 10 universities and 13 community college campuses producing over 10,000 graduates a year, presents a great opportunity for outsourced IT and BPO services (and that’s why IBM hosts its service centre, specializing in data analytics, in Halifax). (And despite the comment, you don’t need a canoe to get around. We have a good transportation infrastructure, but you can keep the canoe if you really want to.)

For cost reductions and efficiency improvements across the board, maybe you should look to the North.