Development and External Relations Update

The Development and External Relations office UPDATE is a monthly summary of activities in the section and is published for your general information. If you have questions, please contact Jim Goit or call at (902) 893-7950

• AgriTECH Park
  • Attended ValuePlus workshop sponsored by Canadian Farm Business Management Council; workshop facilitator, Gary Morton, offered up new value-added ideas, steps involved in getting to market and in obtaining a greater share of income in the value chain; featured presenters included Case VanDyk (VanDyk Health Juice Products) and David Ernst (Terra Beata Farms) – both companies are partners in ABVC projects.
  • Awarded wild blueberry leaf research project to Nova Business Ventures Associates to investigate market potential and proof of concept analysis of using the product as a novel nutraceutical.
  • Reviewed and evaluated 6 proposals in response to an RFP for market intelligence advisory services – this service is required by ABVC on an as-needed basis when new R&D/commercialization opportunities arise and additional knowledge and expertise is required.
  • Attended an ACOA session “The Environment and Your Business” – good overview of provincial and federal environmental programs.
• External Relations
  • Jim worked on the NSAC component of the Department Business plan and submitted it.  
  • Discussion with Judy Grant on Ag Awareness rep from NSAC
  • Jim attend a meeting of NovaKnowledge in Halifax.  The seminar highlighted the economic impact of Universities in the community.
  • The Development office prepared its response to the NSAC strategic plan.
  • Jim attended a reception hosted by TD Meloche Monnix in Halifax
  • Jim met with Laurie, Bernie and Elaine on security at ATP.
  • Jim and Laurie attended a meeting with the consultant working on the concepts for the bio accelerator facility at ATP.
  • The IT advisory committee held it quarterly meeting.  Jim acts as secretary to the committee.  A number of important projects were initiated.
  • Jim helped Dr. Coffin tour the candidates for VP REO around campus and AgriTECH park.
  • Jim created a description for a new position, Marketing and Communications Specialists.  This position will operated in support of both programs and can cover the activities of co-op students.
  • Jim responded to a call from a rural organization for information on the application process for the Atlantic Agricultural Hall of Fame. The deadline for nomination is June 1^st.
  • Jim attended a meeting with “Come to Life” and AAU staff in Halifax on branding the University sector in Nova Scotia.           
  • Jim and Alisha completed an application for a Fellowship in Advancement.  If successful it will help to fund the Development Officer position for the next year.
  • Jim and Heather Dawson completed arrangements for a visit and tour by a group of Nuffield Scholarships from Australia and New Zealand.
  • Jim met with Andy, Lorena and John on security issues and policy for the new campus wireless network.
   
• Marketing
• Communications and Alumni
  • The Foundation/Alumni joint board held their semi annual meeting during the month. The group reviewed progress to date and helped Jim and Alisha develop priorities for fundraising activities.
• 42 Found/changed alumni records this month
• Development and Fund Raising
  • Jim and Alisha completed a lot of background work in preparation for the phone campaign. Lists were generated from the Database, letter sent and call sheets prepared.

• Website
  • Our web traffic continues to increase every month.
  • Mike continues to educate himeself on the web portal and the online printshop.
  • The tender for the information kiosk equipment was released and a vendor was chosen to supply two additional 40" LCD Monitors as well as a content server and three media appliances for campus.
  • Online brochures for recruitment were created and put online. Each program is now an online "flipbook" and can be found on the recruitment site.
  • APICS conference website continued to be maintained and online registrations were coming in at a steady pace.
  • Mike digitized some basketball games for Athletics and hosted the files for parents and other family members who could not attend. We will be looking at Youtube as our video host in the future, as well as the possibility to stream the files live.
  • Mike is working on getting the NSAC frontpage refreshed.