News Releases
Government Home Search Sitemap Contact Us  

NLIS 2
May 30, 2001
(Industry, Trade and Rural Development)

 

IT Centre for Burin Peninsula

The Burin Peninsula will see the establishment of an Information Technology (IT) Centre at the Burin campus of College of the North Atlantic to support small business development in this region of the province.

An announcement of $275,600 through the Canada-Newfoundland Comprehensive Economic Development Agreement was made today by Bill Matthews, MP, Burin-St. George�s on behalf of Robert Thibault, Minister of State for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), Beaton Tulk, Minister of Industry, Trade and Rural Development and Pamela Walsh, president, College of the North Atlantic.

AThe Government of Canada is committed to the development of a knowledge-based economy competitive on a global scale," said Mr. Matthews. AThis initiative shows leadership on the part of the people in the region to further develop their business sector=s IT capacity and to be better able to take advantage of global opportunities."

To be operated by the Marystown-Burin Area Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the College of the North Atlantic, the centre will provide services in all aspects of the IT sector including: technical support, training, e-commerce, Internet services and assistance in support of the Schooner Regional Development Corporation=s strategic plan.

"Our province has been a trail blazer in the use of information technology and our people enthusiastic users of the Internet," said Minister Tulk. "This new centre builds on rural Newfoundlanders and Labradorians willingness to embrace and benefit from new technologies. In time I believe this will lead to increased diversification of our economy and the creation of new jobs. "

The IT centre represents the college's commitment to growing the information technology sector in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, says Pamela Walsh, president of College of the North Atlantic. "This service centre, operated by the Marystown-Burin Area Chamber of Commerce and located at College of the North Atlantic, will enable the Burin Peninsula to participate in the new economy," she said.

Marystown-Burin Area Chamber of Commerce President Jerry Pike welcomes the opportunity to partner in this initiative. "This centre will not only be a vehicle to diversify the Burin Peninsula economy, but to augment, support and grow the area�s traditional industries of fisheries, ship building/ship repair/steel fabrication, mining and tourism," he said.

The establishment of this center follows a February 2000 report by the Schooner Regional Development Corporation that noted that the region could take better advantage of IT opportunities. The report noted that business owners were interested in the opportunities IT could create for them.

The Canada-Newfoundland Comprehensive Economic Development is a six-year, $95.4 million initiative designed to complement existing federal and provincial programs and agreements. It is administered federally by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and provincially by the Department of Industry, Trade and Rural Development.

Media contact:

Jennifer Savoy
Press Secretary
Robert G.Thibault
Minister of State for ACOA
(613) 941-7291

Doug Burgess
ACOA
(709) 772-2935

Josephine Cheeseman
Industry, Trade and Rural Development
(709) 729-4570

Stephen Lee
College of the North Atlantic
(709) 643-7928

Jerry Pike
Marystown-Burin Area Chamber of Commerce
(709) 279-2080

2001 05 30                                                   10:40 a.m.


SearchHomeBack to GovernmentContact Us


All material copyright the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. No unauthorized copying or redeployment permitted. The Government assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of any material deployed on an unauthorized server.
Disclaimer/Copyright/Privacy Statement