Business

New Glasgow is at the heart of a productive centre for business, retail, manufacturing and industry. As the commercial service centre of Pictou County and northeastern Nova Scotia, the town and region offers business investors a strategic location within Atlantic Canada and skilled workforce. Prospective employees benefit from many compelling opportunities.

New Glasgow is strategically located within 90 minutes from the Robert L. Stanfield International Airport and just under two hours from Nova Scotia's capital city of Halifax. Access to both the airport and the metro area is along a divided highway system. We are within 30 minutes from the Northumberland Ferries terminal in Caribou, which operates two passenger/commercial ferries along a 75-minute route to Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island, May to December. New Glasgow is a three hour drive to Sydney, Cape Breton or two and  half hours to Moncton, New Brunswick.

New Glasgow is a thriving combination of small, mid size and large businesses which cultivate retail, service and financial sector as well as ample opportunities for those in professions and the skilled trades. There are several commercial service and business districts in the town, including the Downtown core, Westville Road, East River Road and a Business Park in the Parkdale area.
The New Glasgow Business Park, located just off the Trans Canada Highway - Exit 25, houses prime land to companies for distribution facilities to service the Atlantic Canadian market The park is headquarters for industrial warehouses, including the central office for Maritimes Northeast Pipelines, S W Weeks Construction and Stright-MacKay Marine Equipment.  New Glasgow Police and New Glasgow Engineering & Public Works are located here.

Downtown New Glasgow is home to national chartered banks, real estate companies, insurance companies, business services and computer-related businesses. Retail shops and eating establishments are located within the downtown as well as the region's radio station ECFM, 94.1FM.  Big box stores and two major shopping centres located on Westville Road and East River Road commercial districts underscore the importance of New Glasgow to an extended regional market of 100,000 people.
Other businesses and services found throughout New Glasgow include the Aberdeen Business Centre, law firms, financial and business services, three Sobeys grocery stores, a Co-op store, the Atlantic Superstore and most major car dealerships. Tim Horton's, Wendys, McDonalds, Pizza Delight, Subway, Harvey’s, Swiss Chalet, Quiznos, Saint Cinnamon, Greco and Empire Theatres Studio 7 franchises are located in the town.

The Pictou County Health Authority recently expanded and updated health care and community services allowing better service delivery to the general public. Convergys, a high tech customer service center is located in the town.  A CBC satellite office for Northern Nova Scotia and a CTV news correspondent are located in the town. Recent expansions to Shoppers Drug Mart, Lawtons Drugs and the adjacent business plaza provide enhanced service to the general public.  Large retail outlets including Future Shop, Winners, Canadian Tire, Wal-Mart, Staples, Pennington’s, Sears and Zellers are all located here.

In 2010, the Town of New Glasgow and the New Glasgow downtown business district completed Phase 1 of a downtown revitalization project.  This project included building and façade improvements, street infrastructure and streetscape enhancements, improved traffic routes and a permanent location for the New Glasgow Farmers Market.  Within the town, historical landmarks were restored, the town bell was reconditioned and re-dedicated, a historic painting series was completed by a local artist and improvements were made to the Town Hall. 
The Pictou County area boasts a strong list of national and multinational firms who choose to locate here and are major employers in the region. The corporate Head Offices for Sobeys Inc. and the Empire group of companies are located in nearby Stellarton, as is the Sobeys Atlantic Regional office. Sobeys is Canada’s second largest supermarket chain, with 1400 stores in 10 provinces with five Sobeys supermarkets in Pictou County.  Locally Sobeys Head Office provides management, technology and administrative services across the nation and major warehousing serving Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Ontario.  Nearby in the village of Scotsburn are the Scotsburn Dairy Group head office and production and distribution depots. Through natural growth, acquisitions and mergers, this small village creamery has become the largest Atlantic Canadian owned dairy processor and distributor in the Atlantic region.

Michelin Tires Canada Limited one of three manufacturing plants in Nova Scotia is located in Granton, Pictou County producing car and light truck tires and molds.  Among its three Nova Scotia plants, Michelin employs 3,500 people in both production and management operations. Northern Pulp Nova Scotia operates a modern northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp facility, supplying pulp to manufacture common household products, writing and photocopy paper, employing about 230 employees with an additional 450 employed through its timberlands operations. In 2010, DSME, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd will establish a wind turbine tower and blade manufacturing facility at the former Trenton Works site in Trenton. The plant will create hundreds of jobs and position Nova
Scotia as a global leader in renewable energy.

Pictou County remains one of the most cost effective places to do business in the G8.  The 2008 KPMG Competitive Alternatives Study placed Pictou County in Canada's top 10 cost competitive locations.  In the first year of the study, Pictou County was rated as the most cost competitive community in Canada in which to do business. The overall cost competitive scoring was better than any of the 23 Canadian communities studied. It also scored better than the 98 international locations studied in 11 industrialized countries (2004-2005).