I am a professional problem solver. My areas of expertise are organizational change leadership and strategic business improvement. My mission is to fuse together an eye for tangible results and the need to help people change. Long term success depends on both of these often diametrically opposed concepts.
After spending the better part of 10 years with Boston area tech giant, EMC (www.emc.com), I decided to relocate to my hometown of Fredericton, New Brunswick where I’m now the leader of Accreon’s Center for Change Leadership.
Why leave a great town like Boston for Atlantic Canada? Well, let’s see. My kids can walk or bike to school. I can drive to the office in 5 minutes (10 in traffic) or bike there in 15. If I want, I can go home for lunch. Within 10 minutes of my house are 2 hockey arenas, 4 soccer fields, 2 universities, access to 45 km of running and biking trails, and all four parents / grandparents. I am minutes from the beautiful Saint John River. My city boasts one of the region’s best farmers’ markets, where I can get wonderfully authentic Samosas, buffalo burgers, spring rolls, and souvlaki (I can even get St. Viateur Montreal bagels there every Saturday), as well as a globally recognized annual Jazz and Blues Festival. Within 20 minutes, I can be camping, hiking, or duffing my way through one of 3 world class golf courses. Within 45 minutes, I am downhill skiing or at the U.S. border. I am an hour from the best salmon fishing in the world or an hour and a half from the warmest ocean beaches north of the Carolinas. Oh, and I can run a backyard rink for 4 solid months each winter… Come on!
That’s right, this is my backyard! I can drive to Boston or Montreal in less than a day and all the time I used to spend in my car, I now spend with my wife, kids, or friends. So, why did I move here?… I don’t know – I guess I just felt like living the dream!
Well put Kevin. All of us who moved away from Freddy Beach for bigger and better things after university had to live elsewhere to realize everything this region has to offer. The only thing you mention as a perk that I would disagree with is the fact you can have an outdoor rink for 4 months. 1 month would be fine with me.
True… few would want 4 months of that kind of winter (for me, it’s indicative of the ages and interests of my kids). The fact that we live somewhere where we can be home and have the time needed to maintain such a venture says something about the lifestyle we enjoy in Fred’town… I’ll bet you’d agree with that.
BTW… If you like fishing and outdoors… Check out this one: http://www.rapidwaterscamp.ca Can also be interesting for an Accreon retreat! This type of business is one of the reasons I moved from France to NB! Lot of possibilities… “Iuventus stultorum magister “…