Province Supports Sydney Commercial Park

A thriving new marine park will be able to expand and attract new business and create jobs with support from the province.

Percy Paris, Minister of Economic and Rural Development, today, Nov. 5, announced a $1-million loan, through the Industrial Expansion Fund, to Sydney's Harbourside Commercial Park Inc. The loan is to purchase land from the former Sydney Steel Corporation (Sysco) to develop phase two of the Harbourside Commercial Park.

"The Harbourside Commercial Park is a key driver for economic development in Cape Breton Regional Municipality," said Mr. Paris. "Since the marine park opened in 2007, it has attracted 18 new businesses, created jobs and lead to improvements in roadways and other local infrastructure."

Harbourside Commercial Park Inc. was established by the province in August 2006 to manage commercial development of remediated areas of the former (Sysco) site.

In 2007, the province announced $10 million in financing to Harbourside Commercial Park, through the Industrial Expansion Fund, to purchase a portion of Sysco assets, Sydney Pier and to build and market the business park. Since then, tenants like Protocase, a design and manufacturing company for the electronics industry, have located to the new space. Its customers include NASA, Boeing, Google, Microsoft and Apple.

As a result of the world economic and credit crisis, successful companies operating in Nova Scotia continue to experience challenges accessing capital from traditional lenders. With the Industrial Expansion Fund, the government of Nova Scotia is able to make capital available to businesses to grow and compete locally and globally. Support from the fund is helping to sustain and create new jobs for Nova Scotians.