About Us
Northern Opportunities for Business Limited (NOBL) was formed in 1986 as Pictou County Business Opportunities Limited. Our mandate was set at that time and continues today and includes:
- To actively promote, encourage, and assist economic development in our geographic area;
- To encourage the concept of small business development as a method of creating local employment opportunities;
- To encourage employment diversity and stability in the community through self-employment, individual ownership, partnerships, corporations, co-operatives, worker collectives, non-profit organizations, job sharing, part and full-time work or any other appropriate structure;
- To administer funding received from government and private sources from which the Company will provide direct financial assistance to selected business projects in our geographic area, in a manner and under terms as may be established from time to time; and,
- To co-operate with all existing private and public agencies with similar objects in an effort to provide solutions to community problems and to avoid duplication of services.
That's a perhaps rather long way of saying that we are a government sponsored business development corporation. Operating since the beginning of 1997 in the three Counties of Antigonish, Pictou, and Colchester, we are run by a volunteer Board of Directors supported by three Investment Committees (one for each County) and a six-member professional Staffing complement.
CBDC/NOBL has many partners in the business support arena. We share many clients with ACOA and Employment Nova Scotia. We work with the REN's and Nova Scotia Business Inc. to find potential entrepreneurs as well as businesses looking for financial assistance.
We see ourselves as the deliverer of all government small business development financing programs and as such have a bailiwick of options for people interested in getting into business, expanding their current business, or modernizing their current business.
NOBL - Board Accountability
The stakeholders of CBDC NOBL include:
- The general public
- The local community served by CBDC NOBL, namely Antigonish, Pictou, and Colchester Counties of Nova Scotia
- CBDC NOBL clients
- CBDC NOBL employees and volunteer
- Government
The Board of Directors of CBDC NOBL is accountable to these stakeholders. In an effort to be accountable to the people we serve, and to ensure our governance processes are transparent, this Statement will be publicly available, primarily by publication on our website.
In carrying out its role and responsibilities, the Board of Directors of CBDC NOBL will adhere to the following values:
- Accountability
- Transparency
- Confidentiality
“ Having just completed the LAE ten-week Project Management Essentials Course, I can say whole heartedly that it was an extraordinary experience. Instructor Lynn MacKinnon taught this course with a level of professionalism and courtesy where she welcomed every student into the class with warmth and a smile. Our group was made up of business professionals involved in a wide variety of industries both small and large whose primary goal was to learn the necessary skillsets that could be applied to our respective businesses. To say this course met our expectations is an understatement as the class discussions allowed us to take the curriculum and apply it hands on to our respective business cases. Since completing the course I have had the opportunity to apply it to both our family business and to a large scale project with my corporate employer. I highly recommend the Project Management Essentials course as it allows you to breakdown your project to its fine points and build a foundation to start your ideas and goals. It allows you to plan your budget, set your target milestones and develop a step-by-step process to completion. This course should be the baseline for any business owner or entrepreneur.”
JAMES TAYLOR
Business Development Officer
COMMISSIONAIRES NOVA SCOTIA