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DAVID SHIPLEY
Telegraph-Journal

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Former McKenna-era Commerce and Technology minister Al Lacey has been appointed as the new chairman of the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation.

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STEPHEN MACGILLIVRAY PHOTO

‘I’m in the learning curve right now with the organization,’ says Al Lacey. He hopes to be able to offer insight and guidance to the board of directors as he learns more about the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation.

He replaces acting chairman Robert MacLeod, who is musing about a run for the leadership of the provincial Progressive Conservative party.

Lacey, president of A.W. Lacey and Associations, a Fredericton-based consulting firm, is also a past chairman of NB Power.

He has served on the boards of Nav Canada, the United Way and Jobs Unlimited.

Lacey served as a cabinet minister in former Liberal premier Frank McKenna's government from 1987 to 1990. The Department of Commerce and Technology is now known as the Department of Business New Brunswick.

Lacey was appointed to the board of the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation earlier this month.

"I'm in the learning curve right now with the organization," he said, adding he hopes to be able to offer insight and guidance to the board of directors as he learns more about the foundation.

The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation was formed by the provincial government in 2002 and given $35 million in seed capital. It began operations in March 2003. The independent, non-profit organization manages the New Brunswick Innovation Fund on behalf of the provincial government.

New Brunswick, said Lacey, could be more innovative.

"I expect we could be doing better," he said. "What remains to be seen is how we accomplish that. What I've learned so far about the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation is that they have been successful in leveraging other dollars, encouraging partnerships between venture capitalist and some federal funding and it is necessary to do that."

The newly-appointed chairman said he'd like to see more partnerships between provincial, federal and private sector venture capitalists.

Lacey said he'd also like to conduct a strategic planning session if there are any new opportunities or roles for the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation.

"We will be reviewing our successes to date and our mandate going forward and seeing if there are other areas that we can identify that the NBIF would have a major role in."

The foundation will play an important role in New Brunswick economic development efforts as the provincial government strives to achieve its ambitious self-sufficiency agenda, he said.

"If we can encourage research we can commercialize or if we can encourage new companies ... that's going to go a long way towards self-sufficiency."