Timed with BDC’s Small Business Week 2017, ONB is republishing some of our most popular small business-themed success stories.
Bathurst’s Websolutions.ca is a web technology company specializing in the creation of custom websites and web-based applications. The firm’s services also include branding, search engine optimization, and digital/social media marketing.
Company President and Co-Founder Josh Gammon recently joined us to discuss, among other things, his most recent talent hire — found via an ONB initiative.
ONB: Let’s begin with your latest hire.
Gammon: His name is Victor Luna and he’s been part of our team since mid-December. Victor was living in British Columbia and noticed our Web Programmer posting on NBTechJobs.ca when that campaign was in-market throughout BC. It took some time to finally settle on someone for this position, and we’re very happy with the result.
Victor is originally from Mexico City and did his B.Sc at Simon Fraser University. He investigated New Brunswick and was willing to make the move from out west. Now, he does the backbone of our websites, as well as our in-house content management system (CMS). Our CMS is customizable for clients and doesn’t slow your website down with tons of extra add-ons. It’s essential to have talented folks on staff to keep services like that functioning properly. That’s where Victor comes in.
Victor’s not the only immigrant working at the company, however. Isn’t that right?
Correct. We have another employee, Mahmoud Abdelkader, who came to us from Egypt. He arrived in Canada several years ago, studied Graphic Design at NBCC, and joined us in early 2016. Mahmoud and Victor have both proven to be terrific finds.
You worked in Toronto for several years. Why launch the business from New Brunswick? What advantages have you seen from operating here?
Well for starters it’s home; I was born and raised here. We got tired of big city life and the grind that comes with it. The quality of life and cost of living here are attractive. It’s much better in comparison to any large city.
New Brunswick supports small businesses like ours with things like the One Job Pledge, and ONB’s workforce development and talent recruitment efforts, the NBTechJobs website for example.
Plus the beauty of the region helps, there’s plenty to do here in every season, and commutes are nice and short. All of those things add up.
Note: New Brunswick’s excellent quality of life was recently recognized by the Conference Board of Canada. The province received “A+” on life satisfaction and “A” for low levels of homicide, burglaries, and income inequality.
Can you expand a bit on your company’s relationship with ONB?
It’s really in its infancy since we’re still such a small team. Thus far, however, ONB has really stepped up to the plate in terms of helping us recruit good talent like Victor. Immigration is so important for the province, and people like Victor want to stay in Canada. We need to increase our population so I’m happy to see groups like ONB helping with workforce development like that.
Finally, what’s the biggest challenge the business has faced?
Again, it all goes back to finding the right people. Bathurst is a small place, and it can be hard to entice people from bigger cities. They recognize how beautiful New Brunswick is, but it’s still not the first place they think of in terms of developing a career.
Client education has been an ongoing challenge as well. It’s important that potential clients know we’re not simply designing websites. We’re always developing new web-based applications to help companies transition their processes to technology solutions. We look at what they do and try to make it easy for them to transition things online easily. One thing we’re particularly proud of is the work order management system used by Rogers Electric Motor Service. That system has helped grow the company, and the clients they’ve been able to land due to that service offering is a real feather in our caps as well as theirs. Full disclosure: (Rogers Electric President) Todd Morrison is a partner in our company now. That system is now also used by an iron ore company in Labrador. So getting the word out on all the great things we can do for a company beyond simply designing their website, that’s a challenge.
Learn what Websolutions can do for you and your business at Websolutions.ca.
Written by Jason Boies