Everyone who owns a vehicle has used a parking meter, whether an old-fashioned coin operated meter or the new electronic smart meters. It is highly unlikely that you have ever heard of MacKay Meters of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, but there is a good chance that you have used one of their meters. MacKay is the only company manufacturing parking meters in Canada and has been in business for more than sixty years.

Parking meters have become increasingly sophisticated, and MacKay Meters has been among the most innovative companies in this space. The company was the first to introduce the use of credit card payment and has the best coin validation system in the industry. The modular design of their smart meters makes it easier to keep the meters current. The company has developed software support to manage and maintain their meters, including the management of time-of-day parking rates around special events. Indeed, there are some years where revenue from their hosted subscription services exceeds their hardware sales. MacKay just completed the world's largest parking project ever undertaken when it installed 13,000 of its smart meters and 3,000 of its pay stations in San Francisco. Since its inception, the company has installed over a million meters.

Our podcast with third generation CEO James MacKay provided an excellent overview of the secret to the company's success over such a long period of time and another reminder of the opportunities that exist for manufacturers in Atlantic Canada.

On this week’s Insights podcast, Don and David speak with Sébastien Dupuis, President & CEO of Assumption Life. The Moncton-based insurance provider has been around for over 100 years, and recently decided to become a national company. From its roots providing insurance services to Acadian households and businesses, Assumption Life is now a rapidly expanding national firm with considerably more clients outside New Brunswick. Sébastien talks about the company’s journey expanding across the country, the business environment for the insurance sector in New Brunswick, and he muses on the importance of ambition as a driver of business growth.

By his own admission, Ron Lovett was a juvenile delinquent and a troublemaker on the wrong track in his early life but also a born entrepreneur. His first business was selling weed. He also has had to learn to deal with both ADHD and dyslexia. In his first book "Outrageous Empowerment", he outlines his management philosophy that is based on employee empowerment, a philosophy that helped him grow Source Security to one of Canada's largest security firms from Halifax with more than 1,500 full-time employees. His personal experience providing executive protection is discussed in the podcast, including an interesting experience with Ringo Starr. After growing his revenues to more than $10 million annually, he sold his business to Pavion in 2023, a large US based technology and systems integration company. After selling Source Security, Lovett started VIDA (formerly VIDA Living) and has since developed a portfolio of 190 buildings with nearly 3,000 affordable rental units employing a new model of offering quality housing at reasonable cost. Lovett is in the process of raising $300 million to grow the number of units to 10,000. His innovative approach to this sector is turning heads. This is a great story and worth a listen.