Dennis Campbell, the Founder of Ambassatours, first became interested in the tour business at the age of seven years ago when he accompanied one of his sister's guided tours and started his company in 1987 while still in high school. At its peak, the company had annual revenues of $30 million and employed nearly eight hundred people,100 buses and served 19-21 ports. Last year the company had 450,000 customers using the company's various land, water and amphibious tours. In this podcast, Dennis takes us on his personal business journey as he built his company, including some of the early challenges financing its growth, eventually selling off parts of his business as he begins winding down his long successful career. From the Harbour Hopper to double decker buses, the Silva, Harbour Queen, Theodore Tugboat, and the Magic Winery Tours, there is a very good chance listeners will have been on one of Dennis's tours. His role in the development of the hospitality sector within the region cannot be overstated. He is the consummate storyteller as you will see from this conversation.

This week's Insights Podcast is the first in our sponsored BioEconomy Series over the next three months in partnership with the Greenspring BioInnovation Hub and Bioindustrial Innovation Canada and features a conversation with JC Amado, Chief Development Officer with Vyterra Renewals and Cassie Turple, member of the third generation of family owners of Ledwidge Lumber about their interesting collaboration that will see the construction of a 40 million litre plant on Ledwidge's property using Vyterra's proprietary Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) technology and the wood by products from Ledwidge's operations to convert wood into low carbon fuel. The plant will cost $200 million to build and is expected to be operational by the end of 2027 and will use the feedstock of 2-3 sawmills in the province, which lost a significant customer for their products with the closure of Northern Pulp. If successful, Vyterra's has hopes of building two other similar plants in the province.

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.