The Nova Scotia Commission on Building Our New Economy, which filed its report last week, took note of the accomplishments of the startup community, and asked me to produce a few recommendations on how to enhance the performance.

The Commission, headed by Acadia University professor Ray Ivany, was charged by the previous government with examining the Nova Scotian economy and recommending ways to improve it. (I was going to write “fix it”, but that would be distorting the actual mandate.) The report called for a huge change in culture, in which business growth is encouraged, rewarded and respected.

My five recommendations appear on page 176 of the report. Regular readers of Entrevestor will be familiar with the arguments:

1.       Develop a regional startup strategy;

2.       Enhance the equity tax credit program;

3.       Develop technology sales skills;

4.       Teach more computer science in schools;

5.       And accept that tech is largely an urban phenomenon.

The report also includes an examination of exports by Jupia Consultants President David Campbell, whose blogs and columns always make for enlightened reading. His recommendations, including a call for a greater focus on service exports, begin on page 184.