Saint John-based diversified technology company Mariner Partners has named its Co-Founder and Chair Gerry Pond to the new position of Chair Emeritus two decades after he helped to found the company. 

Pond has spent decades as one of Atlantic Canada’s most strident advocates for innovation and entrepreneurship, first as the CEO of NBTel and president of Aliant Telecom, and then as a founder and investor. A large proportion of the New Brunswick startups in the Entrevestor databank have ties to at least one of Pond’s numerous projects, and many have ties to several.

Alongside Bob Justason and Curtis Howe, he founded Mariner, which now has nearly 400 employees. They incorporated without a specific market offering, but with a goal of fostering innovation to benefit Atlantic Canada.

Today, Mariner is the umbrella company for fast-growing edge computing company Shift Energy, as well as a maker of computer networking software, an innovation-focused consultancy and the East Valley Ventures angel group. Pond has also privately invested in 51 startups, including the transformative Q1 Labs and Radian6, which exited for a combined price of about $1 billion in 2011-2012, when the East Coast startup ecosystem was still nascent.

“Gerry’s leadership and dedication to our region cannot be overstated,” Co-Founder Howe, who replaces Pond as Board Chair, said in a note to media. “He has had a singular impact as a business leader and a humanitarian.

“Gerry’s influence will continue to guide Mariner into the future. His principles are in our marrow.” 

Pond calls his work of bolstering innovation on the East Coast “The Project” — an undertaking that has earned him numerous awards and accolades, including the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Atlantic Lifetime Achievement Award and the first Business Development Bank of Canada Entrepreneurship Champion award.

In addition to Mariner, he co-founded virtual startup incubator Propel ICT, as well as the Pond-Deshpande Centre at the University of New Brunswick, which leverages the school’s brain trust to help the private sector. He also co-founded UNB’s MBA applied research chair in sales and its MBA program in business development and professional sales,