The Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Network invited me to speak yesterday on a subject I hadn’t thought about much – early adopters. It led me to ask what makes a good early adopter, and who’s the best early adopter in Atlantic Canada.

It was a thoroughly unscientific exercise, but I searched through my lists of companies and old articles. When I spoke at the EDN Entrepreneur of the Year event last night, I gave the top spot to Emera of Halifax.

The first thing I was looking for was number of partnerships with startups, and Emera boasts varying degrees of involvement with at least three members of the regional startup community.  A good early adopter also has to be open to investing time and money in young companies, to be flexible enough to adjust operations with the smaller enterprise, and to be patient and candid with the partner. I think Emera fits the bill.

The Halifax-based utility is a corporate member of Equals6, the professional social network for students. It is partnering with Wicked Ideas of Saint John to host an online investigation and discussion of new energy initiatives. And most important, it invested more than $5 million in Atlantic Hydrogen of Fredericton and commissioned the company to construct its first industrial-scale CarbonSaver system at the gas-fired Bayside electricity plant near Saint John.

“We are predominantly a company of engineers and being engineers we have to be always looking for the next thing,” said spokeswoman Sasha Irving yesterday.

She said that given the company’s position as a leading utility in the region, its officials are often among the first to see new technology, and that can lead to discussions about the innovation and then to a partnership.

Kudos to Emera for being adventurous and flexible enough to work with young companies. We could certainly use more of this sort of partnering. The biggest weakness in the ecosystem in the region is the paucity of the so-called tent-pole companies – those that are large enough that they raise other companies up with them.

Tent-pole companies are invaluable because they train employees who go on to establish startups, and they become early adopters for new companies once they are founded.

Government dominates the economy of the region, especially in the Maritimes, and governments tend to be less nimble as early adopters. Innovation often saves money by replacing workers, and governments are reluctant to reduce their workforce. I think the best early adopter among government is the military – largely because military innovation, even fuel efficiency devices, can save the lives of troops in the field.

I’m sure the Irving organization is doing lots of work with startups that I’m not aware of, and its importance will increase as the Halifax shipbuilding program gears up. But in my own reporting so far, Emera comes up most often.

The Entrepreneurs with Disability Network event was great, with a healthy turnout and lots of enthusiasm. The network, which helps people with disabilities to improve their economic opportunities by starting businesses, named Keith Gelhorn, the founder of ADDvocacy ADHD & Life Skills Coaching Ltd., its Entrepreneur of the Year for establishing his coaching group that helps people deal with ADHD.