On the busy road to innovation

Is it just my imagination, or has the pace really picked up around here lately?

Once upon a time you could drive down Commercial Street in New Minas and have a reasonable chance of getting where you wanted to go within a certain timeframe.

You can forget about that now, though I’m not convinced it’s a bad thing.

Sure, people who are used to arriving at a destination in jig time have a huge problem with the current congestion. It’s annoying, they say, and sometimes (depending on the kind of day you’re having) leads not only to frustration, but outright road rage.

Who’d have thunk it? Road rage right here in Kings County. I’ve seen it, too, although never up close (thank God!).

Demands are greater than ever before and such things as the inauguration of Sunday shopping, the proliferation of construction locally to accommodate the current population influx (and baby boom, too) and the shift from a rural to urban psychology are indicative of the trend.

Long-standing residents have noticed an alteration in the Zeitgeist and are understandably concerned. What’s disturbing, I think, is its subtlety. Change – which few people are equipped to manage even at the best of times – has crept in on cat’s feet and overtaken the proverbial house while the societal collective has dozed.

What was once the norm has been challenged by concepts and mores that have outstripped our apprehension of them. The buzzwords now are innovation, toleration, advancement, success, lifestyle.

But the lifestyle that once recommended and enticed people to this region – country living – seems anachronistic. Family farms are disappearing and farmers are forced to add value to remain competitive.

It’s truly a matter of lead, follow or get out of the way. In more and more cases, many communities have seen an erosion of their economic base as farmers simply opt out. The race has been run and the cost was too high.

It all sounds bleak, doesn’t it? The truth is, as much as people resist change, there are many in the area who promote it actively and herald it as our key to future success.

Take, for instance, the Kings Innovation Council and the Innovation 101 session slated for Friday at Festival Theatre in Wolfville. A group of forward thinkers from the Kings CED and other local agencies have pooled their talents and determined that Kings County can be a locus for entrepreneurship in Canada.

The idea is to foster a sustainable system that will create an entrepreneurial culture and drive innovation. World-renowned speaker Dr. Lance Secretan will be on hand to lead a couple of keynote sessions Friday. His goal? To provoke thought and to kickstart the innovation process locally.

For more on the sessions, contact Marianne Gates at Marianne@kingsced.ns.ca.

This is just one example of where we’re headed and we had better get used to it. If you’ve ever held that Kings County is Sleepy Hollow North, think again.

Industry of all imagining thrums beneath the quiet façade of rural town life. What’s different is its emergence over the past number of years such that what was considered off the beaten track is now poised for prominence.

Innovation 101 is just the start. The Atlantica concept is another avenue of exploration that could result in further activity here that will force a revised definition of a region in transition.

Indeed, the pace has picked up, boys and girls, and we have a choice to make: get onboard or be overwhelmed by the oncoming tide.