Louis Deveau founded Acadian Seaplants in 1981, establishing a seaweed industry in Canada. He holds four honorary degrees from Nova Scotia universities is an Officer of the Order of Canada and has received numerous personal awards for entrepreneurship.
He has maintained strong support for Acadian institutions in Nova Scotia, especially Université Sainte-Anne in Church Point where he was chancellor from 2006-2012. The university recently named a new building in his honour.
Jean-Paul Deveau, president of Acadian Seaplants, received a honorary degree in 2014 from Université Sainte-Anne. He was named business person of the year in 2012 by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce and received the Atlantic Canada Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Health Sciences in 2011 and a national citation for socio-ecological excellence.
The younger Deveau serves on the board of several industry associations, was chair of the 2011 Canada Winter Games and is a member of the oneNS Coalition.
The Deveaus’ company employs over 300 people in eight countries and over 500 seasonal harvesters.
Last year, Acadian Seaplants established a 115,000-square foot Center of Excellence production facility at Cornwallis Park.
The company has ranked as one of Canada’s best managed companies for 13 consecutive years and has received numerous awards for environmental stewardship, technology and innovation, export excellence, business ethics, management and safety. Acadian Seaplants recently acquired a processing company in Ireland, bringing the total to five processing facilities on the Atlantic Ocean.
Acadian Seaplants exports its products for people, animals and plants to over 80 countries.
“We’ve made the investments in research, market development and our people to produce value-added premium products in rural Nova Scotia that are sold all over the world,” said Louis E. Deveau in the news release announcing his nomination to the Hall of Fame.
“It is an honour to be included among so many well-respected names in the Nova Scotia Business Hall of Fame,” added Jean-Paul Deveau.
Also named to the Business Hall of Fame are Colin E. MacDonald, chairman and co-founder of Clearwater Seafoods Inc., and Michael Duck, who 30 years ago invented the first portion controlled cream dispenser, which today has become the industry standard for the largest restaurant chains throughout North America.
