“P.E.I. is a brand unlike no other. We are not competing with Atlantic Canada; we are singular. If a company wants to be on P.E.I. they’ll be on P.E.I.”
Kimmel is the managing director and co-founder of RevIQ, which develops analytics tools and processes to determine the best way game and app developers can increase their revenue.
He and two others were the panellists for a discussion at the recent economic forum presented by the provincial government.
At the end of the day, P.E.I. has ability, he said.
“We should be willing to go out there and say we don’t need a five-year plan for something. What is something we can do right now? What is the thing we want to try, how can we measure it, what can we turn around in 26 weeks or a year.”
He added, “The easiest way we fix problems in our business is we don’t run one test, we run 10 tests, we run 100 tests. One test might be the one that fixes; it 99 of them won’t work, but you’re never going to find the one if you don’t run hundreds.”
David Dunphy, the mayor of Stratford, also acted as a panellist in the discussion.
When asked how to better engage youth in business and what it takes to make a business succeed, he said, “Education is critical to the success of any and all of the workforce.”
“A lot of people don’t hear about entrepreneurship in school… We have to cultivate the sense that people can be entrepreneurs; they can be self-employed and have their own business.”
Dunphy believes what’s needed is spaces for young people to get involved.
“If we get it into the school system then, of course, it will create opportunities for young people, whether it’s funding, facilities, mentors and we have to support them.”
Robert Irving, of Cavendish Farms, was encouraged by what he heard from the panel.
“The focus was how to drive the economy on P.E.I., and it’s very important that the government take a leadership role and getting participation from all parts of the Island in terms of industry, government municipality and community associations to get their insight and input on how we can continue to make the economy viable on P.E.I. for future generations.”
