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One of the factors that has stifled economic development in New Brunswick is isolation. There's no shortage of people with good ideas; what gets in the way of entrepreneurs is the difficulty of accessing capital, making useful contacts or acquiring new business and technical expertise.

MyNexia could change that.

Entrepreneur Nancy Mathis describes MyNexia as "Lavalife for businesses." Like Lavalife.com, it will help members build new social networks - matching up companies with mentors and potential partners and investors, just as online dating services match up interested singles.

In the era when knowledge and investment can travel the globe in a matter of seconds, via the Internet, this seems like a natural development. But no other jurisdiction has applied the concept of social networking and database searching for business on as broad a scale as MyNexia. How large it grows will depend on how many businesses and aspiring business owners get involved.

The initiative's leading proponents include the N.B. Securities Commission, Enterprise Fredericton, the Wallace McCain Institute and Learn NB. The idea is to create shortcuts for emerging businesses, connecting them more rapidly with the knowledge, technology, business opportunities and capital they need to expand and reach wider markets.

We've written extensively about the need to foster economic development from within New Brunswick. There is a growing awareness in government, business and education that entrepreneurs in this province can compete, provided the barriers of isolation can be broken down.

People with good ideas need to be able to connect with those who have the knowledge to turn ideas into products and services. Entrepreneurs need new avenues for developing their business acumen. Existing businesses need encouragement to connect with others in related fields, so smaller companies can work together to secure bigger contracts. All businesses need better access to capital investment and more useful information about the services government provides.

MyNexia has the potential to address these needs. With just a few clicks of a computer mouse, business owners looking for expertise, government assistance or private sector financing will be able to make the contacts they need.

It's an opportunity whose time has come.