Helping Cumberland Businesses with Susan McIsaac

E14:  Today’s guest is Susan McIsaac with McIsaac Darragh Chartered Accountants in Amherst, NS.  Susan started work with Grant Thornton in Amherst, NS and earned her CA designation in 1990.  She purchased the Grant Thornton office in 1999 and opened sj McIsaac Chartered Accountants.  In 2007 Vicki Darragh became a partner in the office and the name changed to McIsaac Darragh Chartered Accountants. Susan has been active in our community and her profession. 

I wanted Susan to come on the podcast because she was instrumental in the creation and development of the Cumberland Business Connector. In Episode 4 with Ron Furlong of the , and Episode 7 with Mayor David Kogon, we talked about the Cumberland Business Connector. I thought a lot of people may not know what the Connector is, who Jonathan MacLellan is, and the history behind the Connector. Especially, that the Connector was created by a and still run by a team of local businesspeople. Susan told us the story of how the Cumberland Business Connector was formed who was at the initial meetings, how Jonathan was hired to be the CEO, some of the projects they have taken on and executed, and most importantly how the Cumberland Business Connector can help any business on a regular basis, but especially how it can help during this situation.

As I said during the interview, Jonathan McLellan is a great guy and a fantastic resource for our community and counties. He is available and willing and wants to help. I apologize in advance to him for Susan and I volunteering him as the point of contact for everything we talked about. However, for members of our community is a resource we are lucky to have.

Before we got to the Cumberland Business Connector, Susan shared her story of how she got into accounting – it was not a straight path, and required a meeting with a former local accountant, Kirk Ferguson.  We talked a lot about what an accounting firm like McIsaac Darragh does and offers to our community and local businesses. Finally, Susan also told us who convinced her that teaching accounting wasn’t her calling and she should stick to helping businesses.

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A Couple Terms from today’s episode:

Regional Enterprise Networks – Boards funded by the Provincial governments to focus and promote economic development for different regions of the Province.

Public Accountant – Accountants who work as third-party firms for businesses

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Links from Today’s Episode:

Cumberland Business Connector

Board of Director’s for the Cumberland Business Connector

Ivany Report

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Today’s episode is brought to you by:

The Bicycle Specialist – Basil and Julie Hicks are open limited hours and are willing to pick up your bike, stroller or other items that need servicing. Find The Bicycle Specialist on Facebook or by phone at 660-3393.

Our Backyard BBQ and Smokehouse – Located in the Amherst Town Square Mall, Greg and his team are still open preparing BBQ orders for takeout orders only. Contact them by phone at 661-6146 or by Facebook to ask about their 15% discount for essential workers.

The Great Amherst Gratitude Project

 I’m collecting these stories and sharing them as an episode on the Podcast.  Go to tgapod.com/thanks to share your Thanks and your gratitude.