In many contexts, the words “safety” and “innovation” appear as opposites. Innovation requires a spirit of risk-taking, which seems to run counter to the instinct for security and protection.
Unless, that is, your role is to safeguard the population and the economy of an entire province.
That’s the reason the Research and Productivity Council (RPC) was established as a provincial crown corporation more than 60 years ago. According to the legislation that established it, RPC exists to fulfill a double mandate: to improve “quality of life” for New Brunswickers and to increase “economic viability and competitiveness in the Province.”
With labs in Fredericton and Moncton , RPC serves about 1,000 clients a year, across a wide range of industries. Through its testing and design services, it touches every sector of the New Brunswick economy, both traditional domains (such as fisheries, forestry, and agriculture) as well as newer and emerging sectors.
RPC’s dual focus makes it especially valuable to regulated industries, such as food and cannabis, which require sophisticated testing to solve problems and develop new products. For example, a recent project examined the presence of heavy metals in foods core to the Indigenous diet, such as moose, eel, and salmon.
Peter Crowhurst, a long-time RPC chemist who’s now Director of Productivity and Training, says how rewarding it was to be part of that project: “It felt that we were really contributing to the wellness of a particular community, the Indigenous community, in New Brunswick.”
RPC also monitors water quality for many municipalities and homeowners throughout the province. For example, the changing climate has made bacterial contamination of water supply a growing hazard. RPC is mitigating this risk by developing advanced testing that not only detects certain bacteria but also predicts whether that bacteria is likely to produce toxins.
CEO Diane Botelho describes the RPC team of scientists, engineers, and technicians as “driven to innovate and provide a social good.” Unlike commercial labs, which are profit-driven, RPC innovation is powered by public service.
At the same time, says Botelho, the organization also responds to the needs of businesses and government “at the speed of business.” When an organization approaches RPC with a problem to solve, or an idea for a way to improve productivity, they can get help quickly, sometimes within a matter of weeks.
During the COVID pandemic, for instance, RPC quickly mobilized dozens of scientists to turn just 25 test kits into 15,000 kits within just six weeks.
RPC also has an emergency response line available to businesses 24/7. If a manufacturing plant runs into a safety issue that could compromise its product or its employees, RPC swoops in to perform testing, assess the risk, and get the plant up and running as soon as possible.
In today’s ecological situation and economic conditions, innovation has become critical for New Brunswick’s citizens in more than one sense. For RPC, says Botelho, “it’s all about the social good component.”
Andrien Rackov, Director of Research and Controlled Substances, seconds that. “No matter how simple or how complicated the work that we do,” he says, “the outcome is really what matters.”
