Parties on both sides of the border are promoting Atlantica as something more than a mere notion. The hope is that local, state, provincial and the two federal governments will take steps necessary to make the region more economically viable and the border less intrusive from a logistics standpoint. (Cargo leaving the increasingly important Port of Halifax must circumnavigate Maine to reach Canadian points west and other destinations.)
      "If we expand our economic zone, we will be right in the middle of European Union and NAFTA economic activity, which is a pretty interesting place to be," says Dianne Kelderman, president of the Moncton, N.B.-based Atlantic Provinces Chambers of Commerce (APCC). "We're working with the business community and the four provincial governments to streamline legislation, regulations and policies to make it easier and more attractive to do business here."
      A Council on Atlantica was formed in late 2004 with representation from entities on both sides of the border. Jonathon Daniels, president and CEO of the Eastern Maine Development Corp., and Neville Gilfoy, publisher of Progress, a business magazine, and a representative to APCC, are co-chairmen of the council. Bi-national transportation policy, border security, freight pre-clearance and joint infrastructure asset utilization issues are among the items on the council's agenda.
      "This is a business initiative, and it's the business people at the table who are pushing this agenda and participating in the policy discussions, doing the advocacy work, the research and analysis," says Kelderman. "It's a purely business-led and business-managed initiative. Fewer elected officials are involved by design on the Canadian side. We don't want this to get bogged down in bureaucracy."
      Kevin Pelley is among those in the business community following Atlantica's progress. Pelley is general manager of Kohltech Windows, a Truro, Nova Scotia-based manufacturer with plants in that province and in Prince Edward Island. His market, for all intents and purposes, is Atlantica.
      "I would like to see the [U.S.-Canada] boundary opened up a bit in the region and a freer movement of goods," says Pelley. "Just to get a FedEx package larger than an envelope from Halifax to Bangor, even overnight, takes three or four days because of customs. I understand, since 9/11, the concern for having a controlled boundary, but there are some business issues we need to look at. The U.S.-Canada border is a political boundary, but what can we do to make it more business-sensitive?"
      On a broader scope, Pelley enthusiastically supports the cross-border efforts to make the whole region more competitive, because the whole region will benefit. "Rather than Maine and New Brunswick competing for a slice of the pie, let's work together and go after a bigger slice of the pie," he says. One day, perhaps, the region's Atlantica moniker will be as familiar to those in global trading circles as the Pacific Rim is, he surmises.