Meet Margret Kennedy, a Sales Manager with the IBM Canada Contact Centre.  With over twenty years of corporate sales experience and a lucrative career in Toronto working a major downtown financial account, Margret was a self-proclaimed "hard core blue suit".  But all that changed four years ago when Margret and her family decided to head for a new life on the east coast.

Choosing to leave behind their extended family and the busy energy of a city like Toronto was not something that came easily to Margret and her husband.  But the combination of exciting developments fuelled by innovation, and the chance to raise their boys in a friendly community with strong family values finally tipped the scales.  An employment opportunity with IBM in Saint John started the love affair and four years later Margret has traded her blue suit for a bicycle helmet.

"From a family, life and opportunity perspective, Saint John is a very special place to live." says Margret.  "I get to ride my bike to work, and for lunch I take a relaxing ride uptown on the Harbour Passage and check out the cruise ships."

Being employed by a company like IBM in Saint John also helps her keep a healthy work/life balance - when she and her family first moved to Saint John IBM provided her with part-time hours so that she could look after the building of her new home, run around with the kids and generally settle in to the community.  A year later she was working full time again, but taking advantage of IBM`s technology to work virtually when life demanded it.

The easy access to nature in Saint John is another huge plus for Margret.  An avid bicycler, snoeshower and boater, she takes full advantage of the variety of parks, green-spaces and waterways in the community.  As a member of a bicycling club, she regularly takes weekend rides to the near-by Kingston Peninsula and gets a huge kick out of riding the free cable ferries.  "It`s so neat!" she exclaims when talking about her trips, "where else can you ride these cool little ferries for free, and enjoy the beauty of the river while you`re at it?"

When asked what she thinks is so special about life in Saint John, her thoughtful response is; "I value the fact that I work, live and play in the same community.  How many people can leave work and a few minutes later be on a boat?  Or run home from work, whip the kids to hockey practice and be back before anyone`s noticed you`re gone?"

For Margret and her family this is a very rare community, one they`re proud to call home.  It`s the place where they can have everything they want exactly the way they want it.