Ocean Sonics moves to Truro Heights

TRURO HEIGHTS, N.S. — Sustainability, green living, lots of space and natural light.
When the management of Oceans Sonics in Great Village decided they wanted to construct a larger facility in Truro, those were some of the driving factors that went into the design of their new building.
“It just kind of shows our commitment to the planet and being sustainable and also its partly for employees, to make them feel good that what we are doing is the right thing,” said operations manager Desirée Stockermans.
“This is just one small thing we can do.”
Ocean Sonics designs and manufactures the icListen Smart Hydrophone and other products for improving the quality and success of underwater sound measurements.
The company has been situated in Great Village since 2000 when it had one employee – owner Mark Wood – and was known as Instrument Concepts.
In 2012 the name was changed to Ocean Sonics and the company now has 17 employees, following a major growth spurt between 2017 and 2018.
“We needed more space,” Stockermans said.
While the Great Village building was good to grow in, she said, there was limited ability with the property to expand.
“So, we couldn’t rebuild in that location,” she said. “The other thing is, trying to get new, talented employees has always been a challenge in rural Nova Scotia, and I think that is right across the board.”
Stockermans said the company hopes to expand its employee numbers to between 25 and 30 in coming years.
The new building was designed to enable increased production as well as to give employees sufficient space to comfortably work within, along with lots of large windows to provide natural light.
Ocean Sonics is a Certified B Corporation and the design for the new building, was also chosen carefully, Stockermans said, to encourage the company values of providing positive impacts for its employees, communities and the environment, while growing and maintaining a profitable business.
The building, located in Truro Heights, was designed to have a very low impact on the environment, with potential for a living green roof and with all materials and labour, such as exterior wood siding, either sustainably or locally sourced.
“This is just one small thing we can do,” she said. “It’s still just pushing that boundary that these are things people can do. And unless they see models of it, no one is ever going to do it.”
Ocean Sonics products are used to measure sounds in the water for construction projects near ports during pile driving, when developing offshore wind farms and so forth.
“Renewable energy is an area that we work closely with, as well,” Stockermans said.
Its clients are situated throughout North America, Europe and Asia.