RevJet moves 20 high-tech jobs to Saint John from Ukraine

Technology company RevJet has moved its office and 20 employees to Saint John from Ukraine and is going to receive upwards of $400,000 from Opportunities New Brunswick to maintain the positions for three years.

The jobs announcement was made in Saint John on Tuesday morning with Premier Brian Gallant and officials and workers from the company.

Mitchell Weisman, the founder and chief executive officer of RevJet, said he was "thrilled" to see the company's new Saint John office in the City Hall building.

"Thanks to Opportunities NB and the Government of New Brunswick, the relocation process has been incredibly smooth for our employees and their families," he said in a statement.

"We are delighted to have played a part in bringing these highly educated engineers to Eastern Canada."

Opportunities New Brunswick will offer up to $400,000 in payroll rebates for keeping the 20 full-time jobs for three years.

The company, which was created by LifeStreet Media, works in the in-app advertising business for programs that use Apple iOS, Android and Facebook.

Along with the 20 employees, some of RevJet's workers also brought family members to Saint John.

The city has already welcomed 48 Ukrainians, according to the provincial government.

The company said in a statement it wanted to leave Ukraine because of the continued unrest in the country.

RevJet also had issues with limited visa opportunities in the United States, so the technology company started to look to Canada as a place to relocate some of its workers.

The premier said Saint John's competitiveness helped lure RevJet to the city.

Gallant said he was encouraged to welcome the new workers from Ukraine.

"These are not only people that have come in that want to build their lives here but they have come in to do some very high level work as research and developers and software developers, which is going to be great for the tech sector ecosystem here in the province," Gallant said.

This is the latest tech company to lure jobs to New Brunswick.

IBM has brought jobs to Fredericton as well as Saint John and Florenceville-Bristol. Last week, a Fredericton technology company announced it was adding 145 new jobs to create and expand an Aboriginal software testing company.