Official Newsletter of the Canadian Association of Business Incubators
Inside this Issue:
bIG DEAL FOR INCUBATION GRADUATE
In 1991, the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) crowned Calgary-based BW Technologies Ltd. with the association's first ever Graduate of the Year Award.
Since then, the gas detector manufacturing company has received numerous accolades, including awards for innovation, entrepreneurship, export achievement, and speed of company growth. In early May of this year, the company made headlines again when it signed a quarter billion dollar deal with Britain's First Technology PLC, the global safety and environmental sensing specialist. First Technology bought BW Technologies for $260 million, paying the equivalent of $36 each for its outstanding 7.2 million shares. BW Technologies will continue its operations in Calgary.
A 1988 graduate of the incubation program operated by Calgary Technologies Inc. (formerly Calgary Advanced Technology Centre), BW Technologies designs, manufactures and markets through global distributors a full line of gas detection equipment for the protection of people and facilities around the world. Poisonous gases are a daily risk for those working in many industries, including mining, fire rescue, oil and gas, and pulp and paper. The company makes portable, hand-held instruments, as well as detectors that can be stationed or affixed in buildings. The instruments are high-tech, modern-day versions of canaries historically used in coal mines.
BW Technologies' skills in instrument design and manufacture and its market leadership in portable gas detection instruments, when combined with First Technology's leading sensor technologies, should only bolster BW Technologies' continued tremendous growth. This incubator graduate continues to be a company to watch.
Alberta's value-added food processing industry will soon reach advanced heights with help from a new business incubator in Leduc, Alta., a community just 15 minutes south of Edmonton.
Scheduled to open for business in autumn 2005, the Agrivalue Processing Business Incubator will help early-stage entrepreneurs make the transition from product and process development to the marketplace. The facility will provide dedicated production facilities, business-planning guidance, and access to industry expertise. The provincial government announced the project a year ago, and the facility design work is almost completed. Construction is slated to start this September.
Attached to Leduc's existing Food Processing Development Centre (FPDC), the new incubator will occupy 6,870 sq.m and will feature eight self-contained processing bays for clients. The facility will also offer common dry storage areas, common freezers and coolers for raw ingredients and finished products, and common shipping, receiving and maintenance areas. An administrative area and offices for clients, a lunchroom, and meeting and networking spaces round out the facility's assets.
A
comprehensive array of business, legal, accounting, distribution and marketing
services will be available to clients at the incubator. Clients can also
access quality assurance and technical assistance from the FPDC
next door. The incubator, like the FPDC, will be registered by the Canadian
Food Inspection Agency for meat, dairy and processed foods. It will also
have organic certification and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point
(HACCP) recognition.
Managed by Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (AAFRD), the incubator's total cost is estimated at $18 million. The facility will likely be the only operation of its kind in Canada when completed. For more information, contact Ron Pettitt, director of the Processing Development Division, Food Processing Development Centre, at 780.980.4862.
cANADIAN
CONTINGENT IN ATLANTA
Canada
was well represented again this year at the National Business Incubation
Association's (NBIA) 18th annual International Conference on Business
Incubation in Atlanta, Georgia, in late April. About 26 Canadians joined
almost 600 delegates from 38 nations and across the United States.
The
conference offered numerous educational sessions and networking venues
to help business incubation and economic development professionals from
around the world learn more about developing sustainable incubation programs
and nurturing entrepreneurial talent. With the theme The Power of Supporting
Entrepreneurs, the conference focused on both basic business incubation
strategies and new industry trends.
Two CABI board members, InNOVAcorp's David McNamara and the National
Research Council - Industry Partnership Facility's Jean-Jacques Ledoux,
led an afternoon Preconference Institute workshop entitled Power of
Partnerships: Positioning Your Incubator as a Player. During the well-attended
session, David and Jean-Jacques shared their wisdom about creating effective
relationships with diverse organizations, from universities and regional
development agencies, to attorneys and angel investors, with the goal
of increasing the success of an incubator and its clients.
In
addition, during the conference's two-day program, Canadians led about
six info sessions on building cross-boarder partnerships, the incubation
graduation process, support services for bioscience companies, incubation
real estate challenges, measuring an incubator's impact, and the trends
of the Canadian incubation scene. And, in the conference's exhibition
area, a CABI display booth promoted incubation and innovation in Canada,
along with this fall's CABI Annual Conference in Gatineau, Que.
CABI was also popular for its sponsorship of the event's International Reception, which was held at the World of Coca-Cola Museum. While mingling with their incubation colleagues over munchies and beverages (including Coca-Cola), conference attendees browsed the three-story museum and learned about the history and future of this popular drink around the globe.
Congratulations, everyone, for a strong Canadian presence at this international event!
gENESIS
CENTRE CELEBRATES FOURTEENTH GRADUATION
Newfoundland and Labrador's Genesis Centre recently celebrated the success of iMIRADOR, its 14th incubation graduate company.
With
five employees, iMIRADOR has developed an innovative process to capture,
consolidate, and integrate all new public filings relating to property
transactions into an online land registry database. Using digitization
and working in cooperation with the province's Registry of Deeds, iMIRADOR
offers this information to real estate professionals and businesses in
an easy-to-use web-based format. Real estate professionals will save time
and money by not having to travel to the various offices from which the
data originates. 
"Our incubation period allowed us to benefit from lessons learned by the Genesis Centre staff and previous clients, as well as gain access to a network of professionals in an advisory capacity," said Don White, president of iMIRADOR. "During our tenure, we were able to lay a solid foundation allowing us to develop the technology, obtain proof of concept and secure the capital to commercialize."
iMIRADOR's
graduation comes on the heels of the company having received a significant
placement of private investment capital. The company also received financial
assistance from the provincial Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural
Development, the National Research Council, and Human Resources Development
Canada. Memorial University assisted in part by awarding iMIRADOR a contract
to digitize microfilm in its library, enabling the company to finance
a critical piece of equipment.
The
Genesis Centre is a division of GENESIS Group Inc., the technology commercialization
arm of Memorial University. Based at Memorial's St. John's campus, the
Genesis Centre has brought private investment to its incubated companies
in excess of $4 million. For further information, please contact the Centre's
manager, Keelin O'Leary, at 709.737.2365.
nEW
CANADIAN VOICE ON NBIA BOARD
Congratulations to CABI executive board member Jean-Jacques Ledoux, who was recently elected to sit on the National Business Incubation Association's board of directors. A passionate believer in the power of incubation, Jean-Jacques is the manager of NRC's Industry Partnership Facility in Ottawa. He will serve a three-year term for NBIA, beginning in October.
2004 CABI CONFERENCE - DON'T MISS IT!
With a theme of Making the Connection, the 13th Annual Conference for the Canadian Association of Business Incubators is fast approaching. This year's conference and networking will take place October 18-20, 2004, at the Château Cartier Resort in Gatineau, Que. The pre-conference workshops will happen on October 17.
If you haven't already marked this conference on your calendars, please do so now. Your attendance will add to the networking and plenary discussions. Plenary sessions will include such timely topics as "Questions Organizations and Boards Should Ask When Developing Their Privacy Policy" (PIPEDA legislation) and "Accessibility Awareness: A Checklist of 'What To' and 'How To' for Opening Your Doors to the New Way of Entrepreneurs with Disabilities."
The conference agenda along with registration forms will be posted on the CABI website in July. Plus, new this year, you can register online at www.cabi.ca. We look forward to your participation at this year's conference. See you there!
iNCUBATOR
DARES INVENTORS TO TAKE IDEAS TO MARKET
By Melissa Gorrie, Director of Communications,
Northwestern Ontario Technology Centre, Thunder Bay, ON
Located in Thunder Bay, Ont., the Northwestern Ontario Technology Centre (NOTC) has discovered a way to lure innovators and inventors out of their garages and into the market.
The IDEA Factory Challenge began in September 2002 when the NOTC dared the people of Northwestern Ontario to submit their business ideas for a prize package worth up to $150,000. The prize came in the form of business assistance from the NOTC, including a business expense fund, space in the incubator, business services, and access to further financial assistance.
There was an overwhelming response to the challenge that year, with about 109 ideas submitted. The panel of judges had the difficult task of choosing only six winning ideas.
One 2002 winner, Robert Marchese, inventor of the Markeze, a revolutionary device that attaches to a boat trailer to assist in the unloading and loading of any 16-22 ft. recreational boat, has since had his product recognized by Outdoor Canada magazine as Best New Product. Marchese says, "Winning the IDEA Factory Challenge is the best thing that happened since I invented the Markeze. After receiving support from the NOTC, I realized that inventing a product was only half the battle, as I needed assistance in so many different areas. Thanks to the support of the NOTC, things are starting to happen."
While working with the six winners in 2002, the NOTC staff learned many lessons about bringing ideas to market and working with innovators. The top five lessons were: 1.) The passion for the idea pays off. 2.) Intellectual property protection (patents, trademarks, etc.) can be critical and professional advice should be sought. 3.) Successful ideas solve a problem or fill a need. 4.) The idea must be unique because there is always competitive choice. 5.) Innovators need to recognize that 10 per cent of something is better than 100 per cent of nothing.
In
addition to these lessons, participants increased their understanding
of how to protect intellectual property and how to connect with engineers
who can assist in product design for cost, assembly and manufacturability.
After completing the IDEA Factory Challenge in 2002, the NOTC expanded
its mandate to include innovation in addition to technology. The Centre
now offers a program in partnership with IRAP (Industrial Research Assistance
Program) that provides early-stage innovators with financial assistance
in advancing their products into the market.
The NOTC is now in full swing with the second IDEA Factory Challenge after offering a prize package to two successful applicants, Irvin Marshall, and Aarno Vesa. Both have invented a product and are at the initial stage of intellectual property protection and prototype design.
aNNOUNCING CABI'S 2ND ANNUAL SURVEY ON CANADIAN INCUBATION
Just a reminder that CABI's annual survey on business incubation is currently being prepared by Synergyx Performance Inc., and will be sent to everyone in mid July. The survey will also be available on our CABI website at www.cabi.ca, and you will be able to complete it online. By replying early, you will be eligible to win free registration to this fall's CABI Conference. So, if you want to take advantage of the CABI Conference and save the registration fee, reply to this year's survey as soon as you get it so your name will be placed in the "hat" for CABI's "free conference registration fee" draw.
cABI
BOARD OF DIRECTORS, OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE CHAIRS
Below is a list of our CABI board of directors, officers and committee
chairs:
Executive Committee
Ed Hobbs, Toronto, ON - Chair
Marie Lussier, Ottawa, ON - President
Michel Fortier, Gatineau, QC - Vice-President
Jean-Jacques Ledoux, Ottawa, ON - Treasurer
Cheryl Mulgrave, Toronto, ON - Corporate Secretary
Committee Chairs
Executive Committee (see above) - Business Development Committee
Michel Fortier, Hull, QC - Finance Committee
Laurence Hewick, Hamilton, ON - Research Committee
Ed Hobbs, Toronto, ON - Conference Committee
Jim Hughes, Calgary, AB - Elections Committee
Jean-Jacques Ledoux, Ottawa, ON - Membership Committee
David McNamara, Halifax, NS - International Relations Committee
Board of Directors
Keelin O'Leary, St. John's, NL
John Parsons, Pasadena, NL
David McNamara, Halifax, NS
Don Lyon, Fredericton, NB
Michel Fortier, Gatineau, QC
Jean-Jacques Ledoux, Ottawa, ON
Marie Lussier, Ottawa, ON
André Lafrenière, Kawartha Lakes, ON
Ed Hobbs, Toronto, ON
Andrew Maxwell, Mississauga, ON
Laurence Hewick, Hamilton, ON
Judy Sander, Thunder Bay, ON
Karen Keppler, Winnipeg, MB
Jim Hughes, Calgary, AB
Lorne Ross, St. Albert, AB
The board of directors meets every two months via conference call. The CABI executive committee meets regularly and communicates daily to deal with CABI's day-to-day activities.
Publisher Information
Editor in Chief: Dawn House
Technical Assistant: Michelle McCurdy
Extracts from this publication may be reproduced for individual use without permission, provided the source is fully acknowledged. However, reproduction of this publication in whole or in part for purposes of resale or redistribution requires written permission from CABI.
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