Get out of the office, connect with new people, go exploring!
Great advice that we often give our clients. Sometimes we get so busy we neglect our own advice. At the end of November, four Innovation Centre staff took the time to go on a road trip to the west. Actually, a couple of flights and a road trip. Nick Kolobutin, Terry Smith, Jaquelyn Holm and myself got up at 4:00 am to catch a flight to Winnipeg. That was the worst part of the trip. Our first stop, after pancakes, was to visit Chris Johnson at Ascent Works to learn about their Maker Space that is truly a grassroots effort. It was inspiring to see the facility and the variety of design and manufacturing equipment that was developed and funded by volunteers and private sector supporters. The equipment included CNC machines, 3D printers, plasma cutters, etchers, and software that are accessible to their 150 members. This space provides both the tools and the environment to support innovation, product development and creativity. We hope to leverage these ideas as we develop our Advanced Manufacturing initiative here in Northwestern Ontario.
Chris also discussed Ramp-up Manitoba a start-up weekend that runs twice a year. Participants start on the Friday to hear everyone's ideas, they select the best and then form teams to work on developing these ideas. At the end of the weekend the best projects are selected by a panel of judges. Our team is excited to explore how we could adapt this initiative to the realities of Thunder Bay.
Our journey continued to meet with the folks from New Media Manitoba where we learned about their membership driven organization that supports new media companies and provides training to develop talent and the industry.
We also met with TR Tech and learned about the research and support they give to small and large clients in the ICT sector. It was then a walk across the hall to the Eureka project. Gary Brownfield explained their model of incubation and support. It is interesting to see the common challenges found in growing innovative companies. One program that really stood out is Eureka's unique approach to the challenge of marketing and sales. They offer their companies a sales development service where they conduct the sales or market research calls for the client. We have found that many companies do not have the human resources or capacity to fully engage with the market as they commercialize their products. A resource like this could be another piece of the puzzle that helps our clients successful market and launch new products.
All of the initiatives we connected with in Winnipeg were very open and willing to share and collaborate. Although a much larger centre, they have similar challenges in supporting innovative entrepreneurs. I appreciated their grassroots approach, their willingness to experiment and their success in leveraging private sector champions. We will continue to connect with those we met in Winnipeg and utilize their experience and connections to make new innovative things happen in Northwestern Ontario. After a busy and inspiring day in Winnipeg we headed for Kenora.
Posted by: Judy Sander