General Business News

[UrbanWaterloo]

General Business News
For general news about businesses in Waterloo Region that doesn't require it's own thread.

http://www.revnyou.com/images/CanadianMoney.JPG (http://www.revnyou.com/Making_Money_in_Real_Estate_is_as_Easy_as_1-2-3.html)

[Spokes]

Canada’s Technology Triangle moving to downtown Kitchener
January 07, 2010 | Record Staff | Link (http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/652749)


Canada’s Technology Triangle Inc. is moving its offices to downtown Kitchener effective Feb. 1.

The economic development organization has been housed in the Centre for International Governance Innovation building on Erb Street in Waterloo. But the soon-to-open Balsillie School of International Affairs will need that space, prompting the move, said John Jung, chief executive of Canada’s Technology Triangle.

The organization is moving into 3,000 square feet of office space on the third floor of a building at 260 King St. W., next door to the old Eaton’s building and not far from Kitchener City Hall.

Although the move was mainly prompted by fact the Balsillie school needs the current space, Jung said the move will be beneficial for the organization. Its eight full-time staff members, plus part-time and temporary staff work on projects to promote the area and draw foreign investment here.

“We really are in a business environment and we need to have a business face,” Jung said. The building where the organization is located now is more institutional in nature and didn’t have a room for business meetings, which is something that the space in Kitchener will provide, he said.

The new location will also be more central to Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo, and will help to foster more synergy as the organization works with other economic development and city promotion departments across the region, he added.

[Spokes]

^^ A great addition to the downtown core! Every little bit helps.

[jay]

Now all they have to do is fix the mess of the Eaton Lofts...

[Spokes]

Ya that's quite a big mess. I wonder what all is unresolved still. They need to figure things out though and fix the building up. There is a lot of empty/poor retail space waiting to be filled and it won't be until the legal issues are worked out.

EDIT: It's too bad theres no one on WW that lives/lived there. Or is there?

[RangersFan]

Waterloo Region’s economy poised for strong growth

January 27, 2010
Record staff

WATERLOO REGION – Waterloo Region’s economy is poised for a big rebound this year, says the Conference Board of Canada.

The local economy is expected to grow 3.3 per cent this year after and an average of 4.2 per cent from 2011 to 2014, the board said today in its Metropolitan Outlook report.

“This is forecast to ultimately fuel stronger hikes in employment, population and housing starts, particularly starting in 2011,” the board said in the report.

Unemployment, which averaged 9.4 per cent in 2009, the highest on record, will slowly ease as employment grows, falling to 6.9 per cent in 2012 and 5.8 per cent in 2013, the board said.

The strong growth comes after a year in which the area’s GDP (gross domestic product) plunged 3.4 per cent, the board said.

It also will give the region the third strongest economic growth among the 27 urban centres featured in the report. For the coming year, it will be topped only by Vancouver, at 4.5 per cent, and Toronto, at 3.5 per cent.

The local forecast is for the Kitchener census metropolitan area, which includes all of Waterloo Region except for Wellesley and Wilmot townships.

The region’s hard hit manufacturing sector will play a big role in the recovery, the board said. Manufacturing output declined by an estimated 13.6 per cent in 2009, but the sector is stabilizing and showing signs of revival, it said.

Companies such as Toyota, Com Dev International, Innovative Steam Technologies and Heroux-Devtek are expanding production, helping power the manufacturing sector to forecasted growth of 3.2 per cent this year and an average of 6.2 per cent from 2011 to 2014.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Blue Coat grows with a green edge
By Rose Simone, Record staff - January 30, 2010
http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/664443

http://media.therecord.topscms.com/images/ae/81/155d4eff4586b4b17b0476432631.jpeg
Greg Veres (left) and Kim Tremblay, vice-presidents of engineering at software company Blue Coat Systems Inc. look for people who are committed to improving the environment when they are filling jobs.

WATERLOO – Environmental concerns often take a back seat when companies are expanding quickly. But Blue Coat Systems Inc., an international networking solutions company with an office in Waterloo, has proven that it’s possible to grow its economic footprint while reducing the environmental one.

Blue Coat (http://www.bluecoat.com/), headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif. and with offices in major cities around the world, currently employs almost 80 people in Waterloo.

It is gearing up to potentially double the size of its workforce here. Late last year, the company moved into larger quarters to bring its growing staff together under one roof and have more room to grow.

The new location, on Frobisher Drive in the north end of Waterloo, contains 40,000 square feet of space and has room for as many as 200 people. The official opening was held this week.

“We are expecting to grow significantly,” says Kim Tremblay, vice-president of engineering in Blue Coat’s Waterloo office “We have already started recruiting 15 to 20 additional people and will continue to do that throughout the year.”

The company has an office in Waterloo since 1998, when it was known as CacheFlow and mainly produced software for equipment sold to internet service providers. Over the years, the company developed a bigger market in providing networking solutions to large enterprises, and it changed its name to Blue Coat.

By last fall, the company’s Waterloo branch had grown so much, employees were scattered between a main office on Northfield Drive and a satellite office on Weber Street.

“We wanted to get people working together again to be more efficient, but also have the space to prepare for the next phase of our growth,” says Greg Veres, also a vice-president of engineering.

Blue Coat also is putting the emphasis on making that growth as green as possible.

The company’s new lab, which holds servers and Blue Coat boxes used to test the company’s software, is on an energy-efficient cooling system. It uses one-third less power than the lab in the old building, which was smaller and tended to “overheat a lot,” Tremblay says.

The company also has automated turn-offs for equipment not in use. The lights are on timers and meeting rooms have motion switches so lights go off when no one in the room. The paint on the walls was produced with more environmentally friendly compounds and the carpeting is made of recycled materials. Bike racks and showers are available for employees who want to bike to work.

When customers replace their equipment, they are encouraged to send back the old equipment so the materials can be recycled. “We tell them not to junk it. We will recycle it and use it appropriately,” Veres says.

It is all part of the company’s worldwide Blue Planet initiative, which includes contests and programs to encourage staff in offices in places such as Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, London, Tokyo, as well as Waterloo, to submit ideas for how the company can achieve and surpass its carbon footprint reduction targets.

When interviewing candidates for jobs, the company pays attention to their commitment to the environment, as well as their academic and technical qualifications.

Tremblay says the environmental program is popular with the relatively young workforce. “They like the fact that they can send in their ideas and see the strides that the company is making.”

The company has grown in Waterloo partly because it has consolidated some office operations, Veres says. But the hiring is also happening here because the company wants to build new products and sees Waterloo, with its rich math and computer talent pool, as a good place to do that, he says.

Blue Coat sells network appliance boxes that sit in server rooms and operate as part of the network infrastructure for large companies and internet service providers.

The Waterloo office works on software that allows those boxes to do the job of speeding up internet traffic, save bandwidth, and provide companies with the ability to filter the types of websites people can access within the walls of their own enterprises.

Worldwide, Blue Coat has 1,450 employees and 15,000, and sales of about $450 million US.

Over the years, the business focus shifted from internet service providers to large enterprises, which typically have offices around the world that need to be on the same network. Now, the company is once again eyeing opportunities to sell to internet service providers, Tremblay says.

To do that, the company has started a new business unit, called CacheFlow, which will operate under the Blue Coat umbrella and be run from the Waterloo office.

Internet service providers are interested in solutions that will save on costly bandwidth using a method known “web caching.” This involves storing content, such as YouTube videos, for example, on their Blue Coat devices. That way, when the next person accesses that same video, it can be retrieved from the local device and there isn’t as much web traffic travelling as far to get the same information.

“By placing the device at their end of the pipe, it makes the pipe look that much bigger because it is caching the content locally,” Veres says.

The also are plans for other products in security and network optimization that can be developed in Waterloo, Tremblay says. “We are looking at expanding into niche markets,” she says.

In making the decisions about where to grow, the company “looks at where the costs are reasonable, where there is a talent available and where there is room for growth,” Tremblay says. On all those counts, Waterloo fits the bill.

[RangersFan]

Sounds like a pretty cool company, I had never heard of them before. It's good to see they plan on increasing their workforce size here.

[RangersFan]

Waterloo Region’s jobless rate jumps to 9.9 per cent while national rate dips

February 06, 2010
The Canadian Press and Record staff

WATERLOO REGION – Waterloo Region’s economy appears to be going in reverse, shedding more jobs and defying reports of recovery.

The unemployment rate in the Kitchener census metropolitan area jumped to 9.9 per cent last month, up from 9.3 per cent in December, Statistics Canada reported Friday.

The alarming report contrasted sharply with the positive news nationally. The national jobless rate fell by one-tenth of a percentage point to 8.3 per cent, although the unexpected decline was almost entirely due to gains in part-time employment.

At 9.9 per cent, Waterloo Region’s unemployment rate is among the highest in Canada. Only Windsor (12.8 per cent), St. Catharines-Niagara (11.2 per cent), Oshawa (10.4 per cent) and Sudbury (10.4 per cent) had higher rates in January.

Since falling to nine per cent in October, from a recession high of 10.1 per cent in April, the local jobless rate has crept up steadily.

Statistics Canada said the number of unemployed people in the region rose by 1,500 to 27,000 last month. The number of people working fell by 2,800 to 244,800.

That means there were 15,000 fewer people working last month than in October 2008, before the recession took its toll on the local economy.

After steep job losses during the worst of the recession, the employment picture in the region was showing signs of improvement in the middle of last year, said Vincent Ferraro, a market analyst with Statistics Canada. Now that trend is reversing.

In a report on the local economy released last week, the Conference Board of Canada said unemployment is expected ease only gradually, even though the economy is expected to rebound sharply from the recession.

It forecasted that unemployment in the region will average 9.4 per cent this year, and decline to 8.4 per cent next year and 6.9 per cent in 2012.

Fuelled by recovery in the manufacturing sector, the board forecasted that the region’s economy will grow 3.3 per cent this year and 4.4 per cent next year.

Over the past year, employment in the region fell in construction, manufacturing, finance, insurance, real estate, leasing, as well as business services, building maintenance and other support services, said Ferraro.

There was some job creation in other areas, such as professional, scientific and technical services, and small gains in health care and social assistance, but overall the number of jobs being lost exceeded the number of jobs gained, he said.

Nationally, the good news was tempered by the fact the drop in the jobless rate was due almost exclusively to the addition of 43,000 new part-time jobs. Full-time employment was little changed, suggesting that while the recovery is starting to take hold, jobs growth is still lagging.

Economists had expected 15,000 jobs of all sorts would be added last month.

Despite job increases in four of the last six months, Canada’s employment was still 280,000 lower than in October 2008, when the recession began. The January data, however, reversed December job losses which were reported in a Statistics Canada revision last week.

Economists, though, said part-time jobs are better than nothing.

“The erratic recovery in the job market continues.” wrote Douglas Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.

“While the details of this report were less impressive than the headline results, there is little doubt that the job market is grinding forward.”

Porter noted that employment is just one-tenth of a percentage point below the levels of a year ago: “An amazingly quick turnaround from the dismal conditions of early last year, all things considered.”

Derek Holt of Scotia Capital said the data aren’t great, but there is improvement.

“The trend is right, if albeit volatile. A see-saw pattern of job gains and losses over recent months has the net picture coughing up job growth, warts and all.”

Dawn Desjardins, assistant chief economist at the Royal Bank, said the job increases bode well for the next few months.

“January’s job gain augurs well for the pace of expansion to remain firm in the first quarter of 2010,” she said.

The federal government this week pledged to make job creation a top priority in the coming weeks.

Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress that represents most of Canada’s unions, said the government must continue its stimulus spending to create jobs.

“The private sector cannot, at this point, create a sufficient number of jobs and economic growth,” Georgetti said. “Now is time for industrial development strategies and procurement policies that create jobs for Canadians.”

For months opposition parties have demanded that the government bring in a robust job-creation policy. The government is scheduled to release its next budget on March 4 but Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has said there won’t be additional stimulus spending beyond the plan announced in January 2009.

In total, the number of people working in Canada last month rose to 16,924,400, up from 16,881,400 in December. The number of unemployed fell to 1,531,700 from 1,555,800, Statistics Canada reported in its monthly Labour Force Survey.

The January job increases were mainly among adult women and youths.

There were 29,000 more young people working, which moved the youth unemployment rate down to 15.1 per cent from 16 per cent.

It was the first time youth jobs rose since the downturn began in late 2008.

Ontario accounted for 30,000 of the January job increases. The province’s unemployment rate was unchanged, at 9.2 per cent, as more people went looking for work.

British Columbia and Manitoba also saw job gains. Nova Scotia lost jobs, while the other provinces were unchanged.

The Quebec unemployment rate actually dipped to 8.0 per cent in January from 8.4 per cent in December as some people left the labour market.

Overall, the largest job gains were in business, building and other support trades and retail and wholesale trade. These were partly offset by losses in professional, scientific and technical services, as well as agriculture.

Employment in manufacturing edged down by 15,000 jobs in January, but economist Diana Petramala of TD Financial Group said that’s likely to change because employment lags behind improving conditions.

“We believe that the recent strength in manufacturing output will begin to feed through to employment gains in the coming months,” she said.

Ontario has already recovered almost 17,000 manufacturing jobs since last September, she added.

Petramala said she expects continued improvements in the labour market as recovery picks up steam.

“We have likely seen the end of a rising unemployment rate.”

[UrbanWaterloo]

http://www.ccnmatthews.com/logos/20091207-accel200.jpg (http://www.acceleratorcentre.com/) http://www.ccnmatthews.com/logos/20070824-UW_200.jpg (http://www.uwaterloo.ca/)

Accelerator Centre Appoints New CEO
Feb 10, 2010 09:09 ET
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Accelerator-Centre-Appoints-New-CEO-1115162.htm

WATERLOO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Feb. 10, 2010) - The Accelerator Centre (AC), an award-winning centre for the cultivation of technology entrepreneurship located in Waterloo, Ontario, announced today the appointment of Tim Jackson to the role of Accelerator Centre CEO and Associate Vice President of Commercialization at the University of Waterloo.

Mr. Jackson steps into the Accelerator Centre CEO role, which had been held by Dr. Tom Corr, who has recently been appointed President and CEO of the Ontario Centres of Excellence. Tim Jackson previously served as Vice-Chair of the Accelerator Centre board of directors.

Jackson, an experienced entrepreneur, is co-founder and partner of Tech Capital Partners, a Waterloo-based venture capital firm focused on building world-class technology companies – specifically in the wireless, communications, new media and Internet sectors. Prior to Tech Capital Partners, Mr. Jackson was CFO and CEO of PixStream, where he successfully raised more than $60 million in equity capital and negotiated the $550 million sale of the company to Cisco – one of the largest technology company acquisitions in Canadian history.

Mr. Jackson will assume his new Accelerator Centre and University of Waterloo responsibilities in addition to continuing in his partner role with Tech Capital Partners.

"We are tremendously pleased to welcome Tim Jackson into the Accelerator Centre's CEO role. I have had the privilege of working with Tim at the Board level for a number of years, and his work at Tech Capital Partners in support of entrepreneurs and in commercializing and funding emerging technologies has positioned him for this new, expanded role with the Accelerator Centre and University of Waterloo. Our AC team and Clients could have no better mentor or leader. Tim fully embodies the success we are building our Clients toward each day at the AC," says Accelerator Centre Chair of the Board, Ian McPhee.

University of Waterloo President, David Johnston added his congratulations to Tim Jackson on his UW co-appointment.

"We are thrilled to welcome Tim Jackson to UW's commercialization team and to the Accelerator Centre. His dynamism and passion for entrepreneurship have been instrumental in building Waterloo Region's technology leadership on the world stage, and his hands-on leadership will be invaluable in advancing commercialization technologies incubated within the university setting."

University of Waterloo Vice-President of University Research, George Dixon, provided additional congratulations:

"Tim's technology leadership and success in commercializing technology is simply inspiring. His extensive expertise and insight will be a great asset not only to colleagues at the University of Waterloo, but also to those in the broader academic community across the region."

About the Accelerator Centre

The Accelerator Centre (AC) is a world-renowned, award-winning centre for the cultivation of technology entrepreneurship located in Waterloo, Ontario. Made possible through funding from Federal and Provincial Governments, Ontario Centres of Excellence, the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, the City of Waterloo and the University of Waterloo, along with industry and academic partners, the AC was established to accelerate the creation, growth, and maturation of sustainable new technology companies; to promote commercialization of research and technology rising out of academic institutions such as University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, University of Guelph, and Conestoga College; and to generate economic benefit and enhance the strategic importance of Waterloo Region within Ontario and Canada's broader economy.

Aptly named, the Accelerator Centre is firmly focused on accelerating the growth and success of its Client companies – fledgling start-ups from a variety of technology sectors. The Centre's team of advisors and mentors provide a unique range of support services and education programs, enabling AC Clients to move to market faster, create jobs and stimulate economic activity. As home to 25+ technology start-up companies, with resident program staff of Ontario Centres of Excellence, National Research Council IRAP and Communitech – the Accelerator Centre has become the nexus for Waterloo's innovation community. The Accelerator Centre along with the Ontario Centres of Excellence and the University of Waterloo technology transfer commercialization office (WatCo), are partners in the Accelerator for Commercialization Excellence (ACE) which works closely with other commercialization entities such as Communitech to provide seamless access to commercialization resources for start-ups, entrepreneurs, and investors in the Waterloo Region.

To learn more about the Accelerator Centre visit www.acceleratorcentre.com.


Jackson hopes to make Accelerator Centre world-class model for tech startups
February 11, 2010
By Rose Simone, Record staff
http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/668565

http://media.therecord.topscms.com/images/b0/f7/5c7d3a89436d9bfcd24909171f9d.jpeg
Tim Jackson, seen hear speaking at a panel discussion on the Vital Signs report, has been appointed chief executive officer of the Accelerator Centre.

WATERLOO — Making the Accelerator Centre in Waterloo “a model” for the country and the world is the unabashed goal of its new chief executive officer, Tim Jackson.

“This should be the best place in the country, and in fact, the world, to start a technology company,” Jackson, a partner in the venture capital firm Tech Capital Partners, said after his appointment as chief executive of the Accelerator Centre and associate vice-president of commercialization at the University of Waterloo was announced on Wednesday.

The four-year-old Accelerator Centre, located in the University of Waterloo Research and Technology Park, is home to 26 technology startups, providing office space and support services to help those companies grow.

Jackson takes over from Tom Corr, who recently left to become president and chief executive officer of the Ontario Centres of Excellence.

As the discussions about replacing Corr began, Jackson, who had served as vice-chair of the Accelerator Centre board, said he realized “the skill sets they were looking for were very similar to mine.” He applied on condition that he can also continue being a partner in Tech Capital Partners.

It is one more job for Jackson, a well-known community dynamo who has been a key player in various community campaigns and head of a number of non-profit organizations.

He has been heavily involved in the efforts of the Prosperity Council of Waterloo Region to boost funding for local arts organizations, as well as the recent push to get Kitchener and Waterloo to hold a referendum in this fall’s municipal elections on the issue of holding merger talks between the two cities.

He is chair of the Waterloo Public Library and Centre in the Square boards, president of the Food Bank of Waterloo Region and was recently named to the Barnraisers Council that provides guidance on the economy, arts, health care, education and the environment. He has been involved in setting up Capacity Waterloo Region, a group geared to helping non-profit agencies become sustainable, and just recently ended his term as chair of the Waterloo Regional Children’s Museum Board.

“I will be reallocating some of my resources,” Jackson said, when asked how he will juggle all these jobs. He has already made it known this will be his last term as chair of the Waterloo library board. But he added that he will continue to lead some of the volunteer work and community initiatives he is passionate about.

Jackson said he wants the Accelerator Centre to be able to have and nurture a healthy influx of new, entrepreneurial companies.

“One of the things that has hurt many incubators and accelerator centres is that they become stagnant because they don’t cycle companies through often enough,” he added.

That means graduating the flourishing companies into the community, but also “making tough decisions” to move out the ones that are not commercially viable, he added. “We have to move out the good and the bad, and if we do that well, we will be able to add to the local economy and to the entrepreneurial spirit of the community.”

Jackson said this is where his venture capital experience will come in handy. “As a venture capital investor, together with a strong team, this is something we will be able to do well.”

Jackson co-founded Tech Capital Partners with Andrew Abouchar after serving as chief executive at PixStream, a video networking startup that was bought by Cisco Systems for $550 million in 2001 and then shut down a few months later.

Tech Capital invests in technology companies that serve the wireless, communications, new media and internet markets.

George Dixon, vice-president of university research at the University of Waterloo, said there were a number of “expressions of interest” in the job, but when Jackson applied, “we were tickled pink.”

Jackson is “well integrated in the community in terms of contacts,” and has what it takes to move the commercialization of good ideas forward, Dixon said.

“We were extremely happy that he was interested.”

[UrbanWaterloo]

Google Buzz latest star to come out of Waterloo outpost
Low-key google campus among key creative hubs
Matt Hartley in Waterloo, Ont., Financial Post
Published: Tuesday, February 09, 2010
http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=2542955#

http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/www.nationalpost.com/2542959.bin?size=404x272
Undated handout photo of the Google, Waterloo campus in Waterloo, Ont.

Unless you're looking for it, it's easy to drive right past the driveway for Google Waterloo.

Unlike the nearby headquarters of Research In Motion Ltd., where giant corporate emblems adorn the multi-level office towers, Google Inc.'s presence in Canada's tech capital is subdued, almost hidden.

There's virtually no signage at all, save for a small nameplate nestled under a cluster of other logos on the outside of a building in the University of Waterloo's Research and Technology Park.

Just as Google's simplistic homepage belies the advertising power, technological sophistication and global reach of the Mountain View, Calif.-based company, Google Waterloo's unassuming offices appear a cover for what has become a rising star among Google's network of regional offices.

Since its opening in 2005, Google's Waterloo operations have grown from three employees to a team of several dozen and have become one of the company's most vital recruitment centres and product development hubs.

Yesterday, the technology world watched as Google unveiled Google Buzz, a new tool that adds social-networking capabilities popularized by such sites as Facebook and Twitter to the company's Gmail email service. Although millions of Gmail users around the world will begin using Buzz today, most will be unaware that the Google Waterloo team played an integral role in the creation of Buzz.

Whether it's building Gmail and YouTube applications for the iPhone and BlackBerrys, sowing the seeds for the company's ambitious Chrome operating system or refining Google's core advertising technology, Google Waterloo's engineers are key players in many of the company's most ambitious and strategic initiatives.

*******

Steve Woods didn't want to work for Google. In fact, he turned down the job. Twice.

A former vice president with America Online and a transplanted Canadian living in Silicon Valley, Mr. Woods was content to run his in-game advertising startup, NeoEdge, when Google came calling. The thought of working for another big company wasn't appealing after AOL.

Then he found out the Google job was in Canada, in Waterloo of all places, where he received both his master's degree and his PhD. Today, Mr. Woods is the site director for Google Waterloo, overseeing operations and projects at the company's largest Canadian engineering centre.

When it comes to recruiting and managing talent, he is like the general manager of a baseball team, scouting and meeting with potential recruits and discussing possible roles they might play in the company. He speaks about a certain former intern who will be joining the company from the University of British Columbia as though he had just found a new all-star short stop.

He's not just competing with RIM and Microsoft for talent, but also against other Google locations around the world, some in much warmer climates like Silicon Valley. Still, Google saw the value in setting up operations down the street from RIM.

"Google had this great insight, which of course sounds obvious - but as Canadians we often know it's not obvious - that people don't all want to move to California," Mr. Woods says.

Google, much like other technology giants before it, sees the University of Waterloo and the surrounding region as one of its top three recruitment centres for undergraduates, alongside the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Mass., and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

"Waterloo graduates and people from this area who come into Google ... have done really well, not just at this site, but other sites and Mountain View," Mr. Woods says.

RIM's connection to the University of Waterloo and its ability to use the school's engineering and computer science departments as a de facto farm system has been well documented. Other home-grown tech companies, including Open Text, have also recruited heavily from the university.

Microsoft Corp. is another tech giant that has viewed the Waterloo region as a key recruitment location. Microsoft chairman and co-founder Bill Gates has been a regular visitor to the university over the years to speak to students.

But it works both ways. Google's proximity to the university and its presence in the Research and Technology Park is important in a number of ways, says Tamer Ozsu, director of the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo.

"Having such an important high-tech company contributes to the general environment," he says. "We share seminars, they support some of our seminars, they provide internship opportunities for our students and they enable collaborative research opportunities - one of our faculty members is currently spending part of his sabbatical leave at the local Google office."

Still, it is not just the nearby wealth of talent that makes Google Waterloo special. The engineers here are at the centre of a number of projects key to Google's strategy going forward. According to several internal metrics, Google Waterloo has more impact per engineer than any other Google site.

When it comes to Google's online advertising business - the lifeblood of the company and its primary revenue generator - Google Waterloo is responsible for overseeing and refining key pieces of the company's advertising technology.

Google Waterloo engineers helped create conversion optimizer, a tool that helps advertisers to better track and update their online marketing efforts.

As well, Google Waterloo developers work on the core of the company's AdSense infrastructure, which governs all of the ads Google displays on Websites across the Internet and around the world.

"I cannot say what the value is, because it touches everything that goes into ads at Google," says Adrian Corduneanu, who manages the ads team at Google Waterloo. "But it's so important ... we really keep the system running."

Google first dipped its toe into the Waterloo region in 2005, when it purchased a small mobile development company known as Reqwireless, absorbing its three-person team.

The following year, the company hired Alex Nicolaou as its first new local employee. Today, he is the engineering manager for Google Waterloo and leads the company's mobile, Chrome and Chrome OS projects at the site.

Today, Google Waterloo is one of three hubs for mobile technology for Google, alongside London and the company's Mountain View headquarters. Mr. Nicolaou's team has led projects to build Gmail, Calendar and YouTube applications for various smart phone platforms, including iPhone and Android.

"From the earliest days we've been involved in mobile," says Mr. Nicolaous. "Mobile was the original seed that got us started, but Google believes in hiring smart people who can do anything. So, once you end up with that initial seed, that just creates that snowball effect and then suddenly random things start happening."

One of those random things occurred when a couple of engineers from Mr. Nicolaou's team began experimenting with augmented reality. Their creations were eventually rolled into the company's popular Google Goggles application, which allows smartphone users to point their camera at various objects and see information about what they are looking on the screen through the camera's viewfinder.

Because of the team's experience with building applications for mobile operating systems, which tend to be smaller and less powerful than their PC counterparts, Google Waterloo engineers are also working on building features for the upcoming Chrome operating system, which is designed to run on low-cost netbook computers and could eventually challenge Microsoft's Windows software.

"It's clear that there's a bunch of stuff we know about how to make software fast and how to make Web applications work well on phones that are going to apply very well to this netbook category of device," Mr. Nicolaou says.

Although Waterloo is half a continent away from Mountain View, the working environment is unmistakably "Google."

Like other Google offices, Waterloo features a relaxed working atmosphere with bean bag chairs, video game consoles and lava lamps. Being good to employees has made Google one of the most popular places to work in the technology industry.

On a cold day in early February, in the Google cafeteria - where, like all other Google offices, the food is free - a tall man who appears to be in his late 20s sporting a week's worth of stubble and uncombed hair slides into a bean bag chair. He is wearing a pair of checkered flannel pants, no shoes and a Google Wave t-shirt.

Apart from his age, he looks like he would fit right in at the university dorms blocks away. For these developers, working for Google in Waterloo has all the comforts of home.

[jay]

Was watching 60 Minutes tonight and they did a special on ponzi schemes. The talk briefly about the Pigeon King and the joke of a company he was running. Good feature on greed and bad decisions people make and what people will believe if the return is high.

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/60_minutes/video/?pid=oImyTrCv7cIibIX4_OW3sTNK_tyQklMN&vs=homepage&play=true

[RangersFan]

Local firms get federal funds for expansion

February 17, 2010
Record staff

CAMBRIDGE – A poultry processor in Cambridge and auto parts company in Ayr are getting money from the federal government to expand their operations.

Grand River Foods Ltd. is receiving a repayable contribution of almost $1.2 million to buy equipment that will allow it to boost its capacity and productivity.

The expansion will result in the creation of 20 full-time jobs, officials said today at a news conference at Grand River’s plant in Cambridge. The company currently employs 425 people.

Bend All Automotive Inc. in Ayr is receiving a repayable contribution of almost $1.1 million to move production of automotive heat exchangers in-house.

Federal officials said in-house production of the parts will result in significant cost savings and is expected to lead to the creation of 75 jobs.

The funding is provided through the federal government’s Southern Ontario Development Program.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Coreworx Inc. to Acquire Decision Dynamics Technology
http://www.coreworxinc.com/content/news/coreworx-inc-acquire-decision-dynamics-technology
"expected to close in April, 2010"


Headquarters: 22 Frederick Street, Suite 800
http://www.coreworxinc.com/content/contact-us


Coreworx acquires Calgary software firm
March 8, 2010 - Record staff
http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/680848

KITCHENER — Coreworx Inc., a Kitchener-based maker of software for energy and mining companies, has acquired a Calgary software company that also is active in that sector.

Decision Dynamics Technology Ltd. develops software that helps oil, gas and electric power companies manage and forecast costs, while Coreworx specializes in the management of documents, drawings and completion of tasks, said Brett Shellhammer, senior vice-president of marketing at Coreworx.

Decision Dynamics offers “a very complementary piece of technology” to what Coreworx does, he said in an interview.

Coreworx began working with Decision Dynamics about a year ago with a few joint customers, Shellhammer said. A few months ago, discussions started about a possible acquisition. “It’s a natural fit,” said Shellhammer.

Under the deal, Decision Dynamics shareholders will receive one million common shares of Acorn Energy, Coreworx’s parent company. The deal values Decision Dynamics at $6.2 million US.

The sale is subject to the approval of Decision Dynamics shareholders, but has been recommended by the company’s board of directors.

Coreworx employs about 50 people at its head office in Kitchener and 15 others at offices in Houston, Louisiana, Calgary and Australia. It services a portfolio of more than 400 capital projects in 50 countries.

Decision Dynamics employs about 25 people in Calgary.

Decision Dynamics’ “project controls solution with its cost management and cost forecasting capabilities is a great complement to our Coreworx project information control platform which is widely used on major capital projects,” Coreworx chief executive officer Ray Simonson said in a news release.

[RangersFan]

Raytheon seeking federal funds for “made in Canada” technology

March 09, 2010

By Rose Simone, Record staff

WATERLOO — Raytheon Canada has developed “made in Canada” transmitter technology that will help sell more of its high-frequency surface wave radar systems around the world.

But the company says it needs help from the federal government to complete the development of the technology.

The company’s application for funding from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, the agency administering economic stimulus funds, didn’t get approved in the first round of funding, said Brian Smith, Raytheon Canada’s general manager.

He said the company was “highly encouraged” to apply when the second phase of funding is unveiled, sometime after April. “We have limited resources to do it entirely on our own, so we are looking to partner with the Canadian government and complete the funding,” he said.

Raytheon’s application was one of many that didn’t get approved because the agency was overwhelmed with more applications than it could possibly accept. Michael Hammond, a spokesperson at FedDev, said the agency received more than 1800 applications for more than $1.5 billion in funding after the five-year program was unveiled in 2009. So far, it has approved about 100 projects worth more than $100 million.

“We were not able to fund every request,” Hammond said.

He noted that the government committed $1 billion over five years for FedDev Ontario and the Southern Ontario Development Program, which is the core program in the short-term stimulus spending. That did not change in the restraint budget the government last week, he said.

Raytheon’s high-frequency surface wave radar is a land-based radar system that can follow the curvature of the earth and see past the horizon out to about 200 nautical miles. It has been purchased by customers all over the world because of its ability to track ships that are too far from shore to be seen by other land-based radar systems.

But in order to sell more of these systems, Raytheon needs to develop transmitter technology that will cut the possibility of the systems interfering with emergency locator signals or ham radio signals. Also, as more of these systems are sold and installed, it has to make sure the transmitters don’t interfere with each other.

The solution is at hand, Smith said. “We now have a one-kilowatt output prototype that works extremely well and we hope to have a four-kilowatt output prototype by the end of April.”

The next step is the development of a full-scale 16-kilowatt system. The company hopes to have that ready for production in 2011, which was the reason for the application for the FedDev funds. “It is subject to funding,” Smith said.

Development of the transmitter could create about a dozen engineering jobs at Raytheon. As more high-frequency surface wave radar systems are sold and the transmitters are made, it could produce as many as 35 jobs at Raytheon and 400 spin-off jobs at companies that make components, Smith said.

The work would also provide a payback for the Canadian government, he said, because Raytheon Canada has partnered with Defence Research and Development Canada in selling the high-frequency surface wave radar system around the world. “For every system that we sell, it generates about $200,000 in levy fees back to the Canadian government.”

[UrbanWaterloo]

CBC program Dragons' Den to host auditions in Waterloo
http://www.waterloo.ca/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=1&def=News Article View&ItemId=1212

(Waterloo, ON – March 10, 2010) Are you ready to face the Dragons? That’s the question producers of the program Dragons’ Den will be asking when they host auditions in Waterloo later this month. If you have a hot new invention, the next multi-million dollar idea or if you think you have the moneymaking chops to take on the savviest business tycoons in the country, then auditioning for the upcoming sixth season should be on your list of things to do.

This show gives aspiring entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their businesses to a panel of wealthy Canadian moguls for the chance to earn real cash and real investment – from the Dragons' own pockets.

Open auditions are taking place on Monday, March 22nd from 11 am – 6 pm at the Centre for Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology, Accelerator Building, UW Research & Technology Park, 295 Hagey Blvd. on the 2nd Floor, Suite 240 (please use the north entrance facing Sybase).

No experience is necessary – hopefuls just have to be ready to pitch their business in under five minutes. If you can convince producers you’re ready for the limelight, you could be invited to face Dragons when the upcoming season is filmed in Toronto.

As extra incentive this year - entrepreneurs with an eco-friendly business, invention or idea could qualify for a $100,000 Greenvention prize from Sun Chips.

If you’re interested in auditioning, apply online and bring the completed application form to the auditions. Full details can be found on the show’s website (http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden). Dragons’ Den airs on CBC Television at 8 pm Wednesday nights.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Canada's Technology Triangle Inc Hosted Open House at Innovative New Site Location
http://www.techtriangle.com/modules/news/newsitem.php?ItemId=173

Waterloo Region, Ontario – March 8, 2010 – Canada's Technology Triangle Inc (CTT) held a formal Open House this evening at the new location, 260 King Street West, Kitchener. Having moved into the location on February 1st, 2010, this was an opportunity to launch the new site and to discuss the many opportunities this space will present.

The office is conveniently located in the downtown core of Kitchener, near many amenities including the UW's Health Sciences Campus and WLU's Faculty of Social Work, and it is a short drive to the surrounding cities and townships of the Waterloo Region.

John Jung, CEO of Canada's Technology Triangle Inc announced that the new location has provided an exceptional opportunity for a Synergy Centre where like-minded organizations can converge and collaboratively foster unique ideas for the prosperity of Waterloo Region. This synergy centre project will take an ecosystem approach to economic development in Waterloo Region. In addition, Fall 2010 will mark the opening of an Event Theatre Facility located within the building that will provide an affordable and flexible option for those seeking a space to host up to 200 individuals.

For additional information on the Synergy Centre Opportunity, please visit http://www.techtriangle.com/include/get.php?format=download&nodeid=776.


CTT Welcome Board - March 11, 2010
I like how they added a skyline under their logo, anything to help remind people we're a city (rather than the "small town feeling" promotion) is a positive thing in my mind. Hopefully they'll need to update the board frequently over the next quarter-century as the skyline doubles (fingers crossed - need to add that emotion).
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa262/AndrewEH/Business/CanadasTechnologyTriangle-WelcomeBo.jpg

[UrbanWaterloo]

Kitchener auto parts firm turns a corner
By Chuck Howitt, Record staff - March 12, 2010
http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/683318

http://media.therecord.topscms.com/images/30/d0/84a71df344dd94b0a9af20406b8c.jpeg
Karl Schreyer, president of PWO Canada, says the company's compentence in producing complex metal components allowed it to bounce back from the severe downturn in the auto industry.

KITCHENER — Eighteen months ago, things were looking rather grim at PWO Canada Inc.

Sales had plummeted from a high of $48 million a year to $25 million annually, forcing the Kitchener auto parts company to trim its workforce from 168 employees during peak times to about 115.

Named after its German parent company, Progress-Werk Oberkirch, PWO Canada makes suspension, body, chassis and seating components. The equipment and workers needed to forge these sophisticated parts required investments in the millions.

In normal times, the company’s products should have sold briskly, but PWO was caught in a vortex of plant shutdowns and bankruptcies as the global auto industry struggled for survival.

Reluctant to part with any more of his skilled employees, Karl Schreyer, PWO Canada’s president, enrolled the company in the federal government’s work sharing program. Every employee except the most senior managers worked a reduced work week and had their lost wages partly replenished under the federal program.

“To layoff, rehire and retrain different people, there is a lot of cost involved,” Schreyer says.

The low point came when General Motors and Chrysler shut down production for two months in 2009. Sales at PWO, which had averaged $3 million a month, dropped to a nail-biting $800,000.

For the first time since PWO entered the Canadian market in 1997, it lost money. The company had bought a piece of the family-owned Bratton Tool Industries, then took full ownership in 2000.

“It was the toughest time I had ever seen,” said Schreyer, who started at PWO in Germany in 1992 and came to Canada in 1997 to work at the Kitchener plant. “No one knew when it would end.”

Today it’s a far different story. In its 145,000 square foot plant on McBrine Drive in the Huron Business Park, under the watchful eye of engineers from head office in Germany, PWO is hard at work installing robotic welding cells and screw machines so it can begin manufacturing the “cross-car beam” that will hold up dashboards on the 2011 Ford Focus.

PWO is a “Tier 2” parts supplier. The parts it makes are sent to a “Tier 1” supplier for more attachments and finishing before going to the automaker itself, known in the industry as an OEM, or original equipment maker.

When the cross-car beam starts rolling out of the PWO plant in December, it will go to Automotive Component Holdings in Michigan where plastic moulding, switches and other parts are attached, and then on to a Ford plant in Michigan for attachment to the Focus.

The same cross-car beam platform will also be used in future years on the next generation of the Ford Escape and another unnamed Ford model. Combined with other recent contracts signed by PWO for work on the next generation of the Chrysler Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Mercedes ML and GL classes, it means the help wanted sign has gone up at the plant again.

PWO plans to hire more than 65 employees in the next 15 months, including about 30 in the next few months. Sales will more than double over the next two years, Schreyer predicts.

With the auto industry beginning to rebound, business started to turn around at PWO in the second half of 2009. Sales crept up to $2 million a month and PWO was able to wean itself of work sharing benefits in February and return to full-time employment. “At the end it was not that bad,” Schreyer says of 2009.

He cites several keys to the company’s recovery. One is that PWO Canada is part of a global auto parts company, with subsidiaries in China, the Czech Republic, Mexico and Canada. Automakers don’t want to talk to 20 suppliers on three continents. They’d rather deal with three or four who can cover three continents, he says.

PWO isn’t just making the cross-car beam for North America; it is a global supplier for the Ford Focus.

A second key is PWO’s ability to produce high-volume and high-precision parts. The company doesn’t so much sell parts as it sells processes, Schreyer says. When automakers start designing a new model, they often go to a Tier 2 supplier such as PWO for consultations on how the vehicle should be put together.

PWO Canada’s core competence is forming complex metal components using joining techniques such as welding, gluing, riveting and crimping.

Schreyer places a round black metal object on the table in the company’s boardroom. It looks like a piece of pottery, but in reality it’s part of a piston in the engine of a Mercedes. The part started out as a flat piece of metal before taking shape on PWO’s assembly line.

The cross-car beam PWO is building for the Focus is much more than an ordinary steel bar. It’s a complex piece of engineering that holds the instrument panel, steering column, heating and ventilation modules, airbags, glove compartment, centre console and other fittings.

PWO can’t compete on 30-cent items such as washers, Schreyer says, but it can compete on more expensive components such as cross beams and pistons.

PWO Canada is also benefitting from a European invasion of sorts in the North American auto industry, Schreyer says. European Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers are very much in vogue thanks to their reputation for making well engineered parts and to Chrysler’s increased use of European suppliers when it was allied with Daimler, he says.

When the German Tier-1 supplier Keiper established a seating plant in London, Ont., in 2001 it started looking for Tier-2 suppliers such as PWO in Kitchener for structural components.

PWO Canada’s presence in Ontario is a plus, Schreyer says. Unlike in the U.S., it can import customized machinery and materials from headquarters in Germany without paying duties.

The company also co-ordinates activities with its sister plant in Mexico, which makes lower cost parts and assemblies. Both plants can deliver into the same market “using this synergy,” he says.

With $40 million in booked business over the next few years, PWO Canada is looking at adding 80,000 square feet of warehouse space at its Kitchener plant. In the meantime, it will likely rent space elsewhere, Schreyer says.

The company seems to have turned a corner. The main challenge now is managing the growth, he says. “We’re now pretty lean. We need to carefully build up, but we can’t do it too early.”

[RangersFan]

Some bad news

Gaymar closing Kitchener plant

March 17, 2010
Record staff

KITCHENER – Gaymar Industries is closing its Kitchener mattress plant.

Production of the therapeutic mattresses manufactured in the Trillium Drive plant is being shifted to Gaymar’s plant in Orchard Park, N.Y., the company said today in a news release.

All operations in Kitchener will be phased out by June 30, the company said. Employees will receive severance packages and outplacement services, it said.

“Through their hard work and commitment, our employees in Kitchener have helped us build a strong and growing business in Canada and around the world,” Kent J. Davies, Gaymar’s chief executive officer, said in the release.

“This was a difficult but necessary decision that will allow us to more efficiently utilize the available capacity across all of our facilities and ensure the best service to our customers.”

The Kitchener plant formerly operated as Waterloo Bedding. Gaymar, headquartered in Orchard Park, bought Waterloo Bedding in 2002. At the time, Waterloo Bedding had 75 employees.

[1231]

My mother works at Waterloo Bedding ...

[UrbanWaterloo]

Northbridge Capital Partners Closes First Investment
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Northbridge-Capital-Partners-Closes-First-Investment-1132680.htm

CAMBRIDGE, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 16, 2010) - Northbridge Capital Partners ("NCP") today announced the closing of its first portfolio investment in PresGlas, a division of Camali Industries (NA) Inc. NCP provided $550,000 of mezzanine financing, which will help enable PresGlas to meet the increased demand and potential from existing and new customers. Brian Hunter, President of NCP commented: " There is significant potential for the company due to OEM's rationalizing their supply chain, and this has been demonstrated through recently secured contracts."

PresGlas (www.preglas.com), located in Cambridge, Ontario, is Canada's largest supplier of compression molded noise control and thermal insulation components. Major industries and markets served include off-road heavy machinery, specialty vehicle, trucks, buses, automotive, panels for office partitions, wall and ceiling components and a wide array of other related products and industries. Molded composites of various fibers, fabrics and plastics are developed in close co-operation with customers in order to integrate noise reduction, thermal management and high quality fit and trims. PresGlas provides consistent products for global platforms and has a presence in all major markets and can support OEM's worldwide.

About NCP (www.northbridgecapitalpartners.com): NCP is a private equity fund formed by a group of accomplished business executives and entrepreneurs focused on funding management buyouts and growth opportunities. NCP's investments range from $200,000 to $1 million. The fund's preferred market is manufacturing, processing, wholesale and distribution businesses located in Southern Ontario.


Waste Management buys Cambridge plant
Record staff - March 18, 2010
http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/686525

CAMBRIDGE — Waste Management Inc. has purchased the former Von Weise of Canada plant on Conestoga Boulevard in Cambridge.

The multinational waste disposal and environment services company, based in Houston, Texas, plans to “repurpose” the facility for some kind of garbage “diversion activity,” Wes Muir, director of corporate communications for the company, said today.

Waste Management, which does household garbage collection for Waterloo Region, is just going through the approvals process now with the provincial Ministry of the Environment, he said.

The 121,550-square-foot plant, located on 4.2 hectares of land, has been closed since September when Von Weise ran into financial difficulty.

Originally owned by Electrohome and then Fasco Motors, the plant made small electric motors. The final owner, Von Weise, filed a proposal in January under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act to pay off creditors including former employees.

Proceeds from the sale of the plant will used to pay off its creditors.

Muir would not disclose the price paid by Waste Management for the property.

The company owns a facility on Northfield Drive in Waterloo which serves as its headquarters for eastern Canada.

[RangersFan]

Here is an interesting article that appeared in the Record today

Man’s passion became his vocation with Sustainable Waterloo
March 20, 2010 | By Luisa D’Amato | ldamato@therecord.com

WATERLOO — Mike Morrice isn’t rich, but he is happy.

That’s because when the idealistic young man graduated from university, he didn’t just join the first company that would hire him.

Instead, he made his own job, one that he believed could help save the environment.

Morrice co-founded a non-profit organization called Sustainable Waterloo, which helps business and industry measure and reduce their carbon emissions.

He makes $30,000 a year, the same as the two other staff. He shares an apartment with a roommate, doesn’t own a car, and still lives like a student. But he doesn’t see any of that as a problem.

What matters to him is that he’s doing something that really matters.

He was a university student at a conference on climate change when “it finally clicked,” he said.

“That could be my full-time job. There was an opportunity to be engaged with the thing I’m passionate about.”

Morrice saw that “we are moving to a low-carbon economy right now” in which businesses that are lowering carbon emissions will be financially rewarded by government policy, while those that pollute will be penalized.

Since it started in 2008, Sustainable Waterloo has helped other organizations make meaningful improvements to the environment. The organization’s $112,000-a-year budget is paid by fees from these organizations, ranging from $500 to $5,000 a year. There is no government funding.

Two years after it started, Sustainable Waterloo has numerous satisfied customers.

For example, Paul Rak, owner of Veriform, a metal fabricating company in Cambridge, has cut costs by nearly $90,000 a year. He has also reduced his company’s greenhouse gas emissions by 233 tonnes a year after Sustainable Waterloo offered help with a carbon audit and put him in touch with other like-minded businesses.

He says the assistance of Sustainable Waterloo made a real difference, and he is determined to keep cutting emissions.

“I’m 110-per-cent green,” he said.

Morrice’s journey started with a book that a friend gave him.

“He said, ‘I think you should read this, and when you’re done, pass it on,’ ” said Morrice. The book was Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.

Morrice let the book sit around for a while. He didn’t pick it up for five years.

But when he read it, it changed the way he thought.

Ishmael is a lowland gorilla who sees world history differently from humans. He sees how humans have changed the Earth for agriculture and industry. To humans, this activity is progress, innovation and technology. To other species, it is a tyranny that threatens to destroy the planet with pollution and overpopulation.

“This book put me into a new way of thinking,” Morrice said.

He graduated with a double degree from Laurier in business and computing and computer electronics. He did some research on industry strategies for environmental sustainability, and under the guidance of Prof. Barry Colbert, worked with another student to write the business plan for the organization that would become Sustainable Waterloo.

Morrice knows that it’s easier to live on $30,000 when you’re single, sharing an apartment and commuting to work on your bicycle.

But he believes in a simple lifestyle. Even if his salary doubled tomorrow, he wouldn’t buy a car, he says.

And even 10 years from now, if he’s married and has children, “I certainly hope I will continue to be able to live on that kind of salary. I’d like to continue to make life decisions based on work that is meaningful.”

In a world where many of us define happiness by the things we have, Morrice sees it differently.

“Happiness is having your behaviour in line with your values,” he says. “There’s nothing more fulfilling than that.”

[Urbanomicon]

Safety-Kleen wins endorsement for site consolidation
March 25, 2010 | By Jeff Outhit, Record staff
http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/688254

BRESLAU — Safety-Kleen has been given the go-ahead to consolidate oil recycling operations at a vacant site beside its Breslau plant, east of Kitchener.

The company says this will reduce its transportation costs, and help advance an environmental cleanup it is undertaking 700 metres from the Grand River.

Governments agree, but environmental watchdog Alan Marshall contends the plan will further slow a cleanup that’s taking too long.

Safety-Kleen plans to buy six hectares near Woolwich Street South. Part of the vacant site was polluted by waste lagoons closed in 1977 by a previous oil recycler.

Vice-president Dale MacIntyre estimates up to 20,000 gallons of oily pollution are resting there, just below the ground and going nowhere. He estimates Safety-Kleen has removed up to 3,000 gallons under a cleanup approved in 2004 by the province. Full cleanup of the plume will exceed 20 years, he warns.

The company plans to use a clean part of the site for warehousing, packaging and blending, and to park trucks and trailers. These activities would be relocated from other sites in Breslau and Cambridge.

“In no way will it inhibit the cleanup that has been taking place over the years, and is projected to take place over the next many, many years,” MacIntyre said in an interview.

Woolwich councillors approved the consolidation in principle this week, altering the official plan and zoning. The plan has also been endorsed by regional government and the Ministry of the Environment, which wants Safety-Kleen to own the contaminated property.

“I find them to be a very responsible company,” Coun. Murray Martin said.

Marshall, of Elmira, worries Safety-Kleen will build on contaminated soil, inhibiting the cleanup. “Clean it up first, then build,” he said in an interview.

He also contends Safety-Kleen has ducked responsibility for contaminating nearby municipal wells that were closed in the 1990s. Corporate and government officials disagree, saying the wells were closed due to bacteria from the Grand River.

[UrbanWaterloo]

2009 Cambridge Chamber of Commerce Excellence Awards Winners Announced Last Night.
March 26, 2010 - http://www.cambridgechamber.com/

2010 marked the 9th Anniversary for the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards. Held on March 25th at the Armenian Centre, a sold out house celebrated the achievements of fellow members for the year 2009.
Award winners of the Business Excellence Awards are businesses or individuals that have demonstrated a significant and sustained commitment to positive business development, economic growth and diversity within our city.


Business of the Year (Fewer than 50) - GeoSmart Energy Inc.
Business of the Year (Over 50) - Lone Wolf Real Estate Technologies Inc.
Personal Business Achievement Award - Brian Law, Pavey, Law & Witteveen LLP
New Venture of the Year - Grand House Student Co-operative Inc.
Keith Taylor Memorial Award - Dave Sopha, Portraits of Honour
Breakthrough Award - Grand River Film Festival
Environment Award – Excellence in Energy Conservation - Farm Mutual Reinsurance Plan Inc.
WOWCambridge Customer Service Award - Michael McKeown, Ridgehill Ford Sales
Sunrise Rotary Scholarship Award – Spencer Adams
Lifetime Achievement - John Keating, COM DEV International
Chair’s Award - Cowan Insurance Group


Real estate software firm scoops up business award
By Chuck Howitt, Record staff
March 26, 2010 - http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/688897

http://media.therecord.topscms.com/images/91/29/829bf8ad48a08f0c86866cb10850.jpeg
The Farm Mutual Reinsurance Plan won a Cambridge Chamber of Commerce business excellence award in the environment category for its new headquarters on Pinebush Road.

CAMBRIDGE — When Lorne Wallace moved his small startup, Lone Wolf Real Estate Technologies, to Cambridge in 1997 it had only four employees.

Over the next 13 years, he built the company from humble beginnings into a force to be reckoned with in the real estate industry.

Lone Wolf develops accounting and administrative software and web page products for real estate firms. Its products are used by 7,800 real estate firms across North America.

The company now has more than 50 employees working out of its headquarters on Shearson Crescent in Cambridge and offices in Edmonton, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Denver.

Not only has Lone Wolf succeeded in its own right, it has extended a welcoming hand to other technology startups in the region. The building it occupies, the Can Amera Corporate Centre, was erected by Lone Wolf in 2005 to serve as a business incubator for other early stage companies in the area and to make Cambridge a destination on the regional technology map.

For these business achievements, and a solid track record of community service, Lone Wolf won the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce business of the year award for companies with more than 50 employees. The company received the honour Thursday night at the Armenian Centre.

Other winners of business excellence awards were:

Business of the year (fewer than 50 employees): GeoSmart Energy Inc. Since launching in Cambridge in 2005, the company has become a leader in Canada in providing geothermal heating systems for residential and commercial customers. Drawing their energy from a liquid circulated through underground pipes, GeoSmart systems have increased in sales by 200 per cent since 2008, the chamber said.

New Venture of the Year: Grand House Student Co-operative Inc. This 4,500-square-foot non-profit student housing project, built on the side of a hill on Ainslie Street, started out as a thesis by a University of Waterloo School of Architecture grad student in 2006. Housing 14 students, it uses a cistern for toilet water, straw bales for wall insulation and reclaimed wood in much of its construction.

Personal Business Achievement: Brian Law, of Pavey, Law & Witteveen LLP. A longtime local lawyer, Law was honoured not only for his career success but his extensive work as a community builder with such organizations as the YMCA, Big Brothers, the Canadian Cancer Society and the United Way of Cambridge and North Dumfries.

Keith Taylor Memorial Award: Dave Sopha. The veteran Cambridge artist has painted murals for Royal Canadian Legions, and his memorial mural decorates a wall on the Royal Bank building in Preston. He is currently working on Portraits of Honour, a large mural featuring every Canadian soldier who has died serving in Afghanistan.

Breakthrough Award: Grand River Film Festival. The three-year-old festival’s 2009 version featured a shorts competition with up to 40 entries, a series of professional workshops and the appearance of two high-profile directors, Canadian Bruce McDonald and Japan’s Yojiro Takita.

WowCambridge.com: Michael McKeown, general manager of Ridgehill Ford. When a former client had to leave his broken-down vehicle in northern Ontario last June so he could return to work, McKeown stepped into the breach. Not only did he return the client’s rented car to Espanola, he drove the repaired vehicle back to Cambridge and presented it to the owner, cleaned inside and out.

Environmental Award: Farm Mutual Reinsurance Plan Inc. The new $15-million headquarters for the company representing mutual insurance companies in Ontario, located on Pinebush Road and visible from Highway 401, features geothermal heating and cooling, a green roof, recycled building materials, automatic light dimmers and recycled rainwater.

Sunrise Rotary Scholarship Award: Spencer Adams. Currently a freshman in business administration at Houghton College in New York, Adams was the valedictorian in 2009 at Preston High School. In addition to doing well academically, he volunteered in the school’s Jamaican Mission Trip and Relay for Life.

Lifetime Achievement Award: John Keating. Since taking over as chief executive officer of Com Dev International in 2002, Keating has led the space technology firm on a growth spurt that has seen sales rise from $33 million a year to $240 million. Keating was also honoured for his extensive community work.

Chair’s Award: Cowan Insurance Group. More than 80 years old with 10 offices across Ontario, Cambridge-based Cowan was honoured for raising funds locally and across Canada for numerous charities including the food bank, literacy efforts and a program to provide defibrillators for heart patients.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Canada's Economic Action Plan Investment in Communities and Businesses Delivers Results for Kitchener-Waterloo Region
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Canadas-Economic-Action-Plan-Investment-Communities-Businesses-Delivers-Results-Kitchener-1143471.htm

KITCHENER, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - April 6, 2010) - Residents and businesses in the Kitchener-Waterloo area will benefit from an investment of more than $1 million in three new stimulus projects. Peter Braid, Member of Parliament for Kitchener-Waterloo, on behalf of the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), made the announcement today at Riverside Door & Trim Inc.

"These investments will create jobs and strengthen the economy," said Minister Goodyear. "Our government is working with the people, businesses and communities of southern Ontario to help our region prosper now and in the future."

"Our government is proud to partner with innovative local businesses," said MP Braid. "The investments announced today will encourage economic revitalization, and help our community become a key player in the global economy."

Riverside Door & Trim Inc. will receive up to $820,250 to relocate and expand its manufacturing facility, as well as develop a new product line.

"I am thrilled Riverside Door & Trim Inc. will now be able to expand operations and improve efficiency thanks to the support of FedDev Ontario," said Mario Gianniotis, Managing Partner, Riverside Door & Trim Inc. "This funding will help us develop new products and improve our manufacturing processes."

For additional details on local projects, please refer to the backgrounder. These projects will be funded under the Community Adjustment Fund in southern Ontario, which will create immediate employment opportunities and support the local economies that have been struggling with the effects of the global economic downturn.

Other projects approved under the Community Adjustment Fund will be announced over the coming weeks. Approved projects must meet the terms and conditions set out in their contribution agreements.

FedDev Ontario was created as part of Canada's Economic Action Plan to support economic and community development, innovation, and economic diversification, with contributions to communities, businesses and non-profit organizations in southern Ontario. To learn more about FedDev Ontario and the Community Adjustment Fund in southern Ontario, please visit the website at www.feddevontario.gc.ca, or call 1-866-593-5505. For additional information on Canada's Economic Action Plan, visit www.actionplan.gc.ca.

This news release is available online at www.feddevontario.gc.ca and www.actionplan.gc.ca.

Backgrounder
Listed below is a breakdown of the projects approved for funding under the second phase of the Community Adjustment Fund (CAF) in the Kitchener-Waterloo area.

Funding Recipient | Project Title | Total CAF contribution (up to)
Accelerated Systems Inc. Construction of a test lab, staff hiring and training, and purchase of new software $153,750
Canadian Innovation Centre Creation of an online toolkit $85,388
Riverside Door & Trim Inc. Relocation and expansion of manufacturing facility, and development of new products $820,250
Total $1,059,388

[IEFBR14]

With signs that Canada is already recovering from the recession isn't it a bit late to now add new stimulus?

Oh wait, there's also talk of an election later this year and last time Braid won by a stunning 17 vote landslide :eek:

[UrbanWaterloo]

I couldn't find the actual announcement on Canada Post's website.

More cuts coming at Canada Post
CANADIAN UNION OF POSTAL WORKERS
OTTAWA, April 9 /CNW Telbec/ - http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2010/09/c9262.html

In the wake of last week's contracting out of call centres and the elimination of more than 300 jobs, Canada Post has announced further dramatic changes to its operations in Victoria, B.C., Kitchener, Ontario, and Moncton, New Brunswick.

On April 8th, the Crown corporation officially notified the Canadian Union of Postal Workers of its decision to restructure in the affected communities. For example, in Kitchener, the bulk of parcel operations are being relocated to the Gateway processing plant in Toronto, while in Moncton, local services are being moved to Saint John. In Victoria, mail will be shipped to Vancouver for sorting.

At stake are hundreds of postal worker jobs, many of them held by "temporary" employees who have been with Canada Post for years. The workforce in the Victoria and Kitchener plants alone will be virtually cut in half. The economic impact on the affected communities may add up to millions of dollars.

"Canada Post posts a profit for the fifteenth year in a row and this is what their workers are getting in return," said Denis Lemelin, national president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

"This is an abdication of Canada Post's social responsibility as a publicly owned institution that is supposed to serve the public interest."

CUPW plans to pressure the federal government to live up to its responsibility for the Crown corporation. "The Conservatives are washing their hands of this issue," Lemelin pointed out. Recently, Peter Mackay, MP for Central Nova, shrugged off the closure of the call centre in his riding, saying there was nothing he could do.

"We need jobs in our communities, not jobs outsourced by CEOs," said Lemelin. The union is calling for public support and urging members of the public to contact their MPs.


For further information: Aalya Ahmad, (613) 327-1177

[RangersFan]

Cambridge engineering firm sold to Winnipeg company
April 16, 2010

Record staff
CAMBRIDGE — Hydromantis Inc., an environmental engineering and software solutions company with offices in Hamilton and Cambridge, has sold its Cambridge division to a large Winnipeg consulting and engineering firm.

The sale of Hydromantis Cambridge Engineering Group to Wardrop will allow the Cambridge operation to grow in this area and “capture more of the market,” said Mike Newbigging, who runs the Cambridge office.

Located in a unit at 420 Sheldon Drive, the Cambridge office employs 20 people, he said in an interview.

The Hamilton office of Hydromantis specializes in software modeling and solutions for water treatment facilities while the Cambridge office focused on implementing those solutions from an engineering perspective.

Hydromantis was founded in Hamilton in 1985 and opened its Cambridge office in 1998. The Hamilton group has been renamed Hydromantis Environmental Software Solutions Inc.

Newbigging said Hydromantis has worked with Wardrop in the past on projects, including a water treatment facility in Red Rock, Ont., near Thunder Bay.

Founded in Winnipeg in 1995, Wardrop has about 1,000 employees in offices in North America and Europe. It services the natural resources, energy and infrastructure markets.

In 2009, Wardrop was acquired by the larger engineering and project management firm Tetra Tech of California.

“Broadening Wardrop’s design and execution capabilities in the areas of water and wastewater is an important component of our national infrastructure expansion program,” Shayne Smith, president of Wardrop, said in a news release.

Newbigging said the Cambridge office will keep the Hydromantis name for the time being, but may eventually adopt some form of the Wardrop/Tetra Tech name.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Medicalis gets new CEO, expands staff in Kitchener
By Rose Simone, Record staff
April 15, 2010 - http://news.therecord.com/article/698466

KITCHENER — Medicalis Corp. has a new chief executive officer and is hiring more software engineers in Kitchener.

The company, which develops software that helps the health-care system avoid wrong or unnecessary tests, has hired Oran Muduroglu as CEO to replace Ron Kelly, who left last September to pursue other interests.

Muduroglu said the company, which currently employs 35 people at offices on Riverbend Drive and in San Francisco, is hiring about 10 more software developers in Waterloo Region to help expand its product line.

The company also has restructured, with the head office in San Francisco handling more of the administrative and marketing functions while software development is consolidated and expanded in Waterloo.

Muduroglu said in an interview today that Medicalis is investing more than $10 million in the next two or three years to expand its product line, with much of that effort being focused in the Kitchener office.

Muduroglu previously was chief of health informatics for Philips Medical Systems. He was one of the founders of Stentor Inc., a maker of radiology image-archiving systems in the San Francisco area that was acquired by Philips in 2005.

Medicalis has recently gone through “a strategy evolution” to bring related, but different, products to the market, he said.

Traditionally, the company’s software, which gathers knowledge of case histories and symptoms to help determine which medical tests should be ordered, has been sold almost exclusively to hospitals, imaging centres and doctors. Now the company is also targeting the insurance industry, including insurance companies in the United States and provincial health insurance systems in Canada.

Software for these different groups is really “two sides of the same coin” because these groups share an interest in avoiding unnecessary or wrong tests, Muduroglu said.

About 20 to 25 per cent of the tests ordered in North America are either not needed or else the doctor should be ordering different tests, he said.

Reducing the number of unnecessary or wrong tests helps to get to the right diagnosis faster and that improves the outcome for the patient, Muduroglu said. It would also help to reduce waiting lists for tests in Canada, he said.

From the insurance providers’ point of view, getting the correct tests done first will help to save money, Muduroglu said.

The company decided to expand its software development base in Waterloo Region because this is where the engineering talent base is, he said. “There are a few places in the world that have great concentration of information technology expertise and obviously, Waterloo Region is one of those great places.”

Medicalis was founded in 1999 as a joint venture between Waterloo-based Mitra Imaging Inc., which was later acquired by Agfa Healthcare, and Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Aeryon Scout Aids Central American Drug Bust
April 19, 2010 - http://www.aeryon.com/news/pressreleases/140-central-american-drug-bust.html

http://www.aeryon.com/images/stories/news/drug_compound.jpg http://www.aeryon.com/images/stories/products/scout_system_w_cases.jpg

Waterloo, ON – The Aeryon Scout, a small man-packable flying robotic system, manufactured by Aeryon Labs of Waterloo, Ontario, gave law enforcement officers the break they needed in a recent drug bust in Central America.
The Aeryon Scout -- a small, lightweight mini-helicopter that is remote-controlled from the ground by computer -- was able to provide visual surveillance of a suspected narcotic trafficker’s compound deep in the jungle. The Scout provides the features of larger unmanned aerial systems (UASs) in a small package, at a fraction of the cost.

“This might sound like a plot from a TV show like CSI or 24, but it’s a real-life application of our robotic technology,” said Dave Kroetsch, President of Aeryon Labs. “This is what the Scout was designed for: providing aerial intelligence in settings too challenging or dangerous for humans to venture into.”

Kroetsch said the law enforcement officers took the Aeryon Scout into the jungle, in hostile territory, under the cover of darkness. At first light they cleared a small launch area, took the Scout out of its suitcase-sized case, and snapped it together. Measuring only 80 cm by 80 cm when assembled and weighing just over a kilogram, the Scout was easy to transport. They then set the robot’s target by selecting the location of the drug compound using a touch-screen satellite-map interface on a portable computer tablet. The target location was approximately 1 km from the operator. For security reasons the actual date and location of the operation cannot be publicized.

The Scout, which can quietly travel as far as three kilometres from the operator’s location and up to 500 metres off the ground, is ideal for this type of beyond line-of-sight surveillance as the officers did not need to see the unit to control it. Once at the target location, the Scout’s motion-compensated camera took digital still images and streamed encrypted digital video in real-time to the operator’s computer, with no risk to the investigating officers.

The images enabled the enforcement team to determine the interior layout of the compound, establish what vehicles were inside, identify possible escape routes, and assess what security measures were in place. Most importantly they were able to see a gap in the wire surrounding the compound that was then used as the entry point for the raid. The successful bust resulted in the arrest of the drug gang members. Before the use of the Aeryon Scout, law enforcement officers would typically drive an armoured vehicle through the wall of the compound and face unknown circumstances on the other side.

The drug bust is just one of the scenarios where the Aeryon Scout is useful to police and similar agencies. Easily carried in a backpack, the Aeryon Scout assists with documenting accident scenes, following fleeing suspects, and aiding in search and rescue operations in day or night, especially beyond line-of-sight of the operator. Military units can use it to scope out areas with dangerous or rugged terrain. There are also industrial applications such as inspecting the exterior of buildings or gathering air samples from exhausts and smokestacks.

“The Scout’s low noise, radar, visual and heat signatures make it an ideal platform for covert tactical imagery collection. You can set it up in a couple of minutes out of its case, fly the mission, and be gone without ever alerting the target. And if you can play a simple video game, you can fly the Scout,” said Charles Barlow, President Zariba Security Corporation and former Canadian intelligence officer.

Aeryon Labs designed the Scout system to be easy enough for even non-technical people to use with minimal training. Its on-board computer system supervises all aspects of the mission, allowing the operator to focus on completing a task.

“We’re excited to have developed robotic technology which is practical and affordable for law enforcement, military and security forces, and can save lives. And that’s priceless,” said Kroetsch.

About Aeryon Labs Inc. – www.aeryon.com
584 Colby Drive, Unit 1, Waterloo
Aeryon Labs provides robotic solutions to real-world problems through the design and manufacture of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and related systems. With a background in robotics, control systems, and digital imaging, the Aeryon team is able to bring leading-edge products to market and provide custom solutions. Aeryon Labs was recently named one of Canada’s Top 25 ICT Up and Comers in the Branham Group300 ranking of Canadian Information and Communications Technology (ICT) companies.

[Shawn]

Is it wrong to want a high-tech, crime and drug fighting tool as your own personal toy?

[IEFBR14]

That's some villa. Who said crime doesn't pay? (For the drug traffickers or Aeryon.)



Is it wrong to want a high-tech, crime and drug fighting tool as your own personal toy?Here you go (http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.801).

[Urbanomicon]

Is it wrong to want a high-tech, crime and drug fighting tool as your own personal toy?

I was thinking the same thing. :)

[IEFBR14]

And now the video (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/your-business/grow/your-business-video/robot-spy-in-the-sky/article1543015/)

[UrbanWaterloo]

Canada's Economic Action Plan Invests in Ontario Livestock Industry
Apr 23, 2010 13:58 ET - http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Canadas-Economic-Action-Plan-Invests-in-Ontario-Livestock-Industry-1153045.htm

CAMBRIDGE, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - April 23, 2010) - Canada's Economic Action plan is delivering jobs and growth for the meat packing and processing sector in Ontario. The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology) and Member of Parliament (Cambridge), today announced an investment of $1.6 million to help Cambridge Meat Packers from the Slaughter Improvement Program.

"Canada's Economic Action Plan continues to help meat packers and processors keep their competitive edge in the marketplace," said Minister of State Goodyear. "A strong, competitive meat packing and processing sector means more jobs and a stronger economy."

This loan will allow the company to construct a water-treatment facility and finance the purchase and installation of new equipment to make sure that pork producers can get their high-quality product to consumers. Cambridge Meat Packers' 35,000-square-foot plant was recently renovated into a state-of-the-art facility, meeting federal inspection requirements.

"We're grateful for the loan provided by the Slaughter Improvement Program as it will assist us in finishing the extensive renovations to the plant so that we can begin slaughtering operations," said Albertino Domingues, President of Cambridge Meat Packers. "This will provide jobs to the local community and an additional market for Ontario hogs."

The Government of Canada's $50-million Slaughter Improvement Program, as part of Canada's Economic Action Plan, makes federal loans available to support sound business plans aimed at reducing costs, increasing revenues and improving operations of red meat packing and processing operations in Canada. The 2010 Budget provided an additional $10 million to the program.

With more than $20 billion in sales, the red meat industry is Canada's single largest employer in the food industry.

For more information on this program, visit www.agr.gc.ca/slaughterhouse.

For more information on Canada's Economic Action Plan, visit www.actionplan.gc.ca.

[IEFBR14]

CAMBRIDGE, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - April 23, 2010) - Canada's Economic Action plan is delivering jobs and growth for the meat packing and processing sector in Ontario. The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology) and Member of Parliament (Cambridge), today announced an investment of $1.6 million to help Cambridge Meat Packers from the Slaughter Improvement Program... finance the purchase and installation of new equipment to make sure that pork producers can get their high-quality product to consumers.
This gives new meaning to the term "bringing pork to the constituency."

[UrbanWaterloo]

Desire2Learn Incorporated
HQ: 305 King Street West, Suite 200, Kitchener (moving to The Tannery this year)
Website: www.desire2learn.com

Desire2Learn Raises the Bar with Release of Learning Suite 9.0
New Products Focus on Ensuring Pedagogically-Sound Courses and Programs That Will Transform Education, Training and Networked Learning Experiences
KITCHENER-WATERLOO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - April 28, 2010) | http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Desire2Learn-Raises-the-Bar-with-Release-of-Learning-Suite-90-1155573.htm

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Des1pic.gif

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Des2pici.jpg

Desire2Learn Incorporated (http://www.desire2learn.com/)(Desire2Learn), a leading provider of mission-critical enterprise eLearning solutions, today announced the release of Desire2Learn® Learning Suite 9.0 (http://www.desire2learn.com/experience-it/). The release includes major innovations that will enable clients to improve the experience for their learners, instructors and administrators and will have considerable influence on teaching and learning.

"Our systems are designed to have a measurable impact on strategic priorities. This release will change the game in many ways as it is centered on pedagogically-sound course design, with successful learning outcomes at the forefront. Our continued focus on security, accessibility, reliability, user experience and performance means clients will always have a system they can count on to ensure they maintain a leadership position," remarks John Baker, President & CEO, Desire2Learn.

Desire2Learn Learning Suite 9.0 includes significant advancements to the core learning management system (LMS) (Desire2Learn Learning Environment), as well as Desire2Learn Learning Repository, Desire2Learn ePortfolio and Desire2Learn Analytics. These advancements, as well as dozens of other feature improvements, are the outcome of extensive client input on the new version as well as the direct result of client feedback gathered and strategic research and development (R&D) projects undertaken.

Desire2Learn Instructional Design Wizard™ and Desire2Learn Course Builder™ are complementary to the existing content management tools, and are the result of substantial investment and years of intensive R&D involving clients, strategic research partners, including National Research Council of Canada (NRC) (http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/index.html) and Université de Moncton (http://www.umoncton.ca/), along with many members of the Desire2Learn R&D group. For more information about this research partnership, please see www.synergic3.com.

Desire2Learn Instructional Design Wizard™ (http://www.desire2learn.com/experience-it/) is a new tool that increases the quality of courses and enables time-savings by simplifying and streamlining the course development process using an instructional design framework.

Within the Instructional Design Wizard, instructors can:

Organize tools and steps for setting up courses
Organize a course into modular units with complete learning experiences
Define course learning objectives
Incorporate outcomes-based assessment
Identify appropriate instructional methods
Recommend tools to use to create the learning experiences desired in the course
Promoting alignment of those experiences with Bloom's taxonomy
Create structure and placeholders for the Course Builder tool
Review instructional design strategies

Desire2Learn Course Builder™ (http://www.desire2learn.com/experience-it/) , is an intuitive drag-and-drop interface within Desire2Learn Learning Environment that enables organization and management of the development of a course, its lessons, and its materials. This is all accomplished in an accessible framework.

Within Course Builder, instructors can:

Organize and structure lessons and complete courses
Interact with course materials, learning experiences and assessments in an organized and consolidated interface
Build on the placeholder and structure guidance provided by the Instructional Design Wizard to align to instructional goals
Easily associate competencies and learning objectives with learning experiences and assessments
Creating activities to build competency structure to promote objective-based learning and assessment
Add learning experience and assessment placeholders to enable defining the structure of a course
Populate them later by creating new items or linking to existing resources

Course Builder will enhance the course development process and end user experience. Educators will spend less time focusing on the technology and more time on what's important: teaching and learning.

Desire2Learn Learning Repository 5.0 has been designed to dramatically increase value through improved search and the storage of not only learning activities, but now assessments and quiz questions. Open standards are being leveraged to help with library integrations and incorporating other repositories to provide a simple method to discover, access and incorporate global learning resources.

Desire2Learn ePortfolio 3.0 takes social learning to a new level with improved dashboards and the expansion of open APIs and Web Services.

Desire2Learn Analytics 1.1 focuses on providing greater access to information on student performance and engagement, expanding the capabilities of existing data and enabling customization of assessment and rubric criteria.

Further details on these features will be highlighted in a subsequent release or can be accessed by visiting www.Desire2Learn.com/experience-it.

"We heard very clearly from our educational and corporate clients that they needed help with frameworks to support instructional design, and to speed the development of high quality courses and programs that meet their vision for a high value learner experience," states Baker. "The effort behind this release wasn't just focused on tools for a single instructor building a course; we were also addressing the demand for multidisciplinary course development teams needing a better framework for their course and program development."

To learn more about Desire2Learn Learning Suite 9.0, and experience it first hand, visit www.Desire2Learn.com/experience-it, call 1.888.772.0325 or email Info@Desire2Learn.com.

About Desire2Learn Incorporated
Desire2Learn Incorporated is a world-leading provider of enterprise eLearning solutions that enable institutions and other organizations to create teaching and learning environments that reflect their vision, values, goals, pedagogical approaches and branding. Desire2Learn and its subsidiaries support more than five million learners worldwide and clients include Higher Education, K-12, as well as Associations, Government and other leading organizations. Founded in 1999, Desire2Learn is headquartered in Kitchener, ON, Canada with personnel located in North America, the U.K. and Australia. For more information, visit: www.Desire2Learn.com, call 1.519.772.0325 or toll-free 1.888.772.0325 (within North America), 0808.234.6744 (U.K.) and +61 412 067 308 (Australia).

[RangersFan]

Palmer Audio
150 Vondrau Drive, Cambridge
www.palmeraudio.com


Small firm plans big events
April 28, 2010 | By Chuck Howitt, Record staff
http://news.therecord.com/article/703187

CAMBRIDGE — Palmer Audio may be one of Waterloo Region’s best-kept secrets.

“We’re not known in the community at all,” says president Scott Pollard.

But outside this area the company has organized some of the biggest events in North America. When Pope John Paul came to Toronto in 2002, Pollard had the mammoth job of hiring technical contractors to provide all services at each venue, including lights, cameras, audio, staging, communications, security, transportation and cleanup.

He points to an aerial photo in his Cambridge office showing a sea of 800,000 people crowding about the site at Downsview Park. To plan the event, “I was there (Toronto) for pretty much two years,” he says.

The following year, organizers of the Rolling Stones concert for SARS called. This was going to be a smaller show, only 500,000 people. Could Palmer do a feasibility study on whether the Downsview site would work for that event as well? And by the way, could he have it ready in three days?

Not only did he meet that deadline, he went on to serve as oversight planner, working with police, fire services, roads officials and health officials. He also helped manage the overall budget and hired vendors and suppliers of tenting, scaffolding, toilets and trash collection.

The Ottawa Blues Festival, the Molson Indy, auto races in Edmonton, California, Mexico and Australia, entertainment at the Vancouver Olympics, large corporate events. Palmer has designed, planned, lit, amplified, staged, serviced and videoed all these events. “A boutique design-build company,” is how Pollard describes Palmer.

It all happens from a 15,000-square-foot building on Vondrau Drive in Cambridge. Built by Palmer five years ago, it’s packed to the rafters with crates of sound equipment, lighting, rolls of wiring, flooring, stage scaffolding and the like. Crates are colour-coded to denote equipment owned by Palmer and two other similar companies sharing the space — Straight Street Event Services and Hiretech Systems.

Palmer acquired Hiretech a few years ago, but runs it as a separate entity handling more local events. Straight Street, owned by Keith Kissner, plans regional and medium-sized corporate events and fundraisers. An addition of 7,000 square feet put on the plant to accommodate its recent move to Vondrau Drive.

Together the three firms employ 16 full-time and 33 part-time people.

With all three firms under one roof, “we can co-exist in different markets and feed off each other,” says Pollard.

For Pollard, it all began in high school, at J.F. Ross Collegiate in Guelph. While studying theatre arts and electronics, he volunteered to help set up school shows and other community events at Ross Hall, at that time the only concert hall in the city. By the second year, he was in charge of audio, projection and lighting. “I ran Ross Hall,” he says.

He also played bass guitar in a band. “I was always the guy setting up the equipment.”

After graduation, he worked for a local sound company, then bought some of the equipment and clients when the owner wanted to change direction. He called the new firm Palmer Audio after the street he lived on in Guelph.

He started doing sound for rock concerts. One night he noticed a band struggling with flimsy-looking sound equipment. He helped the band set up. Named the Spoons, it went to become one of the most successful Canadian bands of the 1980s. Pollard became their sound man and tour manager.

From there he broadened Palmer’s expertise to include larger events and motor sports. Along the way he hired a lighting designer named Drew Detlor. They became partners with Detlor running day to day operations while Pollard hits the road.

The main challenges now include changing technology and the economy. With technology getting cheaper, some clients try to do more in-house, Pollard says. As for the recession, it has cut revenues, but the firm still made a profit last year.

“I’ve been through three recessions. Everytime we’ve come out of it stronger.

[RangersFan]

Karos Health the sixth company to graduate from Accelerator Centre

By Charlotte Prong Parkhill, Chronicle Staff

May 05, 2010

Karos Health celebrated its graduation from the Accelerator Centre last Wednesday. The company, which creates software for use in the field of electronic health systems, is the sixth start-up to graduate from the networking centre.
“This is a little like when I moved away from home for the first time,” said president Rick Stroobosscher.

During their two years at the Accelerator Centre, they’ve enjoyed furnished rooms, meals, and occasionally, the keys to the car.

“But even more important are the moms and dads that are here, with loads of advice and experience to share,” he said.

Tim Jackson, recently named the new CEO of the Accelerator, said the community can expect to see more graduations in the near future.

He’s been on the board of directors since it opened three years ago, and said the typical company needs a two-to three-year cycle in which to maximize their potential through the networking, mentoring, legal, accounting and other services offered at the centre.

Jackson said they are also working with Communitech and the digital media hub at their Kitchener office.

“So there will be one intake process that will help figure out where people should go, without duplicating services,” he said.

Many of the companies currently at the Accelerator are local, but the centre is building a reputation and starting to attract attention from across the country and the U. S.

“So one of the things I’m really focused on here is moving people through,” Jackson said. “Either because they’ve maximized their potential and it’s time to grow, or they’re stagnant. We’re not afraid to say to people, ‘It’s time for you to move on.’”

Karos Health is definitely not stagnant. In the exploding field of electronic health care management, they’ve seen some new investment recently, and have significant business opportunities in Canada, the U. S. and Europe.

In some ways, the health care industry lags behind many others when it comes to sharing information electronically. Karos is well positioned to expand with the pace of what is expected to be exponential growth.

“We’ve seen in the last couple of years, federal governments around the world have really take it on as a focus and are investing billions of dollars in it,” Stroobosscher said.

Karos headquarters is staying local but about a dozen employees will move from their 500 square foot space at the Accelerator to an office five times larger on Father David Bauer Drive. Stroobosscher said the company’s strength lies in collaboration with health care system creators such as Agfa, Dell and Cisco.

“We work with people who make applications, and extend them. I like to say we’re plumbers — we connect things together.”

Karos software allows doctors in remote northern communities to order tests and receive results from specialists thousands of miles away. In Alberta and Quebec, physicians can get access to a patient’s health care information from anywhere in the province.

“What we’re really trying to do is connect those sources of information,” Stroobosscher said. “For us it’s really about building up patient-centric health care, as opposed to institutional-based.”

Michel Pawlicz, director of business development, said some of the booming field’s greatest challenges lie with the security and privacy of information. But connecting medical systems more appropriately will mean everyone who is allowed to could access the patient’s full medical history.

Right now, the history can be scattered, especially for more complex illnesses. Patients can misinterpret or misunderstand the results of their own tests. Physicians can wait weeks for results to be faxed or couriered to their offices.

The interlocking e-health systems are expected to shorten wait times for patients and reduce overhead costs for doctors, hospitals and specialists. But Pawlicz suggests that with more complete records available, these systems could also lead to fewer misdiagnoses, fewer adverse drug reactions and a reduction in side effects.

“This will empower the patient to be more central in his care process,” he said.

“It gives the patient the tools to be more proactive.”


it's great to see them move their office Uptown, I would like to see alot more of this in the future.

[RangersFan]

Centra Industries Inc.
HQ: 24 Cherry Blossom Road, Cambridge
Website: www.centra-ind.com


Canada's Economic Action Plan Invests in Businesses and Creates Jobs in Cambridge
May 7, 2010 | http://www.feddevontario.gc.ca/eic/site/723.nsf/eng/00274.html

Cambridge, Ontario — Residents and businesses in the Cambridge area will benefit from an investment of more than $2.3 million for Centra Industries Inc. to buy new equipment for its manufacturing facility. The announcement was made today by the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) at Centra Industries Inc.

"This investment will create jobs in Cambridge and stimulate the local economy," said Minister Goodyear. "Our government is working with people and businesses across southern Ontario to ensure this region continues to thrive and prosper."

Centra Industries Inc., a manufacturer of aerospace parts for commercial and military aircraft programs, will receive a repayable contribution of $2,376,248 to purchase new equipment to increase its manufacturing capacity. This funding will also allow Centra Industries Inc. to meet existing and future contract demands from Boeing and other prospective clients and will create 41 new, full-time positions.

"Centra's aerospace manufacturing capability competes at a world class level, supplying critical structural assemblies on significant emerging airplane platforms," said Mr. David McIntyre, President of Centra Industries Inc. "Support from FedDev Ontario is providing Centra an opportunity to continue to invest in the latest in high speed machining technology and expand its highly skilled workforce."

This project will be funded under the Community Adjustment Fund in southern Ontario, which will create immediate employment opportunities and support the local economies that have been struggling with the effects of the global economic downturn. Other projects approved under the Community Adjustment Fund will be announced over the coming weeks. Approved projects must meet the terms and conditions set out in their contribution agreements.

FedDev Ontario was created as part of Canada's Economic Action Plan to support economic and community development, innovation, and economic diversification, with contributions to communities, businesses and non-profit organizations in southern Ontario. To learn more about FedDev Ontario and the Community Adjustment Fund in southern Ontario, please visit the website at www.feddevontario.gc.ca, or call 1-866-593-5505. For additional information on Canada's Economic Action Plan, visit www.actionplan.gc.ca.


Federal cash helps aerospace firm create 41 jobs
May 07, 2010 | Record staff | http://news.therecord.com/article/708181

CAMBRIDGE — Centra Industries Inc., a Cambridge-based manufacturer of aerospace parts for commercial and military aircraft, will create 41 new full-time jobs after receiving $2.3 million from the federal government.
The funding, in the form of a repayable loan, will allow Centra to meet existing and future contract demands from Boeing and other potential clients, the company said today.
Gary Goodyear, minister of state responsible for the federal economic development agency for southern Ontario, announced the funding at Centra’s plant on Cherry Blossom Road.
Centra will use the money to invest in high-speed machining technology and expand its skilled workforce, company president David McIntyre said.
“Centra’s aerospace manufacturing capability competes at a world-class level, supplying critical structural assemblies on significant emerging airplane platforms,” he said in a news release.

[RangersFan]

Aerospace company investing $26.5 million in Kitchener plant
May 10, 2010

Record staff

KITCHENER – Heroux-Devtek is investing $26.5 million to upgrade and modernize its Kitchener landing gear plant.

The Montreal-based aerospace company announced the investment plan today at the Highland Road West plant. The Ontario government is supporting the investment with a contribution of almost $4 million.

“This investment program is another key milestone in the ongoing development of our Kitchener facility,” Gilles Labbe, Heroux-Devtek’s chief executive officer, said in a news release.

The Kitchener plant, which employs 160 people, makes medium to large size landing gear components for airplanes.

The company said the investment program will include the purchase of state-of-the-art, highly automated equipment and the modernization of existing equipment.

The moves will allow Heroux-Devtek to make “increasingly large and complex major landing gear components,” the company said.

The Ontario government said its contribution to the program will help to retain 20 jobs and create 20 news jobs over the next five years.

[IEFBR14]

SAP buying Sybase for $5.8B in attack on Oracle (http://news.therecord.com/printArticle/710988)
German business software maker SAP AG has agreed to buy Sybase Inc. in a $5.8 billion deal that ratchets up SAP’s rivalry with database leader Oracle Corp.

Sybase is the parent company for Waterloo-based iAnywhere Solutions, which employs about 250 people at its local operation.

The all-cash deal intensifies the battle between SAP and Oracle to run more of the programs that corporations use to manage their data. Oracle, the world’s leading database maker in a market where Sybase is a small player, has been on a buying binge in an attempt to take business in other areas from SAP.

SAP says the acquisition will also give it key technology from Sybase that lets business programs run on mobile phones.

SAP is offering $65 for each outstanding share of Sybase’s common stock. Sybase’s stock hadn’t closed above $50 per share since the mid-1990s.

Before the announcement, shares of Sybase rose 35 per cent to $56.14 on rumours of the deal. In extended trading, stocks rose an additional 15 per cent to $64.30.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter, provided it is cleared by antitrust regulators. SAP, based in Walldorf, Germany, said the deal will immediately add to SAP’s earnings. Sybase is headquartered in Dublin, Calif.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Salute to Woolwich Business Event
Woolwich Business Owners are invited to the first annual Salute to Woolwich Business Event.
Wednesday June 2, 2010 | 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. | Schoolhouse Theatre, 11 Albert Street, St. Jacobs
http://www.woolwich.ca/en/resourcesGeneral/2010SalutetoBusinessInvitationSponsorship.pdf

Networking (begins at 4pm) Network with other Woolwich business representatives, elected officials, and Senior Staff from the Township.
Local Business Tradeshow (begins at 4pm) Rent a Tradeshow table to showcase your brand, products & services. Cost per table: $25 (one table per business). All Tradeshow tables must be booked by May 22.
Keynote Speaker (5:30pm) Alan Quarry, Chairman and CEO, Quarry Integrated Communications. Alan Quarry leads the 100+ person team focused on helping Quarry Integrated Communications clients build their business. Quarry has offices in St. Jacob’s (July 5), Toronto, Raleigh‐NC, and San Jose, CA. In addition to building the Sun Life, Avis, and Canadian Solar brands, Quarry launched the BlackBerry brand across the USA and Canada in 1998 for Research In Motion. Alan teaches Marketing Communications at WLU, and Marketing Strategy at the University of Windsor. He speaks to approximately 12 groups a year, and he recently spoke in Beijing, Raleigh NC, London ON, Toronto, Prague, Stockholm, and to the Woolwich Kiwanis Club.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Innovation Insights: Innovation, Emerging Technologies and Global Markets
Accelerator Centre, University of Waterloo | June 3, 2010 9:00AM - 4:30PM
http://www.waterloomin.com/innovationinsights

Build your global markets with the University of Waterloo's emerging technologies in Information Communication Systems, Green Business and Sustainable Energy.

Speakers:

David Johnston, President, UWaterloo
George Dixon, Vice President, University Research, UWaterloo
Jayson Myers, President & CEO, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters
KEYNOTE: Dr. Frank Tompa, David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science

Presentations and Sessions:

UWaterloo - Canada's Most Innovative University
R&D Capacities
Accelerator Commercialization Excellence
Information Communication Technologies for Business
Green Technologies for Business
Sustainable Energy for Business

[RangersFan]

Waterloo Region’s aerospace firms soaring above economic turmoil

June 12, 2010

By Chuck Howitt, Record staff

WATERLOO REGION — David McIntyre is doing a lot of smiling these days and with good reason.

McIntyre is president of Centra Industries Inc., a Cambridge-based company that makes structural components for the underbellies, engine struts and tails of some of the best-known names in the aircraft business, including Boeing, Bombardier, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Cessna and Gulfstream.

Since 1992, the world has staggered through two recessions, the dot-com meltdown, 9-11, SARS and other smaller catastrophes. During that same time frame, Centra has grown every year and expects to double its annual revenues, currently standing at $59 million, in the next four years.

Employment has grown from 38 employees in the early 1990s to 265 today and Centra expects to hire 41 more people in the next year to staff its plant on Cherry Blossom Drive.

Centra isn’t the only local aerospace company that has soared above the economic turmoil. Waterloo Region is home to a number of significant players in the aerospace sector, making everything from radar systems and microsatellites to landing gear and airline scheduling software.

Led by space hardware manufacturer Com Dev International in Cambridge, the aerospace sector in Waterloo Region employs almost 2,400 people and includes other prominent companies such as Heroux-Devtek, Raytheon Canada, Chicopee Manufacturing, Strite Industries, Virtek Vision International, Navtech and Centra.

A gaggle of smaller firms, mostly housed at Waterloo Region International Airport, have carved out space servicing and supporting the aerospace sector.

“It’s a smaller pocket” compared to the aerospace sector in the Greater Toronto Area, says Rod Jones, executive director of the Ontario Aerospace Council, which represents 200 aerospace firms in the province. But that pocket includes some “superb” companies, Jones says.

And some of those companies are clearly on a roll.

Over its 35 years in business, Com Dev has traditionally been a supplier of components for satellites made by other companies. Its switches, filters and multiplexers reroute signals sent up from earth back down to other locations on the globe. Lately, this business has been very good to Com Dev. Revenues have doubled in the last five years to $240 million in 2009.

Now the company appears poised to move into the big leagues and become an original equipment maker in its own right.

Com Dev is designing and building its own microsatellites that will provide data services to customers back on earth. The microsatellites incorporate its breakthrough technology to monitor maritime ship traffic from space. Everybody in the industry is holding their breath to see how this venture fares over the long haul. Early results have been promising.

Another local firm on the leading edge of aerospace technology is Virtek Vision in Waterloo. Aircraft manufacturers are gradually switching to carbon fibre, a stronger and lighter material used in the construction of fuselages, wings and other parts. Virtek’s laser templating devices make it easier to cut and place these parts.

Customers for its laser devices include major manufacturers such as Bombardier, Boeing, Embraer and Northrop Grumman.

“The ceiling of Boeing’s Winnipeg plant is lined with dozens and dozens of our lasers,” says Peter Richter, Virtek’s vice-president of imaging and templating products.

Meanwhile, Heroux-Devtek is investing $26 million over five years to upgrade manufacturing equipment and automation systems at its landing gear plant on Highland Road in Kitchener. The plant is making pistons and cylinders for shock absorbers on the Boeing 777 and 787 and the Airbus 820 passenger jets.

Part of the Quebec-based company’s landing gear division, the Kitchener plant has been designated a centre of excellence for medium to large aircraft. “We have had a very good experience with the Kitchener facility,” says chief executive officer Gilles Labbe. “The workforce is very committed, very talented.”

Also weathering the recession in robust fashion is Raytheon Canada in Waterloo. For years, the plant has developed radar systems for air traffic control, but new ventures into high frequency surface wave radar to track ships at sea and long-range radar for the U.S. government have boosted employment at the plant to 390 from 300 in 2007.

These new ventures have triggered “a bit of a boom to growth in the company,” says general manager Brian Smith, and have helped stabilize the company’s primary surveillance radar product line.

While Com Dev, Heroux-Devtek and Raytheon are well-established names in aerospace, Centra Industries is a relative newcomer led by a man who originally pursued a career as a chartered accountant.

David McIntyre was home for Thanksgiving dinner in 1992 when he mentioned he was looking to make a change. His father, Bob, had purchased a Waterloo machine ship called Centra Industries six years earlier and was gradually shifting it into making aerospace parts for companies in the Toronto area.

A key manager had left, so dad asked son to come aboard as operations manager. McIntyre accepted and began moving up in the company.

In the late 1990s, the company made a strategic decision that set the stage for the success it enjoys today. Aluminum machining in the aerospace market was changing from the production of many small parts to the creation of larger, more complete components forged on high-speed machines with precise cutting tools.

A major innovation was “five-axis technology,” says McIntyre. Cutting tools could move on five different axes to create complex structures without causing distortion or stress to the parts. Components that required the assembling of 150 different parts could now be reduced to a single part.

At the same time, aircraft manufacturers were transferring more of the assembly work on structures to smaller subcontractors.

Centra felt that if it made the right investments in the latest machining technology and focused on the right customers, “we could become a very significant player in that marketplace,” says the 45-year-old McIntyre, who became the company’s majority shareholder in 2001 when his dad retired.

A second challenge was getting on the procurement list of major companies such as Boeing. That was no easy task and required “some persistent marketing,” he says. Working in Centra’s favour was a fairly stable list of regional clients, which it was able to leverage into access to the larger manufacturers.

McIntyre describes Centra as primarily a “structures company.” For example, it makes structural pieces for the strut that holds the engine to the wing. On the underbelly of the new Boeing 787, it is making the skeletal framework linking the wings to the fuselage. On the Boeing 777, it makes the structural ribs on the leading edges of the vertical and horizontal tails of the plane.

Eighty-five per cent of its work is done on commercial transport planes and the remainder on military aircraft.

Since moving to Cherry Blossom Road in 1998, Centra has expanded its plant twice to the current 131,000 square feet. With no more room to grow, it will likely open a second plant in the next few years.

The company’s performance has not gone unnoticed. In 2007, a Boston private equity firm, Heritage Capital Partners, bought a 49-per-cent stake in Centra for $24.9 million.

“The company’s management team is the strongest we’ve seen in the entire aerostructures market,” Mark Jrolf of Heritage said when the investment was announced.

Most large players in the local aerospace sector are in the business of making components. Yet some smaller firms have carved out niches servicing and modifying aircraft. One example is Kitchener Aero, housed since the late 1970s in a hangar at Waterloo Region International Airport and a second facility called Mid-Canada Mod Center at Pearson Airport.

Doing one thing and doing it really well is the secret to Kitchener Aero’s longevity, according to president Barry Aylward. “We don’t try to be all things to all people,” he notes. The firm’s only business is avionics, or the electronic systems of airplanes.

The company installs, modifies and repairs systems made by avionics manufacturers in everything from small recreational planes to heavy corporate aircraft. A major part of the business is “special missions” modifications, such as installing a flying TV studio in helicopters for CTV and avionics systems for police, air medical and aerial survey aircraft. The company has even worked on government flight-inspection aircraft for the Civil Aviation Authority of China.

Employment totals about 50, with 20 at Waterloo and 30 in Toronto. Though government rules have grown “exponentially” and business is down slightly because of the recession, Kitchener Aero has been growing a little bit every year, Aylward says.

The company is fairly unique in Canadian avionics, he says. Most shops are either much smaller or much larger. “There are not many mid-sized players like ourselves that are capable of handling a very large complex job and still handling the bread and butter jobs at the same time.”

Major aerospace employers in Waterloo Region:

• Com Dev International (satellite components and microsatellites): 1,000

• Raytheon Canada (surveillance radar): 390

• Strite Industries (landing gear, actuator, guidance system components): 300

• Centra Industries (structural components): 265

• Heroux-Devtek (landing gear components): 160

• Chicopee Manufacturing (wing, landing gear components): 100

• Navtech (flight operations software): 100

• Virtek Vision (laser templating): 60

[RangersFan]

Cineplex to buy Waterloo digital display company for $3.5 million

June 17, 2010

TORONTO – DDC Group International Inc., a digital sign business based in Waterloo, is being acquired by Cineplex Entertainment Limited.

The pricetag of the deal, announced today, is $3.5 million.

DDC designs, installs, maintains and operates digital signs in retail, financial, hospitality and entertainment markets.

“DDC is a recognized leader in designing, implementing and maintaining service-based digital signage networks across North America,” Ellis Jacob, president and chief executive officer of Cineplex Entertainment, said in a news release.

“Acquiring DDC enables us to further expand our existing Cineplex Digital Media business.”

Stuart Kirkpatrick, president of DDC, said the deal with Canada’s largest movie theatre company will provide growth opportunities for his signage firm.

“By joining forces with Cineplex Digital Media, we unite with a company that shares our passion for digital signage whose strength, national reach and immense expertise positions us to deliver even greater growth and success to our clients and their networks.”

The acquisition is expected to close July 2.

The Canadian Press

[RangersFan]

Luggage maker expands production at Cambridge plant

June 19, 2010

By Rose Simone, Record staff

CAMBRIDGE — Just 18 months after opening a factory here, luggage maker Rimowa has expanded both the number and type of products coming off its local production lines.

The Maple Grove Road plant has expanded from making 60 luggage cases a day a year ago to about 300 luggage cases a day now, said Carsten Kulcke, executive vice-president of Rimowa North America.

The workforce has doubled to 50 employees.

Growing brand recognition, aided by having a plant closer to the North American retailers and customers, has caused demand to be “much stronger than anticipated,” Kulcke said.

He said sales in North America grew 25 per cent last year despite the recession and he is expecting sales will more than double this year.

The German-owned company, which started out making polycarbonate suitcases in Cambridge near the end of 2008, now has four production lines at the plant.

Kulcke said he expects sales will be further boosted by the Topas aluminum luggage line, a higher end type of luggage that is being added to the local production lineup.

The Topas collection is “a distinct product line” previously only made at the plant in Cologne, Germany, he said. It has been “the heart and soul of the company ... worldwide, people know Rimowa for its aluminum cases,” he said.

Kulcke said retailers also like being able to offer products that have a higher retail value. “So from that perspective, it is a win-win situation for all involved parties.”

Kulcke said tariff duties make it less costly and more efficient to produce the cases for this market here. Rimowa also wanted to expand sales in North America, and to do that, it needed to be closer to the markets here.

By having a plant in Cambridge, the company can respond and adapt more quickly to shifting demand, he said.

“That gives us a huge edge over the competition that ships everything in from the outside.”

Kulcke said that when a number of North American retailers were given a tour of the Cambridge plant this week, they were “amazed” at the amount of labour that goes into each piece of luggage.

“It was the first time they had a firsthand view of how a Rimowa case is built, and they were raving about it afterwards,” he said.

“They were expecting to see a lot of machinery but the process is actually more manual than they realized and the employees are really involved in paying attention to the details. There is a very personal, craftsmanship approach to the production.”

rsimone@therecord.com

[panamaniac]

Luggage maker expands production at Cambridge plant

June 19, 2010

By Rose Simone, Record staff

CAMBRIDGE — Just 18 months after opening a factory here, luggage maker Rimowa has expanded both the number and type of products coming off its local production lines.

The Maple Grove Road plant has expanded from making 60 luggage cases a day a year ago to about 300 luggage cases a day now, said Carsten Kulcke, executive vice-president of Rimowa North America.

The workforce has doubled to 50 employees.

Growing brand recognition, aided by having a plant closer to the North American retailers and customers, has caused demand to be “much stronger than anticipated,” Kulcke said.

He said sales in North America grew 25 per cent last year despite the recession and he is expecting sales will more than double this year.

The German-owned company, which started out making polycarbonate suitcases in Cambridge near the end of 2008, now has four production lines at the plant.

Kulcke said he expects sales will be further boosted by the Topas aluminum luggage line, a higher end type of luggage that is being added to the local production lineup.

The Topas collection is “a distinct product line” previously only made at the plant in Cologne, Germany, he said. It has been “the heart and soul of the company ... worldwide, people know Rimowa for its aluminum cases,” he said.

Kulcke said retailers also like being able to offer products that have a higher retail value. “So from that perspective, it is a win-win situation for all involved parties.”

Kulcke said tariff duties make it less costly and more efficient to produce the cases for this market here. Rimowa also wanted to expand sales in North America, and to do that, it needed to be closer to the markets here.

By having a plant in Cambridge, the company can respond and adapt more quickly to shifting demand, he said.

“That gives us a huge edge over the competition that ships everything in from the outside.”

Kulcke said that when a number of North American retailers were given a tour of the Cambridge plant this week, they were “amazed” at the amount of labour that goes into each piece of luggage.

“It was the first time they had a firsthand view of how a Rimowa case is built, and they were raving about it afterwards,” he said.

“They were expecting to see a lot of machinery but the process is actually more manual than they realized and the employees are really involved in paying attention to the details. There is a very personal, craftsmanship approach to the production.”

rsimone@therecord.com

Anybody know who carries their product locally?

[RangersFan]

Soil delivery business grows beyond expectations

June 23, 2010

By Frances Barrick, Record staff

KITCHENER – Five years ago, Jon Weiler’s business consisted of a shovel, a pile of dirt and a van.

Today, his soil delivery business has grown to include up to 10 employees, three delivery trucks and a depot on Manitou Drive in Kitchener where customers can pick up their own mini bags of soil and mulch.

“It has been crazy,” says the 29-year-old owner of Dirt Cheap. “It has been tough. It has just been growing so quickly.”

The idea for Dirt Cheap started when Weiler saw home gardeners who were overwhelmed when their orders of top soil and mulch were dumped in large yellow bags on their driveways.

The University of Guelph kinesiology student thought there must be an easier way to deliver soil so the New Hamburg native polled his town’s residents to gauge their interest in receiving smaller bags that are delivered directly into their yards or gardens.

His first year in business, in 2006, he had about 100 customers. By day, Weiler worked on a New Hamburg area farm; at night, he shoveled dirt into recycled feed bags and delivered the 50-pound (22.7-kilogram) bags to customers in his 10-year-old van.

The second year his business grew to about 200 customers. He bought an old potato cleaning machine and converted it into a soil-bagging machine. “It beat doing it by hand,” he says.

A local farmer he once worked for rented him space in a barn for his business. Friends and family members helped him with the bagging and taking of orders.

Weiler quickly grew into the Kitchener and Waterloo market. This year, he expanded into Cambridge and Guelph. Dirt Cheap now has more than 2,000 customers, many of them repeat clients.

This year has been especially hectic for Weiler. He bought land on Manitou Drive in Kitchener and built an office and depot where people can drop by and purchase bags of soil, mulch, aggregates and grass seed. The pickup business is in addition to his delivery service.

“The core of the business is having small bags of soil placed around the perimeter of your yard,” he says. “All you have to do is open the bags and dump the soil into your garden” with no need of a shovel or wheelbarrow.

The depot on Manitou Drive was barely completed when spring came early in April and so did the demand for soil. So far this year, he has sold more than 3,000 cubic yards of his soil and mulch.

Weiler’s future plans include expansion into Milton and Hamilton.

Originally, Weiler planned to be a physiotherapist, but he changed his mind after doing a school-related work stints at a physiotherapist’s office. Having spent most of his working life outside on a farm, he felt office life was too confining.

While the days are long, and Weiler says he hasn’t yet seen a paycheque as he has poured all his profits back into the business, he enjoys being his own boss. His wife’s salary supports the pair, and he has worked in the home-renovation business during the winter months.

“It’s not about the money. It’s more about the challenge of building this business,” he says.

“It hasn’t been all positives. There have been trips and falls, but you have to pick yourself up and continue on with it.

Weiler’s advice to other young entrepreneurs is simple. “You have to jump in with both feet. You have to take risks.”

Dirt Cheap

43 Manitou Dr. in Kitchener

Phone: 519-804-4300

Web: www.dirtcheap.ca

Email: info@dirtcheap.ca

Employees: 10 during the peak season

[IEFBR14]

Number of Tech Companies in Waterloo Region Tech Sector Jumps by 21% in Two Years, says 2010 Tech Directory Study
Full Report to be Made Available at Communitech Tech Leadership Conference July 14
Waterloo Region | June 30, 2010 | http://cnw.ca/en/releases/archive/June2010/30/c9452.html

Tech company growth in Waterloo Region has burgeoned over the past two years, with a 21 percent increase reported in the recently published 2010 edition of the Waterloo Region Tech Directory and State of the Industry report. Full release of the 2010 Tech Directory will coincide with the Communitech 2010 Tech Leadership Conference slated for Wednesday, July 14 in Waterloo Region.

"We're pleased to see this proof point of growth in the technology sector in Waterloo Region, especially in a time when many other opportunities contracted due to economic challenges," said Iain Klugman, president and CEO of Communitech, the organization that commissions the annual State of the Industry report. "One of the key drivers for this is digital media, which for the first time is mentioned in the report and which, along with Information, Communication and Technology, and software companies, now comprises 50 percent of the high-tech companies."

The study, based on a survey and an inventory of technology firms in Waterloo Region and area in January and February this year, says that the number of tech companies in the region has now hit 700 compared to 550 in 2008. Total invested venture capital in Waterloo Region tech companies exceeds $300 million, and tech firms account for $18 billion in annual revenues. It's the first time that digital media has been mentioned in the report.

"The rise of interest and investment in the digital media sector reflects the emphasis being placed on this sector by the Canadian Digital Media Network along with increased focus from government and business," said Klugman. "It's great timing for this groundswell of support since we are currently attracting tenants to the Communitech Hub hosting digital media start-up companies."

Other key findings in the study include:

Majority of regional tech firms are small to medium enterprises with 51 percent having between 1 and 5 employees;
Waterloo Region boasts 25 publicly-traded tech companies,10 of which have headquarters elsewhere;
Four of the five top 50 Canadian merger and acquisition deals were with Waterloo Region-based companies.

The Waterloo Region continues to have 2,000 tech job openings and currently has 30,000 people employed in tech companies.

Advance copies of he Waterloo Region 2010 Tech Directory are available at the Communitech offices in the Accelerator Centre, and will be available in full at the Tech Leadership Conference. For further details on the Tech Leadership Conference go to: www.techleadership.ca.


Tech sector keeps multiplying in tough times (http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/738357)
Waterloo Region’s technology sector just keeps on growing.

The number of high technology companies in the region has jumped to about 700 from 550 in 2008, according to a new report from Communitech, the association representing tech companies in the area.

That represents a growth rate of 21 per cent during one of the worst economic downturns of the past 20 years.

This sector, which includes digital media, information technology and software companies, computer hardware firms and advanced manufacturing businesses, employs roughly 30,000 people with 2,000 job openings waiting to be filled, Communitech said in a news release Wednesday.

The figures are based on a survey and inventory of technology firms in Waterloo Region and area conducted by Communitech in January and February.

Results are published in the 2010 edition of the Waterloo Region Tech Directory, which will be released at a tech leadership conference sponsored by Communitech on July 14.

Featured speakers at the conference, to be held at Bingemans in Kitchener, include Clayton Christensen, author of the Innovators Dilemma, Bill Taylor, co-founder of Fast Company magazine, and Noel Biderman, president of Avid Life Media.

Among other findings, the report notes that 51 per cent of technology firms in the area are small businesses of between one and five employees. The region is also home to 25 publicly traded tech companies, of which 15 have their headquarters here. They include Research In Motion, Open Text, ATS Automation Tooling Systems and Com Dev.

Venture capital invested in area tech companies exceeds $300 million and the sector accounts for $18 billion in annual revenues, the report notes.

Iain Klugman, chief executive officer of Communitech, said the latest inventory underscores the strength of the local tech sector. “We’re thrilled because so much has changed in the past five years,” he said in an interview. “We’ve really got the momentum going.”

The region has been home to roughly 350 startups in the last 30 months, he noted. “Not all of them make it, but at the end of the day you’ve got to have startups if you want to have successful medium-sized companies.”

One of the key drivers of recent growth, Klugman said, has been digital media, broadly defined as computer gaming, social networking software and digital tools to advance research in areas such as health care, finance and mineral exploration.

The region has benefitted greatly in this regard through its designation as the headquarters of the Canadian Digital Media Network, a joint venture of all three levels of government, Communitech and industry partners. The network will set up shop in the Tannery building in downtown Kitchener this summer along with a Communitech digital media incubator called the Hub.

Apart from digital media, the local sector has shown its resilience during the recession by maintaining strong balance sheets and focusing its research on “solving significant problems,” Klugman said.

[UrbanWaterloo]

ServiceOntario Centre Opening
July 9, 2010 | John Milloy's Newsletter "In this Edition"

Thursday morning, I helped to officially open a newly integrated ServiceOntario centres at 1151 Victoria Street North. At this new centre, you will be able to access health card and driver and vehicle services under one roof. Routine health card services and driver and vehicle renewal services are also now available in Kitchener at the ServiceOntario centres at 1151 Victoria Street North; 30 Manitou Drive and 105 Lexington Road in Waterloo.

An addition centre at 30 Duke Street West in Kitchener will also be offering these services as of July 12, 2010 and a 1400 Weber Street location will be added in the fall.

These changes will give people access to more routine government services and better meet customer needs.

[plam]

ServiceOntario Centre Opening
July 9, 2010 | John Milloy's Newsletter "In this Edition"

Thursday morning, I helped to officially open a newly integrated ServiceOntario centres at 1151 Victoria Street North. At this new centre, you will be able to access health card and driver and vehicle services under one roof. Routine health card services and driver and vehicle renewal services are also now available in Kitchener at the ServiceOntario centres at 1151 Victoria Street North; 30 Manitou Drive and 105 Lexington Road in Waterloo.

An addition centre at 30 Duke Street West in Kitchener will also be offering these services as of July 12, 2010 and a 1400 Weber Street location will be added in the fall.

These changes will give people access to more routine government services and better meet customer needs.

I was wondering about why it was such a hassle to convert Quebec to Ontario license and health cards. This sounds like an improvement to me.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Want to boost your net worth? Live in a mid-sized city
Household debt highest in Calgary, survey of Canadian households’ financial statistics finds
Andrew Binet, Globe and Mail | http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/personal-finance/want-to-boost-your-net-worth-live-in-a-mid-sized-city/article1640442/
Published on Wednesday, Jul. 14, 2010 8:02PM EDT | Last updated on Thursday, Jul. 15, 2010 11:08AM EDT

Which Canadian cities posted the biggest jump in household net worth last year? Toronto? Vancouver? Montreal?

Try Quebec City, Winnipeg, Halifax and Saskatoon. Each of these cities saw household net worth jump by nearly 10 per cent in 2009, according to WealthScapes 2010, a national survey of household financial statistics. Residents in these cities are doing the best job at managing their debt loads while continuing to invest, said Catherine Pearson, vice-president of Environics Analytics, the company behind WealthScapes.

Canada’s commercial hubs, on the other hand, posted net worth growth that hovered around or below the national average of 6.7 per cent. Vancouver, with its pricey real estate, managed to hold on to the title of the city with the highest net worth, but this doesn’t seem likely to last long. Its net worth growth rate was among the lowest of the large cities, at 3.1 per cent.

Calgary’s average household income, at $119,681, was $23,000 higher than any other city, but don’t be misled: The average household in Calgary had $184,850 dollars of debt. That’s nearly $25,000 more than Vancouver, and more than double Montreal.

“Last year we saw that [people in Calgary] were continuing to behave as if there was a boom,” Ms. Pearson said.

Yet it seems Calgary is an exception. “They were behaving differently than the rest of the country,” and “continued to carry heavy debt,” with risk-free household savings amounting to a little less than one-third of the amount of assets held in riskier vehicles like stocks and bonds, she said.

In 2009, Canadians for the most part were “definitely more diversified” when it came to managing their financial assets. Coming out of the recession, there was a widespread “change in investment style,” according to Ms. Pearson, as Canadians transferred their riskier assets into “more cautious vehicles.”

Cities where household net worth grew the most maintained the lowest levels of household savings. The level in Saskatoon grew 9.6 per cent in 2009, while each household has managed to save about $35,696 total. Torontonians have saved the most over all, with an average of $118,388 per household.

http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/archive/00766/chart2_766066a.jpg

[RangersFan]

Greentec expanding electronics recycling operations

July 16, 2010

By Chuck Howitt, Record staff

CAMBRIDGE — Tony Perrotta is living proof that there’s plenty of green — as in cash — in going green.

Perrotta’s company, Greentec International, is building a $2-million addition at its Cambridge plant to handle its growing business in the recycling of print cartridges, cellphones, computers and other electronic waste.

Expected to be ready by the end of September, the addition will add 26,000 square feet to its 55,000-square-foot plant on Struck Court.

The company is also investing $1.5 million in new processing equipment and plans to hire 12 to 15 people in the near term to handle the growing need for the disposal and recycling of electronic trash, Perrotta said.

Since being founded in the garage of Perrotta’s Cambridge home in 1995, Greentec has grown into a major player in the market for recycled print cartridges.

Greentec says it was one of the first empty-cartridge brokers to serve the print cartridge aftermarket and bills itself as a world leader in this field. Every year, it collects millions of empty cartridges, which it sorts, inspects and prepares for re-furbishment, and then sells to re-manufacturers in North America and overseas.

In 2005, the company added cellphones to its recycling list. After being approved by the province several years ago as a certified processor of electronic waste, it started handling all kinds of computer and consumer-electronic waste, such as monitors, processors, printers, TVs and audio-visual equipment.

Products that can’t be refurbished are dismantled and separated. Metals are sold to refiners while plastics are ground down and sold to customers for use in other plastic products. “Nothing goes to landfill,” said Perrotta.

“We’re experiencing more demand. We’re taking back all kinds of electronics,” said Perrotta, a Montreal native who came to this area to study political science at the University of Waterloo and then embarked on a career selling cars until a relative steered him into recycling.

The company’s business is broadly defined as “reverse logistics” or the collection of used products for repair, re-manufacture or recycling back into the marketplace.

With a current workforce of 75 people, the company handles up to one million pounds of electronic waste a month at the plant on Struck Court, where it moved in 2004.

Perrotta attributes Greentec’s success in a tough economy to several factors, including a lean operating model and its technology for ensuring that all electronic data is properly destroyed.

“Information security is behind a lot of this,” he said of the company’s service.

chowitt@therecord.com

[RangersFan]

Meat packer creates jobs through provincial grant

570 News Jul 27, 2010 11:51:58 AM

Up to forty new industrial jobs are coming to Waterloo Region this year thanks to a provincial grant.

Local MPP Leeanna Pendergast and Minister of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs, Carol Mitchell, announced a $350,000 grant for improvements at Conestoga Meat Packers in Breslau today.

The money will help pay for new machinery and a better packaging system, both of which will increase the plant's output and create new jobs.

The grant also provides for specialized training.

President of the company, Arnold Drung, tells 570 News most of the jobs will be created through improved exporting capacity.

Drung says they've already started hiring for the new positions, and should have all them filled by the end of the year.

The plant already employs 350 people.

[panamaniac]

Workers turn closed furniture factory into a handbag company



July 28, 2010
By Rose Simone, Record staff

WATERLOO — When Steelcase Inc., a maker of furniture for hospitals and the health care sector, decided to close its Nurture division plant in Waterloo last year, it was a huge blow for Michele Way and Connie McDonald who had devoted so much of themselves to the business.

But instead of just walking out of the empty plant on Davenport Road, the two women stayed, and used the talent and the materials available to them to start a new business, Care-e-On Bags, which makes and sells a variety of handbags, totes, fabric covers and cases.

For Way, running an independent business marks a return to entrepreneurial roots. Her husband, Rob, was one of the original owners of the plant that used to be known as Softcare Innovations Inc. It was sold in 2006 to Michigan-based Steelcase amid high hopes for significant growth. But in 2009, Steelcase decided to consolidate production at a plant in Tijuana, Mexico, laying off about 80 people in Waterloo.

Way, who was working in the human resources department at the time, and McDonald, who was working as a sewing team leader and supervisor, lost their jobs. But they knew the sewers would be the hardest hit, many of them being recent immigrants to Canada with limited knowledge of English.

“I had hired most of those people, so it was heartbreaking,” Way says. They were great employees, McDonald adds. “They always showed up and they worked really hard.”

The idea for handbags actually came from the fact that “our sewers were very enterprising,” Way says. They would often create beautiful bags, to be used as gifts or at trade shows, in their spare time out of scraps of leftover fabric in the plant.

So as the plant was shutting down, Way and McDonald started to joke that maybe they should start a handbag company. After talking to a number of people, it developed into a serious idea.

When Steelcase left, Way and MacDonald managed to lease the plant floor space on Davenport Road.

“The owner of this building was very nice to us and gave us a break, because we had been long-time tenants,” Way says.

Way and McDonald were also able to obtain, for a token price, about 15,000 yards of leftover furniture-making fabrics, including vinyl and high-quality thick fabrics lined with moisture and anti-microbial barriers.

The company was happy to let them take it, and other furniture makers have also been willing to donate leftover materials, because scrap furniture fabric is notoriously difficult to even give away. Only people with industrial sewing machines can work with the thick fabric, which would damage a regular home sewing machine. If you tried to use it on a machine that wasn’t heavy-duty, “the quality just won’t be there,” McDonald says.

Getting the donated fabrics was critical to starting the handbag business, because the material costs would otherwise have been much too high, Way says.

The amount of material they were able to obtain could stretch Waterloo to Elmira. “That’s just what we had here,” Way adds. Other furniture makers that they have contacted also have thousands of yards of scrap fabric. So diverting all that from landfill sties “has a significant impact on the environment,” she says.

Meanwhile, several of the sewers from Steelcase were interested in buying used industrial sewing machines and setting themselves up as independent contract sewers. In starting the handbag business, Way and McDonald were able to provide work to about six of those sewers. As the business grows, they hope to be able to provide more employment.

The wide range of totes and bags in different colours, patterns and styles are now being sold at independent boutiques, bookstores, gourmet shops and gift stores in Waterloo, New Hamburg, Ayr, Guelph, Stratford and Orillia. The retailers selling the bags are listed on the Care-e-on website. Specialty shops at places such as golf courses and fitness centres also sell the bags.

Meanwhile, charitable organizations also buy bags that are sold for fundraisers. “We can make the bags with the labels and sell them at cost, and then they can sell the bags at the price they want, to raise money,” Way says.

The name of the business, Care-e-On Bags, stems from the concept of caring, Way says. “We care about people, the environment and our community,” Way says. So the business makes a point of donating a portion of the revenue from each bag sold by a retailer to the charity of the retailer’s choice, under the retailer’s name.

McDonald and Way say starting a handbag business involved a huge learning curve. After all, this was a product that they didn’t have any experience in selling. They had to learn, for example, about retail pricing. They held an open house to get feedback on what customers were looking for and the price they would be willing to pay.

“We didn’t know, in the beginning, whether it would work,” Way says. “But we thought, ‘what do we have to lose?’ We have the fabric, which is really high end fabric. We were known in the industry for the best quality. So we decided to give it a shot.”

rsimone@therecord.com

The ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit of people in the Region has always been one of its greatest strengths, I have alway thought.

[UrbanWaterloo]

http://news.gc.ca/web/Dha.do?fileName=2995_feddev_fip_e_2c_55.jpg
Canada's Economic Action Plan Attracts Top Research Talent to Southern Ontario
Minister Goodyear launches initiative to connect Canadian businesses with the next generation of skilled workers
July 28, 2010 | http://news.gc.ca/web/article-eng.do?m=%2Fnews-nouvelles&nid=550299&nwsb=reg&nwsb=reg

Kitchener, ON — Highly-skilled workers, top students and researchers will have the chance to apply their ideas and knowledge to southern Ontario businesses and industry sectors, as a result of a new Government of Canada investment in MITACS Inc. The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), made the announcement today in Kitchener at Unitron Hearing Ltd., joined by Harold Albrecht, MP for Kitchener-Conestoga.

"In order to keep the economy growing and create new jobs in southern Ontario, we need to develop, attract and retain the next generation of leading researchers," said Minister Goodyear. "This investment will help increase business innovation, bring new ideas to market and strengthen the local economy."

The government will invest $11 million in MITACS Inc., a national research network that connects Canadian businesses and organizations with the next generation of skilled workers. This investment will allow MITACS Inc. to expand two of its internship and professional skills training programs in southern Ontario.

With this funding, MITACS' Elevate program will support approximately 160 internships and individual training programs for PhD graduates and post-doctoral fellows in southern Ontario. The program will help skilled workers gain applied business and scientific management knowledge in the private sector.

The Globalink internship program will bring 50 of the top third-year undergraduate students from Indian Institutes of Technology to southern Ontario for research internships, professional skills training and exposure to the region's top industrial innovators.

"Our government is committed to building Canada's knowledge economy," said MP Albrecht. "Canada's Economic Action Plan is strengthening the Waterloo region's economy through major investments in science, innovation and skills training."

These programs provide business opportunities for highly-trained workers, increase research-based innovation in the private-sector and demonstrate to international students that southern Ontario is a great place to research, work and live.

"MITACS is pleased to be partnering with the Government of Canada on the Elevate and Globalink programs, both of which focus on ensuring that Ontario recruits and retains highly-skilled research talent in the province," said Dr. Arvind Gupta, CEO & Scientific Director of MITACS. "As Canada works to strengthen its knowledge economy, we will need a substantial cohort of researchers who can turn the ideas of today into the products of tomorrow."

Funding for this project is being provided by FedDev Ontario, through the Southern Ontario Development Program. FedDev Ontario was created as part of Canada's Economic Action Plan to support economic and community development, innovation, and economic diversification, with contributions to communities, businesses and non-profit organizations in southern Ontario. Financial support is conditional on the signing of a contribution agreement.

For additional details on FedDev Ontario and the Southern Ontario Development Program, please visit the FedDev Ontario web site at www.feddevontario.gc.ca, or call 1-866-593-5505. For additional information on Canada's Economic Action Plan, visit www.actionplan.gc.ca.

[RangersFan]

Three technology companies share $1.5 million in provincial funding
August 16, 2010

By Rose Simone, Record staff

KITCHENER — Three Waterloo Region technology startups received a total $1.5 million from the Ontario government today.

Client Outlook Inc., Dejero Labs and DossierView will each get $500,000 from the government’s investment accelerator fund to further commercialize their technologies and hire more staff.

Between them, the three companies plan to create about 95 jobs over the next two years, said John Milloy, Ontario minister of research and innovation and Kitchener Centre MPP.

The announcement was made at the Tannery District building in Kitchener.

Client Outlook, currently located in the Accelerator Centre in the University of Waterloo Research and Technology Park, has created web-based technology that allows a doctor sitting in his or her office to view diagnostic images coming from a specialist in a hospital, and confer with that specialist at the same time without needing to have special software on his or her computer.

DossierView, which recently moved into one of the Tannery building, has created software that can intelligently search information from the local archive or the web, without having to plug words into a search engine.

Dejero, located on King Street in Waterloo, has technology which eliminates the need for broadcasters to have satellite trucks loaded with expensive equipment and cables in order transmit broadcast-quality live video over the cellular networks.

The Dejero technology is in a portable box about the size of a small suitcase. The television camera plugs into it, and with the push of a button, broadcast-quality images are transmitted over cellular networks.

Ron Neumann, Dejero’s chief executive, said television networks are testing the technology. The live coverage of the Olympic torch run was done using the Dejero technology, he added.

The $500,000 from the Ontario investment accelerator fund will “help us further develop the product, commercialize it and get it in the hands of real customers,” Neumann said.

The company currently employs 28 people, but is doing more hiring. The money will be helpful in growing the staff, Neumann said.

rsimone@therecord.com

[RangersFan]

Train station purchase sought

September 18, 2010

By Melinda Dalton, Record staff

WATERLOO — The business tenants of the historic Waterloo train station are coming to council Monday with a more than $647,000 offer to buy the 100-year-old building off the city.

The sell or not decision is shaping up to produce a heated debate, with councillors on both sides insisting the city has an obligation to do the right thing. Depending on who you ask, that’s either preserve the city’s heritage and land assets, or uphold the intent of the agreement it entered into with the Puncher family more than a decade ago.

Paul Puncher Men’s Ware Ltd. has leased the old station on Regina Street from the city since 1997.

“We want to purchase the building because we love being a part of uptown Waterloo,” said Scott Puncher, who took over the business from his father in 2007. “We moved our business here because we believe in uptown Waterloo and that’s why we made the significant investment in 1997 — to follow that path. We would like to operate here for many years to come.”

The station was built in 1910 on the same spot as the city’s first train station, built 20 years earlier with a $10,000 construction grant from the municipality. That investment finally persuaded the Grand Trunk Railway to extend a line up to Waterloo from Berlin.

The city took possession of the building in 1991. Four years later, it was designated under the Ontario Heritage Act.

In 1995, the station was declared surplus lands as the city debated a use for it. After a deal with a fish and chip restaurant fell through, Paul Puncher signed a five-year lease with an option to renew for three more five-year terms.

Since moving from downtown Kitchener, the Punchers have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars renovating the once gravel-floored station into a high-end menswear boutique. They purchased a caboose and painted the store name on it because heritage restrictions wouldn’t allow a sign to be added to the building’s exterior.

This will be the second time the Punchers have come to council to buy the building, an option they were given in their original lease. They currently pay the city about $38,000 a year for the space.

In 2006, Paul Puncher came to council with an offer of $443,590 for the station. The vote was split 3-3 and the city did not sell.

The building was appraised again this year at $760,000 — a figure agreed on by both the city and the tenants. The offer of sale reflects that price minus the depreciated investment the Punchers have made and commissions.

Scott Puncher said they want to own the old station because it will increase the value of their business and they’ve already made a significant investment in the space.

Councillors Mark Whaley and Jan d’Ailly, who voted against the sale last time, said they won’t support it this time around either.

“The current tenant has been a great tenant — he cares about the heritage aspects of the building and all is well and good,” Whaley said. “But under the Ontario Heritage Act, listing and maintaining heritage buildings is a municipal responsibility, not a private responsibility.”

He pointed to the building’s history, once the first stop for newcomers to the area and the departure point for troops heading to war, and insisted preservation of the old station is not something the city should gamble with.

“The fact of the matter is we have to have this building protected for the citizens of Waterloo and the best way to do that is to keep it under the umbrella of Waterloo ownership.”

Even if the sale is approved, the building would retain its heritage designation and the owners would still have to get permission from the city for alterations to heritage aspects or to have it demolished.

“This council gets it and the current tenants get it,” Whaley said. “But we cannot predict what future councils will do.”

D’Ailly said selling the station simply doesn’t make sense for Waterloo given that it owns all of the land surrounding the building, and the rail line that runs beside it won’t be there forever.

“We don’t need the money, the building’s being extremely well maintained, we’re getting a good rental income from it, so there’s no actual compelling reason to sell it,” he said.

Coun. Ian McLean, who previously supported the sale, said the reason to sell it is the lease agreement signed in 1997, which, he said, clearly shows the city intended to sell when Paul Puncher moved in. Denying them now without a valid reason or plans for the building’s future could prove problematic for the city, he said.

“I can just see this turning into another mess if we don’t do what in my opinion we are legally obligated to do, which is sell the building,” he said. “If that was it on its own and this was some fly-by-night operation, maybe you make a principled stand.

“That’s not what we’re dealing with here. We’re dealing with someone who has been a good steward of this building and will continue to be a good steward of this building.”

He said most of the heritage-designated buildings in Waterloo are owned by private business and the city has a poor track record of maintaining the heritage properties it owns.

Right now, the train station is in need of thousands of dollars worth of exterior repairs that the city has put off for years, he said.

Puncher and his business partner, Matthew Strongman, would take on the responsible for those repairs, estimated at more than $80,000, if they purchased the building.

If their offer’s accepted, that’s an investment they’re willing to make, Puncher said.

“We’re going to continue investing in the building, investing in the business and hopefully be a part of this for 25 years or so and pass it on,” he said. “It’s a family business. We’d like to see it prosper and see it carry on down the road.”

The issue will come to council at a 3 p.m. meeting Monday.

[mpd618]

Councillors Mark Whaley and Jan d’Ailly, who voted against the sale last time, said they won’t support it this time around either.

“The current tenant has been a great tenant — he cares about the heritage aspects of the building and all is well and good,” Whaley said. “But under the Ontario Heritage Act, listing and maintaining heritage buildings is a municipal responsibility, not a private responsibility.”

He pointed to the building’s history, once the first stop for newcomers to the area and the departure point for troops heading to war, and insisted preservation of the old station is not something the city should gamble with.

“The fact of the matter is we have to have this building protected for the citizens of Waterloo and the best way to do that is to keep it under the umbrella of Waterloo ownership.”

Huh? Heritage designation applies to everyone, and we all know you can't predict what heritage future councils will want to demolish themselves. The argument that all heritage buildings have to be owned by the municipality is nonsense. What you need is to actually use and enforce the heritage regulations. Private investment in heritage buildings can make them a worthwhile and financially sustainable part of the city.

[jay]

I wouldn't sell it. They make a good return on the lease plus they own all the land surrounding it.

[UrbanWaterloo]

http://news.gc.ca/web/Dha.do?fileName=2995_feddev_fip_e_2c_55.jpg
Harper Government Supports Innovation at small- and medium-sized Businesses in Southern Ontario
Economic Action Plan invests in jobs and growth through research and development
Kitchener, Ontario | October 12, 2010 | http://news.gc.ca/web/article-eng.do?crtr.sj1D=&mthd=advSrch&crtr.mnthndVl=&nid=565299&crtr.dpt1D=&crtr.tp1D=&crtr.lc1D=&crtr.yrStrtVl=&crtr.kw=kitchener&crtr.dyStrtVl=&crtr.aud1D=&crtr.mnthStrtVl=&crtr.yrndVl=&crtr.dyndVl=

Small- and medium-sized businesses in southern Ontario will have an opportunity to work with local colleges and universities to bring promising new products to the marketplace faster. The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario), announced the first investments under the Applied Research and Commercialization Initiative would go to Conestoga College, the University of Waterloo and the University of Guelph.

"This new program will create more jobs and sustain economic growth by helping small businesses get new ideas into the marketplace faster," said Minister Goodyear. "Our government is committed to supporting families, businesses and communities of southern Ontario."

Under the $15-million Applied Research and Commercialization Initiative, Conestoga College will receive $747,400, and the University of Waterloo and University of Guelph will each receive $750,000 to partner with small- and medium-sized enterprises in southern Ontario on activities such as applied research, engineering design, technology development, product testing, and certification.

"We have a long-established history of partnering with business, industry and institutions in their efforts to innovate, and improve their products and processes through applied research," said Conestoga President John Tibbits. "This initiative will provide additional opportunities for us to extend our efforts for the benefit of the entire community."

"Canadians across the country can count on our government to keep our economy strong and competitive," said Harold Albrecht, Member of Parliament for Kitchener-Conestoga. "Today's investments are supporting southern Ontario's economic recovery."

The Applied Research and Commercialization Initiative is a direct result of feedback from business leaders, academics and community leaders from across southern Ontario, who suggested FedDev Ontario take a leadership role in addressing the gap between research and commercialization.


Backgrounder: Applied Research and Commercialization Initiative

The Applied Research and Commercialization Initiative is designed to bridge the gap between research and commercialization between Ontario's post-secondary academic institutions and small- and medium-sized enterprises. FedDev Ontario has committed up to $15 million for projects in 2010 under the initiative.

The Applied Research and Commercialization Initiative encourages greater collaboration between post-secondary institutions with research and development expertise and smaller businesses with pre-commercialization needs. The goals of the initiative are to accelerate innovation and improve productivity and competitiveness in companies located in southern Ontario, as well as encourage additional private sector investment.

The initiative supports post-secondary institutions offering services focused on improving innovation, productivity and commercialization to help individual companies move new products or processes to market. These activities include:


product and process applied research;
engineering design;
technology development;
product testing;
certification;
proof of concept;
piloting and demonstration; and
problem solving.

Announced in Canada's Economic Action Plan, FedDev Ontario's mandate is to work with the people, communities and businesses in southern Ontario to create the conditions for economic growth. Created with a five-year mandate and $1-billion budget, the Agency is working to support southern Ontario's ongoing economic resurgence to ensure the region will emerge as a stronger, more diverse world leader.

For more information, please refer to our web site at www.feddevontario.gc.ca.

[UrbanWaterloo]

http://www.cambridgebutterfly.com/images/homepagelogo6.gif

We Have a New Name!
CAMBRIDGE BUTTERFLY CONSERVATORY: CELEBRATING OUR 10TH ANNIVERSARY WITH A BRAND NEW NAME.
November 3, 2010 | http://www.cambridgebutterfly.com/news

We are pleased to announce that we are now Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory (formerly known as Wings of Paradise). The new name was chosen to help visitors find us by more accurately reflecting the Butterfly Conservatory's location and purpose.

We think there is no better time than now with our 10th anniversary just around the corner to change our name. We are embracing our past and all that we have accomplished and celebrating our bright future!

Our new name Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory was selected as a result of market research. There has been no change in ownership or management. Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory remains the same great place for families to visit, to enjoy and learn about butterflies, nature and conservation.

[KevinL]

Wow, nice re-brand. They put some effort in there (looking at you, TheMuseum).

[DHLawrence]

Hate to be a naysayer, but I prefer Wings of Paradise. Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory sounds too institutional to me.

And no, TheMuseum isn't much better...

[garthdanlor]

Hate to be a naysayer, but I prefer Wings of Paradise. Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory sounds too institutional to me.
I prefer the new name. Spells out their product better. When I first heard the original name, I envisioned seeing parrots, birds of paradise and other exotic species of birds. Pretty clear now.

[Duke-of-Waterloo]

I prefer the new name. Spells out their product better. When I first heard the original name, I envisioned seeing parrots, birds of paradise and other exotic species of birds. Pretty clear now.

I agree. And, with being close to the airport too, you never know how the name "Wings of Paradise" could be construed. Maybe some leisurely flight club? :RpS_wink:

[panamaniac]

Not exactly a small business but good to see something on the traditional industry side - up to 100 new jobs in the coming year.

Kitchener slaughterhouse to reopen
November 12, 2010
By Chuck Howitt, Record staff
KITCHENER — For 15 years in their native Romania, Claudiu and Mihaela Ciuciureanu operated a slaughterhouse and two sausage factories.

In the early 2000s, with Romania poised to enter the European Union and foreign competitors looking for ripe fruit to pluck in the country’s food industry, the couple thought it would be a good time to sell the business and move to Canada, where they saw a better future for their young children.

Their plan was to start a similar operation in the Toronto area, where the couple settled in 2002. For six long years they searched for the right opportunity, but were unable to find anything to their liking.

Until now.

The Ciuciureanus have purchased the former Gencor Foods plant on Arnold Street in Kitchener and plan to reopen it in the spring.

The 40,000- square-foot plant will slaughter dairy cattle more than 30 months old that can no longer be milked, and will sell beef products to meat processors and restaurants in Ontario.

The company, to be named Arnold Meat Packers, will create 60 jobs when it opens in the spring and about 100 when fully operational by the end of 2011, Claudiu said in an interview.

The Ciuciureanus purchased the plant for $1.6 million from Farm Credit Canada, the main creditor of Gencor Foods after it was forced into receivership and closed the plant in April 2008, putting 124 people out of work.

Also involved in the deal are their long-time friends, the Lozada family from Venezuela, who will act as silent partners in the company, Claudiu said.

“Our plan is to do the same thing that was done there before,” he said of the Gencor Foods operation.

Formerly owned by MGI Packers, the plant sat empty for six years until Gencor Foods, a subsidiary of Gencor, a farmer-owned animal genetics company based in the Guelph area, reopened it in 2005.

The goal was to provide a market for cull cows that had to be trucked all the way to Quebec after the U.S. border was closed because of the mad cow crisis.

When the border reopened, Gencor Foods was forced to close three years later, felled by American competition offering better prices to farmers and stricter Canadian regulations that prevented some cow parts from being used in feeds, pet food and fertilizer.

The Ciuciureanus believe they can avoid a similar fate by running a leaner operation and tapping into a definite need for a company to slaughter cull cows in this part of the province.

“There’s not a real slaughterhouse dedicated for cows in Ontario. All cull cows go to Quebec and the U.S.,” Claudiu said. “We feel there is a need for this business in Kitchener. Kitchener is surrounded by a lot of dairy farms.”

Renovations have already started inside the plant. In all, the couple plans to spend about $500,000 to repair the roof and upgrade the facility so it can qualify for certification from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Also required is $1.2 million to $1.4 million in working capital to get the business up and running, which will come from the owners’ own pockets and a bank loan, Claudiu said.

The Ontario Cattlemen’s Association is pleased there may soon be another buyer of cull cows in the Ontario market to increase competition and boost returns for farmers.

“Ontario lost important slaughter capacity when the Gencor Foods plant closed, and it’s encouraging to see that capacity may be restored,” said Paul Stiles, assistant manager of the association.

“Whenever possible, we should be keeping jobs and adding value in Canada rather than exporting live cattle to the United States and then importing the beef,” he said in an email.

The Ciuciureanus took three years to complete the sale of their Romanian business after moving to Canada. In 2005, they started a residential construction company called MGC Homes, but they plan to wind that down to focus on Arnold Meat Packers.

The couple first heard about the Gencor property in 2008 and have been studying the opportunity ever since.

“The whole due diligence takes time,” said Mihaela who earned her MBA degree at York University in Toronto and Northwestern University in Chicago in 2007. She will serve as the company’s vice-president and chief financial officer.

The couple want to keep expenses down and run the company as a family business, said Claudiu. “That’s our plan — to minimize the cost and make the factory more profitable

[KevinL]

Not exactly a small business but good to see something on the traditional industry side - up to 100 new jobs in the coming year.

Should also be able to attract some of the locavore market - I know that locally-slaughtered meat is not the most common commodity.

[UrbanWaterloo]

BMO's $4 Million Gift to Perimeter Institute to Accelerate Research and Innovation in Canada
Establishes the BMO Financial Group Isaac Newton Chair in Theoretical Physics at Perimeter Institute
WATERLOO, Ontario | November 29, 2010 | http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=305104

BMO Financial Group today announced a CDN$4 million investment in Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI), located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The strategic contribution establishes the BMO Financial Group Isaac Newton Chair in Theoretical Physics at Perimeter Institute, and represents the largest single donation ever made by BMO to support science. It is also the largest corporate donation received by PI in its ten-year history.

BMO's CDN$4 million investment will be matched by CDN$4 million in private funds from PI's existing endowment for a total of CDN$8 million. It is anticipated this private core funding will attract additional funding partners. The Chair will be identified through a highly competitive and rigorous international search and only scientists of the very highest international calibre will be considered. The BMO Financial Group Isaac Newton Chair in Theoretical Physics at Perimeter Institute represents the first of five such positions to be named after scientists whose insights have defined modern physics: Isaac Newton, James Clerk Maxwell, Niels Bohr, Albert Einstein and Paul Dirac. The first Chair is named for Sir Isaac Newton, considered by many to be one of the most brilliant and influential thinkers in human history. He described the universal laws of gravitation and motion, laying the groundwork for the modern scientific description of the physical universe.

"Perimeter Institute is already a global leader in basic research, and there is no question these Chairs will serve as a magnet for talent - a 'brain gain' - bringing even more of the best theoretical physicists to Canada," said Bill Downe, President and Chief Executive Office, BMO Financial Group. "The Institute's ambitious thirst for new knowledge places it at the very frontier of discovery. Its thinkers can change our world by boldly pushing the boundaries of our current understanding of physical laws. We couldn't be more proud of this association and hope that our unique investment in the BMO Isaac Newton Chair in Theoretical Physics will enhance innovation in Canada and encourage other private sector donors to fund Chairs at PI."

Neil Turok, Director of Perimeter Institute, said, "These five Chairs are an integral part of Perimeter Institute's vision as it grows toward pre-eminence as a world centre for foundational physics, bringing together the most brilliant theoretical physicists of our time under one roof. We are profoundly grateful for BMO's visionary investment in creating this inaugural Chair. It is a made-in-Canada solution to the very real challenge of attracting the best and brightest minds to our country."

Mike Lazaridis, Perimeter Institute's Founder and Board Chair, said, "Theoretical physics has driven the most important insights and technological advances in the history of humankind. Although the outcomes from basic research may not be immediate, they are inevitable, and BMO recognizes that in order to move science, technology and society forward, we must invest in the breakthrough research that makes innovations possible. I sincerely appreciate BMO's participation in the public-private partnership that is driving PI forward."

[RangersFan]

Entrepreneur accelerates into electric vehicle market
November 26, 2010 | By Chuck Howitt, Record staff


WATERLOO — Many local companies felt the sting of lost business after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but few can claim a more direct involvement than Rob Lankin.

Back in 2001, Lankin owned a company called Agile Systems which made electronic control devices for industrial robots and automation equipment.

The company had moved into a new building just two years before, hired 25 new employees and was on the cusp of some serious growth.

It was looking for additional financing to take it to the next level of motor control technology and help it open up new markets. Agile’s research had caught the attention of a few U.S.-based investors who had signed a letter of intent to invest in the company.

Lankin and other Agile officials were literally on the speaker phone with a fund manager at the World Trade Centre in New York discussing the deal, when the first plane hit the building on Sept. 11, 2001.

The fund manager made it out of the building safely, but over the next few months, the investors pulled out of the deal and Agile was forced to abandon the new venture. Worse still, Agile had to lay off 40 people — more than half its staff — and return to its core business of making controllers for robots.

Though the company rallied a bit the following year, Lankin left in 2003, unhappy with the direction the company he had founded 10 years earlier was taking. His successor as chief executive had high praise for Agile’s technology and engineering skills, but said the company fell short in sales and marketing.

The shocking setback triggered by the 9/11 attacks would be enough to fell many an entrepreneur, but not the easygoing Lankin. He looks back on it now with a smile and a shrug and says he left Agile on good terms and even helped to recruit the new CEO. “Their strategy was growth by acquisition. I didn’t agree with that,” he says succinctly.

The London, Ont., native and University of Western Ontario electrical engineering graduate has always been an inventor and an engineer at heart.

Framed patents for his research in motor control technology line the hall of his office, but the shaggy-haired Kumpf, who looks more like a musician than a chief executive, shrugs them off as nothing to boast about. What he does want to talk about is his latest invention, a company called Accelerated Systems Inc.

Located in a 45,000-square-foot building on Kumpf Drive in north Waterloo, the company makes motors and control electronics for battery-powered electric vehicles such as lawn tractors, bikes, scooters, motorcycles and ultra-terrain vehicles.

Soon after he left Agile, Lankin started Accelerated as an engineering services company with the goal of using fees from those services to eventually launch new products.

Two years ago, he joined forces with Gang Pan, an old friend who has worked with Lankin at previous companies and now serves as Accelerated’s co-CEO. Pan was running an Asian sourcing business out of his Waterloo home that helped small and medium-sized Canadian companies find manufacturers in China for their products and components.

Pan’s business is now under the Accelerated umbrella and provides 50 per cent of the company’s revenues. It will provide a major share of revenues until Accelerated’s new products gain more traction in the market.

“Every time Rob starts a new company, he calls me,” Pan says with a laugh.

Last year, in a strange twist of fate, Accelerated acquired a company that Lankin started way back in 1989, shortly after he graduated with his masters in physics from the University of Waterloo.

Originally called SRE Controls, the company made electric motor controls for forklifts and other utility vehicles. Lankin left in 1993 to start Agile, but SRE carried on through a bankruptcy and new owners who renamed it Navitas.

Navitas started using Pan’s company as a main supplier, but when it couldn’t pay the bills, Accelerated took over to protect its receivables, Lankin says.

The structure gives Accelerated several legs to stand on from a revenue standpoint, but what the company is really targeting these days are the emerging markets of electric lawn tractors, self-propelled lawn mowers, bikes, scooters and motorcycles.

A lawn tractor it has developed runs as quietly as an electric golf cart and caught the attention of Home Hardware, which plans to start selling it in stores across the country next spring.

A model sits in the Accelerated lobby. It features motors in each wheel, batteries front and back and four controllers to manage the power delivered to each motor. Special turning functions allow the tractor to maneuver in tight corners.

The tractor will be sold under the label, TriVector Systems, a subsidiary created by Accelerated to market the product. It’s the only turnkey item sold by Accelerated. Otherwise, the company makes motor controllers, drive trains and electronic components for a wide range of electric and hybrid-electric vehicles in non-automotive markets.

Ninety-per cent of customers are in North America and include area companies such as Linamar, Miovision, NDI and RDM.

At the moment, Accelerated is working on a contract to supply motor controllers and display gauges for a $4,000 recumbent bike sold by a startup in Memphis, Tenn.

Another example of the company’s versatility is a contract to make windshield wipers for a sports car company. The client wanted fail-safe windshield wipers that would work under high speeds and demanding conditions, so it came to Accelerated to handle the electronics.

Accelerated, which has 32 employees, is hoping the market for electric riding lawn mowers, bicycles, scooters and motorcycles takes off in the same way it did for golf carts.

Ten years ago, 90 per cent of the golf carts in North America were powered by gas, says Accelerated’s general manager Peter McDonald. Today, 90 per cent are battery-powered and the golf cart industry is the largest electric vehicle industry by volume on the continent, he says.

If the turf and scooter markets go the same way, “We know we can be 10 times the size we are today,” he says.

While Accelerated still makes motor and motion controllers under the Navitas banner for factory applications such as forklifts and utility vehicles, those products are getting “a little long in the tooth,” says Lankin. Sales of those vehicles are only strong when the economy is strong and companies are building new plants, he points out.

Accelerated’s technology and products have attracted the attention of government funding programs.

In May, it qualified for $940,000 from the National Research Council to do research and development in advanced drive-train technology. The money will help the company develop a smaller, lighter 100-kilowatt drive train that uses less energy. In April, it received $154,000 from FedDev Ontario to build a new testing lab, hire staff and purchase software.

The three companies he has launched have always been strong in technology, Lankin says. The difference with Accelerated is “we’re into much more interesting and expanding markets.”

At the heart of all this is his continuing quest for better technology. A number of new patent applications will be filed soon with the U.S. patent office for research Lankin has done on motor control systems for electric bicycles. “When you’re dealing with very large customers in the global marketplace, having intellectual property protection helps,” he says.

[UrbanWaterloo]

BMO/Perimeter Institute Announcement is live: http://perimeterinstitute.ca/News/General/November_29_Announcement/

[UrbanWaterloo]

TurboSonic Awarded Approximately US $4 Million Contract for Clean Air Technology for Green Energy Project
Waterloo, Ontario | November 29, 2010 | http://www.turbosonic.com/news-folder/fy-2011/november-29-2010

TurboSonic Technologies, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board – TSTA), a global provider of clean air technologies, today announced it has been awarded a contract by a US customer for its proprietary SonicKleen™ Wet Electrostatic Precipitator (WESP) technology, for particulate removal for a green energy facility that will generate over 100 MW of power. As previously discussed in TurboSonic’s 10Q filed with the SEC on November 15, 2010, contract execution is subject to a “notice to proceed” expected in June 2011, with delivery scheduled for April 2012.

Edward Spink, TurboSonic CEO, noted, “The selection of TurboSonic’s SonicKleen™ WESP for this project was particularly gratifying because TurboSonic was selected as a result of an international competitive bidding process, conducted by an independent consulting engineer, involving a wide range of competitors, designs, and technologies. We believe that the many patented advanced features of the SonicKleen™ WESP and our extensive design and application experience weighed heavily on our success. Given the current emphasis on energy efficiency, waste-to-energy, and alternate fuel sources, this is a significant step in TurboSonic’s penetration of this new market.”

[Duke-of-Waterloo]

Schlegel Health Care and Homewood Announce Successful Transaction and Intention to Proceed with Subsequent Acquisition Transaction
Kitchener, Ontario | Thursday, December 2, 2010 | http://www.homewood.org/corporation/content/MediaRelease02_12_2010.pdf

Schlegel Health Care Inc. (“Schlegel Health Care”), a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of RBJ Schlegel Holdings Inc (http://www.rbjschlegel.com/). announced the final results of its offer to purchase (the “Offer”) all of the outstanding common shares of The Homewood Corporation (http://www.homewood.org/) (“Homewood’), other than shares beneficially owned or over which control or direction is exercised by Schlegel Health Care or its affiliates, for $68.00 in cash per common share, which expired at 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on December 1, 2010.

Based on the final report of the depository, 1,898,264 common shares were properly tendered to the Offer. The shares deposited to the Offer represent 94.9% of the outstanding shares of Homewood not already owned by Schlegel Health Care or its affiliates. As all conditions to the Offer have been satisfied or waived, Schlegel Health Care has taken up and accepted for payment all of the shares validly deposited. Schlegel Health Care and its affiliates now own 1,924,564 shares of Homewood or approximately 96.2% of the outstanding shares of Homewood. Payment will be made on or before December 6, 2010, to CIBC Mellon Trust Company, as depository, for payment to Homewood shareholders who have validly deposited their shares under the Offer.

Homewood also announced today that it plans to convene a shareholders’ meeting of Homewood as soon as practicable to approve a Subsequent Acquisition Transaction as described in the Take-Over Bid Circular dated October 26, 2010, to enable Schlegel Health Care to acquire the remainder of the shares not tendered to the Offer. With the completed purchase of all shares, the total purchase price will be $136-million for Homewood including all of its subsidiaries.

The Homewood Corporation includes both Homewood Health Centre and Homewood Human Solutions. Homewood Health Centre is a nationally renowned mental health and addiction facility founded in 1883. The health centre provides highly specialized psychiatric and addiction treatment for all Canadians. Homewood Human Solutions is a nationwide EAP/disability company, based in Vancouver. Human Solutions has experienced rapid growth in recent years and now has offices in most major cities from Vancouver to Halifax. Its head office will remain in Vancouver under the new ownership. The expertise and core strength of mental health and addiction treatment of both organizations has led to the creation of the Homewood Disability Treatment Program, providing in-patient and out-patient assessment and treatment for addictions and mood disorders. The Schlegels are pleased with all these components of the acquisition as it represents significant growth potential. These services are treatment based and designed to get employees back to work more quickly, thereby improving Canadian productivity and competitiveness.

“We are truly excited about joining with the Homewood group of companies and continuing the tradition of excellence in improving the lives of Canadians,” said Dr. Ron Schlegel, Chairman of RBJ Schlegel Holdings Inc. “We respect Homewood’s national reputation and dedication to mental health and addiction treatment. This is a case of two strong organizations joining and emerging with greater strengths.”

The Homewood Board, with the advice of its financial and legal advisors, voted to support Schlegel Health Care’s offer and recommend that shareholders tender their shares to the Offer. The Homewood Board noted that it had considered a variety of strategic alternatives and the Schlegel Health Care offer was the most attractive and best alternative for all stakeholders available at the time.

“The Schlegel family has clearly demonstrated a passion for and commitment to health care,” said Dr. Edgardo Pérez, MD, CEO and President of Homewood Corporation. “The Schlegel family also has a strong devotion to research, which will be a benefit to Homewood. We will continue to deliver our unique services and follow the 127-year tradition of delivering excellent health care to all Canadians.”

“Our organizations share compatible values and have mutual respect for each other,” added James Schlegel, President and CEO of Schlegel Health Care. “This purchase made a great deal of sense because we see a synergistic business model that will result in the ability to carry out our collective mission with greater effectiveness. In fact, we think this model will be unique in Canada and the world.”

Schlegel Health Care is a three-generation family company, fully Canadian and based in Kitchener, Ontario. Another subsidiary of Homewood is Oakwood Retirement Communities which already is a partnership with the Schlegels. Adding Oakwood to Schlegel’s other seniors care facilities in Ontario will create a strong, unified presence with the full acquisition of Oakwood as well. Schlegel and Homewood have been partners in Oakwood for some 14 years and have worked together both positively and productively. This existing partnership gives the Schlegel family great confidence that this acquisition already has a strong base with good relationships formed over the 14 years. The Schlegel family sees a strong overall set of related companies with the Health Centre, Human Solutions and the Seniors Care business. All three divisions are serving areas of growing public need.

[RangersFan]

CompX shifting manufacturing operations to Kitchener

December 09, 2010
By Rose Simone, Record staff

KITCHENER — Compx International is hiring 50 more people at its office products plant on Manitou Drive as the company consolidates its manufacturing operations from Michigan to Kitchener.

The full article can be read here (http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/828327)

[Spokes]

Ever wonder who the Region of Waterloo’s top employers are?
December 18, 2010 | By John Thompson, Wonderful Waterloo Staff

Every year a list of top employers is created for particular Regions across the country, and a comprehensive list for the entire nation. For 2011, two Waterloo Region based companies are featured on the list of top 100 companies in the country.

For 2011, the top 15 employers in Waterloo Region are: Christie Digital Systems Canada, Inc., COM DEV International Ltd., Covarity Inc., Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc., Desire2Learn Incorporated, Gore Mutual Insurance Company, MKS Inc., Mondial Assistance Canada, Open Text Corporation, Research In Motion Limited (RIM), Sybase Canada Limited, The Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada, The George Morris Centre for Agri-Food Research and Education, The Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc.

RIM and Toyota also find themselves on the list of top employers in Canada.

For Equitable Life, this is the third consecutive year they have been named to the list. "We are delighted to be recognized as a great place to work for the third year in a row," said Ronald Beettam, President and CEO. "Our employees are the strength of this Company and this extraordinary achievement demonstrates our commitment to them."

Desire2Learn, a leading provider of mission-critical enterprise learning solutions, finds itself on the list for the first time. "This is very exciting for us; it is an external testament of the key to our business success" states John Baker, President & CEO, Desire2Learn. "We strive to provide an exciting, rewarding, collaborative and empowering environment for our employees. They are encouraged to drive innovation and excellence which in turn supports our unique and thriving culture."

Employers are evaluated on eight categories; Physical Workplace; Work Atmosphere & Social; Health, Financial & Family Benefits; Vacation & Time Off; Employee Communications; Performance Management; Training & Skills Development; and Community Involvement.

[UrbanWaterloo]

http://www.turbosonic.com/logo.gif

TurboSonic Wins US$1 Million Contract for Clean Air Technology from European Chemical Producer
Waterloo, Ontario | January 4, 2011 | Link (http://www.turbosonic.com/news-folder/fy-2011/january-4-2011)

TurboSonic Technologies, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board – TSTA), a global provider of clean air technologies, today announced it has been awarded a US$1 million contract for its proprietary SonicKleen™ Wet Electrostatic Precipitator (WESP) technology from a repeat customer in Europe. Delivery is scheduled for the current calendar year.

The WESP is designed to reduce particulate emissions from a petroleum coke-fired kiln. This customer previously purchased a SonicKleen™ WESP in 2006 for similar control of particulate and SO3, prior to compression of the gas stream for use in the process.

Edward Spink, TurboSonic CEO, said, “We make every effort to develop long term relationships with our customers and it is always gratifying to receive repeat orders in response to this effort. We are experiencing a considerable amount of activity in our markets, as witnessed by our fourth major order announcement in the past sixty days, and we believe that such activity and resulting order flow will continue for the foreseeable future.”

[UrbanWaterloo]

<img src="http://on.cme-mec.ca/templates/on_subpage/images/background_header.jpg" width="45%" />

Business Leaders Stand up for Ontario Tax Changes
Jan 31, 2011 | Link (http://on.cme-mec.ca/?action=show&lid=YXN82-W3NF7-IC132&cid=SKFCL-NQ8WD-6CI1C&comaction=show)

KITCHENER - Business Leaders from the manufacturing and exporting sector met in Kitchener today in a show of support for the Ontario Government's comprehensive tax package. "The combination of tax measures including the corporate tax reductions and the HST will help drive economic growth and ultimately job creation in Ontario," said Ian Howcroft, vice president of the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) Ontario. "These were bold initiatives at a time when such actions were desperately needed to avoid catastrophe."

"If we've learned anything from the recession it's that we need to invest in the wealth generating sectors of our economy in order to maintain the standard of living and quality of life we all enjoy."

"The manufacturing sector is continuing to emerge from a deep and protracted recession and more of such collaboration is needed to continue the momentum. But we are here today to recognize the government for the actions that they have taken to date and to discuss how we can further strengthen the manufacturing and exporting sector for the benefit of all Ontarians."

Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) is Canada's leading trade and industry association.

CME represents businesses that employ over two million Canadians in all sectors of manufacturing as well as in Canada's resource, technology, and services exporting sectors. Our mission is to build a better business environment for Canadian manufacturers and exporters and help our members compete and grow in Canada and around the world.

CME focuses on the issues that are critical for our members – manufacturing competitiveness and innovation, business opportunities in the United States and other international markets, people and skills, energy and the environment. We provide solutions through our leadership in:

CME Advocacy
CME Intelligence
CME Business Opportunities
CME Best Practices
CME Networking

Since 1871, CME has made a difference for Canada's manufacturers and exporters. Fighting for their future. Saving them money. Helping them grow.

[RangersFan]

Words Worth Books sold
January 31, 2011 | 570 News| Link (http://www.570news.com/news/local/article/177040--words-worth-books-sold)


A popular Waterloo book store is changing hands.

The owners of Words Worth Books have announced they're selling the store to two long time employees.

Chuck Erion and Tricia Siemens will step down as of tomorrow and new owners David Worsley and Mandy Brouse will take over. Erion tells 570 News he's confident they will keep the store's legacy alive.

Words Worth first got its start in Waterloo back in 1984 and Erion says the community has been very supportive over the years. He says, "We've had an important cultural roll in the community...an independent book store is important in any community, but especially one with the universities and the intellectual market that is here in Waterloo."

[Spokes]

Interesting news. Glad they were sold to two "long time employees" which means any changes we see should be very small.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Focus is on Cambridge site for power plant
February 18, 2011 | John Spears, Toronto Star | Link (http://www.thestar.com/business/companies/article/941562--focus-is-on-cambridge-site-for-power-plant)


Oakville’s controversial gas-fired generating plant – killed last year by the Ontario government – is likely to be reborn out the outskirts of Cambridge, according to industry sources.

But while TransCanada Corp. acknowledges it owns property in Cambridge on Witmer Rd., spokesman Chris Breen says there’s no guarantee the company will build a plant there, or anywhere else...

[DHLawrence]

It has to go somewhere, I guess. The infrastructure is there--the substation isn't far away.

[KevinL]

It has to go somewhere, I guess. The infrastructure is there--the substation isn't far away.

I can't see residents in the Lang's Farm area being too happy if it does get proposed there...

[UrbanWaterloo]

http://www.turbosonic.com/logo.gif

TurboSonic Awarded US$1.25 Million Air Pollution Control Contract by International Cement Producer
March 1, 2011 | Link (http://www.turbosonic.com/news-folder/fy-2011/march-1-2011)

TurboSonic Technologies, Inc., a global provider of clean air technologies, today announced that it has been awarded a US$1.25 million contract for the design and supply of equipment for abatement of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) for a US cement plant. This is the 18th contract for supply of TurboSonic’s technologies to this leading cement producer since 2004. Equipment is scheduled for delivery in our next fiscal year commencing July 1, 2011.
Reduction of SO2, NOx and mercury emissions is mandated under the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for the Portland Cement Manufacturing Industry, commonly referred to as the Portland Cement Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) regulation. This rule was enacted in November 2010 and coincides with a worldwide concern regarding the harmful health effects and negative environmental impact of these hazardous air pollutants.

This contract is for TurboSonic’s TurboSorb Semi-Dry Absorption (SDA) and Turbotak ammonia injection technologies for NOx control. SDA technology uses hydrated lime slurry for high efficiency removal of acid gases including SO2, hydrogen chloride, and mercury in industries worldwide including Cement, Industrial Power Generation and Waste-to-Energy. This technology is noteworthy in that all sprayed liquid is evaporated, resulting in no wastewater by product to be treated or discharged. TurboSorb SDA and ammonia injection technologies rely on TurboSonic’s patented Turbotak spray atomization technology for generation of ultra-fine droplets.

Edward Spink, TurboSonic CEO, expressed, “We are pleased to announce yet another repeat order from a large, multi-national corporation, consistent with our strategy of focusing on building long-term loyalty and growth through customer satisfaction. We are targeting increased penetration of our international markets with our patented SDA technology in addition to those markets affected by new US EPA regulations.”

For more information on TurboSorb SDA please follow the links below to TurboSonic’s website and literature: Link (http://www.turbosonic.com/products/semi-dry-scrubber) | PDF (http://www.turbosonic.com/literature/brochures/TurboSorb.pdf/at_download/file)
For more information on TurboSonic NOx control systems, please visit: Link (http://www.turbosonic.com/products/turbonox)

[RangersFan]

Not exactly small news

Innovative Steam lands deals worth $46 million
March 4, 2011 | Record Staff | The Record | LINK (http://www.therecord.com/news/business/article/496394--innovative-steam-lands-deals-worth-46-million)


CAMBRIDGE – Innovative Steam Technologies has been awarded two international contracts totaling $46 million, including the largest order in its history.

The work will keep the company’s workforce busy and could lead to the hiring of another 20 to 30 employees over the next three to four months, Bob Dautovich, the Cambridge-based firm’s president, said Friday.

“It was good news and hopefully we will get more this year,” he said of the contracts.

Innovative Steam, a subsidiary of Aecon Group, currently employs 120 people in its plant on Conestoga Boulevard.

[RangersFan]

Digital cinema startup attracts $1 million in capital
March 7, 2011 | Chuck Howitt | The Record | LINK (http://www.therecord.com/news/business/article/497436--digital-cinema-startup-attracts-1-million-in-capital)

KITCHENER — Cineflow Corp. has raised $1 million in new investment capital and received orders worth more than $500,000 for its digital cinema workflow systems.

The funding came from several sources including the provincial government’s Ontario Centres of Excellence and a Los Angeles-based digital production veteran who is joining the Kitchener company’s team in a sales and marketing capacity.

Marker Karahadian, who sold his video equipment rental network to Panavision in 2006, has invested $500,000 in Cineflow and will lead its sales and marketing activities, the company said in a news release.

In addition, Cineflow will deliver equipment worth more than $500,000 over the next eight weeks to two Toronto firms, the 3D Camera Co. and Sim Video. The products for 3D Camera will be used on a major 3D film being shot in Toronto beginning in April, Cineflow said.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Descartes Reports Fiscal 2011 Fourth Quarter and Annual Financial Results
Record Operating Performance Driven by 42% Year-Over-Year Increase in Quarterly Revenues
March 9, 2011 | Descartes | Link (http://www.descartes.com/events/press.html?releaseid=555622)

Descartes Systems Group announced financial results for its fiscal 2011 fourth quarter (Q4FY11) and year (FY11) ended January 31, 2011. All financial results referenced are in United States (US) currency and, unless otherwise indicated, are determined in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

Q4FY11 Financial Results

As described in more detail below, key financial highlights for Descartes in Q4FY11 included:


Revenues of $26.9 million, up 42% from $18.9 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010 (Q4FY10) and up 4% from $25.8 million in the previous quarter (Q3FY11);
Services revenues of $25.0 million, up 41% from $17.7 million in Q4FY10 and up 1% from $24.7 million in Q3FY11. Services revenues comprised 93% of total revenues for the quarter;
Gross margin of 65%, compared to 68% in Q4FY10 and 67% in Q3FY11;
Net income of $7.7 million, up from $1.6 million in Q3FY11 and compared to $10.3 million in Q4FY10;
Earnings per share on a diluted basis of $0.12, up from $0.03 in Q3FY11 and compared to $0.17 in Q4FY10;
Days-sales-outstanding (DSO) for Q4FY11 were 48 days, down 5 days from 53 days in Q3FY11 and compared to 47 days in Q4FY10;
Adjusted EBITDA of $7.7 million, up 48% from $5.2 million in Q4FY10 and up 7% from $7.2 million in Q3FY11. Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenues was 29% this quarter, compared to 28% in both Q4FY10 and Q3FY11; and
Adjusted EBITDA per diluted share of $0.12, up 50% from $0.08 in Q4FY10 and up from $0.11 in Q3FY11.


Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA per diluted share are non-GAAP financial measures provided as a complement to financial results presented in accordance with GAAP. We define Adjusted EBITDA as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (for which we include amortization of intangible assets, deferred compensation, stock-based compensation and related taxes) and other charges (for which we include acquisition-related expenses and restructuring charges). These items are considered by management to be outside Descartes' ongoing operational results. We define Adjusted EBITDA per diluted share as Adjusted EBITDA divided by the number of diluted shares used to calculate the GAAP measure of earnings per share. A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA per diluted share to net income and earnings per share determined in accordance with GAAP, respectively, is provided later in this release.

The following table summarizes Descartes' results in the categories specified below over the past 5 fiscal quarters (unaudited, dollar amounts in millions):


| Q4 FY11 |Q3 FY11 |Q2 FY11 |Q1 FY11 |Q4 FY10
Revenues |26.9 |25.8 |25.2 |21.3 |18.9
Services revenues |25.0 |24.7 |23.9 |20.2 |17.7
Gross margin |65% |67% |66% |65% |68%
Net income* |7.7 |1.6 |2.0 |0.2 |10.3
Adjusted EBITDA |7.7 |7.2 |6.6 |5.3 |5.2
Adjusted EBITDA as a % of revenues |29%|28% |26% |25% |28%
Adjusted EBITDA per diluted share |0.12 |0.11 |0.11 |0.08| 0.08
DSOs (days) |48 |53 |57 |68 |47

* Net income was positively impacted by income tax recoveries of $5.2 million, $0.1 million and $11.0 million in Q4FY11, Q2FY11 and Q4FY10, respectively. Net income was negatively impacted by income tax expenses of $1.0 million and $0.7 million in Q3FY11 and Q1FY11, respectively. Net income in Q4FY10 was also impacted by $3.0 million in non-cash stock-based compensation expense, as further described in our audited annual consolidated financial statements for fiscal 2011, compared to $0.3 million in each of Q4FY11, Q3FY11, Q2FY11 and Q1FY11.

Total revenues of $26.9 million in Q4FY11 were comprised of $25.0 million (93%) in services revenues and $1.9 million (7%) in license revenues. Q4FY11 services revenues were up 41% from $17.7 million in Q4FY10 and up 1% from $24.7 million in Q3FY11.

Based on the location of Descartes' customers, the geographic distribution of revenues was as follows:


$11.6 million of revenues (43%) were generated in the U.S.;
$5.6 million (21%) in Belgium;
$5.0 million (19%) in Europe, Middle East and Africa ("EMEA"), excluding Belgium;
$3.7 million (14%) in Canada;
$0.9 million (3%) in the Asia Pacific region; and
$0.1 million (0%) in the Americas, excluding the U.S. and Canada.


FY11 Financial Results

As described in more detail below, key financial highlights for Descartes year ended January 31, 2011 included:


Revenues of $99.2 million, up 34% from $73.8 million in the year ended January 31, 2010 (FY10);
Services revenues of $93.7 million, up 35% from $69.6 million in FY10. Services revenues comprised 94% of total revenues in both FY11 and FY10;
Gross margin of 66%, compared to 69% in FY10;
Net income of $11.5 million, compared to $14.3 million in FY10;
Earnings per share on a diluted basis of $0.18 compared to $0.25 in FY10;
Adjusted EBITDA of $26.7 million, up 32% from $20.3 million in FY10. Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenues was 27%, compared to 28% in FY10; and
Adjusted EBITDA per share on a diluted basis was $0.42, up 17% from $0.36 in FY10.


The following table summarizes Descartes' results in the categories specified below over the years ended January 31, 2011 and 2010 (unaudited, dollar amounts in millions):


|FY11| FY10
Revenues |99.2| 73.8|
Services revenues| 93.7| 69.6
Gross margin| 66%| 69%
Net income*| 11.5| 14.3
Adjusted EBITDA| 26.7| 20.3
Adjusted EBITDA as a % of revenues| 27%| 28%
Adjusted EBITDA per diluted share| 0.42| 0.36

* Net income was positively impacted by income tax recovery of $3.6 million and $7.6 million in the years ended January 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively. Net income in FY10 was also impacted by $3.4 million in non-cash stock-based compensation expense, as further described in our audited annual consolidated financial statements for fiscal 2010, compared to $1.1 million in FY11.

"By concentrating on accelerating the results that we deliver to our customers, we have enhanced our own operating performance," said Art Mesher, Descartes' CEO. "We will continue to put our customers first, mindful that their successes are the driving force behind Descartes' own success."

Cash Position as at January 31, 2011

As at January 31, 2011, Descartes had $69.6 million in cash comprised entirely of cash and cash equivalents. The primary uses of cash in FY11 were to complete the acquisitions of Porthus (March 2010, approximately $34.6 million), 882976 Ontario Inc. ("Imanet", April 2010, approximately $5.8 million) and Routing International (June 2010, approximately $4.1 million). As at January 31, 2010, Descartes had $94.6 million in cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments.

"This quarter's and year's financial results were ahead of our internal plans. Our operating performance per diluted share grew more than planned, with a higher ending cash position than originally anticipated. Our strong performance and balance sheet position us well for continued operational excellence and consolidation opportunities," said Stephanie Ratza, CFO at Descartes.

The table set forth below provides a summary of cash flows for the quarter and year ended January 31, 2011, in millions of dollars:


|Q4FY11| FY11
Cash provided by operating activities| 7.2| 19.9
Additions to capital assets| (0.4)| (1.6)
Proceeds from the sale of investment in affiliate| --| 0.5
Business acquisitions and acquisition-related costs, net of cash acquired| --| (45.0)
Issuance of common shares| 0.5| 1.1
Repayment of financial liabilities| --| (0.4)
Effect of foreign exchange rate on cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments| (0.5)| 0.5
Net change in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments |6.8| (25.0)
Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, beginning of period |62.8 |94.6
Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, end of period| 69.6| 69.6

Q4FY11 Business Events / Announcements

In line with Descartes' strategy to build leading product offerings and expand its global network of customers and trading partners, the Company has made the following announcements since December 2, 2010:

Announced customer successes with Dole Ocean Cargo Express, Jaguar Freight Services, American Airlines, Sligro Food Group, Air Canada, A. Duie Pyle, Panalpina, Colruyt Group;
Unveiled its breakthrough logistics flow control system;
Descartes' MobileLink achieved Motorola Enterprise Mobility validation; and
PC*Miler|Worldwide 24.1 certified for use with Descartes' Transportation Manager.

Management Team
Descartes' management team for fiscal 2012 is led by its Chief Executive Officer, Art Mesher, a recipient of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professional Distinguished Service award. Descartes' management team is also comprised of the following individuals:

Luc Burgelman, Executive Vice President, Products and Marketing;
Raimond Diederik; Executive Vice President, Information Services;
Frank Hamerlinck, Executive Vice President, Research & Development;
Chris Jones, Executive Vice President, Services;
J. Scott Pagan, Executive Vice President, Corporate Development, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary;
Stephanie Ratza, Chief Financial Officer; and
Edward Ryan, Executive Vice President, Global Field Operations.

Renewed Normal Course Issuer Bid for Common Shares
On December 21, 2010, Descartes announced acceptance by the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX") of Descartes' Notice of Intention to make a Normal Course Issuer Bid (the "NCIB"). Pursuant to the NCIB, Descartes proposes to purchase through the facilities of the TSX and/or the NASDAQ Global Select Market ("NASDAQ") or such other permitted means, from time to time, if it is considered advisable, up to an aggregate of 4,997,322 common shares of Descartes, representing approximately 10% of the public float (within the meaning of the rules of the TSX), being 49,973,220 common shares as of December 13, 2010. As of January 31, 2011, Descartes had 61,741,702 issued and outstanding common shares. Descartes is not required to make any purchases pursuant to the NCIB.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Prime Minister's Public Events for March 11, 2011
March 10, 2011 | Prime Minister's Office | Link (http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?category=4&featureId=6&pageId=47&id=4027)

Public events for Prime Minister Stephen Harper for Friday, March 11th are:

Waterloo, Ontario
2:15 p.m. – Prime Minister Stephen Harper will participate in a tour. He will be joined by Peter Braid, Member of Parliament for Kitchener-Waterloo and Stephen Woodworth, Member of Parliament for Kitchener Centre.
Virtek Vision International Inc., 785 Bridge Street
*Photo opportunity only (cameras and photographers only)

Waterloo, Ontario
2:30 p.m. – Prime Minister Stephen Harper will deliver remarks. He will be joined by Peter Braid, Member of Parliament for Kitchener-Waterloo and Stephen Woodworth, Member of Parliament for Kitchener Centre.
Virtek Vision International Inc.,785 Bridge Street
*Open to media

[panamaniac]

What is he announcing, I wonder?

[bcwessel]

What is he announcing, I wonder?

Laser etching his name into the Constitution?

[IEFBR14]

What is he announcing, I wonder?
That he's bribing us with our own money to vote for Braid and Woodworth in the next election.

[panamaniac]

Such cynicism! I'm sure "the Harper Government" has only your best interests in mind. :RpS_smile:..............:RpS_biggrin:.........:Rp S_lol:

[metropolis]

Laser etching his name into the Constitution?

:RpS_thumbup: That way no one could argue the documents were falsified, afterall its been lasered in place! Oh Oda (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/video/bev-oda-misled-the-house-speaker-rules/article1936290/)

[IEFBR14]

NOT^Laser etching his name into the Constitution?
There, we fixed it for you.

[UrbanWaterloo]

PM highlights F-35 benefits at Waterloo high-tech company
March 11, 2011 | Prime Minister's Office | Link (http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?category=1&featureId=6&pageId=26&id=4033)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today toured high-tech company Virtek Vision International Inc., where he highlighted the economic benefits of upgrading Canada’s fighter jet fleet and participating in the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program.

“Canada’s participation in the Joint Strike Fighter program is translating into sustainable, high quality jobs across this country in the defence, aerospace and high-tech fields,” said Prime Minister Harper. “Our Government is committed to ensuring that our brave men and women in uniform have the equipment they need to defend our sovereignty and carry out Canada’s important missions abroad.”

Virtek Vision has been contributing to the JSF program with its cutting-edge laser technology that helps workers assemble the F-35 fighter jets with a high degree of speed and accuracy.

The Government’s participation in the JSF global aircraft development program has provided Canadian firms with the long-term opportunities to innovate and expand, creating jobs and economic benefits in communities across Canada.

The economic benefits of this program are already being realized across the country, with contracts awarded to 64 Canadian companies. This investment ensures the long-term strength of Canada’s world-class aerospace industry.

[bcwessel]

Canada fighter planes to cost billions more - report
Allan Dowd | Reuters | 10 March 2011 | LINK (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/10/canada-politics-planes-idUSN1014807020110310)


Canada's planned purchase of 65 fighter jets will cost billions more than government has projected, according to a report released on Thursday amid speculation the country will soon face an election. . .

The budget office estimates it will cost C$29.3 billion ($30.1 billion) to build and maintain the 65 F-35 jets over the next 30 years, a significantly higher tag than C$16 billion to C$18 billion the government has forecast.

The planes are expected to cost C$9 billion to build, but the budget office said after reviewing historical information it determined the cost of maintaining the aircraft will be much higher than the government has publicly estimated. . .

Prime Minister Stephen Harper downplayed the report, saying he was "not going to get into the lengthy debate on the numbers" and the F-35s was the only acceptable option to replace the CF-18s before they become too old to maintain. . .

Page said his office was not passing judgment on the operational merits of the F-35.

Page also said that because Canada has not signed a contract to buy the planes, it is not under any legal obligation to pursue the deal if it does not want to.

The Conservative government is scheduled to present its federal budget on March 22, and the country could be pushed into a spring election if the legislation is voted down.

I have read another confirmed report stating that independently financed reviews corroborating the elevated total cost of the fighter jets were conducted by the Congressional Budget Office of the United States, and by a team at Queen's University.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Ontario Sets Budget Date for March 29, 2011
March 14, 2011 6:00 PM | Government of Ontario | Link (http://news.ontario.ca/mof/en/2011/03/ontario-sets-budget-date-for-march-29-2011.html)

Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan will deliver the 2011 Ontario Budget on March 29, 2011 at 4:00 p.m. in the Ontario legislature.

[RangersFan]

Another Waterloo Tech company sold to a company south of the border:


U.S. company buying MKS for $292.5 million
April 7, 2011 | The Record Staff | The Record| LINK (http://www.therecord.com/news/business/article/513460--u-s-company-buying-mks-for-292-5-million)
WATERLOO – Waterloo software company MKS Inc. is being acquired by a U.S. company for $292.5 million.

MKS and Parametric Technology Corp. announced Thursday they have reached an agreement which will see Parametric buy MKS for $26.20 a share.

The price represents a 38 per cent premium over the $18.95 that MKS’s shares closed at on Wednesday.

MKS operates in the application lifecycle management market, producing software that other companies and organizations use to manage their own software development processes.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Business Development in China
Mayor Supports Outgoing Mission as Part of Economic Development Targets
April 18, 2011 | City of Cambridge | E-mail

Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig and members of the local community will accompany John Jung of Canada’s Technology Triangle on a business development mission to China.

“It’s extremely important to have a high ranking dignitary as part of the overseas business development process,” says John Jung, CEO of Canada’s Technology Triangle Inc. “This is an important step to open doors for Cambridge while supporting business development in the Waterloo Region.”

Mayor Craig will join in on part of the 10-day mission to main land China that includes visits to Beijing, Chengdu and Chongqing. Steven Xing, Vice President of Operations for Cambridge-based LightWay Canada will also take part in the mission. Other local participation includes support for doing business in Canada from John Hiscock, a Partner at Gowlings and support from our post-secondary institutions with representatives from Wilfrid Laurier University.

Mayor Speaks at APEC Conference in Langfang
While in China, Mayor Craig will share information on Cambridge’s recent acknowledgement from IBM as Canada’s first ‘Smarter City’. He is slated to deliver remarks at the APEC meeting on Smart City and Intelligent Industry, an important platform for economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. The event is hosted by China APEC Development Council (CADC), organized by Langfang Municipal Government and co-organized by Bestsun Energy Group. It is slated for May 18th and 19th, as part of the China Langfang International Economic Trade Fair which is sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce of China and Hebei Provincial People’s Government.

“I am pleased to be accompanying the delegation this year to support the mission, share the story of Cambridge’s technology successes and build opportunities for foreign direct investment in the Waterloo Region,” says Mayor Craig.

Waterloo Region has been on the radar for businesses in Asia looking to expand into North America. There has also been steady growth in the number of people who have immigrated here; the number of local people speaking Asian languages has more than doubled since 2000. The latest Statistics Canada data reveals there are over 17,000 permanent residents of the region who are of Asia-pacific origin.

Jung made a presentation to Cambridge City Council this evening at the regular meeting at Historic City Hall. More information on the mission may be found at: http://www.techtriangle.com/include/get.php?nodeid=1359. The City of Cambridge recently completed a comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. The executive summary is online at: http://www.cambridge.ca/economic_development/economic_development_strategy_designing_the_future _video_vignettes.

53338754

[UrbanWaterloo]

Lyle S. Hallman Foundation Appoints New Executive Director
April 2011 | Lyle S. Hallman Foundation | Link (http://www.lshallmanfdn.org/news_and_events/index.cfm)

http://www.lshallmanfdn.org/news_and_events/images/lauramar2011.jpg

The Trustees of the Lyle S. Hallman Foundation are very pleased to announce the appointment of Laura Manning as their new Executive Director.

Laura Manning comes to the Foundation from her recent role as Director of Advancement at the Health Sciences Campus & School of Pharmacy at the University of Waterloo. Ms. Manning is a deeply committed leader within Waterloo Region and a management executive with over 16 years of experience in the regulated charitable sector. Her many voluntary contributions include work with ‘LEAF: Women’s Legal Education & Action Fund’; serving as a board member with ‘Community Justice Initiatives’ and as past President of the Board of Director at ‘YWCA Cambridge’. Laura is also a sought after conference/workshop speaker on topics related to leadership effectiveness, board governance and fundraising.

Jim Hallman, acting chair of the Foundation reflects on the appointment: “We look forward to Laura’s collaborative style of leadership guiding our Foundation in fulfilling its mandate within Waterloo Region. She will help us face new challenges and new growth opportunities with mature energy and an innovative spirit.”

The Lyle S. Hallman Foundation is a granting foundation that supports health, education and children’s initiatives within Waterloo Region. As he reflected on his late father, Lyle S. Hallman’s deep-rooted sense of responsibility to his community, Jim said that “Laura will guide us in being both responsive and proactive within an integrated and community-based approach – hallmarks of my father’s engaged philanthropy.”

The appointment will take effect June 20, 2011 when the current Executive Director, Hulene Montgomery, retires.

[mattbender123]

Hey completely off topic but I am a 4th year uw planning student and I am graduating this summer I was wondering if anyone had suggestions where i should apply or know of any places that take on junior planners

Thanks

[UrbanWaterloo]

Workplace Count project visits employers in Waterloo Region
April 26, 2011 | Region of Waterloo | Project Website (www.region.waterloo.on.ca/workplacecount) | Link (http://www.region.waterloo.on.ca/web/region.nsf/$All/7074A1F90448FC3B8525787E004EA7B0?OpenDocument)

From May to August 2011, the Workplace Count project will visit places of employment in Waterloo Region and gather important information that will help shape the future of Waterloo Region.

The Workplace Count, a collaboration between the Region of Waterloo and the local municipalities, is a survey of places of employment in Waterloo Region. Home-based businesses and farms are not included at this time. The information provided by businesses will help the Region and Area Municipalities to better plan for future business growth in Waterloo Region and meet on-going needs for services and infrastructure by:

ensuring adequate land is available for businesses to locate here or expand;
ensuring sufficient services and infrastructure are available for businesses, such as transit service for employees, roads, etc.;
helping businesses that are relocating to select a new location to meet their needs; and
helping to attract complementary businesses such as suppliers or services like restaurants or retail

A member of the Workplace Count team will visit employers beginning in May. Information will be collected through a simple in-person questionnaire that will take about five minutes. Types of information collected will include:

number of full, part-time and seasonal employees;
type of employment activity, such as auto repair, high tech manufacturing, restaurant;
square footage of space used for business; and
contact information

This comprehensive count of workplaces will provide a more complete picture of business in Waterloo Region, which is currently unavailable from any other source. Similar questionnaires have been undertaken in other municipalities, such as Halton, Mississauga, Toronto and York.



Project Backgrounder
Workplace Count
Count your business in!

From May to August 2011, the Region of Waterloo, in collaboration with local municipalities, will be undertaking the Workplace Count, a survey of businesses in Waterloo Region. The information provided by businesses will help us better plan for future business growth in Waterloo Region, and meet on-going needs for services and infrastructure. Home-based businesses and farms will not be visited at this time.

A Regional employee from the Workplace Count team will arrive at a business and take about five minutes to ask for some key pieces of information. The information will be digitally recorded on the spot. While this in-person visit is the preferred method of information collection, businesses can visit our website for an online version of the questionnaire or complete and mail a paper copy.

Types of information collected will include:
Number of full-time, part-time and seasonal employees;
Type of employment activity, such as auto repair, high tech manufacturing, or restaurant;
Square footage of space used for business; and
Contact information

The information compiled from the Workplace Count will help the Region and your local municipality to:

Create a complete picture of the types of businesses in the region and where these jobs are located;
Support business’ needs when planning for services, infrastructure and land by planning for adequate land, sufficient services and complementary businesses;
Understand the space requirements of different types of businesses;
Analyze local business sectors; and
Compare our region with others in Ontario and beyond

Data is confidential and will be grouped together to preserve the confidentiality of individual businesses and will not be published or released to any third party except with the express permission of the business. Where permission is granted, specific information may be published in the Canada’s Technology Triangle and/or local municipal business directories.

This comprehensive count of workplaces will provide a more complete picture of business in Waterloo Region, which is currently unavailable from any other source. Similar questionnaire have been undertaken in other municipalities, such as Halton, Mississauga, Toronto and York.

[RangersFan]

The trend continues...

Northern Digital to be sold to Florida-based company
May 9, 2011 | Record Staff | The Record | LINK (http://www.therecord.com/news/business/article/529796--northern-digital-to-be-sold-to-florida-based-company)
WATERLOO – Northern Digital Inc., one of Waterloo Region’s first high-tech companies, is being acquired by a large U.S. company.

Roper Industries Inc. announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement to buy the Waterloo-based manufacturer of advanced measuring equipment for medical and industrial applications. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Northern Digital, which operates as NDI, “is an excellent addition to our medical platform,” Brian Jellison, Roper’s chair, president and chief executive officer, said in a news release.

NDI’s 3-D measurement technology, used for computer-assisted surgery, computer-assisted therapy and image-guided radiation treatment, is a good fit with other Roper medical business units that provide “technology and applications to improve patient outcomes while increasing productivity for doctors and hospitals,” he said.

[Greg Moore]

I didn't think there was an economy left in Florida. I expected RIM to buy the state just for winter parties. :)

[UrbanWaterloo]

Stakeholder input key part of city’s new economic development strategy
May 12, 2011 | City of Kitchener | Link (http://www.kitchener.ca/en/newslist/index.aspx?newsId=adRaJgFQ9fbKaz2BXcGygQeQuAleQuAl )

Consultation with community stakeholders will play a key role in finalizing the city’s economic development strategy -- a document that is intended to help shape the local economy for the next five to 10 years by establishing the city’s direction for the investment of human, financial and physical resources.

The strategy is the third in a series, building on the 2004 Urban Investment Strategy, which laid the foundation for the economic development investment fund (EDIF) and Our Future is Now, the 2007-2010 economic development strategy. Both initiatives have helped guide and support the dramatic revitalization of downtown Kitchener, which includes the development of:


the University of Waterloo Health Sciences Campus
the Communitech digital-media hub
the Kaufmann Lofts
The Tannery District
numerous other private, public and institutional projects.

Previous plans also drove projects such as the development of the Grand River West Business Park and the Manufacturing Innovation Network, an online community for manufacturers in the Waterloo region.

The effect of these projects has been to completely redefine Kitchener as a hot bed for innovation and a key partner in one of Canada’s top performing metropolitan economies.

The new economic development strategy will build on the momentum already established. It will be refined through further consultation with stakeholders from business, arts, culture, tourism, local government, education sectors and the economic development and the downtown advisory committees, as well as Compass Kitchener.

“This is a plan for the entire city,” said Mayor Carl Zehr. “It’s a much broader picture than just the downtown core.”

A series of consultations with the city's downtown and economic development advisory committees informed a discussion paper on economic development for the 2011-2015 draft of the strategy.

During May and June, consultation will take place through a stakeholder symposium, including representation from all of the city’s community advisory groups, business organizations, education and industry representation. Further input will be gained through online comments, emerging industry specialists and a public meeting.

The final strategy is scheduled to be presented to city council for consideration this fall.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Ontario Supports Toyota Jobs
McGuinty Government Supports Plant Upgrades, Helps Protect 6,500 Jobs
July 5, 2011 | Government of Ontario | Link (http://www.news.ontario.ca/medt/en/2011/07/ontario-supports-toyota-jobs.html)

The province is securing 6,500 jobs for Ontario families by helping Toyota increase productivity at its Cambridge and Woodstock assembly plants.

In partnership with the Government of Canada, Ontario is helping Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (http://www.tmmc.ca/en/index.html) upgrade with "Project Green Light," investing in:


Productivity upgrades, including new machinery and equipment;
Employee training; and
Continuous improvement projects to increase efficiency and reduce waste.


These upgrades will support the production of cleaner, more fuel efficient vehicles at Toyota's Ontario plants.

The auto industry is an important driver of Ontario's economy, supporting about 400,000 jobs across the province and generating billions of dollars in economic activity.

QUICK FACTS


Ontario builds more cars than any other state or province in North America.
Ontario is providing up to $70.8 million of the $545 million total investment in the project.
Toyota currently manufactures the Toyota Corolla, Toyota Matrix, Toyota RAV4 and the Lexus RX 350 vehicles and has two plants in Cambridge and one plant in Woodstock.
Toyota's Cambridge South plant recently earned the 2011 J.D. Power and Associates Platinum Plant Quality Award as the highest ranked global automotive manufacturing facility.
Over the last couple of months, Ontario had an increase of 38,000 jobs and the unemployment rate decreased to 7.9 per cent.



"We're investing in Toyota to protect these jobs for Ontario families and to ensure Ontario remains a leader in the global auto industry. Our support for automotive innovation will lead to the production of more fuel efficient vehicles at Toyota's facilities in Ontario."
– Sandra Pupatello
Minister of Economic Development and Trade


"We're pleased to help Toyota provide state-of-the-art training and equipment to families in our community. This investment will help Toyota maintain its competitive edge in the global market."
– John Milloy
Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, and MPP for Kitchener Centre


"Continuous improvement is the backbone of Toyota and we will continue to look for ways to improve our products, our processes, and our people. The strong support that we have received from both the Federal and Provincial governments is very important because it allows us to give these initiatives priority and helps to secure our production footprint in Canada. Government partnership also helps to ensure that the Canadian automotive industry remains competitive and strong."
– Ray Tanguay
Chairman of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada

LEARN MORE


See how Ontario's 2011 Budget is supporting job creation and helping the province's economy to turn the corner. (http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/ontariobudgets/2011/index.html)
Find out more about Ontario's automotive industry. (http://www.sse.gov.on.ca/medt/investinontario/Documents/English/automotive.pdf)

[UrbanWaterloo]

CIBC Metro Monitor: July 18, 2011
PDF (http://research.cibcwm.com/economic_public/download/metro_monitor.pdf)

The city of Kitchener continues to show positive momentum and is currently ranked second in our momentum index largely reflecting a very strong labour market, healthy population growth, relatively high quality employment and a low level of business bankruptcies.

60262409

[UrbanWaterloo]

Premium Brands Holdings Corporation Announces Acquisition of Piller's
August 4, 2011 | Marketwire | Link (http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/premium-brands-holdings-corporation-announces-acquisition-pillers-creation-national-tsx-pbh-1545938.htm)
Premium Brands (http://www.premiumbrandsholdings.com/) | Piller's (http://www.pillers.com/)

503 (http://www.ccnmatthews.com/logos/20091109-pbhc.jpg) 504 (http://www.pillers.com/images/pillers_logo_en.png)

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - Premium Brands Holdings Corporation (TSX:PBH), a leading producer, marketer and distributor of branded specialty food products, announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase substantially all of the assets and operating divisions ("Piller's") of Waterloo, Ontario based Piller Sausages & Delicatessens Limited.

Piller's is one of Canada's leading manufacturers of specialty European deli meats with annual sales of approximately $180 million and over 600 employees. It is currently owned and operated by the Huber family who founded it in 1957.

The purchase is expected to close later this month and is subject to customary closing conditions as well as obtaining clearance for the transaction from the Canadian Competition Bureau.

"This transaction will create a national deli meats platform that will feature two of Canada's most respected deli brands: Grimm's in the west and Piller's in the east," said Mr. George Paleologou, President and CEO of Premium Brands. "Piller's will be our third major investment in Ontario in the last twelve months and will provide us with state-of-the-art production capabilities, industry leading product research and development expertise and a proven management team that has been able to generate consistent profitable growth for many years.

"We are also very pleased to be welcoming the Huber family to Premium Brands. We have known and respected them for many years and are looking forward to working with them. Their talents will greatly strengthen our management group," stated Mr. Paleologou.

"We are very excited to be joining the Premium Brands group. Its entrepreneurial culture and focus on quality are a perfect fit for Piller's," said Mr. Willy Huber Jr., CEO of Piller's. "Furthermore, I have no doubt that the combination of our businesses will result in a number of exciting top and bottom line growth opportunities," added Mr. Huber.

"We are proud of the business we have built over the last 54 years but wanted to find a partner to help take Piller's to the next stage in its development," said Mr. Wilhelm Huber, co-founder of Piller's. "My family and I have no doubts that Premium Brands is the right partner for us."

Financial Details

The purchase price will consist of $73.7 million in cash and 1,968,750 Premium Brands shares. In addition, it will be increased by up to $10.0 million if Piller's is able to achieve certain profitability targets over the next two years. This additional consideration, if applicable, would be payable 26 months after the closing of the transaction.

The cash portion of the purchase price will be reduced to the extent that Premium Brands assumes any funded debt and will also be subject to adjustment if Piller's net working capital at closing is above or below a defined normalized level.

Included in the transaction is approximately 24 acres of valuable industrial land that can be used for future expansion of Piller's business.
Premium Brands will fund the transaction through draws on its senior credit facilities. In conjunction with the transaction, Premium Brands negotiated a $56.0 million increase in the credit available under these facilities.

Piller's currently has an annual EBITDA run rate of approximately $15.0 million. Within the next two years Premium Brands expects this to exceed $20.0 million as growth and cost synergies are realized.

The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to both Premium Brands' earnings per share and free cash flow per share.

About Premium Brands

Premium Brands owns a broad range of leading specialty food manufacturing and differentiated food distribution businesses with operations in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Washington State and Nevada. The Company services over 26,000 customers and its family of brands and businesses include Grimm's, Harvest, McSweeney's, Bread Garden Express, Hygaard, Hempler's, Quality Fast Foods, Gloria's Best of Fresh, Harlan Fairbanks, Creekside Bakehouse, Centennial Foodservice, B&C Foods, Shahir, Duso's Fine Foods, Maximum Seafood, SK Food Group, OvenPride, Hub City Fisheries, Audrey's, Deli Chef and Hamish & Enzo.

[panamaniac]

We are a clever and inventive Region:

http://media.mmgdailies.topscms.com/images/67/17/7f9d29de49989607258dbbad3698.jpegAeryon Scout on ground The Aeryon Scout Aeryon Labs





WATERLOO — Waterloo technology is helping the people of Libya defeat dictator Moammar Gadhafi in North Africa.
Rebel forces have deployed a Waterloo-built surveillance drone to scout enemy forces. The battery-powered Aeryon Scout flies up to 500 metres off the ground, snapping pictures and streaming live video, day and night.
.......
The Scout, developed by University of Waterloo graduates, has been pitched for police, military and civilian uses. The Canadian government is aware of its use by Libyan rebels, McVicar said.
jouthit@therecord.com (jouthit@therecord.com)


http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/583029--waterloo-robot-helps-fight-gadhafi

[RangersFan]

Kitchener industrial contractor sold to Toronto firmSeptember 2, 2011 | Record Staff | The Record | LINK


KITCHENER — Roberts Onsite, a multi-trade industrial contractor founded in Kitchener in 1938, has been sold to a Toronto-based contracting firm active in the industrial, commercial and institutional markets.
(http://www.therecord.com/news/business/article/588645--kitchener-industrial-contractor-sold-to-toronto-firm)The new owner, Black & McDonald, plans no material changes to Roberts Onsite, which will keep the same management team. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“This is a significant opportunity for us to combine our resources and expertise to collectively acquire a larger market share,” Ted Schlotzhauer, chief executive officer of Roberts, said in an email Friday.
Roberts Onsite will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Black & McDonald. It will operate out of the same 40,000-square-foot headquarters at 209 Manitou Dr., said Schlotzhauer, who will remain CEO.
(http://www.therecord.com/news/business/article/588645--kitchener-industrial-contractor-sold-to-toronto-firm)

[UrbanWaterloo]

Technology Fast 50™ Companies' Growth in 2011 Shows That the Canadian Tech Sector is Alive and Well
Deloitte Canada Survey: Tech CEOs Want to See a Strengthened Culture of Risk and Entrepreneurship
October 19, 2011 | Marketwire | Link (http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/technology-fast-50-companies-growth-2011-shows-that-canadian-tech-sector-is-alive-well-1574875.htm)

In spite of global economic uncertainty, the winners of the Deloitte Technology Fast 50™ have not only continued to grow their revenues in 2011, but done so with increased focus on an international customer base. Although the sector is still hindered by the lack of a robust community of domestic investors to support a stronger entrepreneurial culture at home, Canada's tech sector continues to grow and to create jobs. "Almost half of last year's winners are back on the list in 2011, which is remarkable, and there are 20 newcomers alongside a handful of multiyear winners," said Richard Lee, National Leader, Technology, Media & Telecommunications Industry Group, Deloitte. "Fast 50 companies are active in enterprise or consumer software development, as well as digital media content and platforms."

"As in previous years, the bulk of winners are in Ontario (26), followed by Québec (11) and British-Columbia (10), with the balance of the winners coming from Newfoundland and Labrador (2) and Alberta (1)," said Duncan Stewart, Director of TMT Research with Deloitte. "The average growth of a Fast 50 company was 5,020 per cent in 2011, down from over 5,600 per cent last year – but still the third-highest number ever. These companies aren't just growing fast, they are investing too: the average research and development spending was a new record, at almost $22.5 million per company. The difficult global economic conditions might not be reflected in our winners' growth rates, but weak capital markets meant that only a round dozen of the fifty are publicly traded: a new low, and down about 70 per cent from 2005."

Saint-Laurent-based Accedian Networks, a telecom and wireless company specializing in performance monitoring solutions, and newcomer on the Fast 50 list, is at the top of this year's ranking with a 50,136 per cent five-year revenue growth. Accedian Networks is also a winner in this year's leadership category.

Second and third spots go to RTI Cryogenics Inc. (46,278 per cent) a Cambridge-based company operating in recycling technologies, and Avigilon (38,796 per cent) a Vancouver-based high-definition surveillance telecom company. Rounding out the top five are Toronto-based NexJ Systems Inc. (29,161 per cent), an enterprise CRM software company, and Real Matters (28,265 per cent), a Markham-based property information solutions firm.

Also noteworthy, 8D Technologies inc. of Montreal and Wi-LAN Inc. of Ottawa are back among the 50 fastest growing tech firms for the first time since 2002 and 2004 respectively; Toronto's ViXS Systems Inc. and Vancouver's Corinex Communications Corp are returning for a fifth consecutive year while RuggedCom Inc. from Concord, Ontario and Toronto's Impact Mobile are back for the sixth consecutive year; Kitchener-Waterloo-based Research In Motion, a consistent winner since the beginning of the program 14 years ago has qualified again in 2011; and Richmond-Hill-based Paymentus Corporation is a new Fast 50 winner after appearing on the Companies-to-Watch list in 2008.

Immigration system creating the right talent pool: Tech CEOs

Deloitte's annual survey of Fast 50 Tech CEOs, also released today, provides insight into the current talent debate. A strong majority (85 per cent) of Tech CEOs said Canada's graduates have the right skill set, and over two-thirds said that Canada's immigration system is creating the proper pool of talent. "Unlike studies that suggest our education and immigration systems are not working, most Tech CEOs believe we are doing well on both fronts, even though things are not perfect," said Lee.

Recommended education improvements include a stronger focus on science, engineering and IT, and an emphasis on practical work exposure to business. On the immigration front, survey respondents would like to see a better use of immigrants' skills as well as reduced barriers for talented individuals to enter Canada.

Lee pointed out that these results echo Deloitte's recent report The future of productivity – An eight-step plan for Canada – which identified the re-tooling of Canada's immigration system as one of the key steps in the country's productivity action plan. "In the report, Deloitte recommended concrete short-term fixes to our immigration system that should have a long-term effect in this area."

Entrepreneurship top of mind for winning CEOs

According to the new survey results, Tech CEOs are concerned about Canada's entrepreneurial culture. When asked whether Canadians are entrepreneurial and risk tolerant, only 56 per cent agreed and 44 per cent said no. "There is a sense that we need to shift away from a mentality that punishes risk, and focus instead on building a community that supports entrepreneurship and that chalks up failures as part of learning," Lee commented, "There are so many great entrepreneurs in this country who can help propel Canada forward, and we need to create an environment that supports them."

Leadership Awards

Leadership environment Awards single out companies that are the elite members of the Canadian technology industry, whose ability to create a distinct competitive advantage in a high-growth market allows them to dominate their sector and quickly join the ranks of other Canadian global leaders. This year's four Leadership Awards recipients are: EcoSynthetix Inc., a Burlington, Ontario-based emerging technology company; Kanata, Ontario-based Solace Systems, a hardware company; Desire2Learn Incorporated, a Kitchener, Ontario-based software company; and Saint-Laurent, Quebec-based Accedian Networks.

Companies-to-Watch Awards

The Deloitte Technology Fast 50™ Companies-to-Watch (CTW) Awards honour early-stage Canadian technology companies who have been in business less than five years, and have the potential to be future Deloitte Technology Fast 50™ winners.
The ten companies recognized as CTW this year are: Beyond the Rack (Saint-Laurent, QC), Chango (Toronto, ON), Enflick, Inc. (Waterloo, ON), Kobo Inc. (Toronto, ON), MoboVivo (Calgary, AB), Mobiroo (Toronto, ON), ScreenScape Networks (Charlottetown, PEI), Syncapse (Toronto, ON), WaveAccounting (Toronto, ON), and Well.ca (Guelph, ON).

Deloitte Technology Green 15™ Awards

These awards recognize Canada's leading GreenTech companies who promote a more efficient use and re-use of the earth's resources in industrial production and consumption. In doing so, they use new, innovative technologies to create products and services that compete with existing products and services on price and performance while reducing our impact on the environment.

The 15 winners are: 5N Plus (Saint-Laurent, QC), Bionest (Grand-Mère, QC), BIOX Corporation (Oakville, ON), FleetCarma (Waterloo, ON), ecobee (Toronto, ON), EcoSythentix Inc. (Burlington, ON), evandtec, Inc. (Toronto, ON), Fifth Light Technology Ltd. (Oakville, ON), H2O Innovation (Grand-Mère, QC), Log-One Ltd. (Loretto, ON), Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Inc. (Vancouver, BC), Panacis Medical Inc. (Ottawa, ON), Real Tech Inc. (Whitby, ON), RTI Cryogenics (Cambridge, ON), Tantalus (Burnaby, BC).

About the Deloitte Technology Fast 50™

The Deloitte Technology Fast 50™, the country's pre-eminent leading technology awards, ranks companies based on their past five-year revenue growth rates. Celebrating business growth, innovation and entrepreneurship, the program features four distinct categories: the Deloitte Technology Fast 50™ Ranking, Companies-to-Watch Awards (early-stage Canadian tech companies in business less than five years, with the potential to be a future Deloitte Technology Fast 50™ candidate,) Leadership Awards (companies that demonstrate technological leadership in four industry subcategories: hardware/semiconductor, software, telecommunications and emerging technologies) and the Deloitte Technology Green 15™ Awards (Canada's leading GreenTech companies that promote a more efficient use and re-use of the earth's resources in industrial production and consumption.)

Program sponsors include Deloitte, Gowlings, Wellington Financial, TMX, HKMB Hub, CVCA, NACO, MaRS, IGLOO Software.

For further information, visit www.fast50.ca.


2011 Deloitte Technology Fast 50™

<table style="width: 100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: #000000 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-top: #000000 1px solid; border-right: #000000 1px solid"><strong>Rank</strong></td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%; border-top: #000000 1px solid"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top; border-top: #000000 1px solid"><strong>Growth</strong></td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: bottom; border-top: #000000 1px solid; border-right: #000000 1px solid"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%; border-top: #000000 1px solid"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-top: #000000 1px solid; border-right: #000000 1px solid"><strong>Company name</strong></td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%; border-top: #000000 1px solid"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-top: #000000 1px solid; border-right: #000000 1px solid"><strong>City</strong></td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%; border-top: #000000 1px solid"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-top: #000000 1px solid; border-right: #000000 1px solid"><strong>Prov</strong></td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-top: #000000 1px solid; border-right: #000000 1px solid"><strong>Sector</strong></td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%; border-top: #000000 1px solid"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-top: #000000 1px solid; border-right: #000000 1px solid"><strong>Product service</strong></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">1</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">50,136</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Accedian Networks</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Saint-Laurent</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">QC</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Telecom</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">High Performance Service Assurance</td> </tr> <tr style="color: red;"> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">2</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">46,278</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">RTI Cryogenics Inc.</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Cambridge</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Emerging</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Value-added tire recycling</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">3</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">38,796</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Avigilon</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Vancouver</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">BC</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Hardware</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">High definition surveillance</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">4</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">29,161</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">NexJ Systems Inc.</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Toronto</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Enterprise CRM Software</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">5</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">28,265</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Real Matters</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Markham</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Property Information Solutions</td> </tr> <tr style="color: red;"> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">6</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">10,017</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ARISE Technologies Corporation</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Waterloo</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Solar Technology</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">7</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">7,976</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Clevest Solutions Inc.</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Richmond</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">BC</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Emerging</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Mobile Workforce Management</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">8</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">3,539</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Dominion Voting Systems Corporation</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Toronto</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Hardware</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Election solutions + services</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">9</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">2,622</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Acquisio</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Saint-Lambert</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">QC</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Digital Media</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Campaign management platforms</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">10</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">2,322</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">GuestLogix Inc.</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Toronto</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">On-board Retail Platform</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">11</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">2,306</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Wi-LAN Inc.</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Ottawa</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Telecom</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Technology Licensing</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">12</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">2,011</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Vital Insights</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Mississauga</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Software Solutions Provider</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">13</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">1,915</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Varicent Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Toronto</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Sales Performance Management</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">14</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">1,904</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Cyberplex Inc.</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Toronto</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Digital Media</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Web advertising solutions</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">15</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">1,710</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Layer 7 Technologies</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Vancouver</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">BC</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Emerging</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Cloud &amp; Mobile security</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">16</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">1,332</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">SherWeb</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Sherbrooke</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">QC</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Software as-a Service (SaaS)</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">17</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">1,131</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Marport</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">St. John's</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">NL</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Underwater Acoustics Technology</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">18</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">1,093</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Global Relay Communications Inc.</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Vancouver</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">BC</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Compliance Message Archiving</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">19</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">1,069</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Paymentus Corporation</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Richmond Hill</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Real-time Bill Payment Network</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">19</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">1,069</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Tantalus Systems Corp.</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Burnaby</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">BC</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Emerging</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Smart Grid Technology</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">21</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">1,017</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">CarProof</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">London</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Vehicle History Reports</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">22</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">973</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ProSep</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Montreal</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">QC</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Emerging</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Oil and gas process equipment</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">23</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">971</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">8D Technologies inc.</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Montreal</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">QC</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Emerging</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Transportation Management &amp; Payment</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">24</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">939</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ParetoLogic Inc.</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Victoria</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">BC</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Security/Optimization software</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">25</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">937</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Solace Systems</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Kanata</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Hardware</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Middleware appliances</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">26</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">904</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Route1 Inc</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Toronto</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">secure remote access</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">27</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">840</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Verafin Inc.</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">St. John's</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">NFLD</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">financial crime detection</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">28</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">666</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">H2O Innovation</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Quebec City</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">QC</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Emerging</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Water treatment systems</td> </tr> <tr style="color: red;"> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">29</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">634</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Research In Motion</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Waterloo</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Telecom</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Smartphones and tablets</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">30</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">547</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Yardstick</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Edmonton</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">AB</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Testing and Training Experts</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">31</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">524</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ViXS Systems Inc.</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Toronto</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Hardware</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Network Multimedia Processors</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">32</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">522</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">PNI Digital Media</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Vancouver</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">BC</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Transaction software platform</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">33</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">476</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">iBwave Solutions Inc.</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Saint-Laurent</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">QC</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Wireless software</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">34</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">464</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Corinex Communications Corp</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Vancouver</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">BC</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Telecom</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Computer networking products</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">35</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">447</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Vantrix</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Montreal</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">QC</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Telecom</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Mobile video optimization</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">36</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">445</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">RuggedCom Inc.</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Concord</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Telecom</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Rugged Communications Equipment</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">37</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">437</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Obzerv Technologies Inc.</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Quebec City</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">QC</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Hardware</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Surveillance cameras</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">38</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">413</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">5N Plus inc.</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Saint-Laurent</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">QC</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Emerging</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Purification and metal recycling</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">39</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">397</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Moment Factory</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Montreal</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">QC</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Digital Media</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Multimedia environments</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">39</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">397</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Impact Mobile</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Toronto</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Telecom</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Mobile Marketing Solutions</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">41</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">388</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Doxim Inc.</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Markham</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">SaaS Document Processing</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">42</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">367</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">BTI Systems</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Kanata</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Telecom</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Packet Optical Networking</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">43</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">365</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Vivonet Inc.</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Burnaby</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">BC</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">POS solutions</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">44</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">360</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Complete Innovations Inc.</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Markham</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Mobile Workforce Solutions</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">44</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">360</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">QuickPlay Media</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Toronto</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Digital Media</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Mobile Video Platform</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">46</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">327</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">The Code Project Inc.</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Toronto</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Developer Community Website</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">47</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">326</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">BlueCat Networks</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Toronto</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">IP Address Management</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">48</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">306</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Nulogx</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Mississauga</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Transportation Management Solutions</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">49</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">304</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">QHR Technologies Inc</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Kelowna</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">BC</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Healthcare efficiency software</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 6%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">50</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 8%; vertical-align: top">294</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: left; width: 1%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">%</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Nightingale Informatix Corporation</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 14%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Markham</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 1%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 5%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">ON</td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 13%; vertical-align: top; border-right: black 1px solid">Software</td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid; width: 3%"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; text-align: right; width: 22%; vertical-align: top; border-right: #000000 1px solid">Electronic Medical Records</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

[UrbanWaterloo]

Toyota Celebrates 25 years of Vehicle Manufacturing in Canada
Employment grows to more than 6,500; more than 4 million vehicles built since inception.
Milestone marked with vehicle donations to 10 local organizations
November 18, 2011 | Marketwire | Link (http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/880401/toyota-celebrates-25-years-of-vehicle-manufacturing-in-canada)

In recognition of 25 years of making cars in Canada, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC) hosted a celebration at the new Waterloo Region Museum today that featured company executives, community leaders and provincial and federal officials. Special guests included Ontario Economic Development and Innovation Minister, Brad Duguid and Toyota Motor Corporation President, Akio Toyoda.

In 1986, TMMC broke ground on its Cambridge plant site. Original projections were for the plant to employ 1,000 and build 50,000 vehicles per year on a single line in a plant totalling 1 million square feet. Since then, employment has grown to more than 6,500. Last year, TMMC built more than nine times original projections: more than 458,000 Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Toyota now operates three vehicle assembly plants in Canada, building the Toyota Corolla and Lexus RX350 in Cambridge and the RAV4 in Woodstock, Ontario. The total size of those three plants is now 4.8 million square feet.

Over the past 25 years, TMMC has invested $5.6 billion in its plant and facilities. Toyota Motor Corporation President, Akio Toyoda commented, "TMMC has become one of Toyota's largest, most successful manufacturing operations in the world. It has done so by consistently exceeding expectations."

Ontario's Minister of Economic Development and Innovation, Brad Duguid, remarked, "Toyota is an essential part of Ontario's auto industry, and a big reason why the province continues to be the leading jurisdiction in North America for vehicle assembly. We look forward to continuing our productive partnership with the Toyota team and are delighted to offer our congratulations on this important milestone."

TMMC Chairman, Ray Tanguay reflected on the growth. "Along with satisfying our customers, the most important contribution we can make is to provide secure employment for Canadian Team Members. For me, it's gratifying to watch people grow and thrive as TMMC Team Members."

This year, TMMC earned its ninth J.D. Power and Associates Plant Quality Award for Initial Quality. Brian Krinock, who has been President of TMMC since 2010, commented "Our Team Members have made some remarkable contributions and they deserve every accolade they've earned. The growth that our Canadian operations have enjoyed is the direct result of their expanding capabilities."

As part of the celebration, TMMC donated 10 RAV4 vehicles to local community groups. The ten groups were:


Cambridge Salvation Army
Woodstock Salvation Army
University of Waterloo
Wilfrid Laurier University
Conestoga College
YMCAs of Cambridge and Kitchener-Waterloo
Waterloo Regional Police
Woodstock Police
Cambridge Fire Department
Woodstock Fire Department

"I've had the honour of watching Toyota grow in my community for more than 25 years. They've been a remarkable partner and have made a tremendous contribution to the Region" said Waterloo Regional Chair, Ken Seiling.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada currently manufactures the Toyota Corolla, Toyota Matrix, Toyota RAV4 and the Lexus RX 350 vehicles and has two plants in Cambridge, ON and one plant in Woodstock, ON. The company employs approximately 6,500 employees.

About Toyota

For information about Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, visit www.tmmc.ca

For more information about Toyota products, visit www.toyota.ca

[UrbanWaterloo]

Economic growth will slow across Ontario in 2012, pick up in 2013
Toronto region will lead, followed by Kitchener-Waterloo-Barrie and London
November 21, 2011 | Central 1 Credit Union | Link (http://www.central1.com/newsandevents/displayjob.php?sp=35&type=SB&jid=0) | PDF (http://www.central1.com/publications/economics/pdf/ea/ea%202011_ont03.pdf)

The expected global economic slowdown will hit all regions of Ontario next year and will hinder economic growth in the province, according to the Economic Analysis of Ontario, released today by Central 1 Credit Union.

“Toronto will lead the province in most categories, along with Kitchener-Waterloo-Barrie and London, but even their pace will be slow,” says Helmut Pastrick, Central 1’s chief economist. “The regions that will lag through to 2013 are Kingston-Pembroke, Stratford-Bruce and the Northeast.”

Pastrick said the Northeast won’t grow faster until the U.S. economy picks up, while Kingston-Pembroke will be slowed by its dependence on government spending. The Stratford-Bruce region will depend on construction and utility projects for growth. Only in the three faster-growing regions has employment surpassed pre-recession levels, and in the other regions that won’t change through 2013.

The regions in the middle performance group are Ottawa, Muskoka-Kawarthas, London, Windsor-Essex and the Northwest. Each has unique characteristics tied to their economies that will determine employment and growth opportunities. The Central 1 report examines each region in detail.

Toronto will lead the province in housing sales, construction and price gains in 2013, but prices in all regions will reach record highs, Pastrick forecasts.

The report says that overall Ontario’s economy will grow by 2.1 per cent in 2011, 1.8 per cent in 2012 and 2.6 per cent in 2013, but there is a risk that the European debt situation could undercut these predictions.

Highlights of the report:


Public sector belt tightening means Ottawa will experience tepid job growth and weak investment.
Since the 2008 recession, the Kingston-Pembroke region has underperformed the rest of the province. This is unlikely to change over the next two years.
Unemployment will remain high in the Muskoka-Kawarthas region due to continued weakness in tourism and the recreational sector.
In Toronto, job growth will be 1.7 per cent in 2011, 1.4 per cent in 2012 and 1.8 per cent in 2013. The unemployment rate will slide to 8.2 per cent in 2012 and 8.1 per cent in 2013.
Employment in the Kitchener-Waterloo-Barrie region will rise 3.9 per cent this year, 2.5 per cent in 2012 and 3.1 per cent in 2013, driving the regional unemployment rate down to 6.1 per cent in 2013.
Economic conditions in Hamilton-Niagara Peninsula have remained steady over the past year. Regional employment is forecast to rise 2 per cent this year, slowing to 1.6 per cent in 2012 and 1.4 per cent in 2013.
Employment has declined in the London region since 2007, but it is expected to eke out a 0.2 per cent gain this year, 0.6 per cent in 2012 and 1 per cent in 2013.
The population in Windsor-Sarnia has been declining since 2007, but it is expected to level off in 2012 and inch up in 2013 as the economy rebounds.
Stratford-Bruce is forecast to enjoy strong job growth of 4.4 per cent in 2011, report a decline of 2 per cent in 2012 and grow by 1.9 per cent in 2013.
Investment in mines and power plants is expected to keep employment growing in the Northeast region.
Population and employment have been declining in the Northwest region, but the population is expected to stabilize and the unemployment rate will decline to 6.2 per cent in 2012 and 5.8 per cent in 2013.

“Our detailed analysis shows the wide variations across the province and illustrates how difficult it will be for the province to spur widespread growth, while at the same time reducing its deficit,” Pastrick said.

The full report, Economic Analysis of Ontario:

73350204

[RangersFan]

Parole office to move to Kitchener from GuelphNov 25, 2011 | Mirko Petricevic | The Record | LINK (http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/630817--parole-office-to-move-to-kitchener-from-guelph)

KITCHENER — The federal parole office supervising local offenders is scheduled to move to Kitchener from Guelph in early 2013.
The Correctional Service of Canada hasn’t identified a specific site yet, said Braden Whilsmith, acting area director overseeing three parole offices stretching from Windsor to Guelph to Bruce County.
“(But) it will be in Kitchener,” he said.
Corrections representatives are holding a public information meeting about the parole office relocation at the Country Hills Community Library in Kitchener on Tuesday evening.
About 75 per cent of the 117 offenders being supervised by the Guelph office’s nine parole officers live in Kitchener, Whilsmith said.

[panamaniac]

I wonder if the move of the parole office is timed to coincide with the freeing up of space in the existing courthouse? A Downtown location for this would seem to make sense.

[UrbanWaterloo]

TurboSonic Announces US$2.7 Million Order for Green Energy Project
03 January, 2012 | TurboSonic | Link (http://www.turbosonic.com/news-folder/fy-2012/january-3-2012)

<div style="width:320px; float:left;"><img src="http://www.turbosonic.com/products/wesp/wesp/images/imageinnercontentproxy.2011-02-18.1272214496?isImage=1" width="300px"/></div><div style="width:600px; float:left;">TurboSonic Technologies, Inc., a global provider of clean air technologies, today announced receipt of a US$2.7 million order for turnkey supply of a SonicKleen™ Wet Electrostatic Precipitator (WESP) to control particulate emissions from a wood pellet production plant. Project completion is scheduled for the 2012 calendar year.

The SonicKleen™ WESP is the most advanced wet electrostatic precipitator design on the market. It is used to control fine particulate, condensable particulate matter and acid mist emissions from industrial processes and power generation, providing continuous, reliable performance and virtually maintenance-free operation.

Our customer is a leading supplier of wood-based panel and pellet production lines. This order is the first with this European customer and is for a pellet production facility under construction in the US. Demand for wood pellets as a biomass fuel is an increasingly important component of the global energy market as national energy self-sufficiency and environmental goals are realized. The use of wood pellets as fuel has been classified by the US EPA to be a carbon neutral fuel source. The European market has increased its reliance on biofuels in place of burning coal for heat and power generation, to reduce carbon emissions. Both the European and US markets are forecast for significant growth in demand for pellet production.

“I am very pleased by our receipt of this order,” said Edward Spink, TurboSonic CEO. “We have a world class team, strong partners and a proven technology platform that provide a foundation for TurboSonic’s future success. Our extensive experience in the wood-based panel market, where we have set the standard for equipment reliability and low maintenance, was instrumental in winning this contract. We believe that this order represents a growing market for us.”

For more information on the SonicKleen™ WESP, please visit: http://www.turbosonic.com/products/wesp</div>

[markster]

I take it that TurboSonic is a local company?

[KevinL]

Their main office is on Parkside Drive in Waterloo (http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=550+Parkside+Drive,+Waterloo,+Ontario&hl=en&sll=49.891235,-97.15369&sspn=31.042996,63.544922&vpsrc=0&hnear=550+Parkside+Dr,+Waterloo,+Ontario+N2L+5V4&t=m&z=16).

[UrbanWaterloo]

Toronto's Growing Economic Diversity Once Again Leads Canada in Latest CIBC Rankings
Edmonton, Kitchener, Halifax and Vancouver also show strong momentum
January 19, 2012 | CIBC World Markets | Link (http://micro.newswire.ca/release.cgi?rkey=2001195142&view=92835-0&Start=&htm=0)

The growing economic diversity of Toronto has once again seen the city take the top spot among the country's major cities in CIBC World Markets' latest Canadian Metropolitan Economic Activity Index rankings.

"For the second time in a row, the city of Toronto emerged as the one to beat, with the city showing the fastest economic momentum as of the third quarter of 2011," says CIBC Deputy Chief Economist Benjamin Tal in his latest Metro Monitor report. "What's so impressive about the ranking of Toronto in our current reading is not that the city is once again ranked first among the country's largest 25 metropolitan areas, but the fact that it has been in the top five for more than six consecutive years, with the only exception being the 2009 recession when Toronto's ranking slipped to the 7th place."

The city's index of economic momentum is currently at its highest level in more than 10 years led by growth in population, employment and housing starts.

Since bottoming out in third quarter of 2009, Toronto's population has risen by 3.9 per cent—much faster than the 2.5 per cent growth seen in the nation as a whole. Employment growth across the same period has also been strong, up by 4.6 per cent in the city vs. 3.4 per cent nationally. As importantly, a larger portion of Toronto's new jobs have been full-time positions.

While the city did not lead the pack in any of CIBC's sub-measures of economic momentum, the consistent strong performance of Toronto across most of the 9 key macroeconomic variables reflects the growing diversity of the city's economic engine.

"At 1.8 per cent annual pace, the city's population is growing fast and ranked 3rd in the nation," adds Mr. Tal. "While the labour market is showing signs of fatigue, the quality of employment continues to improve. As well, the level of consumer bankruptcies is well below the national average while the real estate market continues to act as an important driver. At only 1.4 per cent, the apartment vacancy rate in the city is currently at a 10-year low, while non-residential construction activity has already reached pre-recession levels."

Edmonton ranked second in CIBC's measure or economic momentum, up from 11th in the 2011 Q1 report. The ranking reflects the city's strong labour market with overall employment rising by almost eight per cent year-over-year in the third quarter—the fastest pace among all of Canada's top cities. "The city also enjoyed one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation (5.7 per cent as of the third quarter of 2011) while the quality of employment is relatively elevated (ranked 4th among all cities)," notes Mr. Tal.

"As well, Edmonton's population is now rising by a year-over-year rate of 1.7 per cent—well above the national average, while the numbers of consumer and business bankruptcies are among the lowest in the nation."

The city of also Kitchener continues to show positive momentum and is currently ranked third after placing second in Mr. Tal's previous rankings. The position reflects a strong population growth, a relatively high quality of employment, strong growth in construction activity and low levels of business and consumer bankruptcies.

"The city of Halifax did not lead the pack in any of our sub-measures of economic momentum, but it ranked high enough in many categories to achieve the fourth spot in our current ranking (up from eighth)," says Mr. Tal. "The city enjoyed a relatively healthy population growth while the labour market is performing somewhat above average. The real estate market is well balanced, with housing starts rising by well over 40 per cent (year-over-year) in the third quarter of 2011."

Vancouver is ranked fifth in the CIBC index, up slightly from its 7th place in the first quarter of 2011. "The city continues to enjoy above average population growth, while the pace of job creation and the level of employment quality are well above the national average. While improving recently, the unemployment rate is still relatively high, just one tick below the national average, while the pace of real estate activity is starting to slow."

CIBC Metropolitan Economic Activity Index (2011 Q3)

<table border="0"> <tbody><tr> <td> Rank </td> <td> CMA </td> <td align="center" colspan="3" nowrap="nowrap"> 3Q Moving Average </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 1. </td> <td> <span class="xn-location">Toronto</span> </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 23.0 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 2. </td> <td> <span class="xn-location">Edmonton</span> </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 20.0 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top" style="color:red;"> <td> 3. </td> <td> Kitchener </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 18.0 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 4. </td> <td> <span class="xn-location">Halifax</span> </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 16.8 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 5. </td> <td> <span class="xn-location">Vancouver</span> </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 15.5 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 6. </td> <td> <span class="xn-location">Ottawa</span> </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 15.2 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 7. </td> <td> Montréal </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 14.9 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 8. </td> <td> Regina </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 13.8 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 9. </td> <td> <span class="xn-location">Calgary</span> </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 13.1 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 10. </td> <td> Trois-Rivières </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 11.7 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 11. </td> <td> Québec City </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 11.5 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 12. </td> <td> <span class="xn-location">Winnipeg</span> </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 11.1 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 13. </td> <td> <span class="xn-location">St. John's</span> </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 11.0 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 14. </td> <td> Hamilton </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 10.7 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 15. </td> <td> Sherbrooke </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 9.5 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 16. </td> <td> Kingston </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 7.5 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 17. </td> <td> Saint John </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 7.1 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 18. </td> <td> Sudbury </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 6.7 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 19. </td> <td> Saskatoon </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 6.4 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 20. </td> <td> Victoria </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 5.9 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 21. </td> <td> St. Catharines-Niagara </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 5.6 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 22. </td> <td> <span class="xn-location">London</span> </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 5.2 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 23. </td> <td> Windsor </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> 0.4 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 24. </td> <td> Saguenay </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> -1.8 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> 25. </td> <td> Thunder Bay </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> -3.4 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td align="left"> &nbsp; </td> <td valign="top" align="right"> &nbsp; &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td> <br> </td> <td> Average of 25 CMAs </td> <td align="right"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;10.2 </td> <td> &nbsp; </td> </tr> </tbody></table>

About the CIBC Metropolitan Economic Activity Index

Using 9 key macroeconomic variables, CIBC's metropolitan index of economic activity is structured in a way that approximates the change in each city's level of economic activity. With data going back in history, the index monitors not only the current performance of a given city but also tracks its cyclical behaviour against the national economy and other census metropolitan areas (CMAs). The focus is on the 25 largest CMAs in Canada.

The macro variables used to develop the index are:


Population growth;
Employment growth;
Unemployment rate;
Full-time share in total employment;
Personal bankruptcy rate;
Business bankruptcy rate;
Housing starts;
MLS Housing resales; and
Non-Residential building permits.


78854172

[UrbanWaterloo]

Social Business Software Provider IGLOO Raises $5 Million in Series B Funding
Second Round Led by RBC Venture Partners; Funds Used to Expand Operations and Accelerate Growth
January 26, 2012 | Christine Gondos | IGLOO Software | Link (http://www.igloosoftware.com/blogs/pressreleases/social-business-software-provider-igloo-raises-5-m)

IGLOO Software, a leading provider of social business software in the cloud, today announced that it has received $5 million in Series B financing. RBC Venture Partners led the second round investment, with the Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund (OETF) also participating.

"Social networking for business has reached a watershed moment, with most companies either actively using or evaluating social technologies," said David Unsworth, board member and partner with RBC Venture Partners. "As a pure cloud solution that supports both internal and external collaboration, IGLOO is uniquely positioned to not only enable companies to get up and running quickly, but also scale their efforts as their social strategy matures."

IGLOO's customer base spans six continents, with operations in the United States, Canada and EMEA. The proceeds of this investment will be used to expand the business, accelerate product development, significantly grow its ecosystem of partners and broaden its reach, in order to satisfy global demand for its cloud collaboration services.

"It's been a breakout year for IGLOO, fuelled by the tremendous growth from three converging forces in the marketplace - social, mobile and cloud computing," said Dan Latendre, CEO of IGLOO Software. "Businesses are seeking to accelerate their investment across each of these areas, and IGLOO has become an on-ramp of sorts, as one of the first steps in adopting this new modern IT infrastructure."

IGLOO continues to demonstrate rapid growth, since its inception as a private company in 2008, and was recently named one of the fastest-growing software companies in Canada. IGLOO recorded a record-breaking year in 2011, marked by the following achievements:

80 percent increase in license revenue with 60% of revenue influenced by partners
Over 4,000 global collaboration sites with 60% growth in new enterprise customers
144 percent growth in monthly recurring revenue (MRR)
Positioned in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for both Social Software in the Workplace (SSW) and Externally Facing Social Software (EFSS)
5 major product releases throughout the year with significant advancements in group collaboration, content moderation, security and gamification
Named former Microsoft Canada Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Andrew Dixon, to the senior leadership team

[UrbanWaterloo]

City welcomes the Federation of Canadian Municipalities
March 07, 2012 | City of Kitchener | Link (http://www.kitchener.ca/en/newslist/index.aspx?newsId=HJTsUemycL8PLES6NGIHDQeQuAleQuAl )

The City of Kitchener officially welcomes the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), which is holding its national board meeting in Waterloo Region today through March 10, to discuss municipal priorities, and work to support the development of the federal government’s new long-term infrastructure plan.

FCM is the national voice of Canada’s municipalities, speaking for almost 2,000 cities and communities representing 90 per cent of Canada’s population.

The organization’s successful advocacy with the federal government has brought significant benefits to the Waterloo region over the past five years, including the GST refund and the permanent share of the federal gas tax, which together bring in close to $40 million to the region annually; stimulus funding for municipal infrastructure; and now the federal government’s new long-term infrastructure plan.

“Hosting FCM’s national board meeting is a tremendous opportunity for Waterloo Region - as well as the City of Kitchener - to show the federal government that we are ready to continue working with them to strengthen our economic foundations and protect our quality of life,” said Mayor Carl Zehr. “To do so, we - as a country - need high-quality, efficient public infrastructure – networks that connect companies to customers, workers to jobs, and communities to markets. I look forward to observing the discussions that unfold over the course of the next three days.”

“While hosting the nation’s municipal leaders in our community this week, municipal colleagues will help to inform FCM’s discussions with the federal government about the new long-term infrastructure plan – a plan that must involve all three orders of government and the private sector,” added Coun. Berry Vrbanovic, who is currently serving as president of FCM. “In the lead-up to Budget 2012, these meetings will enable us to continue our advocacy to see the federal government commit to the new plan before current funding programs expire in 2014, and also, to make commitments this year, which will lower investment barriers to rental housing to keep Canada’s economic recovery on track today.”

For more information on FCM, visit http://www.fcm.ca/home.htm

[UrbanWaterloo]

RIMOWA Expands Manufacturing Capabilities With New Cambridge, Ontario Facility

WHO: Luxury luggage brand, RIMOWA expands their Canadian manufacturing footprint with the groundbreaking for their new factory located in Cambridge, Ontario.

WHAT: RIMOWA is building a new 70,000 square foot facility set to be completed in 2013 by Melloul-Blamey Construction Inc. The site will house all of the brands current manufacturing lines in Canada and be home to over 130 employees.

WHERE: 90 Vondrau Drive, Cambridge, ON

90 Vondrau Drive, Cambridge

WHEN: MARCH 29th, 2012
8:45 AM Press Call Time
9:15 AM Groundbreaking
9:30 AM additional photo-ops

The expansion is indicative of the brand’s opportunity to create more of their high-performance and superior designed cases with the hopes that this capability will translate into more Canadian jobs. On-hand for the groundbreaking will be distinguished guests from the RIMOWA German head office as well as City of Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig and RIMOWA Executive Vice President Carsten Kulcke. “This area is known for manufacturing innovation and we are thrilled to see this investment happen in Cambridge. Rimowa has and will continue to have a great impact on our community and be a shining example of where technology and manufacturing converge to spark innovation,” mentions Mayor Doug Craig. The new building will house the most advanced manufacturing technologies in RIMOWA’s history.

About RIMOWA

Founded in 1898 by Paul Morszeck in Cologne Germany, RIMOWA is the world’s premier manufacturer of ultra-lightweight yet extremely durable luggage. Today Dieter Morszeck leads the company into its 3rd generation building the highest quality aluminum and polycarbonate luggage throughout the world in the most advanced manufacturing facilities in the industry. The original principals of its founder still hold true today: Superior materials and perfect craftsmanship have made RIMOWA what it is today – A brand for people who are at home en route. RIMOWA has been manufacturing in Cambridge, Ontario since 2008. Available at select fine retailers worldwide including RIMOWA flagship boutiques in Beverly Hills, Honolulu, Las Vegas and Toronto.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Craig Dyer Appointed Chief Financial Officer
March 28, 2012 | Region of Waterloo | Link (http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/newslist/index.aspx?corpId=58cynQlfgqiAYQyTLmpurQeQuAleQuAl&newsId=nJtNG8W5LuPlUsujvMlCJpU3QeQuAleQuAl)

Craig Dyer has been appointed the new Chief Financial Officer for the Region of Waterloo.

“Craig brings to the CFO position a strong municipal finance background and an excellent fit with the Region’s organizational values and culture,” said Mike Murray, Chief Administrative Officer. “I’m sure he will build on and enhance the prudent financial management the Region’s Finance Department has always provided.”

Mr. Dyer is currently the Treasurer for the County of Wellington. He assumed that position in 2001, prior to that, he served as Assistant Director of Finance for the City of Guelph, and with Halton Region.

“I am excited to have been selected for such a key position at the Region of Waterloo. I know my years of municipal finance experience will be put to good use at the Region,” said Mr. Dyer. “I am looking forward to working closely with Council, Regional staff and the area municipal treasurers. Municipalities are facing numerous financial challenges, and I am confident that I can contribute to the Region’s continued success.”

With 24 years of municipal government experience, including senior positions at the county, city and regional level, Craig brings a wide range of experience to the position.

“We’re delighted to have attracted someone with Craig’s extensive experience to lead our finance department,” said Councillor Tom Galloway, Chair of the Region’s Administration and Finance Committee. “His years of upper-tier service dealing with a range of complex issues have given him a solid background that will position him well for success at the Region.”

Mr. Dyer has participated in several initiatives at the provincial and local level, including involvement with professional associations such as the Municipal Finance Officers Association and the Ontario Association of County Clerks, Treasurers and Administrators.

The Finance Department is responsible for the Region’s accounting, stores, purchasing, tax policy, budget, performance measurement and risk management programs. The department manages the Region’s annual operating budget of $785 million and annual capital budget of $396 million.

[RangersFan]

Sale will enable Cambridge aerospace firm to grow

May 7, 2012 | Chuck Howitt | The Record | LINK
(http://www.therecord.com/news/business/article/719672--sale-will-enable-cambridge-aerospace-firm-to-grow)

CAMBRIDGE – Centra Industries, one of this area’s most successful and rapidly growing aerospace companies, has been sold to Precision Castparts Corp. of Portland, Ore.
While Centra (http://www.centra-ind.com/Centra.php/home/) may have a new owner, it will be business as usual at the Cambridge-based company, which has two plants on Cherry Blossom Road.
“Our entire leadership team stays in place, including myself,” Centra president David McIntyre said Monday.
Centra is keeping its name and will act as an “autonomous operation” of Precision Castparts (http://www.precast.com/), he added.
The price of the transaction, which was announced Monday and is expected to close before the end of June, was not disclosed.

[RangersFan]

Kieswetter Demolition and Kieswetter Excavating have moved into the former OSC (Ontario Seed Company) building on Phillip St in Waterloo.

[RangersFan]

Childhood friends take booze delivery service across the provinceMay 9, 2012 | Frances Barrick | The Record | LINK (http://www.therecord.com/news/business/article/720143--childhood-friends-take-booze-delivery-service-across-the-province)


WATERLOO – A company founded by two childhood friends 25 years ago to do home deliveries of beer and liquor is expanding across the province.
“We were one of the very first companies in Ontario devoted to delivering beer and alcohol,” says David Corriveau, who founded B & D Deliveries Inc. (http://www.bddeliveries.ca/en/home.html) with partner Robert Weber in 1987. The pair grew up in the same Kitchener neighbourhood.
Now they are partners in Home Delivery Canada Inc. (http://www.homedeliverycanada.ca/), a new company that last week launched home delivery of products from The Beer Store and Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) in 19 cities in Ontario.
“This home delivery will be huge. It is also going to standardize delivery service across the province,” Corriveau says of the new venture.