Ecosystem Development

Entrepreneurial Leadership Program Registration and Videos

Jeff Roach — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 11:11:49 -0400

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Wallace McCain Institute

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http://www.wallacemccaininstitute.com/application_process

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The 2009-10 Members of the Entrepreneurial Leadership Program

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Registrations are now open for 2010-2011 Entrepreneurial Leadership Program of the Wallace McCain Institute.

If you are an entrepreneur who wishes to reach your full potential and maintain your head office in the Maritimes, then you are encouraged to apply for the Entrepreneurial Leaders Program (ELP).

The basic criteria for applicants:

be running a business they founded
have growing staff and revenue
be committed to a head office in the Maritimes
exhibit personal tenacity and drive

Factors that will be considered:

growth/export potential of the company
serial entrepreneurial behaviour
outside community involvement
comments from references

All applicants are asked to submit a one page letter outlining their motivation to become part of the ELP class. Letters must include the names and emails of 3 references that share the belief that the candidate should be considered as one of top 15 emerging entrepreneurs in the Maritimes. See sample application.

Get your application form now

Videos
Take a look at the videos to get a better understanding of the Entrepreneurial Leaders Program. If you wish to apply please click on the button below to download our application: http://ow.ly/16jGp

Council sees province's IT potential

Rowser — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:17:40 -0400

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John Pollack

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Telegraph-Journal, Published Monday December 14th, 2009

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http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/rss/article/888782

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New Brunswick IT Council co-chairmen Ian Cavanagh, CEO of Ambir, left, and Scott MacIntosh, CEO of SwiftRadius. Photo by: John Pollack/for the Telegraph-Journal

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Gap in number of IT firms in New Brunswick compared to rest of Canada seen as an opportunity

Ian Cavanagh and Scott MacIntosh are optimistic New Brunswick can be an information technology leader, despite the province's current position compared to the rest of the country.

Technology groups boast their sector can help make any industry more efficient, but New Brunswick ranks last when calculating IT investment per worker at $2,445 in 2007.

The province is also third last in information and communication technology (ICT) companies per capital - ahead of Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan - with only 7.6 firms per 10,000 residents, far behind top ranking Ontario's 31.5.

But the recently named co-chairmen of the two-month old New Brunswick IT Council, say this gap represents an opportunity.

"The overall objective is growing the size of the pie, the pie being the IT industry in New Brunswick," MacIntosh says. "ICT is nine per cent of the (provincial) GDP right now, I think there's an opportunity to grow that significantly."

MacIntosh, chief executive of information services provider SwiftRadius, started the company in 2004, after leaving his senior consultant position at Deloitte in 2001.

He said the council isn't yet ready to set a percentage of GDP increase goal, but recognizes the group has a long trek ahead before some planned initiatives will help expand the provincial sector.

The council's first task will be to come up with a concise pitch for New Brunswick's IT sector.

"We need to define what those value propositions are that will allow us to position to external constituents," says Cavanagh. "In other words why do business with New Brunswick IT companies?"

Cavanagh, chief executive of IT services and consulting firm Ambir, was previously executive vice-president of marketing and business development at iMagicTV, Canadian president of 24/7 Customer and founded Daruma Consulting.

"If you go back to the call centre days there was clarity around the value proposition that New Brunswick had. You could go to trade shows anywhere in North America or around the globe and people got, 'Why New Brunswick?' " he says. "We need the, 'Why New Brunswick," in the IT context."

The group is planning a workshop for sometime in January to answer that question.

"We've got to get people appreciating and understanding the scope and impact of IT," Cavanagh says.

The electrical engineer by training says the IT sector suffers from a similar problem to that of his field of study.

"You can't see electricity, so a lot of people can't understand what is electrical engineering," he says.

The council believes overcoming the communications and marketing hurdles will help shape programs it plans to create to address five key issues its members believe will lead to a prosperous New Brunswick IT sector.

Throughout 2010 the group wants to develop detailed plans to encourage more entrepreneurship, spark more innovation through more research and development projects, make New Brunswick business - in both IT and other industries - more competitive on the global stage, address current and future labour shortages through immigration and convincing more young people to pursue careers in IT, and increase IT exports.

"We all agree that the answer isn't to compete in this market, the growth comes from exports," MacIntosh says.

Until now the provincial industry has been fragmented, organizing mostly in regionally focused groups or informally.

MacIntosh and Cavanagh see the new council as an opportunity to have IT firms around the province collaborate on export opportunities.

"It provides the motivation to say hey Scott here's an interesting opportunity, and we've got part of the puzzle, I know you've got part of the puzzle and maybe that company in Moncton has got that third piece," Cavanagh says providing a hypothetical situation for bagging large contracts.

Survey results no surprise to Bathurst entrepreneurs

Jeff Roach — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:37:27 -0400

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Paul Chapman

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Telegraph-Journal, Published Tuesday November 3rd, 2009

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http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/rss/article/844624

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Communities in Boom: Canada's Top Entrepreneurial Cities in 2009 (see attachment at the top of this page)

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BATHURST - Local entrepreneurs say they're not surprised that Bathurst ranked first in New Brunswick and second in Atlantic Canada in a new national survey released by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

The survey, entitled Communities in Boom: Canada's Top Entrepreneurial Cities in 2009, ranked cities across Canada using statistics such as the number of business start-ups and the level of self-employment as well as "the actual perspectives of a community's business owners."

Based on that data, the federation drew conclusions about the effectiveness of local governance and public policy in supporting independent business.

"It doesn't surprise me," Dave Goyette, an owner of websolutions.ca, a web development business, said Monday.

"The one thing many of these smaller communities - like Bathurst, the Miramichi, the (Acadian) Peninsula - have is a strong sense of entrepreneurial spirit. Because we're not a completely serviced area, we brave it out, and we have to figure out how to do things that, if you were in a bigger centre, you would just hire someone to do."

The theory that smaller is a more positive environment for entrepreneurs is reflected in the report.

Saskatoon, Sask., ranked first in the survey. Bathurst placed 18th overall, but first in New Brunswick and one notch below Kentville, N.S., the No. 1 city in Atlantic Canada.

"Entrepreneurs are celebrated here, too," Goyette said.

"People are generally very encouraging when you tell them you own your own business and the business community is of a size people tend to help each other."

Danielle Gaudet, general manager of the Greater Bathurst Chamber of Commerce, was elated by the ranking.

" I have found that here (there) is so much vitality and goodwill in the business community "¦ it's a very positive work environment," she said.

"When I meet with people in the region, I am awed and amazed by their friendliness, work ethic, sense of charity and their passion for where they live and work."

Gaudet believes the business federation's ranking of Bathurst will motivate existing businesses and help foster more.

"This helps our educational and promotional efforts to make sure people know that the greater Bathurst region is business-friendly and that message comes from the entrepreneurs themselves through an independent survey."

Measuring efficiency

Jeff Roach — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:24:22 -0400

Author

John Pollack

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Telegraph-Journal, Published Monday November 2nd, 2009

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http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/rss/article/843529

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Richard Jones, president and CEO of Shift Energy, says eventually the company is planning to create ways for people to control energy efficiency remotely via their computer, phone or TV. Currently any changes to try to reduce energy consumption have to be made manually.

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While there are other energy monitoring systems on the market, Richard Jones of Shift Energy says he believes his is better

SAINT JOHN - We're a long way from the Star Trek-style home - where one talks to a central computer that controls devices in the house - but a Port City-area startup is seeking its first customers to try out something that could eventually be similar.

"We're looking for customers who are innovative and passionate about saving energy," says Richard Jones, chief executive of Shift Energy Inc.

The company officially launched last week at the Think NB ICT Showcase and made its pitch to potential clients and investors at the technology tradeshow's partner event, the New Brunswick Innovation Forum.

The company hopes to make it easier for businesses and households to reduce their energy consumption by monitoring power-hungry devices and putting the to-the-second information about their electricity use into an a single format.

In June, Jones quit his job as Maritime regional director of Bell Aliant's (TSX:BA. UN) ICT division Xwave to start the new company.

"I've always had an interested in entrepreneurship," says Jones, who has worked in both the technology and energy sectors. "This seemed to be a really unique opportunity to apply my background towards."

Though Jones has big dreams for the system, currently any changes to try to reduce energy consumption have to be made manually.

Since not everyone knows how to make their home appliances and devices more energy efficient, the trade marked system, which is called EnergyMentor, provides useful tips along with the data.

EnergyMentor works by plugging in a device that monitors electricity use between the outlet and the electronic equipment to be measured.

"We identify which devices are the biggest energy users and we attach our device to each piece of equipment. The client can get the data back in several different ways," Jones says.

The information can be sent over the Internet and presented almost any way the user wants (regular email, cell or smartphone, etc.).

"One thing we're exploring is presenting the information on the TV through Internet Protocol TV," he says.

Eventually, Jones says, the company plans to create ways the user could control appliances and devices to reduce the amount of energy they are using via computer, phone or TV. With the same tool it could provide the consumption data as well.

This could lead to a wide range of other remote and automated controls of electrically powered devices.

The company's first focus is on business applications, but Jones says he plans to roll out a home-targeted version some time next year.

Shift Energy has begun working with some commercial clients, and is looking for more through an early adopter program.

"We want to get some initial clients to help us get creative," he says.

The advantage of coming on board early, Jones says, is the system can be customized to the clients needs.

"Years down the road we may say here are our standards, just pick one," he says.

While there are other energy monitoring systems on the market, Jones says he believes his is better, because some of the others only track consumption for an entire building and most don't provide options about how the data is received.

Jones says the EnergyMentor will be extremely useful for homes and businesses that have a renewable energy generator.

"One of the critical things will be to measure how those systems are operating," he says. "If I had a solar hot water system I'd want to make sure that when I have hot water available that my system tells me and gives me recommendations about what I might want to do."

If a cap and trade system comes to fruition, Jones says, those with solar panels or wind turbines on their property will be glad to have the EnergyMentor.

"If I displace a lot of fuel consumption with my solar hot water, that carbon that I saved has a defined value," he says. "I want to be able to measure how much carbon I saved and get credit for that."

Best firms built on human connectivity

Rowser — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:18:33 -0300

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Rebecca Penty

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Telegraph-Journal, Published Tuesday October 6th, 2009

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http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/rss/article/814640

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Richard Bendis, CEO of the Philadelphia-based private-public organization Innovation America, is speaking at Moncton’s Intelligent Communities Summit today at the Delta Beauséjour hotel on the role of groups, such as his, in connecting entrepreneurs with the right people and capital to grow early-stage companies. Bendis spent Monday meeting at City Hall with officials and private-sector leaders behind Tech South East – a new business incubator getting ready to launch. Photo by Rebecca Penty/Telegraph-Journal

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Interaction between investors, academia, entrepreneurs and government is the way to develop high-tech companies, executive says

Richard Bendis will tell an audience of entrepreneurs and officials in the knowledge industry today that growing business in a wired community is not just about technology.

The CEO of the Philadelphia-based national private-public intermediary Innovation America is trying to spur a mindset shift towards better using human connectivity to leverage funding and talent to build companies - on top of focusing on market-relevant products.

"The difference I talk about is from technology-based economic development to innovation-based economic development," Bendis said in an interview Monday, ahead of meetings with members of a Moncton-based high-tech incubator nearing its launch.

Bendis will give a morning address today at the Delta Beauséjour hotel to help kick off a two-day summit on intelligent communities. This summit, in part, came to be after Moncton and Fredericton were named to this year's top seven smart cities list by the Intelligent Community Forum, a New York-based think-tank devoted to assessing how broadband can grow jurisdictions.

Interaction between investors, academia, entrepreneurs and government is the way to develop high-tech companies in any community, Bendis said.

"In order to accomplish that, you need to have organizations that have been created to support the growth of innovation within a city or a province," he said.

"That's why they've been working over the last couple of years to potentially create Tech South East in southeastern New Brunswick."

Tech South East - an intermediary in the works since the Moncton Technology Planning Group released a strategy to grow the local technology sector in 2006 - is nailing down the final pieces of its organizational structure, with the plan to soon start up with a bang.

Doug Robertson met Bendis in Helsinki at a technology conference through his work studying models in other jurisdictions.

Robertson said Monday that a recent conference he attended in the Netherlands a European Union speaker at told the audience business intermediaries need to be trilingual.

"They've got to be able to speak business, they've got to be able to speak government, they've got to be able to speak university and research," he said.

Bendis said private-sector experts should be managing funds with government support; intermediaries need to operate on business time and learn to "either succeed quickly or fail quickly," he said.

The executive pitched a plan to U.S. President Barack Obama's transitional committee last December to create a $2-billion national innovation framework, including a seed fund consisting of a fund of funds and a technical assistance grant fund - which would give entrepreneurs access to portfolio companies and fund managers.

Innovation America - which launched officially the same month - could be the organization he suggested be created to oversee the fund, supported partially by a U.S. federal agency like the Department of Commerce or the Small Business Administration.

He said the United States has seen a dearth of early-stage venture capital financing because of a "perfect storm" of challenges that include the recent market meltdown, shortage of state financing and habit by investors to dole out mostly large sums of money - versus more small amounts startups need.

"The average investment in U.S. dollars for a venture capitalist is about $8.3 million per investment," he said, citing Angel Capital Association figures for the United States for early 2009. "Most entrepreneurs or innovators are looking for half a million to $2 million."

Bendis founded Bendis Investment Group LLC, (BIG), a financial intermediary and consulting firm that has a joint venture with Fortress Investment Group (NYSE:FIG) and True Product ID, Inc. (NASDAQ:TPID), which he moved to Beijing. He also started financial intermediaries and serves on several boards.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Jeff Roach — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:41:43 -0300

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Chet Wesley

Source

Progress Media

Source Url

http://ow.ly/sOtD

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"Information and communications technology could be a bigger driver of the region's economy, but the companies with all the smart ideas need to collaborate to compete"

Read the full article at: http://ow.ly/sOtD

Increase R&D capacity

Rowser — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:38:55 -0300

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John Pollack

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Telegraph-Journal, Published Friday October 2nd, 2009

Source Url

http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/rss/article/810940

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Calvin Milbury. Photo by James West, The Daily Gleaner

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University research coupled with industry will drive economic growth, CEO of New Brunswick Innovation Foundation says
New Brunswick's universities can help drive economic growth if researchers work with businesses to develop and commercialize their findings, the chief executive of the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation says.

"We need to increase our R&D capacity in the province," Calvin Milbury says. "We need to have more researchers working on applied research.

"If we can encourage those researchers to commercialize their work and work more with industry then there's an economic benefit that is derived," he says. "Then the research is actually out there being used by industry that can lead to a significant economic impact in the province."

Today the foundation will announce it is giving $437,000 to the University of New Brunswick and Université de Moncton to help pay for six three-year research technician positions.

The projects being funded range from power converters for wind turbines, to paper that conducts electricity, to powerful antioxidants from shrimp oil.

"We favour those researchers that are working with the private sector," Milbury says. "Often the researchers themselves are not the ones that want to commercialize so they need to have that industry partner to work with."

The technicians will help develop the researchers' findings in preparation for commercialization. Milbury says it can be difficult to secure funding for these positions, but once a person is hired the foundation expects the researchers to leverage more money.

The universities are required to match the foundation's funding, which they often get from federal grants or the private sector.

In the past five years of the program, $3 million has been spent to create 43 positions, which then helped leverage a further $15 million from other sources. Given the history of the program, the foundation estimates roughly $2.2 million will be raised from the latest five jobs at UNB and one position at Université de Moncton.

"We're pretty certain they'll use these positions to leverage a great deal more money into the projects," Milbury says.

The foundation, a not-for-profit independent corporation funded by the provincial government, aims "to develop innovation capacity in the universities with this program," Milbury says."If we can add resources within the research labs then we can ensure that more research projects are started and more applied research is undertaken, he says. "It will eventually lead to more commercialization."

This means businesses will have new innovative products or services.

"That leads to companies that are more competitive and more productive," he says. And those firms can expand and create new jobs which results in more economic activity.

For these reasons the foundation encourages researchers to look for ways to apply their research commercially."It's best that the researchers work with industry partners that can bring expertise to the table to ensure that the research is more aligned with market needs," he says. "Otherwise (the research) is just sitting on the shelf."

TONIGHT: propel Director and Mentor, Dan Martell, to Keynote Rising Stars Gala

Jeff Roach — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:54:37 -0300

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Rising Stars Committee

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http://propelict.com/node/1791

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Dan Martell, 2009 Rising Stars Keynote Speaker

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Tickets still available - details below

An award winning Entrepreneur, Dan recently co-founded Flowtown, a company focused on providing web-based tools that allow small businesses to measure their online marketing efforts. Now living in San Francisco, Martell spends the majority of his time looking at ways to build a bridge between Silicon Valley and New Brunswick. As an informal angel investor, he is active in advising entrepreneurs using metric-based marketing tactics to gain market adoption.

Cost:
$75.00 per person. Tickets available at the door. Details at www.risingstars.ca

Rising Stars Finalists Announced - Awards to honour the best and brightest of New Brunswick’s Knowledge Industry

Jeff Roach — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:13:46 -0300

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Rising Stars Committee

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2008 Rising Star Chris Newton with his award in Moncton

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MONCTON, NB – The Rising Stars committee today announced the finalists for the 2009 Rising Stars Awards, honouring the best and brightest of New Brunswick’s knowledge industry.

“We’re excited about the number and quality of nominations submitted again this year,” said Craig Gallant, Co-chair, Rising Stars. “It’s a testament to the health of the knowledge industry in our province, and the talent New Brunswick has to offer the world.”

Now in its sixth year, Rising Stars is an annual provincial event that recognizes knowledge industry workers, in companies or organizations throughout New Brunswick, who have distinguished themselves from their peers by the quality of their work and their positive impact in their community and the industry.

The 25 finalists for the 2009 awards are:

Sal Belal
Joe Cormier
Nat Couture
Marie Eve Filion
Jennifer Gallant
Weiwei Geng
Yvon Hachey
Conrad Hebert
Doug Jones
James Keirstead
Patrick Kerry
Mathieu A. Landry
Stéphane Melanson
Don Moore
Todd Murphy
Troy Nelson
Shawn Peterson
Jason Richard
Matt Shaw
Ben Steeves
Michael Taylor
Abby Teed-Walton
Cheryl Veinot
Luc Volpé
Chelsea Wilson

RapidMind Solutions Inc
Kleinmundo Solutions
PQA Testing
Remsoft Inc
Atlantic Lottery Corporation
Oracle Canada
Blue Cross Life
Oracle Canada
Remsoft Inc
OAO Technology Solutions
CGI
Université de Moncton
Atlantic Lottery Corporation
OAO Technology Solutions Inc
MedRunner
Red Ball Internet
T4G
Prop2Go
Ambir
Integrated Technology Services - UNB
Atlantic Lottery Corporation
CGS Canada Inc
Atlantic Lottery Corporation
JBL Soft Inc.
Accreon

Saint John
Sackville
Fredericton
Fredericton
Moncton
Moncton
Moncton
Moncton
Fredericton
Moncton
Fredericton
Moncton
Moncton
Moncton
Saint John
Moncton
Saint John
Saint John
Fredericton
Fredericton
Moncton
Saint John
Moncton
Edmundston
Fredericton

Eleven of this year’s finalists are from the Moncton area, seven are from Fredericton, and five are from Saint John.
The two remaining finalists are from Sackville and Edmundston.

Ten Rising Stars will be chosen from among the 25 finalists at a gala event on Thursday, Oct. 1 in Moncton. Tickets
and additional information are available at www.risingstars.ca.

About Rising Stars
Rising Stars is an annual provincial event intended to recognize knowledge industry workers, in companies or organizations throughout New Brunswick, who have distinguished themselves from their peers by the quality of their work and their positive impact in their community and the industry. Junior Stars, a new addition to the program, recognizes High School students who have demonstrated abilities and interests in ICT.

For further information, or to arrange for interviews, please contact:

Kari Dinan

Co-Chair, Rising Stars

(506) 867-5839

kari.dinan@alc.ca

Craig Gallant
Co-Chair, Rising Stars
(506) 871-5699
craigdgallant@gmail.com

The Best 54Hours of the Season Start Friday in Moncton!

Rowser — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:32:05 -0300

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propel Accelerator is pumped to be involved with 54Hours Startup Weekend!

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Started Friday October 2 and running through to Sunday, New Brunswick's entrepreneurs, developers, and designers will gather together to share ideas and start businesses at the Crowne Plaza hotel in downtown Moncton. Similar to other startup weekends that have been held in cities across North America, the 54Hours event seeks to take business ideas from concept to launch in just one weekend.

Participants begin by bringing pitch ideas to the table on Friday evening, and the best of those ideas will be accepted by working teams. The goal is to divide into teams on Friday evening, and bring the ideas to market by the following Monday morning. “The entire weekend is meant to be a fun way for members of the ICT and business community to interact and network with one another at a deeper level than is generally possible at a traditional industry event,” says Craig Gallant, an ICT project manager based in Moncton who is one of the organizers. “54 Hours is designed to be a lot of fun, however will hopefully also result in the creation of several web-based enterprises that will enrich New Brunswick's ICT environment”.

There is no cost to attend the event and the only requirement is a little skill, a positive attitude and a willingness to roll with the punches. The atmosphere is meant to be fun and the entire process organic. “We’ve adopted the slogan 'No Talk. All Action.' for the event and we are intentionally keeping the agenda loosely defined,” explains Gallant. “We want to the weekend to be like the early days of a startup, where creativity and frenetic energy are the norm and there aren’t a lot of rules.”

So what happens when the weekend is over? Above all, it is hoped that a strong community bond will form but beyond that, it depends on the group. Some groups work beyond the weekend and continue to build and market their products; some may incorporate as companies and even engage in angel rounds. Issues like ownership and shares are determined by the members of a team over the course of the weekend and 54Hours will not retain any ownership of any company that might be formed over the course of the event.

"We strongly support these grassroots, creative activities that help people visualize what their ideas might look like in the shape of a business." says Jeff Roach of propel ICT, a private, nonprofit, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) association based in New Brunswick.

"There are plenty of good ideas out there, but it takes more than an idea to give a business its legs. This is an opportunity to assemble business managers, startup enthusiasts, developers, designers and marketers in one place to see if natural partnerships will form. We are extremely interested to see what might come from this weekend."

To participate in this fun, unique networking event, please visit www.54Hours.com and sign up.

Matt Doherty, a participant from a recent 54hours weekend held in Saint John, NB, summed it up this way: “…54hours was an experience akin to throwing a handful of seeds in a garden and seeing what grew. To have such a talented cross-section of people come together and create three businesses with actual opportunities is such a great outcome. Everyone who attended brought something different and being surrounded by these people showed me how myopic we can become in our day to day life. It was refreshing to be able to learn from and to interact with such a varied group. If I had to pick one word to describe the weekend, it would be 'intense'”.

Media Contacts:
Heather Spencer
Emerging & Social Media Specialist, HAWK
spencer.heather@hawk.ca
506.877.1485

Michael Wilcott
Xentient Solutions Inc.
mwilcott@xentientsolutions.com
506.647.3269