SUMMERLAND REVIEW THE VOICE OF OUR COMMUNITY SINCE 1908
VOLUME
65
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ISSUE
WHAT’S INSIDE:
NO.
42
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S U M M E R L A N D,
• T H U R S D AY,
OC TOBER
18,
2012
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20
PA G E S
•
$1.15
INCLUDING
HST
Wifi hotspot launched by John Arendt
Power outage
B.C.
WWW.SUMMERLANDREVIEW.COM
Travellers will be able to access the Internet at the tourist information kiosk on Highway 97 in Trout Creek as the Summerland Chamber of Economic Development and Tourism has launched the province’s first wifi hotspot. The service was opened
on Monday morning, at the start of Small Business Week in B.C. The hotspot — the first of its kind in the province — was approved by the provincial Ministry of Transportation and supported by the municipality with funding support from Shaw Cable.
“Visitor services are a gateway to the community so by providing this new wifi location, we have the opportunity to showcase our members and draw people off the highway into our inviting downtown,” said chamber president Arlene Fenrich. “This will allow
our visitor traffic a safe, appealing place to pull over, check their emails and find easily accessible member information regarding places to stay, play, eat and shop while in our community.” The first page accessed from the pullout has information from the chamber
on accommodations, restaurants, tourist attractions and businesses in the community. Nick Yeoman of Frostybot Web Design and Brent Petkau of Petkau Infotech spent many volunteer hours setting up and creating the Summerland landing page.
Summerland was without power for more than seven hours Tuesday.
Page 3 Salish apple New apple developed at Summerland introduced to public.
Page 3 Haunted history Scary story of Summerland’s Halloween party.
Page 16 Energy award Nifty energy design for RCMP building wins award.
Page 7 Drawing the line Boundary commission hears objections to separating Penticton and Summerland.
Page 8 Going for record Homeschooled students join nationwide science lesson.
Page 15 Share a ride Carpool to save fuel and money.
Page 9
YOUR SMILE Some things are better left unsaid, usually the things we blurt out first.
Scientific research Joe Mazza of Mazza Innovations shows the plant extraction system his company has been developing. Last week, Mazza Innovations received $175,000 in funding through the federal government.
Funding given for plant technology by John Arendt A Summerland technology company has developed a new technology to extract nutrients from fruits and vegetables using water instead of chemicals. Joe Mazza of Mazza Innovations said the new business will help in the nutraceuticals market as consumers are looking for food products with health and medical benefits. “One of our interests is
to extract high-value products from the waste streams of the fruit and vegetable processing industries,” Mazza said. “We also want to provide extraction technology to companies that want to avoid the use of expensive and flammable chemical solvents.” Mazza has been working on the concept for the past three years, the last year as a full-time effort. He said the technology
will result in better nutraceuticals. “We are not consuming chemicals our bodies are not used to,” he said. Mazza, a former research scientist at the Summerland Research Centre, said several companies have already expressed interest in the new technology. The federal government has provided an investment of $175,000 for the technology. “This is a great example
of what we are trying to achieve with our investments in innovation and commercialization,” MP Dan Albas said. “Our government is proud to support novel projects like this one which find environmentally-conscious ways to help farmers add value to their crops.” The funding comes through the Agricultural Innovation Program, a $50 million initiative under
Canada’s Economic Action Plan 2011. Gordon Niesch, former Director General, Bioproducts and Bioprocesses with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, said the funding from the federal government is important in developing technology. He said there is a gap between technological concepts and reality. “Funding like this is critical to bridging that gap,” he said.