May/June Advocate Publication 2020

M a y | J u n e 2020

The Importance of Health Care for Business and Community

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advocate May | June 2020 www.greaterkwchamber.com

features

Cover Story

editor-in-chief:

Allison Mitchell

editor:

Feature

design and production

16 Your Chamber is Here for You

Art Sinclair Heather Hutchings M&T Printing Group

21 Realizing an ROI on our

Photography: Adamski Photography, Tracy Sanderson, snapdKW

Investment in Healthcare Armen Bakirtzian

advertising and sales:

Bonnie Frank- bfrank@greaterkwchamber.com Dana Walton- dwalton@greaterkwchamber.com contributing writers:

Armen Bakirtzian, Ian McLean, Allison Mitchell, Jenna Petker, Art Sinclair contributors:

Natalie Hemmerich, Carolyn Marsh advertising and copy deadlines:

May 20, 2020 for July-August 2020 September 18, 2020 for November-December 2020 subscription and back issue inquiries:

Darlene Jones djones@greaterkwchamber.com submission policy:

Proposals and articles are accepted via mail or email c/o Editor - Advocate. Please do not send originals.

All contributors articles must be accompanied by a head shot in a jpg file and a 40 word author’s bio. publications permit: #40026716 for permissions and reprint requests

Heather Hutchings - hhutchings@greaterkwchamber.com

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departments

Message from the President

4 Cooperation is Again the Foundation for Waterloo Region Business

Ian McLean Advocacy

7 The Future of Ontario Health

awards

10 2020 Business Excellence Award Winners Networking

12 Spring Networking New Members

14 February 1, 2020 to March

Care Art Sinclair

Perspective on Health Care

Events

Affects Physician Recruitment Jenna Petker

8 Covid-19 Pandemic - How it

PUBLICATION OF:

31, 2020

19 Mark Your Calendar Member Notables

23 Chamber Members Achieving Success

postmaster address changes c/o

Advocate - Publications Office 80 Queen Street North, PO Box 2367 Kitchener, Ontario N2H 6L4 519.576.5000 The Advocate is a bi-monthly membership benefit publication of the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce.

Advertising content and the views expressed herein are those of the contributors and do not constitute endorsement by the Chamber. The Advocate follows the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards (1990), copies are available through the Publisher. The Chamber cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions that may occur and has the right to edit material submitted. The Chamber will not accept advertising with competitor comparison claims and has the right to refuse advertising that is deemed to be false, misleading, or inappropriate.

advocate May | June 2020

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message from the president

Cooperation is Again the Foundation for Waterloo Region Business In my last few columns, I have discussed the importance of cooperation for addressing our economic and social challenges across the Region of Waterloo. In particular, I have emphasized the requirement for a unified community approach around vital economic growth supports such as GO train passenger service.

Never has cooperation been more important than it has for the last two months.

We also recommended support for the charitable and not for profit sector through direct liquidity measures and allowing capital-gains-exempt donations of shares to charitable organizations. Many of these organizations provide frontline services and programs for the most vulnerable in our communities, and we further recommended a matching program similar to the 2004 Tsunami.

Our other recommendations included:

A lot can be said regarding how fast and unexpected the COVID-19 crisis fell on Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada, and around the world. What is most significant is the coordinated response from government at all levels, communities and businesses.

a) Backstopping Canadian banks to enable them to extend zero or low-interest loans over a lengthy period to small and medium businesses;

In responding to the increasing risk of COVID-19, the Chamber office closed on March 17th, and our team has been working at home. Since that time our sole focus has been serving the membership in any manner possible to navigate the pandemic crisis. We have been connecting businesses across all sectors, speaking with MPs and MPPs on behalf of the membership, and providing accurate and important information, as it becomes available. This has been both on the health crisis as well as programs available to support business.

c) Deferral of mortgage and rent payments;

b) Postponing upcoming HST/GST remittances so businesses could use those funds for short term cash flow needs; d) Protecting residential and business property taxpayers by passing provincial legislation permitting deferred payments. Legislation is required as municipalities cannot run deficits; Along with correspondence to the Prime Minister and Premier our group of Waterloo Region business leaders also distributed an op-ed article, which was widely published, to Waterloo Region media outlets.

On March 25th, Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips tabled his Economic Update as a replacement to a full provincial Budget, that contained many targeted initiatives to support Ontario. That same day, the Chamber sent a joint letter with our partners in prosperity, Communitech, Waterloo Economic Development Corporation and the Cambridge Chamber to Prime Minister Trudeau and Premier Ford outlining the six priorities to support communities, workers and business.

Both the federal and provincial government have responded and are cooperating in true Canadian fashion.

The letter made clear that the crisis called for government supports that were big, bold, broad and fast to meet the situation head on. And that unprecedented fiscal firepower from the federal and provincial governments was needed to be released immediately.

The Chamber team wants and needs to hear from you. We need to know what your challenges are, what’s working, and what is not. This is crucial so that we can make the case for how we lead Ontario and Canada back on the path to prosperity.

Our first recommendation was a subsidy program to protect jobs, based on the model established in the United Kingdom. The letter noted that with this support, Canada’s fundamentally healthy economy will remain intact, while frozen, until it is safe to thaw and restore full economic activity. Without this action, the supply chain and job losses will take years to correct.

Onward!

At the time we sent the letter (March 25th) the federal government had committed to subsidizing ten percent of employer wages, a level that was generally perceived as low for the Canadian economy. Two days later, that support increased to 75 percent. Our lobbying efforts on behalf of local business were highly effective and successful.

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The Chamber and our local business partners know the road to recovery both economically and as communities will be steep. But we will be there every step of the way with our members- making sure that our needs for recovery are met.

We are truly all in this together.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ian McLean Ian is President and CEO of the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce

Helping Us Make Our Vision Possible A special Thank You to each of these Chamber Sponsors.

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advocate May | June 2020

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advocacy

The Future of Ontario Health Care At the Chamber we conduct regular meetings to discuss the content for upcoming editions of the Advocate. In early March, it was determined that a publication on the Canadian healthcare system was probably relevant since we had covered the issue in past publications and not provided anything significant in recent months.

Phillips noted, was required to “flatten the curve” of new COVID-19 cases. The economic measures included penalty and interest relief for a series of taxes and deferral of WSIB payments. The Minister noted that $10 billion for businesses and individuals will assist with maintaining cash flow and protecting jobs.

We had no idea then of how the Region of Waterloo, Ontario and Canada would be impacted by COVID-19. This article was drafted at the end of March for a publication date of early May. Hopefully over the past decade of writing and publishing these articles I have been able to analyze developments and subsequently predict the evolution of local, provincial and national politics and policy responses. Recent developments have repeatedly used “unprecedented” and that terminology is certainly appropriate.

An additional $7 billion was allocated to health care, including a $1 billion COVID-19 contingency fund and a $2.5 billion reserve.

Premier Ford travelled to Kitchener to speak at the Tannery Event Centre for 9 am on Monday March 9. He arrived and engaged in a discussion with Iain Klugman before an assembled group of 150 business and community leaders.

The main issue from the local perspective was two-way, allday GO passenger service from Waterloo Region to Toronto, which has been the priority local business issue for the past year.

Premier Ford indicated that at the end of that week he would be travelling to Ottawa and attending a regular First Minister’s meeting with the Prime Minister and colleagues from across Canada. The session did not proceed as scheduled and was replaced by teleconferencing. Also, as Premier Ford noted in his discussion in Kitchener, he would be taking a complement of provincial cabinet ministers to speak with officials in Ottawa regarding additional funding for major infrastructure projects across Ontario.

On that Monday morning Premier Ford was in Kitchener, local businesses were definitely looking ahead to the Ontario Budget scheduled for March 25, 2020, where it was highly anticipated that a major decision related to GO passenger service on the Kitchener line would be formally announced.

The Budget that was planned became a fiscal and economic update titled Ontario’s Action Plan – Responding to COVID -19, with a complete and normal plan tentatively scheduled for the fall. The focus of the interim report was an escalation of health care spending which, as Finance Minister Rod

On the same day as Minister Phillips provided his economic update, the federal government formally announced the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, which is a consolidation of previously announced initiatives to assist businesses and employees impacted by the closure of many services. The provision of some form of safety net for people who cannot access existing programs such as EI has been a major priority for all levels of government since the early days of the outbreak.

A major issue for Canadian business that will persist for the immediate future is access to the American market and activities along the border. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has consistently indicated that on-going dialogue between business and governments on both sides is critical to maintaining global competitiveness.

As Prime Minister Trudeau has consistently informed Canadians, we will get through all of this together. Waterloo Region business is prepared to assist now and into the future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Art Sinclair Art is Vice President Policy and Advocacy for the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce.

advocate May | June 2020

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perspective on health care

Covid-19 Pandemic - How it Affects Physician Recruitment As you are aware, the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting all sectors of business – especially healthcare.

Unfortunately, due to school closures, licensing exams have been postponed until fall 2020. Family Medicine residents will still be able to practice but with a restricted license – which means they will need a supervisor until they write their exams. This may impact their ability to start their own practices or take over for a retiring physician. During this time, we expect to see a rise in the need for locum physicians (covering practices for other physicians) until licensing exams are complete.

It is in times like this that our need to recruit becomes even more important. We will continue to work diligently to bring more physicians to this great community.

The Chamber Health Care Resources Council sincerely thanks our front-line workers as they continue to provide healthcare and work tirelessly to protect us and slow the spread of this virus.

Attracting Family Physicians to Serve Greater K-W Residents The Chamber Health Care Resources Council, along with our community partners and the broader health care community, continues to make significant progress with our physician recruitment initiative. Over the past year, we have been working with a large number of family medicine residents and established family practitioners – many of whom have already started practicing here in Kitchener-Waterloo.

We are also working with several family medicine residents who are due to graduate this July. We are assisting them in their search to find an opportunity that meets their needs. We have also been working with another large group of primary health care professionals who have expressed serious interest in K-W practice opportunities over the past six months. A number of them are established family practitioners who are currently practicing in other cities in Ontario and have plans to relocate to K-W.

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Since January, 5 physicians have made practice commitments to Kitchener-Waterloo and will be practicing here later this spring.

Many factors come into play in terms of our success with attracting new physicians. First, we are an exceptional community offering many urban and rural lifestyle amenities that appeal to physicians and their families. We are also home to the Waterloo Regional Campus of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine and the Kitchener-Waterloo Family Medicine Residency Program allowing us to “grow our own” primary health care professionals. As well, a number of our established physicians are at retirement age and their patient rosters are perfect “established practices” for young family practitioners to take over.

While we take great pleasure in celebrating our progress, we realize that our physician recruitment efforts are far from over. Going forward, Kitchener-Waterloo will continue to be challenged with rapid population growth, a growing number of practitioners at retirement age and younger physicians who roster smaller practices as they look for work-life balance.

The Chamber Health Care Resources Council would like to thank the Chamber volunteers whose time and commitment make our recruitment programs and events possible. The greatest of appreciation is also extended to our corporate and municipal partners whose continued generous support and investment make our physician recruitment efforts viable and sustainable.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jenna Petker Jenna is Physician Recruitment Lead for the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce.

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awards

2020 Business Excellence Award Winners 1 – Young Professional of the Year Dani Bazely, Director of Marketing at Driverseat, accepts the award from Shan Gibson, District Vice President, Meridian Credit Union 2 – Employee Engagement Tracey Johnston-Aldworth, CEO of Traces Screen Printing Ltd., accepts the award from Dr. John Tibbits, President, at Conestoga College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning

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3 – Health & Wellness in the Workplace Carol Leaman, CEO of Axonify, accepts the award from Paul Reitzel, CEO of Walterfedy

4 – Non-Profit/Charitable Helen Fishburn, Executive Director of the Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo-Wellington, accepts the award from Paul Eichinger, Vice President of MTE Consultants Inc.

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5 – Service Excellence in Hospitality & Tourism Melissa Jamieson, General Manager of Delta Hotels by Marriott Waterloo, and Michael Rink, Director of Sales & Marketing, Delta Waterloo, accept the award from Kathleen Devine, Senior Community Partnership Manager with OLG, and Andy Lacroix, Executive Director Stakeholder Relations with Great Canadian Gaming

6 – Environment & Sustainability Kathleen Walsh, Senior Property Manager at the Cora Group Inc., accepts the award from Murray Costello, Director Southeast Region Operations, Enbridge 7 – Community Builder of the Year Jennifer Justason, Senior Vice President, IT & Corporate Services at Cowan Insurance Group accepts the award from Nick Heffner, Variable Operations Manager with Heffner Lexus & Heffner Toyota

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8 – Innovation Wendi Campbell, CEO of the Food Bank of Waterloo Region, accepts the award from Ryan Harkins, VP of BlackBerry Service Engineering and Operations 9 – Volunteer of the Year Mohsan Abdullah of Token Creative Services accepts the award from Micheál Kelly, Dean at the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics 10 – New Business of the Year Jennifer Seberras, CEO of Simplify Supply Chain Solutions, accepts the award from Paul Gortana, Director, Ontario Public Sector, Bell Canada

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11 – Small Business of the Year (1-10 Employees) Todd Martin, Owner of The Crack Specialists, accepts the award from John Deans, Vice-President of S.G. Cunningham Limited

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12 – Business of the Year (11-50 Employees) Matt Vijayan, President & CEO of Home Care Assistance, and team accepts the award from Steve Lubczuk, Managing Partner, for Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph, and London, Miller Thomson LLP 13 – Business of the Year (50+ Employees) Rachel Doornekamp, Public Relations & Communications Specialist at Deep Trekker Inc., accepts the award from Ross Johnston, Executive Director Cooperative Education at the University of Waterloo 14 – Michael R. Follett Community Leader Ron Caudle “The Cod Father” accepts the award from Keren Adderley, Director of Corporate Communications, Equitable Life of Canada

awards

2020 Business Excellence Awards Guests

advocate May | June 2020

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networking

Spring Networking

Womens Leadership Committee members helping at registration at the Annual International Women's Day Breakfast photo by Tomasz Adamski

A great shot of attendees at our Provincial Leaders Series event photo by Tracy Sanderson

All smiles as attendees wait to hear Minister Steve Clarke speak at our Provincial Leaders Series event

photo by Tracy Sanderson

Attendees at the Provincial Leaders Series event

It was a sold-out event at the International Women's Day Breakfast

photo by Tracy Sanderson

photo by Tomasz Adamski

Dedicated to local news for over 140 years When you subscribe to the Waterloo Region Record, you directly support our ability to provide Record investigations and accurate local, Canadian and international news that matters to our readers.

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Karen Redman presenting the Leaders of Tomorrow Award at the International Women's Day Breakfast

photo by Tomasz Adamski

networking

A great shot of Chief Bryan Larkin and some of his team at the photo by Tomasz Adamski International Women's Day Breakfast

A great picture taken at the Provincial Leaders Series event

Some of the BMO team at the International Women's Day Breakfast

photo by Tracy Sanderson

Attendees at the Provincial Leaders Series event with Minister Steve Clark photo by Tracy Sanderson

photo by Tomasz Adamski

Sabrina Adair networking before taking the stage at the International Women's Day Breakfast

Karen Redman and the two speakers at the Annual International Women's Day Breakfast

photo by Tomasz Adamski

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new members

February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 Armour Alloys Metal Distribution & Processing Andrew De Aragon, Vice President 135 Goddard Cr Cambridge, ON N3E 0B1 armour@armouralloys.com armouralloys.com Phone: (519) 279-1989 Fax: (519) 653-6636 Ashley Trower - Sun Life Financial Services Ashley Trower, Advisor 180 Northfield Dr W, Suite 6 Waterloo, ON N2L 0C7 Ashley.trower@sunlife.com sunlife.ca/Ashley.trower Phone: (519) 240-3999 Berkeley Garage Doors & Repairs Garage & Overhead Doors Berkeley Wall, Owner Berkeleygaragedoors@rogers.com berkeleygaragedoors.ca Phone: (519) 570-6408 Billy Young-McGill Wealth Management (Manulife Securities Inc) Financial Services Billy Young, Financial Advisor 237 Labrador Dr Waterloo, ON N2K 4M8 b.young@manulifesecurities.ca mcgillwealth.ca Phone: (519) 573-2737 Fax: (519) 745-8283 Canadian Purchasing Collective Retail Consultant Krystyna Kwiecinski, Owner/Founder Krystyna@canadianpurchasingcollective. com canadianpurchasingcollective.com Phone: (226) 929-6146 Dawson Health Massage Therapists - Registered Devin Dawson, RMT/Owner 3 Father David Bauer Dr, Unit 103 Waterloo, ON N2L 6M1 devin@dawsonhealth.ca dawsonhealth.ca Phone: (519) 568-3009 Enabling Adaptations Counselling Sabrina Adair, Owner info@enablingadaptations.com enablingadaptations.com Phone: (519) 807-5945

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Floresco Florists Melani Nemeskovic, Owner Melani@floresco.ca floresco.ca Phone: (647) 839-5466 Hacienda Coffee Inc. CafĂŠ Chris Bennett, Owner 85 Queen St N, KPL Kitchener, ON N2H 2H1 chris@hacienda.coffee hacienda.coffee Phone: (519) 574-3183 H-Four Logisitics Inc Logistics Rena Hawkins, Owner rena@h-fourlogistics.com h-fourlogistics.com Phone: (519) 620-1216 Hygate Development Corp.

Retirement Communities & Homes Aaron Clodd, Director of Development 215 Lexington Rd Waterloo, ON N2K 2E1 info@hygateliving.com hygateliving.com Phone: (905) 695-6996 IQuity Inc. Engineers - Control Systems David Emptage, Owner 7226 Wellington Rd 17, RR2 Alma, ON N0B 1A0 iquityinc@gmail.com Phone: (519) 846-9229 Otekha Health Corporation Software - HealthCare Bryan Simmons, Founder & CEO 97 Stonegate Dr, Kitchener, ON N2A 3B4 info@otekha.com otekha.com Phone: (519) 741-0808 Peninsula Employment Services Ltd. Human Resource Consultants Victoria Vati, Business Development Manager 123 Front St W, Suite 200 Toronto, ON M5J 2M2 victoria.vati@peninsula-ca.com peninsula-ca.com Phone: (647) 988-0579

Picture Us Photo Booth Experience Photo Booths Cynthia Lavoie, Owner 640 King St E Cambridge, ON N3H 3N6 pictureuskw@gmail.com pictureus.ca Phone: (519) 404-8005 SaleCanada Inc. Internet Shopping Vasant Nair, Executive Director 35 Stone Church Rd, Unit 3 Ancaster, ON L9K 1S4 info@salecanada.ca https://salecanada.ca Phone: (416) 436-2655 SigmaXL Inc. Computer Software Diane Tilley, Senior VP 305 King St W, Suite 503 Kitchener, ON N2G 1B9 Sales@SigmaXL.com SigmaXL.com Phone: (888) 744-6295 SPG Consulting Retirement Consultants Susan Patterson, Owner spgconsulting@hotmail.com spgconsultinggroup.com Phone: (519) 886-2652 The Counting House Bookkeeping Services Susan Leiska, Owner 83 Stonehenge Pl Kitchener, ON N2N 2M5 Susan@thecountinghouse.ca thecountinghouse.ca Phone: (226) 336-7711 The UPS Store #70 Digital Imaging, Printing & Photography Vaishali Patel, Owner 133 Weber Street N, Suite 3 Waterloo, ON N2J 3G9 store70@theupsstore.ca www.theupsstore.ca/70 Phone: (519) 725-7880 Top Choice Electronics Inc. Internet Shopping Manu Kohli, President 5461 Hwy 6 N Guelph, ON N1H 6J2 vasant.nair@topchoices.ca topchoices.ca Phone: (519) 824-0382

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advocate May | June 2020

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cover story

Your Chamber is Here for You In the blink of an eye, life as we knew it has drastically changed by COVID-19. We are all now trying to cope in our personal and professional lives. These are unprecedented times and businesses are finding it challenging to navigate this uncharted territory. The Chamber is here to help all businesses and our community through this difficult time.

Like many other businesses and not for profit organizations, the Chamber has closed our office and the staff is working remotely. While operating differently than normal, our focus is on supporting the business community by providing up to date information, answering your questions, advocating on your behalf, promoting local businesses, and helping us all stay connected.

Keeping You Informed We understand that there is a lot of information flowing from numerous sources. It takes time to sort through and process and can be confusing. Each day the Chamber sends an email with information from trusted sources on how people can help themselves, their families, and their communities to stay safe. Business owners also need to find the information that is relevant to helping their business survive and their employees stay safe.

In early March, the Chamber started sending these daily email updates to our members, but also made them available to the entire community. These emails summarize announcements, resources, and information that could be helpful for businesses. These updates draw information from trusted sources including the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, and Region of Waterloo Public Health. The information in these updates can also be found on the Chamber’s blog and our website’s main page.

The Chamber’s COVID-19 Resources for Your Business page on our website helps provide a central hub of information for businesses to refer to. We are updating this page daily with the most current information. On this page, you will find information and resources that include protecting your business, government programs, resources to help people stay safe, and mental health resources.

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In addition, the Chamber has been hosting a series of webinars that feature experts who share detailed and valuable information to help the business community. These webinars provide an opportunity for attendees to get information in a timely manner as well as ask any questions they may have.

For those who are not able to attend the webinars live, we are recording the webinars and posting them on the Chamber’s website (greaterkwchamber.com) for future reference.

Answering Your Questions In this time of uncertainty and information overload, businesses have questions about which government programs they are eligible for, how they can access those programs, and how they can keep their staff safe. We are here to help. Our Chamber team has reached out and called all of our members over the last few weeks to check-in on how they are doing and offer support. We have been receiving questions from our members and the larger business community and we are happy to pass along information and resources that we have or look for the answers that will help you. If you have questions about managing your business through this time, please reach out to us.

Advocating on Your Behalf Advocacy is one of the Chamber’s four pillars. And now it is of tremendous importance. We continue to advocate on behalf of business by voicing concerns and sharing feedback to all levels of government. It is critical that we hear about your experiences, challenges, and possible solutions so that we can pass this feedback along to our elected officials at the municipal, provincial and federal level.

The Chamber has partnered with Communitech, Waterloo Region Economic Development Corporation (Waterloo EDC), and the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce to give our collective view on how to support business. This included a letter to the Prime Minister and the Premier of Ontario, outlining 6 items for immediate action. Soon after this letter was sent, we were pleased that many of these suggestions were implemented.

In addition, our Chamber is a partner in the Business and Economic Support Team of Waterloo Region (BESTWR).

This initiative is a partnership that includes all seven

local municipalities, Waterloo EDC, Communitech, the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, and our Chamber. This group is the point of contact for government as decisions are made to support the rapidly changing economic and business environment. The group will share decisions and announcements to the business community, as well as advocate on behalf of the Waterloo Region business community, both now during the immediate crisis, but also as we determine how to successfully restart the economy.

Promoting Local Businesses, Not for Profit and Charitable Organizations

Whether your business is open, closed, or has adapted/retooled due to COVID-19, we are here for you. As the spread of COVID-19 subsides and the economy starts to recover and thrive, we will be here for you. We will continue to communicate information, resources, and announcements as they become available so please sign up for our updates, visit our website (greaterkwchamber.com), tune in to our webinars, and reach out to us.

We want to hear from you – the good and the bad – because we are in this situation together and we want to support you in any way we can. Please contact us with your questions and feedback. Stay safe.

Our community is innovative and generous. There are numerous local businesses and charitable organizations who have created special offers and resources to help other businesses and the local community through this difficult time. We are helping to promote those offers through several channels. Organizations who are Chamber members can submit their special offers, updates, and resources to us to be posted on our website (on our Chamber Member Local Promotions & Updates page and our Chamber Not for Profit/ Charitable Organization Member Updates page) and on our social media accounts.

Connecting and Networking The Chamber, like all other event organizers, has rescheduled several of our upcoming networking and education events during this important time of social distancing. We understand that these events are valuable to the business community and we are working hard to provide opportunities for our members to connect with one another. Stay tuned to the Chamber’s website and social media accounts for details about rescheduled events, including some virtual networking events.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Allison Mitchell Allison Mitchell, together with the rest of the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce team, is focused on helping the business community through this difficult time.

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Did You Know?

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Canada's Innovation Corridor Business Council Three years ago Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade between Waterloo Region and Toronto formed the Canada's Innovation Corridor Business Council with representation from Brampton, Cambridge, Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph, Halton Hills, Hamilton, Milton and Mississauga.

The original mandate was to optimize economic opportunities within the growing Innovation Corridor and lobby for appropriate infrastructure support most notably improved passenger rail service. The group was also active in the establishment of Next Generation Manufacturing Canada, the recipient of funding under the Super Cluster Innovation Fund to support the integration of Canadian advanced manufacturing and IT resources.

The work of the Business Council is strongly supported by many business and institutional partners and we thank them for making the Waterloo Region-Toronto Corridor a premier location for investment, research, and job creation.

Thanks to the Greater KW Chamber partners that sponsor our efforts on this important initiative.

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events

COVID-19: Event Impact *We continue to monitor the situation and take our lead from the advice of Public Health. The health and safety of our members, event attendees, community, and staff are of the utmost importance. As a result, all events are subject to change and may be rescheduled. Please refer to greaterkwchamber.com for up-to-date event information.

Mark Your Calendar May 7th

May 14th

Leadercast: Positive Disruption (Virtual Event)

Jay Fencing Business Around 5 (Virtual Event)

9:00 - 3:00 pm Ticket: $105 This year’s Leadercast theme is Positive Disruption – and never has the theme been more relevant! Disturbance. Disorder.

Disarrangement. Many people think these are negatives in the workplace, but Leadercast will show why disruption is the best way to make positive, lasting change in your organization and beyond.

4:00-5:30pm Member Ticket: Complimentary Future Member Ticket: $10 • Exhibitor: $75 Our popular Business After 5 event series is going virtual! Join us (online) for the first ever Jay Fencing Business Around 5, with a new time! Network with others (through chat windows, minisessions, and 1-on-1 video conversations), watch our main stage for event-related announcements, and visit our exhibitors’ virtual booths in the expo!

Silver Sponsor:

Title Sponsor: Gold Sponsor:

May 12th Libro Chamber Young Professionals: Happy Hour (Virtual Event) 4:30-5:30pm Member Ticket: $10 • Future Member Ticket: $15 B.Y.O.B (Bring Your Own Beverage) and join us for our first Libro Chamber Young Professionals Happy Hour from the comfort of your own home! You’ll be able to network with other young professionals in the Region, with some guided discussions and open mix & mingle style conversations.

Print Sponsor: &

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Small Business Sponsor:

Media Sponsor:

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Bronze Sponsors:

PRINT

May 21st MNP Networking Breakfast Series: Speed Networking (Virtual Event) 8:30-9:30am Member Ticket $20 • Future Member Ticket $30 Meet other business professionals in a quick (yet efficient) method of virtual networking. Plus, it’s great for newcomers!

You’ll be randomly matched with an individual for a short 1-on-1 video conversation. After learning about one another, and how you may be able to support each other in business, you’ll repeat the process again with your next connection. Same popular event. Brand new experience.

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Is your organization leaking money?

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“The strength of our country is our capacity to come together and care for each other, especially in times of need.”

- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

A BIG thanks

to all frontline & essential workers for your tireless efforts C

My team and I are here to assist with all matters related to the mandate of the federal government.

M

Y

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MY

CY

CMY

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Member of Parliament Riding of Waterloo

For up to date information: Canada.ca/coronavirus Bardish.Chagger@parl.gc.ca Bardish.Chagger

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feature

Realizing an ROI on our Investment in Healthcare The healthcare industry is made up of many sectors that play an important part in the economy and contribute significantly to a country’s GDP. Sectors include direct care providers, insurance, and medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers. A strong healthcare industry can increase employment opportunities, capital investments, and importation of tax revenue from exports at all government levels.

As a way to further grow our healthcare industry, overall economy, and to compete globally, Canada is realizing its strengths and capitalizing on its capacity to support a growing medical technology (medtech) sector. Canada has established strong resources to support domestic health innovation including federal tax incentives to support research and development (R&D), capacity for collaboration between entrepreneurs and post-secondary institutions, clinical trial capacity, and a highly-educated population. The federal government has billions of investment dollars available to the healthcare industry, but the majority of the funds and infrastructure target medtech companies in the incubation/ startup phase. According to Invest in Ontario, the province spends $665 million on R&D in the life sciences sector with almost 9,000 people employed within R&D. All of this has resulted in an extremely strong ecosystem for medtech startups, but a lack of resources and infrastructure for domestic innovators looking to scale, become anchor firms, and strong contributors to the economy.

As a medtech company, hurdles to commercialization are much more significant than in other industries. They include access to more capital, commercial talent with industryspecific knowledge, approval by regulators, and product development under quality control. Without the support to scale, many medtech companies leave Canada to access funding and infrastructure in more established ecosystems south of the border, or accept mergers/acquisitions well before they reach their full potential. As an example, over the last 20 years, 11 Quebec-based life sciences companies have been acquired by mostly US foreign entities removing them from the succession of becoming Canadian medtech anchors that are essential in attracting capital, talent and keeping IP in the country. This is a blow to the investment that all levels of government made in the innovation and potential of each medtech company. So, how can we as a community, province, and country, begin to realize our return on investment (ROI) into medtech startups by having them stay and scale here in Canada?

As a member of Canada's Economic Strategy Tables: Health and Biosciences, we developed five areas that need to be addressed to begin to realize our ROI and for Canada to become a top global hub and competitor for life sciences.

• Increase late-stage capital within Canada to stop the exodus of startups to the US or premature mergers/acquisitions • Expand the healthcare system’s outlook from short-term focus on cost, to broader considerations of value to increase domestic procurement • Break down the silos within the healthcare system to enable the collection, connection and analysis of data needed to inform innovative decision making • Increase the sector’s competitiveness with more executive level talent • Simplify complex regulatory, reimbursement and procurement processes At Intellijoint Surgical we believe that health care is more than just business. It is about enabling the best possible delivery of care and outcomes for a patient.

As a company that evolved from a fourth year engineering design project at the University of Waterloo, we were determined to stay and grow in Canada despite the pressure to move to the US to access more funding and be closer to our customers. We believe that Canadian patients deserve to benefit from home-grown innovation. Innovation that their tax dollars helped fund.

In response to managing this resource gap firsthand, and hearing from many medtech startups I mentor within Waterloo Region, Intellijoint Surgical spearheaded the creation of Medical Innovation Xchange (MIX) in 2019. MIX is Canada’s first industry-led innovation hub dedicated to providing a collaborative environment and infrastructure for Canadian medtech companies that support their individual growth and contribute to the overall success of the local ecosystem. We believe that this is the first of many steps to reduce the barriers and bridge the resource gap. We are excited for how the current conversations between public and private sectors will evolve and how Canada’s healthcare sector will grow and benefit everyone, especially patients.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Armen Bakirtzian Armen Bakirtzian is CEO & co-founder of Intellijoint Surgical, a medtech company focused on improving patient outcomes in joint replacement surgery. Armen is passionate about influencing and growing the Canadian medtech industry and seeing Canadian patients benefit from made-inCanada innovation. advocate May | June 2020

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RBC Dominion Securities Waterloo is hiring new Investment Advisors RBC Dominion Securities in Waterloo is seeking motivated individuals for a fulfilling career in the wealth management industry.

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Member Notables

Member Notables Depth Training and Physiotherapy Marks Ten Years in Business Waterloo-based Depth Training and Physiotherapy will be celebrating ten years of service in June 2020. They are committed to assisting individuals discover their boundless potential and striving towards personal excellence by fostering an atmosphere that is positive, dynamic, challenging and inclusive while promoting strong work ethics and self-confidence.

The business has been built on providing high quality services, strong and meaningful relationships, and helping individuals achieve their own unique goals. They are grateful for their on-going community support and look forward to many more years of providing fitness, athletic, rehabilitation, and nutrition services.

Grand River Raceway Recognized for Workplace Excellence Grand River Raceway in Elora was recently named on the 2020 list of Best Workplaces in Retail and Hospitality. The organization received this honour after a thorough and independent analysis conducted by Great Place to Work Institute Canada.

The list is based on direct feedback from employees of the hundreds of organizations that were surveyed by Great Place to Work. Grand River Raceway was eligible for this list as the organization was certified as a Great Place to Work in 2019.

Grand River Raceway has received several awards since its inception in 2003, including the 2016 Business Excellence Award in the Hospitality/Tourism category presented by the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce.

Wilfrid Laurier University Appoints New Provost and Vice-President: Academic Anthony Vannelli has been appointed provost and vice-president: academic at WLU effective August 1, 2020. Vannelli joins Laurier after serving as provost and vice-president: academic at the University of Saskatchewan since 2017.

In this new position, he will focus on advancing academic excellence and developing future-ready students. He will also work closely with the president and vice-chancellor on university-wide initiatives and serve as an integral member of the institution’s executive leadership team.

Prior to his appointment at the University of Saskatchewan, Vannelli held positions at the University of Guelph and University of Waterloo.

New Dean of Engineering at University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo has appointed respected administrator and academic Mary Wells as Dean of Engineering. She succeeds Pearl Sullivan and interim Dean Rick Culham and will commence her five-year appointment on July 1, 2020.

Wells currently serves as the University of Guelph’s Dean of the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, a position she has held since 2017. Prior to this position, she was a faculty member at the University of Waterloo.

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WE ARE HERE FOR YOU

During uncertain times, we recognize that our clients need us even more than ever. We are open for business, but it is not business-as-usual.

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