Eastern Ontario Business Journal Fall 2023

BUSINESS TRAVEL

Meetings & conventions

THE LAY OF THE LAND

Agriculture in the region

A TASTE OF STUFF

Surprising things made here

FALL 2023 Vol. 03, NO. 02

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Leeds Grenville Entrepreneurs Loving their Lifestyles Enjoying life’s natural beauty – aka “stopping to smell the roses” - is what a growing number of Leeds Grenville entrepreneurs do daily. A key attractor for them to be in the 1000 Islands and Rideau Waterways region is the affordable land to fulfil their dreams of doing what they love each and every day.

Brokor Greenhouses: Owner Koren Manneck believes life is good when you’re surrounded every day by flowers and plants. For more than three decades, Koren has built a reputation on growing quality seedlings and plants as well as creating unique floral arrangements in her greenhouses near Cardinal. “It’s passion and creativity wrapped together that drives me,” says Koren. Floral design for weddings and special events is a big part of the business. Koren has a flare for arranging and blending colours. A big hit are her fall bouquets using pumpkins as vases.

She shares her talent in many popular workshops like BYOV - Bring Your Own Vase. “Our philosophy is to offer a local, naturally grown product, with biological controls that are free of chemicals,” says Koren. She credits customer loyalty, product quality and a strong work ethic to Brokor’s success and longevity.

Read her story HERE

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Read her story HERE

Flowers of the Field: Brenda Visser’s stunning bouquets have near zero travel time from greenhouse to local customers because they are grown right in Augusta Township, just off Highway 401.

“Our flowers are cut and sold immediately from our farm, which means the most enjoyable and longer vase life for you,” says Brenda. “Historically Canadians have relied on flowers from afar, particularly during the colder months, but we can do it right here!” Brenda operates an all-season, high-yield passive solar greenhouse for year-round blooms.

“There is a real need for beauty in our lives and flowers can make a real difference,” she says. In the warmer months, Brenda grows thousands of field flowers, from Zinnias to Astilbe, Dahlias and Asters. She is an advocate of eco-friendly production and bio sustainability. Plans to expand her greenhouse and add trails have already begun.

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2 www.investleedsgrenville.com | www.discoverleedsgrenville.com | econdev@uclg.on.ca | 613-342-3840 ext. 5365 | 1-800-770-2170

14 The Eastern Ontario Business Journal is a sister publication to the Ottawa Business Journal, building on that outlet’s 25-year history of covering business in the National Capital Region. For readers, EOBJ contains news and information about people and businesses from across Eastern Ontario. Our advertisers can explore the competitive advantages, market opportunities and major employers from across the region on the following pages.

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Meetings & conventions

THE LAY OF THE LAND

PRESIDENT Michael Curran, 613-696-9491 publisher@obj.ca

Agriculture in the region

A TASTE OF STUFF

Surprising things made here

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Some plot twists more predictable than others W

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ho saw that coming?

I’m talking, of course, about the decision of Hershey Canada to revive its operations in Smiths Falls. I guess it’s true, what’s old is new again. Here we have a traditional business, battered by economic misfortunes, stepping back into the void left by its own successor, a “new-age” cannabis company, itself a victim of failing fortunes.

This sort of story makes the business world fascinating. In the words of Smiths Falls Mayor Shawn Pankow, “Had Hershey not located here and not left, Canopy (Growth) never would have located here, not to the extent they did. When you think of the significance of that moment of time, who would have thought it would lead to such an incredible investment in our town?”

As I’ve said previously, kudos to town officials for not only surviving difficult times, but also making their community attractive to a variety of businesses and

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diversifying the economy at the same time.

Speaking of plot twists, local tech darling Ross Video also experienced a few bumps along the road. CEO David Ross tells us how an initial sales growth projection of 40 per cent became a more conservative 30 per cent and ultimately turned out to be 15 per cent.

Such are the vagaries of business. Still, thanks to some solid strategizing, the company is on track for an IPO in 2025, according to its CEO. Finally, there were some developments that were, sadly, easier to predict. The closure of The Glengarry News after 131 years leaves that community without a local news source.

And the announcement from Metroland that it will cease printing all of its smaller papers, including those in Perth, Renfrew, Arnprior, Smiths Falls and Kemptville, is equally not surprising.

Given that it’s not easy to make money with digital publications either, we’re left to wonder how many more local communities

will join the growing list of “news deserts.”

It’s not a great development for democracy. And I have to believe it’s not good for local business communities. It will be interesting to see how governments respond. This ham-handed Bill C-18 doesn’t seem like a great start. There’s another saying: You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone.

There’s growth … and then there’s growth Once again this year we present some of Eastern Ontario’s fastest-growing companies.

Kudos to all those on the list. I tried to do something a little different this time by highlighting fast growth by size of company, age of company, and industry.

It’s impossible not to be impressed by our No. 1 fastest-growing company, City Flats Asset Management Inc., with its three-year revenue growth of almost 1,700 per cent. Wow! Equally, Theia Markerless

Inc. at about 1,500 per cent. Still, I thought it was important to highlight a company like Wills Transfer Ltd. Far from a startup, Wills Transfer has been in business for more than 50 years with hundreds of employees and still recorded three-year revenue growth of more than 30 per cent. It’s one thing to achieve exponential revenue growth out of the gate, it’s another to keep it going into maturity.

Congrats to everyone on the list. It’s no small feat, however you slice and dice it.

Anne Howland Editor in Chief

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MANUFACTURING

DEJA VU: Hershey Canada will buy back its former facility in Smiths Falls from Canopy Growth.

Smiths Falls leaders savour Hershey’s return

BY DAVID SALI

david@obj.ca

Here we are, 60 years later, and after a 15-year departure, they’re back ...

I don’t think anyone ever expected them to return.

– Shawn Pankow, Smiths Falls mayor operations in Smiths Falls, leaving about two dozen people without jobs.

“When we lost Hershey’s, we lost Rideau Regional and Stanley Tools, it was pretty tough around here,” Lawrence says.

But he says times have changed.

The abandoned Hershey factory turned out to be the right place for a fledgling pot producer that became known as Canopy

was confirmed until recently, Pankow says. He says the confectionery giant is still working out its plan for the facility, including what exactly it will be used for and how many workers it will employ.

“The discussions so far have been very high-level,” he says. “It’s very premature and preliminary at this stage, but we’re confident they’ll become a major employer

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hile Canopy Growth’s recent announcement that it’s selling the former Hershey plant in Smiths Falls back to the company that made it famous might feel like deja vu all over again, Sean Lawrence says the community is not the same place the chocolate-maker left in 2008.

“The attitude in Smiths Falls is completely different than it was 15 years ago,” says Lawrence, the president of the Smiths Falls Chamber of Commerce.

A financial adviser who’s been part of the Eastern Ontario town’s business scene for decades, Lawrence remembers how deflated residents felt when Hershey pulled out of the “Chocolate capital of Canada,” relocated the production facility to Mexico and left more than 400 local residents jobless.

It was one of many economic body blows the community 60 kilometres south of Ottawa suffered in a disastrous stretch in the early 2000s.

The same year that Hershey pulled

and once again be a major player in our community.”

Lawrence says he’s optimistic that no matter what Hershey ends up doing with the plant, the chocolate-maker will be in Smiths Falls for the long haul.

“I don’t think they took (the decision to leave in 2008) very lightly,” he says. “They were always a great corporate citizen, regardless of what happened, so I don’t think they’re coming back with the intent of, ‘Oh, we’ll try it there and pull out again in five or six years.’”

Hershey’s return re-establishes a corporate connection to Smiths Falls that stretches back 63 years — and began as a result of happenstance.

It all started in the summer of 1960, when then-Smiths Falls police chief Reg Wride pulled over a car bearing Pennsylvania licence plates as it entered the town.

“It just happened to be the habit of our chamber of commerce back then to try to greet newcomers into our community every summer,” Pankow explains. “When chief Wride found out it was actually a team from Hershey that was looking for a location for a facility in Ontario, he put them in touch with our chamber of commerce, who sort of wined them and dined them and sold them on the town.”

The pitch worked. By the end of 1962, Hershey had built a 200,000-square-foot production plant, which shipped its first products early the following year.

For the next four and a half decades, Hershey was an economic pillar of the community. At its peak, the company’s factory employed more than 750 workers and drew nearly 450,000 annual visitors to its chocolate shop.

“Here we are, 60 years later, and after a 15-year departure, they’re back,” Pankow says. “I don’t think anyone ever expected them to return.

“Had Hershey not located here and not left, Canopy never would have located here, not to the extent they did. When you think of the significance of that moment of time, who would have thought it would lead to such an incredible investment in our town?”

He echoes Lawrence’s assertion that while the community of 10,000 has suffered its share of economic hardship, it’s stronger for it.

“We’re in a much different place. We’re much more resilient than we were 15 years ago.”

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up stakes, Stanley Tools shuttered its manufacturing plant in the town, throwing 175 people out of work. The 2009 closure of the Rideau Regional Centre, a health-care facility that employed even more workers than the Hershey plant, followed. Five years later, Shorewood Packaging closed its

Growth to set up shop. At the height of the cannabis boom in 2018, Canopy employed 1,800 people in Smiths Falls, triggering a construction boom and helping revitalize the local economy.

Even though the company has since fallen on hard times, Lawrence says the community was in a good position to weather the storm when Canopy announced in February it was selling the former Hershey factory and cutting 350 jobs.

“People were still upbeat because they just knew that somebody was going to come in and take the plant,” he says.

Mayor Shawn Pankow agrees that Hershey’s departure left a void in the community that extended far beyond simple dollars and cents and took years to fill.

“It was a big part of our identity, a big part of our brand,” he says. “Our water tower had Hershey’s (name) on it, they ran annual track meets, they were a big employer and had a major profile in town.”

Like Lawrence, he says he wasn’t surprised that the facility attracted a highprofile buyer. Canopy Growth poured hundreds of millions of dollars into turning the 700,000-square-foot building into a state-of-the-art facility that rivals any industrial site in the province, Pankow says.

“I was confident it wasn’t going to take long before it would be occupied again, but it happened faster than we would have anticipated,” he explains.

While rumours had been circulating for months that Hershey would return to occupy the building once again, nothing

TECHNOLOGY

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We would end up with employees that are working ridiculous hours trying to keep up with demands when all the signs were that we were supposed to hire and we didn’t.

It’s a no-win situation when the math and the forecasts are saying one thing and your gut is saying another. – David Ross, CEO

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Ross Video on track for IPO despite sales downturn

BY DAVID SALI

david@obj.ca

R

oss Video plans to go ahead with an initial public offering within the next two years, despite failing to hit its fiscal 2023 sales targets, the company says.

The Ottawa-based manufacturer of broadcasting and live-event production equipment laid off nine per cent of its workforce, or about 140 employees, after sales fell short of expectations this year amid a widespread economic slowdown.

“I think doing a layoff, especially of people you know, is one of the most difficult things, other than shutting down a business, for a business owner or a manager to ever have to do,” chief

executive David Ross said.

Ross, who is also the family- and employee-owned firm’s majority shareholder, said the company is continuing to lay the groundwork for an IPO in the near future.

Ross Video could have potentially entered the public markets in 2024, he said, but costs associated with the job cuts will likely delay those plans until the following year.

“That doesn’t make a lot of sense for going into an IPO in 2024, but because we’ve taken action and rightsized the company for 2024, I think our books in 2024 should look good enough,” Ross explained. “I think that still leaves us right on track for 2025.”

Ross Video now employs about 1,400 people at 20 global offices, including its Ottawa headquarters and its main production facility in Iroquois, south of the capital.

Ross said initial projections based on Ross Video’s sales pipeline heading into 2023 and its typical contract win rate suggested sales would grow by more than 40 per cent this year, an unusually high figure.

“When we looked at the numbers for this year, it was startling,” he said.

Ross said he personally “culled” the projected growth figure down to 30 per cent out of an abundance of caution and Ross Video hired hundreds of workers based on that projection.

But Ross said it soon became apparent

that some customers were delaying planned expenditures as inflation remained stubbornly high and interest rates continued to rise. That forced the company to dramatically scale back its original forecast as the year went on.

“By the end of the third quarter, we realized the growth (rate) was going to be 15 per cent and not 30,” he said.

Ross said sales projections are educated guesses and knowing how much to expand a company’s workforce is never an exact science.

If all the contracts had come through and Ross Video didn’t have enough staff to fulfil them on time, “customers might not get their projects done or they have to go elsewhere or a stadium could get delayed or a newsroom might not go on the air when it needs to,” he explained.

“We would end up with employees that are working ridiculous hours trying to keep up with demands when all the signs were that we were supposed to hire and we didn’t. It’s a no-win situation when the math and the forecasts are saying one thing and your gut is saying another.”

Meanwhile, Ross Video is in the midst of a $236-million, multi-year project to develop a full suite of cloud-based event production software platforms.

The federal government has invested $49 million in the project through Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund.

Ross said the company’s hiring and revenue growth commitments under the agreement were “well under 15 per cent” for the next several years. The company expects to meet or exceed all those targets and research and development of the hybrid cloud products will continue as planned, he added.

“From the point of view of what we promised for (the Strategic Innovation Fund), we’re actually right on track,” Ross said.

MEDIA

Glengarry News shutters after 131 years

BY MIA JENSEN news@obj.ca

A

fter more than 130 years serving its community, an Eastern Ontario weekly newspaper has closed its doors.

On Sept. 13, The Glengarry News published its final edition, in which it confirmed that the paper is shutting down permanently.

Founded in 1892 by the Macdonald family, it was the only news outlet that covered North and South Glengarry, according to publisher Richard Mahoney.

He said the outlet’s revenue sources had eroded significantly in the past five years “(It was) a combination of COVID and losing a lot of national advertising, like from car dealerships,” he said.

“Government advertising, of course, dried up. Increased costs. Our readership was

Years

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The Glengarry News employed about 20 full- and part-time staff, as well as contractors. That includes eight employees represented by the Southern Ontario Newsmedia Guild / Unifor Local 87-M, covered under the current collective agreement.

“We’re all probably trying to start looking for jobs by 4:30 p.m. today,” said Mahoney.

“There’s not a lot of possibilities out there.

Jobs as journalists are pretty hard to come by these days.”

The Glengarry News is just the latest local paper to close, following a trend that’s accelerated with the internet and social media.

Eastern Ontario has lost several small community newspapers in the last decade.

In 2020, The Winchester Press closed after 131 years in business.

A few years prior, in 2017, 15 papers in

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Celebrating

pretty solid, except we didn’t get a lot of local advertising because the beast of social media gobbled up a lot of revenues.”

The paper published a weekly print edition, which Mahoney said remained widely read. But the outlet also made efforts to adapt to a digital landscape.

According to Mahoney, The Glengarry News had more than 8,000 followers on Facebook.

He said Meta’s recent decision to ban Canadian news content from its platforms was starting to have an effect.

“We used it to alert (readers) to breaking news, or if something happened on the weekend and we couldn’t wait for the paper to come out on Wednesday,” he said. “(The effect of the ban) was immediate and financially took a chunk out of us as well.

And it’s a relatively new decision, so, long term, it was definitely going to hurt us more.”

the region were closed after being acquired

by Postmedia, including Metro Ottawa, Belleville News, Frontenac Gazette, Kingston Heritage and Kanata Kourier-Standard.

“The industry has been kind of littered with corpses for quite a while,” said Mahoney.

For Glengarry residents, losing the paper is a blow, he added. While there are some bigger publications in nearby cities, such as the Cornwall Standard-Freeholder, he said there is no other paper dedicated to covering the Glengarry community.

“The community is feeling it as much as us,” said Mahoney. “It’s an older demographic and the old-fashioned print is still really important for people my age. It’s a big blow to the community and also a loss of accountability.

“You’re not going to have any reporter sitting in a town hall. When we lose accountability, everybody suffers.”

Councils for the North and South Glengarry townships held an emergency meeting to “search out options and people who can preserve our local news.”

NEWS

Metroland ends print editions of some papers

BY OBJ STAFF

news@obj.ca

M

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etroland Media Group plans to end the print editions of its community newspapers and will exit the flyer business as it seeks protection under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act as part of a restructuring plan.

The move will mean the loss of 605 jobs or about 60 per cent of its total workforce.

Newspapers affected include those in Perth, Renfrew, Arnprior, Smiths Falls and Kemptville.

“The media industry continues to face existential challenges, largely because digital tech giants have used their dominant positions to take the vast majority of the advertising revenue in Canada,” the company said in a statement.

“The decline of the print and flyer distribution business was significantly accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and by the reduction of flyer usage both by readers and advertisers as a marketing vehicle.”

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Under the plan, Metroland’s community publications will move to digital only.

The company’s six daily newspapers, including the Hamilton Spectator, Peterborough Examiner, St. Catharines Standard, Niagara Falls Review, Welland Tribune, and the Waterloo Region Record, will continue both in print and online.

Metroland is owned by NordStar Capital, which also owns the Toronto Star newspaper.

The Star is not part of the restructuring.

The changes follow the failure of talks earlier this year between NordStar and Postmedia concerning a potential merger.

News outlets have been under pressure for years as online giants like Google and Facebook owner Meta have scooped up advertising dollars. Earlier this year, Ottawa passed the Online News Act, which will force digital giants to pay media outlets for content they share or repurpose on their platforms.

Meta and Google responded to the legislation by announcing they will block content from Canadian news publishers.

With files from The Canadian Press

Port of Johnstown gets $2M

BY OBJ STAFF

news@obj.ca

T

he Port of Johnstown has received $2 million from the federal government for the purchase and installation of a new grain dryer.

The dryer has heat capture and air recycling features that will minimize fuel consumption by 20 to 40 per cent, or more than an estimated 344 metric tonnes of CO2e, or carbon dioxide equivalent, annually. The project will enable local producers to dry grain more efficiently, move grain to market sooner, and reduce the risk of grain spoilage.

“By investing in the Port of Johnstown, we continue to establish

the right building blocks to get to net zero by 2050,” said Francis Drouin, parliamentary secretary to the minister of agriculture and agri-food, in a release.

The funding is part of the adoption stream of the Agricultural Clean Technology (ACT) program. In Ontario, ACT has supported 113 projects to date, representing a total of $46.5 million.

“This will enhance our current grain services to our local producers while utilizing newer systems that will limit the impact to the environment,” said Robert Dalley, general manager at the port.

The port serves as the industrial centre for the Township of Edwardsburgh Cardinal and is a key stakeholder for the agriculture sector.

MEETINGS & CONVENTIONS

‘Bleisure’? ‘Lizness’? Business travel still not what it used to be in Eastern Ontario

BY PHIL GAUDREAU news@obj.ca

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prices in bigger cities getting out of reach.”

“You can’t get a hotel room in downtown Toronto for less than $500 now and our hotel rates are a fraction of that,” said Peters. “A conference organizer is going to look at two things: availability of space and how much the facility and hotel rooms will cost. For smaller events, you know Eastern Ontario offers a very cost-effective solution.”

As Kingston and Cornwall gear up for more business travel, at least one hotel in Eastern Ontario seems to think there are better money-making opportunities.

The Holiday Inn Express in Brockville is converting its conference centre into residential spaces, which are set to open later this month.

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to be Queen’s University and the many professional associations that count Queen’s professors as members.

But Kingston isn’t the only Eastern Ontario market eyeing an increase in business travellers.

For years, Cornwall’s DEV Hotel and Conference Centre, formerly the NAV Centre, was a popular site for conference planners. However, during the pandemic, the centre secured a contract with the federal government to house asylum-seekers.

With that space largely off the market, business travel in Cornwall has not fully recovered.

However, according to local officials, the DEV Centre has expansion plans underway and there are new hotels in the works.

Groups from Ottawa and southern Quebec continue to make the trip to Cornwall for training and conferences.

“I think, to a large extent, they’re picking Cornwall because of the experience,” said Bob Peters with Cornwall Economic Development. “We have phenomenal restaurants and a great downtown for shopping and browsing. Most of our conference facilities are within a short stroll of the Riverside Trail, so (attendees) have an ability to enjoy kilometres of waterfront parkland without ever running into a car.”

Peters and Robinson mentioned one common strength for Eastern Ontario as a business travel destination: cost.

“One of the things that’s definitely come out of the pandemic is people looking for alternate destinations,” said Robinson. “Conference planners and attendees want to go to unique places they haven’t discovered before. They want to go to smaller places with

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hile an expected rebound in business travel didn’t materialize this year, some communities in Eastern Ontario still see it as a growth area.

Forecasts by Twenty31 Consulting, a management strategy and research firm that works with tourism organizations in Eastern Ontario, estimated last fall that there would be an increase in business travel by 36 per cent in 2023, spurred on, in part, by a new kind of get-together: team-building for remote teams.

The company predicted a rise in “bleisure” and “lizness” trips — in other words, more trips combining work and leisure, where travellers favour accommodations with free wifi, desks and other workplace comforts.

However, between rising interest rates and high inflation, along with the resulting decrease in consumer spending and confidence, the predicted tourism rebound is behind schedule. In fact, conventions, conferences, retreats and team-building exercises have been stagnant or declining.

“Our report was optimistic and bullish and we haven’t seen (those outcomes) so far,” said Oliver Martin, partner with Twenty31.

“That said, non-discretionary business travel — the kind that is needed for sales, revenue and maintaining client relationships — is still healthy in a downturn economy. The business travel period is really September to May, so we will need to see what happens in the fall and whether there’s a resurgence in small and medium-sized travel. Time will tell.”

Despite the recent challenges, tourism organizations and businesses in Eastern Ontario are preparing to host major business events once things rebound.

In May, Kingston city council approved a Tourism Kingston request for information (RFI) aimed at attracting a partner to construct a downtown conference centre

paired with an upscale hotel, a learning space for St. Lawrence College students, and a residential condo development. The results of the RFI will come back to council in early winter.

If the RFI identifies a viable project partner, it will be at least two years before the centre opens its doors. In the meantime, it’s the job of people like Ted Robinson, Tourism Kingston’s business events specialist, to increase the number of conferences, retreats and similar events hosted in the city — and not just regional and provincial events, but also national and international opportunities such as the recent Canada Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce Summit. The 2023 edition of the summit marked the first time the event was held outside Toronto.

Attracting more of these opportunities means building the conference centre, resuming regular air service between the local airport and major cities, and a full VIA rail service schedule, Robinson said.

“If you look at our competitors, we definitely come out on top as far as our overall infrastructure is concerned, between hotels, attractions and activities, as everything is within walking distance of the major hotels downtown,” he said. “The venue still matters, but what you do outside the venue — restaurants, music and experiences — is becoming a much more important piece of conference planning.

“We think that if we can get these last pieces of the puzzle in place like air service, that’s going to create a huge advantage for us.”

This fall, a west-end Kingston hotel and conference centre that began renovations during the pandemic should re-open, adding further capacity.

Projections by HLT Advisory show that Kingston’s downtown conference centre would attract approximately 273 events and 41,650 delegates per year, ranging from large conventions with thousands of visitors, to banquets of around 165 people.

One significant driver of traffic is expected

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“Core business support organizations are all located in the municipal Welcome Centre, so in-person access to all the resources couldn’t be easier,” says Julia Crowder, manager of Economic Development and Tourism for the Town of Smiths Falls.

Small town a big innovation hub Lanark County is thriving and Smiths Falls serves as the region’s booming and resilient hub – in fact, it’s been a magnet for new development and investment over the last 5 years. The Town constantly adapts services and supports to keep pace with changes in business sectors.

It welcomed Canopy Growth and supported its evolution into the world’s largest cannabis firm; now the manufacturing space they created is primed for the return of Hershey Canada. Elite European company Le Boat established their North American headquarters because of the area’s extensive tourism offerings, and since 2019 over 70 new businesses have opened here.

Smiths Falls makes it affordable to own and operate a business. As well, the town continues to invest in infrastructure and quality of life improvements. With available commercial/ industrial space, at affordable prices, you can open your business here for less, then tap into Community Improvement Grants to help with the cost of renovating and beautifying your space.

Personal connections make a difference “It’s not a one-time interaction with the Town or our partner organizations; we are all in it for the long haul and the personal connections we make and keep with business owners is most important,” notes Crowder. “Our level of service and support is built on simple things like being responsive and accessible no matter what stage your business is in. Ours is a welcoming and collaborative town. The business community wants their fellow entrepreneurs to succeed.

We are proud to play a role in helping new and existing businesses succeed.”

The Smiths Falls Economic Development and Tourism Department and local business organizations are eager to help. “Come to us with your dreams and we’ll help guide you through to opening day and beyond,” confirms Crowder.

For more information, please visit www.SmithsFalls.ca/doingbusiness or contact Julia Crowder at jcrowder@smithsfalls.ca.

“Invest Downtown”

“Small Business Services”

Nora Schlathau Downtown Business Association

Cindy James Small Business Advisory Centre

“Your Business Beacon” Julia Crowder Manager of Economic Development and Tourism

“Grow With Us” Leslie Richardson Chamber of Commerce Smiths Falls & District

“Grow Your Workforce” Joanne Watson and Shannon Scott ontrac Employment Services

RETAIL

Both Whitewater and Calabogie have done very well to grow our brands over the last five to 10 years.

– Chris Thompson , Whitewater co-founder and chief executive

BY DAVID SALI

david@obj.ca

T

The deal, which has been in the works for months, will lead to greater economies of scale on the production side as well as cost savings in areas such as shipping and distribution, Thompson explained.

He said some of the breweries’ existing operations will likely be consolidated, but added there are no plans to cut jobs.

“We’re really going to be taking the next eight months to figure all of that out,” he said. “This is really a growth step.”

The new arrangement comes at a challenging time for Ontario craft brewers.

Changing consumer tastes and rising costs of ingredients such as hops have combined to put the squeeze on many microbreweries just as the industry was coming out of the pandemic.

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wo of Eastern Ontario’s best-known craft breweries are joining forces in a bid to tap into new markets and expand their product offerings.

Calabogie Brewing and Whitewater Brewing announced they are forming a new entity called Canada Beverage Marketplace.

Exact terms of the agreement, which was finalized this week, were not disclosed.

Whitewater co-founder and chief executive Chris Thompson said the current shareholders of both breweries, including Thompson and Whitewater co-owner James Innes as well as Calabogie CEO Jeff

Gibson and his business partners, will control ownership of the new company.

Calabogie Brewing, which is located in Calabogie, about 100 kilometres west of Ottawa, and Foresters Falls-based Whitewater Brewing will remain separate entities under the Canada Beverage Marketplace umbrella, Thompson said.

“Both Whitewater and Calabogie have done very well to grow our brands over the last five to 10 years,” he said. “We both have amazing, loyal followers and customers. We don’t want that to change.

Really, from a consumer standpoint, there’s not going to be any change, other than I think in the future we’ll be able to hopefully be more innovative and more creative.”

EASTERN ONTARIO BUSINESS JOURNAL FALL 2023

Calabogie, Whitewater breweries join forces in bid to expand market share

A group of craft brewers recently urged the provincial government to revamp its beer tax system, arguing that the average Ontario beer-maker pays hundreds of thousands of dollars more in taxes each year than its counterparts elsewhere in Canada.

Still, Thompson said Calabogie and Whitewater are in a strong position to thrive under the new corporate structure.

The combined entity will have the equivalent of more than 100 full-time employees and is expected to generate annual revenues in excess of $11 million, with Whitewater accounting for about twothirds of those totals.

Known for brews such as Whitewater Farmer’s Daughter Blonde Ale and Calabogie Portage Pilsner, the two companies churn out the equivalent of 3.5 million-plus cans of beer each year.

That number has continued to grow during the pandemic thanks to multiple sales channels that include the breweries’ own tap houses, the Beer Store, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario and bars and restaurants across Eastern Ontario.

“We did quite well through the pandemic,” Thompson said. “I wouldn’t say either company grew huge numbers, but we did well to adapt.”

Perhaps Whitewater’s biggest move during the COVID-19 crisis was launching a distillery in September 2020. Its flagship product, Paper Boat Artisanal Gin, will be joined next month by a blended whisky called Broken Paddle.

Thompson said the gin has been a “steady” seller since its debut. He said the company eventually plans to build a dedicated distillery with an eye toward branching out into other spirits as well as products such as canned cocktails.

“That will allow us to really invest in that side of the business,” Thompson said.

In addition, the breweries are “actively looking into” adding non-alcoholic drinks to their roster, he said.

“It’s on the radar, whether it’s nonalcoholic or other types of beverages,” Thompson said. “What we aim to do is really keep on top of consumer trends and provide customers with what they’re looking for.

PROFILE

Vegetarian single mom not sheepish about breeding rare Icelandic livestock

BY SARAH MACFARLANE sarah@obj.ca

EASTERN ONTARIO BUSINESS JOURNAL FALL 2023

I

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f you’d asked her six years ago, Kathryn Stuart would never have predicted where she would find herself today.

Allergic to animals and a vegetarian of nearly 30 years, Stuart was a single mother of four living and homeschooling her children in Montreal, where she was a yoga teacher, reflexologist and musician.

Fast forward, and Stuart now lives in overalls and rubber boots, working the land on her farm in Eganville, where she breeds rare Icelandic livestock.

“If you had said this was my future, I would have said it was a mistake,” Stuart laughs.

After years of travelling before settling in Montreal, once the homeschooling laws changed in Quebec, Stuart decided to return to her home province of Ontario with her children. It was then that she moved into an old farmhouse, one that had been in her family for centuries and rented out. The property, originally about 300 acres, had belonged to her family since the 1800s.

Not long after moving to the now-95acre farm, Stuart’s children began wanting to take advantage of the country lifestyle.

“I was allergic to animals. The kids wanted sheep and chickens and I said, ‘No way,’” she laughs. “But they said they wanted to do everything. They built all the pens and fences, so I started researching hypoallergenic sheep. People were claiming that the Icelandic sheep were.”

Since then, Stuart’s allergies have “mysteriously disappeared,” she says. And a good thing, too, since her farm is now home to two peacocks, 26 sheep and a variety of dogs, cats, geese and ducks. Even more rare than the peacocks, though, are the Icelandic sheep and chickens that are the claim to

Kathryn Stuart “fell into” a life of farming when she moved to her family farm in the Ottawa Valley. PHOTOS SUPPLIED.

fame for the farm, now known as Northern Viking Farm.

“I have a fatal allergy to eggs, but these eggs are 79 per cent genetically different.

The chickens and sheep have so many unique qualities,” Stuart, 45, explains. “I don’t particularly like chickens or sheep, but I like ours.

“I fell into this without realizing and now, oh my gosh, I’m obsessed,” she says. “When they’re purebred registered, you can look up their genetics all the way back to Iceland.

I didn’t know anything about any of this before and I just fell into it.”

Icelandic chickens owe their distinct genetics to the Vikings, who isolated and kept the chickens from the rest of the world for more than 1,000 years.

Similarly, the type of Icelandic sheep that are kept at the farm date back 1,100

years and are equally valued for their hair fibre, milk and meat. The sheep thrive on a grass-fed diet, can be kept as milk sheep, and are especially hardy when it comes to cold Ottawa Valley winters. They’re born in nearly 100 variations of patterns and colours of fleece, making for an exciting surprise each lambing season, Stuart says, and interesting, vibrant wool.

Some of the sheep in Stuart’s flock even boast names consistent with their Viking heritage, such as Gandalf, Gudrun and Ragnarok.

“I have been a vegetarian since I was 13, so it’s an even weirder thing,” laughs Stuart, whose family has Norse heritage. “I was a vegan for 15 years and I don’t eat eggs. But the kids eat everything.”

Now, when she isn’t homeschooling her children, Stuart spends her days caring for

the many animals on the farm, researching sheep genetics, travelling the region to breed her sheep and sell her wares, and exploring everything else her new life has to offer.

In addition to selling grass-fed Icelandic lamb, Stuart offers breeding stock for both sheep and chickens. Her children have also risen to the occasion, with her 14-yearold forging “Viking spear” utensils and traditional wares; her 12-year-old handturning wooden bowls, plates, drop spindles and decorations; and the seven-year-old handcrafting leather bracelets.

Wool products made from the sheep’s unique double-layered fleece are also popular, Stuart says.

“We started getting into the wool during the pandemic because we couldn’t get anyone out here to shear, so the kids and I started with scissors,” she recalls. “Now I shear them, wash the wool in an old bathtub, dry them in the sun, and it goes through a picker.”

The “roving,” or raw fibre, as well as yarn and felting wool, are featured on Northern Viking’s website.

The family travels to local markets and craft shows to sell their wares Viking-style, but with recent support from Enterprise Renfrew County’s Starter Company Plus program, Stuart says she has lots of plans in the works.

After completing the program, which she said was “intense and wonderful,” Stuart received a grant for Northern Viking, which she says will be a huge boost for operations.

She was able to purchase a breeding ram linked back to the first export of sheep out of Iceland, allowing for older genetics in her sheep. The grant will also go toward a freezer and coolers to support meat sales, advertising and marketing materials, and a revamp of Stuart’s farm kitchen to meet health unit guidelines.

Until now, word of mouth has been the main source of customers, but Stuart says she’s also planning to build an online store and ramp up marketing efforts.

And this life of wool, fields and hard work is full circle for Stuart, who only learned after starting the farm that her family has deep ties to the craft.

“My dad grew up on this property with a flock of sheep and my great-grandfather on my mother’s side had sheep,” she says.

“But people were moving away from farming, getting an education, moving away from that lifestyle and thinking it was embarrassing.

“But I love it.”

The lay of the

EASTERN ONTARIO BUSINESS JOURNAL FALL 2023

land Agriculture in the region

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EASTERN ONTARIO BUSINESS JOURNAL FALL 2023

There is an opportunity to leverage Eastern Ontario’s affordable farmland.

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THE LAY OF THE LAND

Traditional operators joined by new players in Eastern Ontario agriculture An interview with Carole-Anne Nadeau, senior relationship manager at Farm Credit Canada in Eastern Ontario

What are some emerging players?

Eastern Ontario has seen an increase in interest for biodigester projects. I believe we can expect a couple more biodigesters to appear over the next couple of years. We have also seen a lot of interest in vertical farming, especially for container farming.

These containers are easy to integrate to an ongoing farm operation to diversify revenue/production. There is also interest from Indigenous communities to integrate those farms to reach food sovereignty.

An interview with Leigh Anderson, senior economist at Farm Credit Canada

What are the challenges?

The agrifood sector is susceptible to economic fluctuations such as commodity prices, the value of the Canadian dollar and market demand.

The economies of size and scale in food processing may be so large that they impede companies from entering the industry. Niche markets may be key to keep scale small. In addition, food safety and environmental regulations can be demanding for smaller-scale food processors and family-run farms, as well as regulatory requirements for both interprovincial trade and export.

What are the opportunities?

Canada’s population recently hit 40 million and is growing at a record pace. Ontario has nearly 40 per cent of the Canadian population and its immigration levels are rising fast, which is good news for the agriculture and agrifood industry. Increased immigration means increased diverse diets. Niche domestic opportunities will emerge as immigration levels rise. For example, the demand for lamb and goat meat, while

per capita consumption is small, is still expected to continue to grow. Canadians love consuming chicken and eggs. Per capita chicken meat consumption is up 16 per cent since 2010 and eggs are up 32 per cent. The growing populations of Canada and Ontario have a direct impact on the poultry sector, which is an area of opportunity. As poultry production grows, so will demand for poultry processing. As poultry production expands, demand for commercial feed will eventually grow with it.

There is an opportunity to leverage Eastern Ontario’s affordable farmland.

Also, since Eastern Ontario is expected to have slower population growth relative to other regions of Ontario, access to labour will remain a key challenge. However, it will result in reduced demand for housing, meaning Eastern Ontario will have more affordable housing, which is an incentive for the agriculture sector, including food processing companies trying to attract labour.

What will be the key success factors going forward for the industry in Eastern Ontario?

Access to capital, labour and infrastructure. Access to sufficient infrastructure will be key, including proper utilities and competitive rates for power and water.

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What are the most dominant sub-sectors of the agrifood industry in Eastern Ontario?

What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of the industry in Eastern Ontario?

Ontario is already one of North America’s top economies and has a large food manufacturing sector. Ontario’s food processing sector had $53.7 billion in manufacturing sales in 2022.

Other strengths are a diverse primary agriculture sector, readily accessible supplies in neighbouring counties, proximity to large markets such as the GTA and major U.S. markets. As well, Ontario is home to agricultural and food research institutions and universities that contribute to innovation and best practices in farming and food processing.

Finally, Eastern Ontario has affordable farmland as farmland values remain below the provincial average. The region has seen an influx of producers selling land in the western regions of Ontario and settling in the east, where land parcels were less expensive but yields remained strong.

In terms of weaknesses, access to labour remains a challenge for most Ontario agriculture and agrifood industries. Eastern Ontario’s lower population could also mean access to sufficient labour will remain a key challenge.

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What are the main sectors in the Eastern Ontario agricultural industry?

There are three dominant sectors in Eastern Ontario: crop production, dairy production and layers (egg-laying poultry birds). Those three sectors are doing very well. The main challenge for dairy production is the price of input and efficiency. The main challenge for crop production is Mother Nature, but this year we are expecting yield to be good. For the layers sector, we have some strong players, particularly in the St. Isidore region, and they are doing very well. We don’t see a lot of new players in the layers industry.

Eastern Ontario had 6,720 farms out of 48,346 farms in Ontario, according to the 2021 Census of Agriculture. Grain and oilseed farming is the top sector, followed by beef/cattle and dairy. While poultry and egg production are not currently a dominant sub-sector in Eastern Ontario, opportunity exists for future expansion for poultry.

Ontario food processing (based upon sales) is dominated by bread and bakeries, meat processing, dairy processing, poultry processing and animal food manufacturing.

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Top

‘Power People’ in Eastern Ontario agriculture EASTERN ONTARIO BUSINESS JOURNAL FALL 2023

BY NEIL MACMILLAN

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City of Kingston/ Frontenac County Tracey Snow (1) With a heightened awareness of food security, Kingston’s strategic plan includes a focus on urban food production and protection of agricultural lands, given that around 80 per cent of the municipality’s land area is rural.

As the city’s first manager of rural and community economic development, Tracey Snow plays a key liaison function with stakeholders in implementing these strategic priorities. Snow draws on previous experience as a senior economic development manager in the neighbouring county of Lennox & Addington and as a regional marketing manager and owner-operator with the Tim Hortons restaurant chain.

Snow highlights progress with the city’s community training farm on approximately five acres of land donated

by Correctional Services Canada. With the

support of St. Lawrence College for the trades training portion of the program, the farm is operated under contract by Loving Spoonful, a local not-for-profit organization.

The farm has already placed trainees on local farms and other agricultural operations and, according to Snow, is going from strength to strength thanks to renewed provincial funding.

Snow is also enthusiastic about the revitalization of the Kingston Public Market, founded in 1801 and possibly the oldest public market in Ontario. She works closely with neighbouring municipalities to support the Kingston region and the rest of Eastern Ontario.

Charlie and Christine Forman (2) Charlie and Christine Forman are stalwart members of the local farming community — always ready to help and fair to their workers.

Christine’s family owned and operated

POWER PEOPLE a heritage farm dating back to 1867 on Bear Creek Road, northeast of Kingston.

Since starting out on Brewers Mills Road north of Kingston, Charlie and Christine steadily expanded their agricultural operations by buying more farms and farmland in the area and diversifying into greenhouse crops, pellet mills (which produce switchgrass pellets), trucking and other farming-related services.

Charlie acknowledges that farming is in his blood. He says that he has always been open to new ideas and that this has been one of the secrets of Forman Farms success.

While cash crops and greenhouse crops are the farm’s main revenue streams, the produce from the greenhouses and fields is sold to local restaurants, grocery stores as well as at a large market stand that generates around $50,000 annually.

Charlie also serves as one of two agricultural representatives on the City of Kingston’s seven-member rural advisory committee, while Christine is a board member on the Eastern Workforce Innovation Board.

United Counties of Leeds and Grenville

Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry United Counties Jackie Kelly-Pemberton (4) Jackie Kelly-Pemberton is the current Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) director for Zone 11, representing OFA members in the counties of Frontenac, Leeds and Grenville, and Dundas. In this role, she is known as an agricultural representative with an environmental focus.

Her involvement with practical farming began when she married Steven Pemberton and moved to Pemdale Farm, a third-generation family farm on Pemberton Road near Winchester, where they produce cash crops on 200 acres and run a small beef cow-calf operation of around 25 head.

She started her career as the environmental manager at the Parmalat (now Lactalis) dairy plant in Winchester.

She then worked as a consultant with

(2)

(1) Apedaile Environmental in Ottawa on the use of non-agricultural source materials (NASM) as fertilizer on local farmland.

As a member of the Raisin-South Nation source water protection committee, she works on policy and implementation measures to protect source water under the province’s Clean Water Act and also serves on several other water- or environment-related bodies.

A graduate of the Rural Institute of Ontario’s Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program, she received its Richard Lichty Memorial Award for demonstrating “a passion for rural communities and agriculture and faith in the ability of people to make a difference.”

In 2021, Pemdale Farm was awarded the prestigious Beef Farmers of Ontario (BFO) Environmental Stewardship Award for the farm’s contributions on a wide range of environmental protection fronts, such as stored manure runoff, cover crop rotation, tree planting, windbreaks, buffer strips, wildlife habitat, bird boxes and pollinator hedgerows.

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Nick Thurler (5) South Mountain dairy farmer Nick Thurler is just one of several successful Swiss dairy farmers in Eastern Ontario. However, what now sets him apart is the state-of-the-art biodigester coming on-stream on his farm to convert dairy manure into renewable natural gas (RNG), as well as digestate that can be returned as crop fertilizer, just like the original more liquid form.

Continues on next page

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The fact that the aging superstructure of the mammoth grain terminal at the Port of Johnstown has managed to continually handle millions of tonnes of grain per year is in large part due to Robert Dalley, the port’s general manager since 2008.

Dalley has drawn on extensive logistics experience, including time as national manager for process improvement with Supply Chain Management (now Walmart Logistics) in Cornwall.

Although the Port of Johnstown with its massive concrete grain elevators built in the 1930s lost its primary raison d’être with the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959, it continued to operate as a federal port until 2000, when it was purchased for a nominal sum by the Township of Edwardsburgh Cardinal.

The facility has continually evolved, diversified and expanded as a key intermodal transportation hub for Eastern Ontario. It has generated millions of

dollars in handling charges that have also produced substantial annual surpluses primarily used for reinvestment back into the port for its sustainability, but also used by the township to help improve municipal services and minimize tax increases.

Looking ahead, Dalley sees the main challenge as how to extend the lifespan of the terminal’s concrete silos because this material steadily deteriorates over time.

Dalley is quick to share his appreciation for the port’s staff of around 30 full-time and seasonal employees, including an operations manager for the grain terminal itself.

He feels that there is still plenty of opportunity ahead for this communityowned port.

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Robert Dalley (3)

(4)

POWER PEOPLE

EASTERN ONTARIO BUSINESS JOURNAL FALL 2023

This new direction began in 2021 when Danish company Green Island approached Thurler about the possibility of a biodigester network in Canada similar to the one in Denmark that reportedly provides 50 per cent of the country’s natural gas supply with “green” gas, or gas solely derived from onfarm waste.

After joining forces with Shikha Jain (currently the commissioner member on the three-member Canadian Dairy Commission and formerly the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s chief strategy and administrative officer), he created GET Corp. (Green Energy Trading Corporation) in mid-2022.

The key piece of the puzzle to date has been GET Corp.’s partnership with Torontobased waste management giant GFL Environmental to execute its pilot program.

This partnership represents an investment of $56 million to build its first few biodigesters.

Since each biodigester needs the manure from around 1,600 cows, farmers in a given locality have to pool their manure.

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While Thurler says that GET Corp. has already received commitments or interest from many dairy farmers in Ontario and other provinces, the process is suitable for all types of livestock manure, such as from hogs, poultry and beef cattle. He points out that the system will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and chemical fertilizer use.

Jaime Macrae / Matt Lalonde (6) In recent years, the spousal team of registered massage therapist Jaime Macrae and master plumber Matt Lalonde have become leading figures in the local food movement in the Cornwall area.

The initial impulse for their interest in diet and healthy food was the severe food allergies their son Brodey manifested at an early age. In response, they began to grow some of their own food on their rural property and source other food from local producers.

In 2012, they incorporated these modest efforts as Cornerstone Organics

and began to serve a few regular customers on the CSA (communitysupported agriculture) model. This business really took off during the pandemic, with the result that they set up their own certified kitchen for prepared meals, expanded their client base to around 50 CSA customers, and now regularly sell their produce during the season at the weekly Kinsmen Farmers Market in Cornwall and the Ottawa Farmers’ Market at Lansdowne Park.

Much of their success is due to their community-minded spirit. For example, one of their farm’s amenities is a yurt that can be used free of charge for community events. Also, during the pandemic, Cornerstone Organics bought an aquaponic farm from a local operator.

Reportedly the first certified organic aquaponic vegetable farm in Ontario and the only one in Canada, the operation uses biowaste from tilapia fish to provide the nutrients for lettuce plants.

(7) The couple have also started to collaborate with other local farmers to organize local “Savour the Field” food tours. The inaugural event in August was a great success, selling out all 80 tickets.

Lanark County and Renfrew County Jennifer Doelman (7) Granddaughter of renowned pedigree seed grower Barclay Dick, Jennifer Doelman is very much a leading farm figure in her own right.

Toronto Toronto 3.5 hours 3.5 hours Ottawa Ottawa 1 hour hour

Ontario, Canada

Montreal Montreal 2 hours 2 hours U.S.A. U.S.A 1O minutes 10 minutes New York City

Eastern Ontario’s Premier Port

generalinfo@portofjohnstown.com Eastern Ontario’s Premier Port

Tel.: 613.925.4228 www.portofjohnstown.com

Tel.: 613.925.4228 www.portofjohnstown.com

@portofjohnstown.com

/portofjohnstown/

generalinfo@portofjohnstown.com @portofjohnstown.com

6.5 hours New York City 6.5 hours

POWER PEOPLE

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(8) a success that prompted the Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibitions (CAFE) to come to her for advice.

Originally started in 2017 with a dozen or so vendors in the parking lot of one of Watson’s other businesses, Country Moments Spa and Wellness Centre housed in a heritage building in the heart of Navan, the event has steadily expanded over the years.

The market now features more than 200 vendors from May through November attracting 5,500 to 7,500 visitors each time.

Watson says that she always wanted to be her own boss and started out as an aesthetician in a beauty salon in Orleans.

She eventually bought that business and transferred it to its current location in Navan.

Watson also attributes the success of the Original Navan Market to the dedicated team of volunteers, paid staff and family members around her.

United Counties of Prescott and Russell

Amanda Watson (8)

Patrick Therrien (9)

In the space of just a few years, Amanda Watson has made the Original Navan Market in the Navan Fairgrounds one of the most successful farmers’ markets in Eastern Ontario.

In 2020, despite the pandemic, the market ran every month from July through November, hosting as many as 175 vendors at a time. In fact, according to Watson, several of the vendors said that they would have folded in 2020 if it had not been for the market.

She’s particularly proud that the five Navan markets in 2020, which attracted between 3,500 and 4,500 visitors each under strict public health protocols, did not result in a single case of COVID transmission,

As CEO for the past eight years of the Coopérative agricole d’Embrun (Coop Embrun or Embrun Co-op), founded in 1943, Patrick Therrien has, by all accounts, not only transformed the organization, but also helped transform Embrun itself with distinctive corporate branding from one end of the town to the other.

With some 4,000 members (both farmers and consumers), $88 million in annual sales, $40 million in assets and around 250 staff, the Co-op had been a longstanding mainstay of the local economy but was looking to modernize and revitalize itself when Therrien was headhunted from nearby Coop Agrodor, just across the Ottawa River in Thurso, Que.

Marc Bercier (10) With deep family roots in Eastern Ontario based on his paternal grandfather’s original farmstead just outside St-Isidore, Marc Bercier is a respected entrepreneur in the region’s agrifood industry.

Although his father Jean-Louis had a dairy farm under the province’s dairy quota

and pooling system, Bercier wanted the challenge of farming without a quota and to be able to deal directly with customers.

In 1996, he and his wife founded their first company, Centre de Criblage Marc Bercier Seed Cleaning, which has been successful with its own brand of CCMB seed.

He and his son Guillaume also expanded their farm’s acreage to its present total of around 3,000 acres under cultivation. This enterprise was eventually incorporated in 2012 as Ferme Agriber with Chantal and Guillaume as the shareholders.

Bercier has also been involved in two other companies: Uniseeds, a pedigree seed company founded in 2011, and Green Culture Verte, a federally licensed medical cannabis company founded in 2018.

Over the past decade, the two core companies in crop production and seed cleaning have expanded and are proud to have worked with around 1,200 farmers in all in the region.

Throughout his life, Bercier has taken concrete steps to look after the environment. As a result, in 2020 Ferme Agriber received the Dave Reid Award for its outstanding land stewardship from ALUS (Alternative Land Use Services), a Torontobased charity dedicated to supporting ecosystem services on agricultural lands.

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City of Ottawa

With an undergraduate degree in agronomy and a master’s degree in business administration from Laval University in Quebec City, as well as 12 years’ prior experience in co-operative management in Quebec and Eastern Ontario, Therrien brought a solid track record to his new role.

In collaboration with the Co-op’s board of directors, he has overseen a fundamental rebranding of the Co-op’s image, instituted a comprehensive strategic planning process, established several new strategic partnerships (especially as part of the Great Lakes Grain group) and pivoted the Co-op away from its original identity as a primarily francophone organization.

The Embrun Co-op currently operates eight divisions: five farming-related and two consumer-related.

As dairy farmer Michael Bols, the Co-op’s current president, puts it: “Our members are grateful to Patrick for helping give us much more pride in our organization.”

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After graduating from the University of Guelph in 2003 with an agricultural science degree and a minor in agricultural communications at the University of Guelph, she and her husband Michael worked with her father on the family farm on Barr Line Road in Douglas, a small rural hamlet east of Renfrew.

During this time, she and Michael became part owners of the farm, while she flourished on several other fronts: as an independent certified crop advisor, an alumna of the Rural Ontario Institute’s Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program (AALP), a professor in Algonquin College’s Agricultural Business Diploma Program, and an active member in many farm organizations, including the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, for which she currently serves as the provincial director for Zone 8 (Arnprior, Lanark, Renfrew and Ottawa).

Doelman and her husband now have their own operation, Bonnechere Haven Farms, just down the road from her parents.

As the mother of two young children, Doelman explains that she and Michael have to focus on developing their own farm and be more selective in their off-farm roles.

For example, she will not be running again as OFA director when her second term ends in November.

“I hope to be back again someday,” she adds, “I loved the role and being able to serve members and be a cheerleader for the amazing agricultural community.”

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FRA-23-004B

FORMATION EN GESTION DE LA NUTRITION ET DES SERVICES ALIMENTAIRES

(accréditée par la Canadian Society of Nutrition Management) NUTRITION AND FOOD SERVICES MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

(accredited by the Canadian Society of Nutrition Management)

INNOVATING WITHIN THE FOOD INDUSTRY L’INNOVATION AU SERVICE DE

L’INDUSTRIE ALIMENTAIRE

QUICK + HANDS-ON EASTERN ONTARIO BUSINESS JOURNAL FALL 2023

TWO-YEAR PROGRAM OFFERING COOP PLACEMENTS

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RAPIDE + PRATIQUE PROGRAMME DE DEUX ANS COMPRENANT DES STAGES CCOP

Ce programme du Collège La Cité offre aux étudiants l’occasion de combiner leur passion pour la santé et la science des aliments.

This program from Collège La Cité offers students the opportunity to combine their passion for health and food science.

1 800 267-2483, poste 2420 collegelacite.ca/agroalimentaire Info: collegelacite.ca/agroalimentaire

FRA-23-004A

A REWARDING CAREER IN LESS THAN TWO YEARS WITH COLLÈGE LA CITÉ’S DIPLOMA IN AGRICULTURE PROGRAMS UNE CARRIÈRE VALORISANTE EN MOINS DE DEUX ANS AVEC LES PROGRAMMES DE TECHNIQUES AGRICOLES DU COLLÈGE LA CITÉ

2

SPÉCIALISATIONS SPECIALIZATIONS

• Production animale et grandes cultures

• Livestock and crops production

• Production de fruits et légumes

• Fruit and vegetable production

FORMER LES EXPERTS DE DEMAIN EN AGROALIMENTAIRE

Programs offered both in an urban setting, in stateof-the-art facilities on La Cité’s Ottawa campus, and at facilities belonging to industry partners in Eastern Ontario, as part of coop placements.

Programmes offerts à la fois en milieu urbain, dans les installations de pointe du campus d’Ottawa de La Cité, et chez des partenaires de l’industrie dans l’Est ontarien, dans le cadre de stages pratiques.

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1 800 267-2483, poste 2420 collegelacite.ca/agroalimentaire Info: collegelacite.ca/agroalimentaire

EASTERN ONTARIO BUSINESS JOURNAL FALL 2023

TRAINING TOMORROW’S AGRI-FOOD EXPERTS

DES FORMATIONS INNOVANTES EN AGRICULTURE DANS LA CAPITALE NATIONALE / INNOVATIVE AGRICULTURE TRAINING PROGRAMS IN THE NATION’S CAPITAL Well established in Ottawa and in Eastern Ontario for over 30 years, Collège La Cité has produced tens of thousands of graduates who have an impact on our daily lives and who contribute greatly to the National Capital Region’s economy.

EASTERN ONTARIO BUSINESS JOURNAL FALL 2023

More and more, we are starting to see graduates from La Cité leave their mark in the agriculture and agri-food sectors, thanks to a more recent training programs offering that focuses on these crucial drivers of the region’s economic activity.

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La Cité invested considerable money and resources to ensure that it’s main Ottawa campus is equipped with state-of-the-art labs and equipment to reflect an evolving industry that now relies heavily on the latest technological advances.

In turn, students from all walks of life have increasingly shown an interest in such programs, and not only students who come from an agricultural background or who wish to take over the family business.

Spotlight on a success story in the education sector.

Miser sur les nouvelles tendances Bon nombre de nouveaux produits, pratiques, techniques et technologies sont développés ou mis de l’avant par l’industrie agricole, ou adaptés pour une utilisation en agriculture. Pour accroître l’efficacité et optimiser la production, animale ou végétale, pour répondre aux changements climatiques, pour protéger l’environnement, ou simplement pour s’adapter à des marchés en changement, il est utile de connaître ces nouvelles tendances avant de les adopter en industrie.

C’est ce qui distingue les différents programmes en agriculture et agroalimentaire de La Cité. Robotique et automatisation, agriculture verticale et urbaine, économie circulaire et zéro déchets, drones, intelligence artificielle, pratiques d’adaptation aux changements climatiques, gestion de l’eau, diminution de l’utilisation de l’énergie, nouvelles sources de protéines, désaisonnalisation de la production et production hors-sol : voilà quelques-uns des éléments qu’une formation moderne et axée sur l’avenir telle que celle offerte par La Cité aborde.

On qualifie ces pratiques ou produits de « nouvelles tendances » en partie parce qu’ils permettent une amélioration ou une optimisation des pratiques courantes, apportant une diminution des coûts d’exploitation et un gain économique à l’industrie. Adopter une nouvelle tendance permet fréquemment de se démarquer dans l’industrie, et de rester compétitif.

Il est impératif de s’adapter aux changements en agriculture. Les premiers utilisateurs d’une nouvelle technologie les adoptent souvent pour la poursuite d’une valeur de bien-être de la planète, ou par intérêt et passion pour la nouveauté et la découverte.

Quant aux travailleurs de l’industrie, ils se doivent d’être polyvalents, compétents, et bien informés sur les nouveautés du domaine. De plus, pour assurer la durabilité de l’agriculture, il est vital de modifier ses pratiques pour le bien de tous, par exemple en utilisant moins d’eau, moins d’engrais, moins d’énergie, en ayant moins de pertes et en limitant l’utilisation de ressources précieuses.

Enfin, l’adoption de nouvelles tendances et de nouveaux produits permet souvent aussi de diminuer les risques pour une exploitation agricole, bien sûr si le virage se fait à la bonne vitesse.

Tant de nouveautés pour optimiser la productivité agricole et protéger l’environnement demandent des compétences qui s’acquièrent avec les bons outils et du temps. Il s’agit d’une approche que préconise La Cité, permettant aux étudiants d’étudier ces tendances et d’en discuter avant de les mettre en pratique, de sorte qu’ils intègrent le marché du travail bien préparés.

Graduate feature: Alexandre Henrie Even though Alexandre Henrie grew up on a farm, it wasn’t until he was pursuing a higher education degree in Toronto that he truly felt the call of the land. He came back home to complete a diploma in agriculture at La Cité.

Upon graduating in 2016, he put his newly acquired skills and knowledge to good use on the nearby family farm in Orleans, Ferme d’Orléans, becoming his family’s third generation to operate the farm that grows different varieties of apples, berries and other fruits and vegetables.

One of his first order of business was to modernize the agricultural practices while preserving his family’s values and traditions. For Alexandre, the learning process never stops and he is always eager to develop new techniques and methods.

This attitude allowed him to implement subtle but significant changes to improve the farm’s productivity.

“In addition to the more technical aspect, my studies allowed me to build my network of contacts and colleagues. This network of people sharing the same passion as me for agriculture is an invaluable resource,” says Alexandre.

Alexandre also believes the agricultural accounting and business management courses that were part of his curriculum at La Cité adequately prepared him to market the farm’s products.

Today, Alexandre shares his passion and knowledge in numerous ways, including with current students from La Cité and by being a Berry Growers board member.

“There are always new techniques to learn.

Sometimes, it gives us inspiration to adapt what we are already doing with minor changes that make a big difference,” he says.

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Pour plus d’information sur les diverses options qui s’offrent à vous, veuillez consulter collegelacite.ca/agroalimentaire

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AGRITECH The growth of these companies reflects the increasing global importance of this agro-industrial sector and the rapidly increasing investment in it.

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Canobi AgTech

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Multiple agritech companies call Eastern Ontario home

BY NEIL MACMILLAN news@obj.ca

O

ver the past few years, a cluster of companies operating in “controlled environment agriculture” – otherwise known as indoor or vertical farming – has emerged in Eastern Ontario.

These companies include ZipGrow Inc.,

Fieldless Farms and Cultivatd in Cornwall; Canobi AgTech near Maxville; Kyan Culture in Vankleek Hill; and The Growcer in Ottawa.

The growth of these companies reflects the increasing global importance of this agroindustrial sector and the rapidly increasing investment in it.

There are many advantages to controlled environment agriculture (CEA), such as

year-round production, input efficiency, crop quality, better control of plant pests and diseases, and independence from both climate and arable land.

In a nutshell, CEA can be practised anywhere — even in Canada’s Far North.

So why did these companies emerge in Eastern Ontario?

In Cornwall, this sector began to take

shape 10 years ago when Cornwall residents Eric Bergeron and Eric Amyot, with financial help from Cornwall-area businessman and plastics manufacturing specialist Eric Lang, imported the first CEA container from the U.S. and started growing a few leafy greens such as basil, kale and spinach for sale to local food outlets.

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ZipGrow Inc.

The Growcer

Kyan Culture

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Fieldless Farms

AGRITECH

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There are many advantages to controlled environment agriculture (CEA), such as year-round production, input efficiency, crop quality, better control of plant pests and diseases, and independence from both climate and arable land.

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This company, called Smart Greens, operated for the next six years.

However, while Bergeron and Amyot were happy with the ZipGrow growing towers in the container, they were not happy with the repurposed shipping container itself and decided to improve the design and to manufacture containers purpose-built for the Canadian climate.

They proceeded to do so under a new company called Modular Farms.

Around the same time, they also acquired Canadian distribution rights to the complete range of ZipGrow growing systems. Amyot later moved away with Modular Farms on his own, while Bergeron and Lang stayed with what became known as ZipGrow Inc. As Bergeron notes, it is amazing to see how all these developments have occurred to a great extent independently of each other in Eastern Ontario. While the companies have periodic business dealings with each other, Bergeron says they are still more of a cluster than an integrated or synergistic hub or ecosystem.

ZipGrow Inc. Partly thanks to Bergeron’s skills as an indoor farmer, Lang’s background in plastic manufacturing and the

salesmanship of Eric Levesque, ZipGrow experienced tremendous growth over the next few years.

However, in mid-2020 during the pandemic, differing views over future directions led Bergeron and Levesque to leave ZipGrow to form their own company, Cultivatd.

With Lang as its president and majority shareholder, ZipGrow has continued to pursue international projects, especially in the Middle East, where it is associated with the planning for “The Line,” the futuristic city under construction in Neom, Saudi Arabia.

It has also been introducing its ZipGardens to local schools, along with curriculum guides on hydroponic classroom gardens.

Cultivatd With Levesque as CEO and Bergeron as chief operating officer, Cultivatd appears to be a new form of company — a broker of CEA services, similar to an insurance brokerage. It bills itself as an “indoor farm

brokerage,” helping to arrange the sale and purchase of indoor farms, vertical farming systems and other agriculture services.

As Bergeron explains, now that the CEA sector has matured, the time is ripe for his type of company.

Thanks to a US$3-million seed investment in late 2021 from Resilient Earth Ventures (REV), a venture capital firm based in Palo Alto, Calif., Cultivatd has continued to expand its reach and, according to its co-founders, is currently close to unveiling a new $100-million equity fund with Cultivatd as the general manager.

Fieldless Farms In 2017, two Ottawa residents, Jon Lomow and Paul Gardner, co-founded Fieldless with a vision to replace an increasing proportion of Canada’s traditional imports of leafy greens and similar produce.

According to Lomow, Cornwall’s geographic location made it an ideal site for Fieldless’s first CEA farm in a former warehouse on the city’s outskirts, where it now has three separate “farms” under the same roof.

From this site, Fieldless produces two brands of lettuce and one type of mushroom for all Farm Boy outlets in Ontario, as well as other customers. James Bray, assistant produce manager in the Farm Boy store in Cornwall, says a key competitive advantage of these products is their fresh taste and long shelf life.

In July 2022, Fieldless raised $13.5 million in a Series A round and, according to Lomow, is currently on the way to securing another round.

Canobi AgTech Near Maxville, Robin Vincent, an entrepreneur with a track record in plumbing, big data systems and medical

cannabis production, decided to switch the focus of his company, Canobi AgTech (founded in 2014), to its own proprietary software platform for greenhouses, vertical farms and outdoor farms.

Vincent is generally regarded in the industry as “a bit of genius” and is regularly a speaker at international conferences.

Vincent says that he is “agnostic” with regard to the relative advantages of the various growing systems in the sense that he does not necessarily recommend one over the other.

In July, he was named director of innovation for the North American Chapter of the Association for Vertical Farming (AVF) while his wife, Catherine Borelly, was named the chapter board’s executive director.

Kyan Culture In 2018, a year after graduating in business administration from La Cité, the francophone post-secondary college in Ottawa, Sam Doucet founded Kyan Culture in Vankleek Hill, east of Ottawa.

Kyan Culture produces a range of certified-organic sprouted grain products that have been adopted as the in-house brand by a major Ontario food retailer.

Doucet says that his company’s intention is to expand into Quebec via another major food retailer.

The Growcer Ottawa-based The Growcer was founded

by Corey Ellis and Alida Burke in 2016 and first came to national attention through a successful pitch on Dragons’ Den. The Growcer sells specially designed weatherproof containers that grow leafy greens and herbs hydroponically using light, carbon dioxide and nutrient-rich water. The company’s units have become almost the generic name for container farms with installations across the country, including several in the Cornwall area.

While the company was already gaining momentum before the pandemic, Burke said in late 2021 that orders were pouring in as supply chain bottlenecks and surging transportation costs drive up food bills.

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Eastern Ontario’s business owners can use Launch Lab’s IP expertise to safeguard their companies and develop a commercially viable IP strategy.

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really needs help — it’s an aggressive disease,” Mueller says. “Typically, you have to wait three months to have a CT scan to determine whether a therapy is working, but through our blood tests, we can tell patients whether it’s working within three weeks to a month.”

Though next-generation sequencing, mDETECT has developed a test for each of seven cancers, including breast, lung, prostate, colorectal, pancreatic, ovarian and uvial melanoma. Mueller says the

process is difficult to patent, so he’s seeking protection for the areas in the genome that are specific to each of the above cancers.

“Because it’s a form of nature, it’s a difficult patent process,” Mueller says.

Yet he knows the value of the company is in the IP and that’s when he turned to Launch Lab, a regional innovation centre that pairs entrepreneurs across Eastern Ontario with its team of experienced business owners to help them grow and

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hen you’re working on commercializing blood tests that detect metastatic cancer, you want to make sure you’re protecting your intellectual property (IP) every step of the way. That’s what Chris Mueller, a senior scientist and professor at the Cancer Research Institute at Queen’s University has learned since launching his company, mDETECT. “We’re concentrating on metastatic cancers because this is a population that

scale. Mueller joined Launch Lab’s IP Advisory program, gaining access to an IRAP-funded program called IP Assist.

“Without IP, we basically have nothing, so we really needed a lot of expertise and a lot of advice,” Mueller says. “IP Assist allowed us to shop around and ask a number of different lawyers for their opinions on how we should proceed, particularly with the U.S. Patent Office.”

The program paid for a certain number of hours of IP expertise.

“For a startup like us, we don’t have a lot of resources and it’s expensive,” Mueller says. “IP Assist was very good in terms of getting us on line and on track.”

EASTERN ONTARIO BUSINESS JOURNAL FALL 2023 XXXXXXX 2021

Securing intellectual property is key for entrepreneurs

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IP Assist allowed us to shop around and ask a number of different lawyers for their opinions on how we should proceed. –Chris Mueller

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Launch Lab’s IP play

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Sean Murray, an entrepreneur-inresidence at Launch Lab and a patent agent in Canada and the U.S., has advised companies on IP law for 25 years. His advice is available to clients through Launch Lab’s IP Advisory program. Being the CEO of a technology business himself, Murray brings provides real-world IP advice to clients, supporting them on the development and implementation of their IP strategies.

“There are government funding programs that we help Launch Lab clients leverage, but I’m also providing advisory services to clients to educate them on IP and link it to why it matters to their business,” he says. “We look at their business first and assess their critical IP needs, and then see how we can help support them from an implementation point of view. The activities can range from IP protection such as patent and trademark filings, to Freedom to Operate assessments, or support on IP commercialization, such as IP licencing agreements.”

In addition to the IP Assist program, Launch Lab is able to connect clients to other programs such as the Intellectual Property Ontario (IPON) program to fill the funding gap.

“Launch Lab’s role is to help guide entrepreneurs in developing their IP strategy,” Murray says. “And then we connect them to a law firm to implement it. My goal is to ensure that there’s alignment between the business strategy and the IP strategy before costs are incurred.”

Murray says he spends a lot of time “challenging companies” to ensure the focus of their IP protection efforts are on the key differentiators for that company, recognizing that patents should be

pursued only if the business case makes sense.

“When companies start to explore IP, they find out it’s its own world with its own terminology, rules and regulations,” says Garrett Elliott, Launch Lab’s general manager. “It helps to have somebody like Sean on your team, who can help the entrepreneur understand the dos and don’ts of intellectual property.”

Freedom to operate is also key Murray notes that his services aren’t limited to protecting IP. “An IP strategy is also about ensuring that companies maintain their freedom to operate,” he says. “That can be achieved through filing for IP protection, but it can also include reviewing third party IP, looking at the overall landscape of the industry the company is operating in, and assessing the critical IP risks within their business.”

Elliott says Launch Lab customers are fortunate to have access to this suite of services. Murray says the key is to bring the importance of IP to clients’ attention because many of them simply don’t have it on their radar.

“I have met with many companies over the past year that have great products or services that can truly do positive things.

These companies are working hard to get their product market-ready. Their IP strategy and IP issues generally have been low on their priority list because it’s all about trying to achieve revenue and raise capital. By the end of one of our IP advisory sessions, the client generally leaves with a new perspective on the importance of IP, often realizing that leveraging IP can be a key success factor for their business. Then it is all about implementation.”

Baking up an IP strategy

Will Spencer Owner

rND Bakery produces gluten-free baked goods with a very minimal ingredient list and no preservatives.

“We’ve created a product that is self-rising — it has no yeast and no chemical leavening agents and rises by itself when we bake it in the oven,” says Will Spencer, owner of the bakery. “And that’s advantageous, because it removes a step as we don’t have to prove and it also eliminates yeast, which is fast becoming a major allergen.”

The limitation, however, is that it has a short shelf life because there are no preservatives.

“In terms of looking at intellectual property, we need to find a solution for increasing the shelf life so the Metros and Sobeys and Farm Boys of the world will be interested,” Spencer says.

He’s been looking into a modified atmospheric packaging system that would increase the shelf life from four days to 40 days. But in the meantime, he knew he needed to protect his process of getting the bread to self-rise and Launch Lab’s Sean Murray was there to help with this. He expects to reach out to Launch Lab again should he come up with some novel packaging that needs to be protected as well.

“Launch Lab has been there to help me raise capital, build and strengthen our business and help with business planning,” Spencer says. “They’ve helped me with the marketing, they helped me build an online ordering system through the Digital Main Street program and that helped us float through the pandemic. And a lot of that has been sponsored or paid for through various granting agencies.”

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Securing IP in a cold plasma process When Cold Plasma Group co-founders Florina Truica and David Johnson were working on a licencing deal with a German company, they knew they had to bring in an IP expert and reached out to Launch Lab for help.

Truica has built a product that provides smart sterilization through non-destructive plasma technology for those working in the cannabis, agri-food and medical sectors.

The company started its sales in the cannabis market as the product is a good host for moulds and yeasts and needs to be sterilized before it goes to market to avoid causing respiratory issues in users. The cold plasma process preserves the terpenes and cannabinoids, giving it a unique market advantage.

“It’s cannabis’s dirty little secret, and other processes are “hard on the cannabis,” Johnson explains. “Florina has developed a cold plasma process that’s effective, but not hard on the organic materials.”

Cold Plasma used the IP services of Launch Lab to license its pending process patent to the German firm that wants to distribute the product in Europe.

Florina Truica co-founder

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Karen Brunet developed Cntrl+ Inc. because she realized there was a lack of products for females suffering from bladder leaks.

“There were pads and some other products, but they were uncomfortable because they were really hard. I wanted something that was flexible but supportive.”

The device she’s created is a flexible ring that, when inserted in the vagina, puts just enough pressure on the urethra to stop bladder leaks while being comfortable and flexible enough that users can still urinate. It also helps prevent rectocele, a type of pelvic organ collapse that affects one in 10 women, while one in three women experience stress urinary incontinence or bladder leaks.

Brunet has used the IP Assist program at Launch Lab to help identify her IP needs.

“I wish I’d known about it from the beginning,” Brunet says. “I spent a small fortune getting patents. But recently we needed a landscape brief of the U.S. for this product. So basically, my patent lawyer searched the U.S. Patent Trademark Office to identify any potential competitors who have patents directed to devices having a similar function. And that was what we proposed to be funded for the IP Assist program. I was very grateful for that.”

She also leaned on Launch Lab for a “freedom to operate” search and that’s being completed this autumn. She wants to raise some more capital and needed that search to bolster her position with potential investors.

“Because of the IP assist program through Launch Lab, our company will look so good for potential investors as a safer bet for their money.”

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“It needed quite a bit of lawyering,” Johnson says.

“It was close to $25,000 in costs and that’s a fair hit for a small company so the grant was a godsend. We could go to meetings and get legal advice and avoid the pitfalls that crop up. It worked like a charm. The whole thing was done in a matter of weeks.”

Controlling IP at Cntrl+ Inc.

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Congratulations to the recipients of EOBJ’s Fastest Growing Companies MNP is a proud sponsor of Eastern Ontario Business Journal Fastest Growing Companies.

Your hard work, perseverance, and passion are an inspiration to our community and all who do business with you. Our Eastern Ontario business advisors are here to help you reach your full potential as you continue your journey of success.

Mike Dimitriou, CPA, CA, Regional Managing Partner, Eastern Ontario 613.691.4200 | michael.dimitriou@mnp.ca MNP.ca

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PRESENTED BY

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2023 FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES

PRESENTED BY

Scott Selbie, CEO

Theia Markerless Inc. FASTEST-GROWING TECH COMPANY

FROM LEFT: City Flats co-founders Pete Sauerbrei and Graham Coe.

City Flats Asset Management Inc. FASTEST-GROWING STARTUP + FASTEST-GROWING SMALL COMPANY

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City Flats specializes in developing high-quality, community-minded real estate. It focuses on delivering successful investment outcomes and strong risk-adjusted returns on multi-residential real estate investments.

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What did you do to address it?

We sought help. We have implemented a system and structure that has been foundational to the growth of our business and empowers the people within our organization to make decisions while maintaining accountability.

What has been your biggest lesson learned?

The biggest lesson learned so far is the importance of growing a strong, dedicated team of core employees who share the same vision and values.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?

While it has been straightforward to sign up external sales channels, it has been a notable challenge to motivate and train these channels.

What did you do to address it?

Our short-term response to the challenge was to reduce our reliance on distributors by growing our internal sales team. Our mediumterm response was to hire someone to provide an onboarding experience on demand to our distributors that need additional training in the new technology and have turnover in their sales staff.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?

As co-founders, we were heavily involved in the doing of every task/managing of every detail of our business in the early days. It has been challenging to find our way, managing the growing workload and separating ourselves from the day-to-day as we continue to grow our team.

Theia develops and sells video-based tracking of human movement.

The company’s principal market is for the evaluation of performance and assessment of injury risk for high performance athletes.

What has been your biggest lesson learned?

THREE-YEAR REVENUE GROWTH

Our external sales channels were not as ambitious and motivated to learn new technologies as we had expected.

1,658.41% KINGSTON

1-4 YEARS OLD 10-19 EMPLOYEES 1-4 YEARS OLD 5-9 EMPLOYEES

THREE-YEAR REVENUE GROWTH

1,542.9% KINGSTON

2023 FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES

PRESENTED BY

Wonton Crunch Inc. FASTEST-GROWING MANUFACTURING COMPANY

Wonton Crunch manufactures wontons for the retail service, such as the major grocery chains.

THREE-YEAR REVENUE GROWTH

244.78% KINGSTON

Dean Lutchmansingh, owner

5-9 YEARS OLD 5-9 EMPLOYEES FINDING THAT NICHE: The team at Imperium says “niching down” has helped the company expand.

THREE-YEAR REVENUE GROWTH

627.71%

SMITHS FALLS

Imperium Social Ltd. Imperium Social is an award-winning digital marketing company. It is most recognizable for its sub-brand Blue Collar Marketing.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?

Our company, like most other companies, has experienced post-pandemic problems of acquiring new employees. Our biggest hurdle has been finding new employees willing to work full time. Shipping has also been a problem with inconsistent pickup and drop-off to retailers.

What did you do to address it?

We decided to automate as much as possible to address this problem for the short term, as well as long term. We addressed this by taking on more shipping companies, increasing our choices thus increasing efficiencies.

What has been your biggest lesson learned?

Imperium’s growth has been exhilarating yet challenging over the years. Our biggest obstacle in the early days was lead generation as a generalist agency. After selecting a niche, it has been ensuring the right team and systems are in place to meet the high demand of our sub-brand, Blue Collar Marketing. As a digital marketing agency, delivering consistent services and responsive customer service is vital. So we have needed to adapt immensely with the growing number of active projects in our pipeline.

What did you do to address it?

Niched down: We chose a niche that we are passionate about and knowledgeable in. Choosing to focus our efforts on the blue collar industry was the single best decision we have made.

Hiring strategy: We introduced hiring signals to identify when new talent was needed, ensuring

we’re always staffed appropriately. Internal focus weeks: We dedicated specific weeks to refine our business practices, optimizing standard operating procedures and systems. Team check-ins: Weekly meetings were set up to monitor project progress and pinpoint areas for improvement. Financial planning: Monthly finance meetings ensured we smartly allocated resources for growth and operations. These steps have allowed us to be agile and continue commitment to quality as we grow.

What has been your biggest lesson learned?

The biggest lesson we learned was that niching down doesn’t limit your potential client pool, it allows you to experience rapid growth. Since then, it has been recognizing that the strength of our company is anchored in the capabilities of every team member. Additionally, having robust systems in place and understanding financials has allowed for sustainable scaling without setbacks.

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Automate as much as possible in order to stay competitive.

It’s better to take on a variety of companies with the same product to do business with on a daily basis, this increases productivity and consistency.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?

EASTERN ONTARIO BUSINESS JOURNAL FALL 2023

10-14 YEARS OLD 5-9 EMPLOYEES

2023 FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES

Plan A Kingston & Quinte Plan A is a staffing, strategy and technology company based in the senior-care sector, specializing in long-term care and retirement facilities.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?

The changes and challenges surrounding the post-pandemic workforce. It seems it’s no longer a custom to read pertinent details about the organization, location or job description of the role that one is applying to. Due to this, much time is spent reviewing incomplete applications. In addition, much money is spent on advertising and job boards only to have the same applicant’s apply to multiple job postings. In an attempt to capitalize on the already spent dollars, we ensure to reach out to the applicants via phone and email followups on several occasions only for the applicant to be unreachable.

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What did you do to address it?

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We are continuously attempting new strategies in our recruitment efforts from our marketing, messaging, location of information, job descriptions, and refinement of the hiring process, which has grown to include a “screening” phone call to discuss important information related to the position being offered, the organization offering the employment and the applicant’s required skills/experience. We have implemented an A-Wellness bonus, which directly benefits our employees. The A-Wellness program is in lieu of traditional benefits to ensure that the wide range of individuals that we employ

PRESENTED BY

Convergence Design Services Convergence offers complete design solutions for aerospace, electrical vehicle/robotics, AI, Smart IoT 5G, acoustic, mechanical, hardware, software and production/certifications.

THREE-YEAR REVENUE GROWTH

229.6% KINGSTON

1-4 YEARS OLD 50-99 EMPLOYEES are able to benefit from this program as a direct result of their hard work and support to our partnered homes. We also implemented an EAP program and are in the process of an RRSP-matching program all to make our offering more unique.

What has been your biggest lesson learned?

The biggest lesson learned is that every thing, moment and person is an opportunity to continue learning, growing and gaining new perspectives. As an entrepreneur, one must ensure to continue evolving with both introspection and extrospection.

ABOVE: Sarah Cadorette, co-owner LEFT: Betty Lauzon, co-owner

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?

Balancing hiring the best technical engineers to fit our culture while managing complex electrical/ mechanical projects for everything from aerospace/military (CanArm3, lunar, tanks, airplanes) to electric vehicle/robotics designs. Having a strong engineering team in place to help our customers succeed in their project goals translates to larger work packages. Ultimately what happens is Convergence becomes a supportive on-demand engineering team for any company.

THREE-YEAR REVENUE GROWTH

107.821% ARNPRIOR

1-4 YEARS OLD 10-19 EMPLOYEES

What did you do to address it?

By creating a culture of collaboration, consistency and creativity. The best engineers always want to work with other strong teams to further learn and grow on challenging projects. Trust in your team and foster an environment of information sharing/mentoring. The other key ingredient is fun. We always have numerous office events from concerts, whitewater rafting, office lunches, birthday celebrations, coffee walks, gym days, outdoor adventures, etc. to keep our team united and engaged. We spend the majority of our time working in our lifetime, so you have a duty as a leader to make it the most enjoyable and beneficial for your staff.

What has been your biggest lesson learned?

Always invest in talent, equipment and partnerships. Finding the best talent and always having a line of sight

Benjamin Seaman, president

to your next-level team player while growing your current team’s skill set.

We will support our team’s personal development growth for anything from PMP certification to complex analysis tools. Also we always ensure our engineers have access to the most modern test equipment to allow them to learn and grow so we re-invest in complex equipment like EMI chambers, thermal chambers, spectrum analyzers/ high speed scopes, 3D scanners, EV build stations, etc. Convergence would not have been successful without partnering with other like-minded engineering teams in a collaborative approach. We all work together for a common goal of creating the strongest technical solution for our customers for their budgets/timelines.

2023 FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES

PRESENTED BY

SnapCab Canada Snapcab is an office pod and elevator interior manufacturer. It provides businesses custom telephone booths, meeting and work spaces for employees and elevator interior panelling.

PEOPLE MATTER: Great service depends on great people at Wills Transfer.

Wills Transfer Limited

FASTEST-GROWING LARGE COMPANY + FASTEST-GROWING ESTABLISHED COMPANY

Wills Transfer Ltd. provides innovative logistics solutions that contribute to customers’ success.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?

THREE-YEAR REVENUE GROWTH

31.71%

SMITHS FALLS

What did you do to address it?

50+ YEARS OLD 100-249 EMPLOYEES What has been your biggest lesson learned?

Our biggest lesson learned, which coincides with one of our core company values, is that people matter. We need to have good facilities and good equipment, but, ultimately, how well we provide our services comes down largely to the quality of the people we have in our facilities operating our equipment. If we have competent, well-trained, engaged employees, we will provide a better service than if we don’t.

Process improvement in the manufacturing environment while the company is experiencing fast growth can be quite challenging.

What did you do to address it?

We addressed it partly by overhiring to ensure that we can dedicate resources for training and process improvement.

What has been your biggest lesson learned?

It is important to focus on the business processes very early on while the company is still growing to ensure that we can scale up very quickly with increased sales.

THREE-YEAR REVENUE GROWTH

20%

KINGSTON

10-14 YEARS OLD 20-49 EMPLOYEES

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As a company we devoted more resources to HR. We hired more HR staff, including our current human resources director. We have worked on further documenting job descriptions, talent management and succession planning. We have continued to conduct employee engagement surveys to assess our working environment and staff satisfaction. We have increased our efforts in staff training and improved internal communications with leadership huddles, toolbox talks, etc. We have used outside agencies to supply some staffing requirements and used these sources as a way of evaluating potential new full-time employees. Ultimately, we strive to make Wills Transfer a good place to work so that we retain staff and are not faced with having to constantly look to replace leaving staff.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?

EASTERN ONTARIO BUSINESS JOURNAL FALL 2023

Our biggest challenge during this period of growth has been related to people. Specifically, attracting and retaining suitable staff for our operations. This was complicated by the occurrence of COVID, which affected the labour pool at a time when we needed more staff.

Glenn Bostock, CEO and founder

2023 FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES

PRESENTED BY

PiiComm PiiComm is a managed mobility services provider to companies across Canada.

Customers use PiiComm to simplify the managing, scaling and protection of their enterprise’s mobile devices.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?

EASTERN ONTARIO BUSINESS JOURNAL FALL 2023

When experiencing rapid growth, scheduling becomes the foremost challenge. For instance, one of our managed mobility services involves deploying new mobile devices for our clients. This necessitates having sufficient physical space to accommodate potentially thousands of devices, along with trained personnel to stage, kit and securely ship each one. Without meticulous scheduling, we risk running into space and personnel constraints.

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What did you do to address it?

At PiiComm, our mission is to ensure that employees have the appropriate mobile technology to work productively from any location. When the pandemic struck and companies mandated remote work, our workload surged significantly.

Recognizing the need for more space, both for operations and staff safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic, PiiComm made the strategic decision to acquire additional warehouse space. We tailored this space to align with our specific business Rick Robillard, CEO

THREE-YEAR REVENUE GROWTH

requirements. We’re fortunate to have an exceptional team of on-site professionals located near our facilities, which streamlines scheduling. Additionally, we emphasize cross-training, enabling each team member to contribute to multiple divisions as demand fluctuates.

2.04%

PLANTAGENET

What has been your biggest lesson learned?

Taking good care of your people is paramount. As someone from a smalltown background, I’ve always held this belief, but during high-growth phases in business, its importance becomes even more evident. Most business challenges can be resolved relatively swiftly, but people-related issues tend to be multifaceted and long term. Whether an individual is grappling with personal challenges or facing difficulties at work, we’re committed to providing support.

Moreover, our facilities are located in

15-19 YEARS OLD 50-99 EMPLOYEES a rural area of Eastern Ontario and we actively invest in the broader community, extending our impact beyond our employees. PiiComm engages summer students, offers bursaries in partnership with local high schools, and makes annual contributions to the United Way of Eastern Ontario.

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Amazon’s new warehouse in Belleville is hiring, thanks to help from Ontario East Economic Development Commission Member Quinte Economic Development Commission calls the work they do a “team sport” Belleville has a new employer — and a critical link in Eastern Ontario’s supply chain — thanks to a hot tip from a commercial realtor.

The tip went to Quinte Economic Development Commission (QEDC), a member of the Ontario East Economic Development Commission (Ontario East), a regional marketing organization representing Eastern Ontario communities

that attracts and retains investment and talent in key employment sectors.

A few months earlier, the QEDC’s economic development officer Vicki Bristow Ferguson had put the land where the warehouse now stands on the realtor’s radar for another project, but it wasn’t the right fit.

When Amazon’s developer called a couple of months later in September of

2021, the realtor reached out to find out if it was still available. It turned out to be the goldilocks solution.

“Bringing Amazon to Belleville will create a ripple effect of economic growth and prosperity across the region for years to come,” said QEDC’s CEO Chris King. “Local small businesses will benefit as they may get work at the facility, like plumbers, painters or electricians.”

Once the match was made with Amazon, the QEDC handed it off to the city for the next steps.

“Our role is to bring them those projects,” said King. “Then the city engages in conversations with the investors when the time is right.”

The process for building a 1.1 million square foot building in under two years went smoothly for everyone involved, with the warehouse opening its doors this fall and sparking hundreds of jobs in the region.

“Developers said they appreciated the process of working with the City of Belleville on permitting and approvals and construction of the project,” said Ferguson.

“They said they wanted to take our process and apply it to other sites.”

The road to success sounds simple enough, but developing the kind of relationships with key local influencers that Ontario East members can nurture into a big project is just one part of the “team sport” of economic development.

How QEDC and Ontario East leverage industry clusters to attract and retain investment The team rightly identified Amazon as a good fit for the region due to the existing transportation, logistics and manufacturing clusters in Eastern Ontario.

It gives manufacturers another option for putting their products on the market.

Seeing the big picture is essential for teams like the QEDC and Ontario East when it comes to identifying viable prospects. That’s why the QEDC conducts target market studies every four to five years to be sure prospects will be a good fit with the region’s overall economic landscape.

Bringing community stakeholders

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And what helps keep them here is the kind of affordability and the quality of life young families are looking for, adds King.

“The people these industries will hire want a place where they can raise their families,” he said. “In Eastern Ontario, the quality of life and smaller sized communities offer a lot on that front.”

But no amount of geographical advantages would work if it weren’t for the team spirit that stretches from communityto-community within eastern Ontario.

“We call it ‘coopetition’,” said Ferguson.

Which means they cooperate while also

competing with each other for the same investments — like working on strategy as a team by deciding which trade shows to attend for lead generation.

One of the core reasons the Ontario East Economic Development Commission’s efforts have paid off is their commitment to bringing people who used to work in isolation together to solve problems and share solutions that affect the entire region.

“Having that unified front makes it easier to put our best foot forward,” said Ferguson. “The word is out now about Eastern Ontario.”

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Why industry loves Eastern Ontario It’s not enough to attract industry to the region. Ontario East and its members throughout the region also work hard at keeping them here.

One of Eastern Ontario’s biggest draws for both attraction and retention is being located on the 401 — a major transportation corridor — and its central proximity to big markets like Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and the Northeast region of the U.S.

But no amount of geographical advantages would work if it weren’t for the team spirit that stretches from community-to-community within eastern Ontario.

EASTERN ONTARIO ONTARIO BUSINESS BUSINESS JOURNAL JOURNAL FALL FALL 2023 2023 EASTERN

together for these studies is how they can identify opportunities that will bring the most value to the region and its existing players.

Outside of manufacturing and logistics, food processing is another cluster Ontario East and its partners are focusing on.

That includes processing plants, a robust transportation and logistics sector with refrigerated trucks, and local agriculture.

“We’re very fortunate to have companies in our regions like Lactalis, who have a Black Diamond cheese plant in Belleville that sources milk from local dairy farmers,” said King, underpinning the importance of these large industry partnerships to the local community.

The success of these partnerships is no doubt influenced by Ferguson’s decadelong presence with the Ontario Food Cluster team, a pan-Ontario membershipdriven organization that attracts food industry opportunities to the province.

She recently became co-chair of the organization, representing Ontario East.

Ferguson’s incredible impact on the local region recently garnered her recognition from her peers, who named her the Ontario East EDO of the Year (economic development officer of the year for 2023).

“I was very flattered and pleased,” said Ferguson. “Being honoured with this award was a surprise, but it means a lot and I am very humbled.”

While her extensive background in B2B sales no doubt helps her excel at her job, her passion for Quinte Region may be what has sustained it for more than a decade.

“What could be better that selling than the fantastic place I call home?” said Ferguson.

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have objections or reservations.

Once the connection is made, they lay out the facts and evidence.

“We can’t pretend to know or predict what people with disabilities may need,” said Vanikiotis. “It’s why we need Joël and the PPRC professional community.”

Vanikiotis says Dazé’s approach makes it easy for her to feel comfortable reaching out when she has a question or needs a reminder.

“We want to be mindful of peoples’ needs while remembering that it’s okay to need practice sometimes,” said Vanikiotis. “Joël does a great job of explaining things the average person doesn’t think about in day-today interactions.”

Joël Dazé, rehabilitation consultant and adaptive technology specialist with PPRC and Angela Vanikiotis, director of talent management with the Royal Canadian Mint. Photo credit: Ellen Bond @ellenbondphoto

EASTERN ONTARIO BUSINESS JOURNAL FALL 2023

At The Canadian Mint, connection creates inclusion

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Surprising and delighting people at work isn’t easy to do — especially when they’re used to encountering barriers.

But the Canadian Mint’s director of talent, Angela Vanikiotis, knows how. Back in 2015 when she was working at The Senate, Kelly Mertl introduced her to Linda Simpson at Performance Plus Rehabilitative Care (PPRC), an organization that helps connect people with disabilities to the right employer.

Lately, Vanikiotis has been consulting with Joël Dazé, who is PPRC’s bilingual team lead for the employer liaison team as well as PPRC’s adaptive technology specialist, to future proof her human resources strategy.

The Mint wants to create a working environment that goes beyond compliance.

It’s why their DEI ALL IN action plan launched in 2021 includes an accessibility action plan focusing on allyship, building partnerships and learning & development, to name a few.

In the spirit of “Nothing about us without

us,” they were sure to consult people with disabilities to help design their action plan.

They found it at PPRC, where over 73 per cent of the team identifies as living with a disability.

“We’re thinking about it as all-inclusive, universal and barrier free every step of the way,” said Vanikiotis.

Dazé says the Mint is future-proofing its operations by enabling a steady flow of talent with lived experience who can one day enter leadership positions.

Start with a strong foundation The work wouldn’t be possible without the relationship Dazé and Vanikiotis have built.

“Angela and I are just two people coming together with a curious mindset and positive ideas,” said Dazé, who said finding common ground is the first step in building those relationships.

It’s why the Disability Awareness and Accessibility advocates from PPRC — like Dazé — make a point of acknowledging where employers are coming from if they

It’s time for delight After a strong foundation is built, the real fun can begin.

“Accessibility is about making people feel welcome by creating an environment they can navigate with a sense of comfort,” said Dazé.

“It’s making sure people know, ‘We gotcha,’.”

The Mint is poised to create that environment by going beyond what the Accessible Canada Act requires them to do.

The goal is to anticipate their future employees’ needs. “We want to delight people rather than checking off boxes,” said Vanikiotis.

The result will give applicants and employees with disabilities a pleasant surprise, similar to what Dazé felt 20 years ago the first time a server handed him a braille menu in a restaurant unprompted.

One of the biggest drivers at the Mint to go beyond compliance is knowing that many applicants are reluctant to disclose their disability in the first place. Vanikiotis wants people to know it’s safe to do so.

As Dazé continues his work with the Mint, PPRC continues to reach more employers.

“Our job is to reach everyone, including those employers who are on the fence or had bad experiences because they were well intentioned, but didn’t have a plan or the resources,” he said. “We have to keep talking to them and finding those points of connection.”

Dazé added that his faith in the Mint’s commitment to eliminating barriers for people with disabilities at work comes from their attitude.

“It’s intended and it’s deliberate, and that’s what really inspires action,” he said.

STUFF

20 surprising things Eastern Ontario is well-known for agriculture, but it is also an incubator for manufactured, designed and built items. From new dairy products to innovative eco-friendly tools, we highlight 10 items being produced in the region. Check out the full list of 20 in our upcoming STUFF publication. BY BRIAN DRYDEN

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Consumer favourite

2

Protecting heroes

Located in the picturesque landscape of the Kawartha Lakes in Lindsay, TS Manufacturing has established itself as a leading force in the manufacturing industry. Since 1972, it has been a pioneer in designing, engineering and constructing equipment for sawmill companies across North America.

With subsidiary companies located in North Carolina and British Columbia, the company’s reach has expanded, solidifying its status in the industry.

Its team is comprised of more than 100 skilled professionals, including millwrights, welders, electricians, CNC operators, engineers, mechanical designers and onsite installation crews.

5

A leader in funeral supplies 3 applications. The armour for men and women is built with comfort in mind and provides bullet, stab and fragmentation protection, as well as well-designed hard-armour plates, pouches, ballistic blankets and unloading stations.

Established in 1984, its team applies nearly four decades of product development and Canadian body armour manufacturing experience to Canadians serving on the front lines 2 of military operations or policing the

streets of our communities.

With proud roots originally in Western Canada, PSP is located in the heart of the Ottawa Valley, just west of Ottawa in a nearly 50,000-square-foot facility.

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Locked and loaded home frames Kingston’s Lodestar Structures recently introduced a new line of precast concrete modular building units specifically designed for residential use called the Lodestar Residential Series. According to Lodestar, what sets its new series apart from other building methods is its focus on the needs and concerns of homeowners.

With construction costs on the rise and a shortage of skilled labour in the construction industry, the latest product provides a rapid construction option that can go from foundation to the primary frame of a traditional house in a single day, allowing projects

A multi-generational family business in Lindsay is becoming known internationally for its unique environment-friendly burial caskets.

From its start in 1925, Northern Casket has become a premier funeral supply manufacturer and distributor of caskets as well as urns, furniture, embalming fluids and “green” burial products. Its Enviro-CasketTM line was developed in the late 1990s using only poplar and ash wood has become known-worldwide. The caskets have no metal, no chemicals and all-natural materials. They are assembled using peg and dowel assembly and feature unbleached, undyed cottons for the interiors. The two higher-end models get a tongue oil finish while the rest is left all natural with no finish or lacquers. Northern Casket also owns patents on an all-wood hinge and all-wood locking mechanism used for the enviro-casket models and ships its products to the U.S., Ireland, Bermuda and beyond.

Continues on p.42

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Pacific Safety Products (PSP) is based in the Ottawa Valley and makes safety gear for the military and police services. Its mission, it states, “is simple … we bring everyday heroes home safely.”

PSP designs, manufactures, sells and supports a line of highperformance, high-quality body armour for police, defence and security

4

Sawmill equipment

EASTERN ONTARIO BUSINESS JOURNAL FALL 2023

Award-winning Mariposa Dairy Ltd. in Lindsay has grown from a 100-acre goat farm making goat cheese to a thriving business with two facilities totaling more than 80,000 square feet of production, shipping and warehouse space.

Mariposa Dairy produces premium consumer-label goat and sheep cheese products, such as logs, feta, crumbles and more, and delivers its products throughout North America.

On May 31, 2023, its newest product — sheep logs with lavender honey and made with 100 per cent Ontario sheep milk — received two major awards from the Retail Council of Canada, including best in dairy and overall consumer value.

to be completed quicker with fewer resources.

The series is also designed to accommodate the most common residential footprint and designs, while meeting both residential and commercial construction regulations.

STUFF

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Out of this world stuff

EASTERN ONTARIO BUSINESS JOURNAL FALL 2023

What is cooler than being involved with NASA and the Space Shuttle?

Maybe making space exploration safe. Quatrosense Environmental Ltd. (QEL) is a leader in manufacturing toxic and combustible gas detection equipment. Commercial applications include carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide monitoring in parking garages, and carbon dioxide monitoring in schools and auditoriums. Industrial applications include ammonia monitoring in the agricultural industry, carbon dioxide and ammonia monitoring in the food and beverage industry and monitoring toxic and combustible gases for the United Space Alliance, aerospace industry. One of QEL’s most noteworthy alliances is with NASA and the United Space Alliance (USAOS where its products have been critical to the safety and integrity of the U.S. Shuttle Program. Founded in 1986 with a strong commitment to research and development, QEL is located in an 18,000 square foot head office and factory in Richmond, just outside of Ottawa.

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7

It’s crunch time Wonton Crunch, a proudly Smiths Falls-based food company, is making waves in the culinary world with its crunchy 7 wontons.

In just eight years, and after the invention of its own wontonfolding machine named Grace’s Goose, it’s grown by 1,000 per cent. The company transforms Asian-inspired flavours into crispy, addictive bites in flavours such as jalapeno and cream cheese, spicy buffalo chicken and coriander pork.

Wonton Crunch champions sources ingredients from nearby farms, promoting sustainable practices.

The snacks are available at Farm Boy (under the Farm Boy label) and Metro locations across Ontario.

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Standard of excellence For the fourth time in the last six years, KI Canada Inc. furniturebuilding plant in Pembroke has been chosen as the plant of the year within the KI Corporation, which also operates several factories in the United States. “Consistently winning this award is an attestation to the dedication and pride of our employees,” said Dan Mellen, Pembroke’s general manager.

KI Canada Inc. produces steel office filing and storage and has been operating in Pembroke for 24 years. KI itself was founded in 1941 manufacturer who knows the furniture industry and is committed to providing customers with the right solutions. KI in Pembroke is a standalone division of KI (Krueger International) of Green Bay, Wis. The 265,000-square-foot building in Eastern Ontario processes raw materials into finished products, which are in a wide variety of commercial, industrial and educational environments around the world.

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Nature’s wild tea For more than 20 years, the Algonquin Tea Company in Eganville made herbal teas from the plants that grow in Algonquin Park. In 2021, it

changed its name to Wild Canadian Tea, and expanded its offerings to include caffeinated teas. The company began because of the peacefulness of the wilderness that inspires its owners. According to Wild Tea, “Isn’t that what drinking tea is all about? Being present.

Taking a few minutes to stop time, and acknowledge the now moment, whatever it may be?”

gardening soils and landscaping.

Wood residues constitute almost half of the residual waste materials slated for landfill sites. BRC ensures their safe removal and disposal, allowing suppliers to save considerable landfill costs and to put their waste materials to good use as energy-generating residues and other useful materials in our local economy.

Tranforming waste into energy

COMING...

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BIOMASS RECYCLE Canada Inc. (BRC), which operates in the Ottawa Valley, offers a service that diverts more than 250,000 metric tonnes of waste wood and lumber annually from landfill sites and forwards it to industrial processors. It transforms the waste into energy and other added value organic materials for agriculture and horticulture uses such as composts, mulch, animal litter,

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Wildfire protection Barging into business Sip some delicious watermelon Transforming Canadian Oats Brewing up history in Smiths Falls Serious boats Aged to perfection in Kingston Solve. Design. Deliver.

Braids that bind Voltari: Electric perfection on water

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