Ottawa Business Journal 20150302

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BIA buzz grows in Stittsville What do a brewery and a picture framing store have in common?

They are among those calling for a united business front to help market their west-end community > PAGE 3

March 2, 2015 Vol. 18, NO. 8

For daily business news visit obj.ca

‘Startup croquet’

That’s how columnist Jeffrey Dale refers to the frustrating game entrepreneurs must play to earn government funding. Find out why. > PAGE 8

Legacy of caring

Friends and colleagues pay tribute to renowned tech mentor Adam Chowaniec, who died last month at age 64.

Nick Lagasse, assistant manager of Bushtukah in Westboro, says the store has plenty of bikes for sale, but no one’s buying right now. PHOTO BY COLE BURSTON

The cold, hard facts of life in Ottawa

> PAGES 12-13

With consumers in hibernation mode, many local businesses are feeling the chill

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But the news isn’t all bad: travel agents and restaurants that deliver say they are having a red-hot start to 2015 > PAGE 14

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MARKETING

Who are Ottawa’s startups to watch?

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Putting Stittsville on the map West-end community is more than just a ‘sleepy little place,’ say local biz owners pushing for a BIA

BY DAVID SALI

david@greatriver.ca

T

he 18 business improvement areas within Ottawa’s city limits currently span from Orleans in the east to Carp Village in the west, but Stittsville is nowhere to be found on that list.

John vanDyk would like that to change.

The owner of the Covered Bridge Brewing Company says a BIA would give small businesses in the west-end community a boost by helping spread the word that there’s more to the area than just big-box stores.

“I think it’s a great way to sort of raise awareness in the community for local businesses, but also for local businesses to connect,” he says from his brewery on Iber Road.

Mr. vanDyk, a former Health Canada employee who took a leap of faith into the beer business in late 2013, says his products are now served in about a dozen pubs around the city and at his own retail outlet.

He sold about 50,000 litres of suds in his first year of operation and forged successful partnerships with a number of other locally owned enterprises. For example, Covered Bridge produces a coffee-flavoured beer using beans from the Gaia Java Coffee Company, located a short drive away on Main Street.

“We find that those connections have really worked well for us because, you

John vanDyk owns the Covered Bridge Brewing Company in Stittsville. PHOTO BY COLE BURSTON

“There’s no collective business voice in the community. I think we’ve seen in other areas where there are business associations that they are able to have a focused strategy and … be able to make sure their views are heard.”

– STITTSVILLE MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT GLEN GOWER

know, they might have a slightly different clientele than us, but it helps to expose us to their clientele and vice-versa,” Mr. vanDyk says. It’s a great way of just supporting each other.”

Those sentiments are echoed by Amy Walker, who owns Walkerworks Picture Framing with her husband Jim. “I think (a BIA) would be great,” she says.

She notes such an organization would be able to promote more events like the

“Support Local Stittsville” initiative that was held in early December, during which 23 businesses in the community teamed up to encourage residents to shop locally.

“There are a lot of people who don’t realize what’s right here,” Ms. Walker says.

“People drive down the street with tunnel vision.”

Mr. vanDyk says the December event drew people into his brewery who never knew it was there before. He senses a growing appetite for local goods, and thinks

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a BIA would have the clout and resources to run regular, well-organized promotional campaigns to feed that interest.

“I think a lot of it is just getting people to realize what’s there,” he says. “I think people think of (Stittsville) as a sleepy little place. If you really look around, there’s so much stuff going on. (Shoppers) don’t need to go downtown Ottawa for everything.

There’s lots right in their backyard.”

Stittsville Coun. Shad Qadri says he is in “preliminary discussions” with local businesses and the Stittsville Village Association to gauge the community’s support for such a group.

“As a former small businessman, I definitely see merits in a BIA,” he says.

According to marketing communications consultant Glen Gower, who writes a community blog and helped promote the Support Local Stittsville event, most local businesses see the benefits of banding together to help promote the area and bring major issues, such as the proliferation of big-box stores, to the attention of municipal politicians.

“There’s no collective business voice in the community,” he says. “I think we’ve seen in other areas where there are business associations that they are able to have a focused strategy and … be able to make sure their views are heard.”

But not everyone is convinced that a BIA is the best way to do that, he adds.

The associations are funded through a city-imposed levy that varies by member depending on the commercial assessment value of a business’s property, the annual budget of the organization and the total value of commercial assessment in the BIA’s coverage area. Some businesses wonder if the cost would be worth it, Mr. Gower says.

“My sense from talking to people is they would like to have a co-ordinated approach,” he says. “Whether it’s a BIA or not, I don’t think there’s any consensus there.”

03 OBJ.CA

EDUCATION

Looking for local business data? VISIT OBJ.CA AND CLICK “BOOK OF LISTS DATABASES” IN THE MORE BOX.

Algonquin College student Nabila Hadibi (above left) works with Jim Myronyk, co-ordinator of the college’s business intelligence system infrastructure program, on a software demo. Below, BISI graduate Pawel Rembisz was part of a team that designed a new custom web solution that reinvented the province’s screening process for newborns. PHOTOS BY MICHAEL ROBINSON

A more intelligent approach to business

single year in combination with an option to pursue a 15-week co-op placement.

“The key to our success is keeping a pulse on the marketplace,” says Mr. Myronyk, adding a major component of the program is the hands-on use of technology to tackle real-life problems.

Student teams are matched with a corporate client to deliver a proof-ofconcept technical model to address the organization’s business intelligence needs.

“At first, (the screening program) had Insulated with data visualization tools, the a huge Excel sheet, copying and pasting client is then free to implement the solution data from one spot to another,” says Mr. at its leisure.

Rembisz. “Staff were creating pivot tables (a Students such as Steven Conrad say they tool in Excel that allows users to view data he explains. The one-year Graduate thrived when confronting the daunting task in different ways) upwards of 10 times in Certificate program prepares students for of delivering a challenging product to a real order to find the relevant information they careers requiring specialized technical customer in a short time frame. were looking for.” business intelligence knowledge, from “Our objective was to generate data But nine months later, the student team accessing complex databases to managing reports in a timely manner, but also to be had created practical software capable reports with the goal of providing companies able to look at that same data from different of collating reporting spreadsheets from with a competitive advantage. ways, analyzing what performance looks different systems and data structures.

In the first three years, enrolment has like and answer the question: what are the This allowed the screening program’s doubled to 30, and the program now has drivers in this organization and how do they researchers to identify trends that would more than 50 students on a wait list, says Mr. make the best decision moving forward?” have otherwise remained hidden in Myronyk. says Mr. Conrad, who was teamed with Mr. traditional spreadsheets.

“There is a larger-than-ever demand Rembisz on the newborn screening project “We are training our students to decide for resources and people who can perform and now works at CHEO full-time. “It adds whether or not data is noise or relevant quick ‘Big Data’ analysis turnaround times,” real value to the clients who are struggling information,” says Jim Myronyk, the cohe says. to develop infrastructure because we can ordinator of Algonquin’s BISI program.

While other Ontario colleges are provide with them with some indicators as With the help of IBM Cognos Enterprise beginning to embrace information to how to make the best decisions.” software, students are trained to make management, Algonquin is one of the very Both Mr. Conrad and Mr. Rembisz say “different data points talk to one another,” few to offer a course timetable lasting only a the project allowed them to explore a new

Algonquin College program helping web developers reinvent ‘Big Data’ analysis

BY MICHAEL ROBINSON SPECIAL TO OBJ

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2015

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OBJ.CA

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ike most post-secondary students, Algonquin College’s Pawel Rembisz spent most of his time at school working in front of a computer screen.

But instead of writing essays or reviewing PowerPoint lecture slides, the former web developer was coding a custom web solution that would reinvent the province’s screening process for newborns.

A student in the college’s business intelligence system infrastructure program, Mr. Rembisz and three other classmates had been assigned to create a custom data summary tool for Newborn Screening Ontario. Located at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, the provincially funded program co-ordinates the screening of newborns from across Ontario, testing these infants for rare diseases as early as a day after birth.

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“It adds real value to the clients who are struggling to develop infrastructure because we can provide them with some indicators as to how to make the best decisions.”

– STEVEN CONRAD, A STUDENT IN ALGONQUIN’S BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM

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field while implementing core business intelligence technology. Mr. Myronyk couldn’t agree more.

“I am always impressed with the idea that big data was born in business, but now, it has migrated to every domain,” he says. “A company above a certain size has to look at this in order to stay competitive.”

So far, BISI students have been placed at CHEO, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and internally throughout Algonquin College.

“This partnership was a true win-win,” says Michael Pluscauskas, the director of the Newborn Screening Ontario project. “We were able to move from a vague concept to a proof of concept through prototype in record time. This model … worked so well we are looking to replicate it for other projects we are pursuing both at (Newborn Screening Ontario) and other parts of CHEO.” Still, he was hesitant to attach a dollar amount to the team’s data warehouse-based cost-saving method of data analysis.

“Our metrics on this project tend not to be measured (that) way … although the overall insights we get can help lead to improved efficiency,” he says. “Our main issues are patient care, improving our screening algorithms and working with our submitters to improve turnaround times for samples.”

However, despite his positive experience with both BISI and CHEO, Mr. Rembisz says he has found that the health-care system likely isn’t ready to embrace data exchanges between health teams on a large scale. He says the industry is still wary after having been previously crippled by security, privacy and confidentiality concerns.

Health care is still a difficult field for entrepreneurs to enter, notes Mr. Rembisz, who now works as a data scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. “Right now across the country, you have healthcare programs that are running side-by-side with similar data streams, but they are not connected.”

However, he adds that new technology is starting to open up more opportunities.

“But now with our product, we can now share and consolidate that data … allowing the experts to see the bigger picture.”

TECHNOLOGY Two weeks in the Valley Ottawa entrepreneurs call trip to California to meet investors and fellow startups a ‘life-changing event’ In February, a group of entrepreneurs based at Invest Ottawa headed to the startup mecca of Silicon Valley to meet with venture capitalists and find out more about life in the big leagues of high-tech. During their two-week trip, they toured world-renowned accelerators such as the Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale, Calif., dined at the home of FormVerse CEO and angel investor Kirk Deininger and rubbed shoulders with dozens of other businesspeople from around the world who share their dream of building the next generation of tech juggernauts.

Though they didn’t land any immediate seven-figure deals, they say the knowledge they gained and the network of contacts they made could prove invaluable down the road.

OBJ print editor David Sali recently sat down with three of these entrepreneurs –

Treasure Chest Marketplace founder George Borovec, Zination CEO David Ker and Aetonix founder Michel Paquet – to talk about their experiences. Here is an edited version of the conversation.

OBJ: What did you learn from this trip?

GEORGE BOROVEC: It literally is like coming back with a secret knowledge that you can only get by being there. It’s up to us to share that with everybody else now. The rules that we learn here do not apply there – on multiple levels. (Potential investors and VCs) have a full grasp of what we do within seconds. You can tell them, ‘Here’s what we do’ and they know what you need to do next, what you need to do in terms of getting to the exit. They know what it’s gonna take, peoplewise, moneywise, almost instantly.

From left, George Borovec of Treasure Chest Marketplace, Aetonix founder Michel Paquet and Zighra’s Deepak Dutt were among local businessmen who toured Silicon Valley. PHOTO SUPPLIED.

MICHEL PAQUET: I really believe it was a life-changing event for me. I’ve been to the Valley before a hundred times with previous companies. But going as an entrepreneur, being immersed in 30,000 other startups, everybody is trying to help each other, and investors are actually there also as mentors and giving you feedback on how you should do business in the Valley, which is very different. For us, it was a crash course in two weeks on becoming a successful entrepreneur.

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launch it and to be successful. Not that you second-guess yourself, but you’re a little bit risk-averse. When you go there, you realize there are many others like you, and the dream is really possible. We were at the TechCrunch (Crunchies Awards) and we went to see the best startups of 2014. You see those guys – they started from nothing to build companies that are worth billions.

You suddenly realize, your stuff is as good as theirs. You start to realize that we can do it.

We just have to be more self-confident and push it through.

GB: The mentality there that we don’t

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“When you’re here, you have a dream, which is to start your business and to launch it and to be successful. Not that you second-guess yourself, but you’re a little bit risk-averse. When you go there, you realize there are many others like you, and the dream is really possible.”– AETONIX FOUNDER MICHEL PAQUET see here is, ‘How can we help you?’ I don’t think there was a single person we met who didn’t say, ‘How can I can help you?

What do you need from me?’ That was the catalyst. From there, it was go, go, go.

OBJ: George, you mentioned after the trip that you had to be careful when making your pitches. If you asked for too little money, you might come across as out of touch, but if you requested too much, it might seem like you had an exaggerated view of your company. How did you manage to walk that tightrope?

GB: That happened to me the first night.

During the pitch, it finally came to, ‘How much capital do you need?’ I said, ‘We’re looking for a million dollars.’ And right away they replied with, ‘How about $5 million?’ I said, ‘That would also help.’

(Laughs.)

MP: We had great support from Invest Ottawa. (Vice-president of marketing and communications Jon Milne, who also attended) was always there to say, ‘You know what? You’ve got a great story. Let’s change it a little bit and move on.’ That was fantastic. It gave us a lot of enthusiasm and reach.

DAVID KER: We had a chance to meet so many people, coming from France, Brazil, India, Korea, Japan. They don’t stay there

permanently, but they have a footprint there. They have an office at Plug and Play, they do work from there. They want to help because it’s a place to do business. The best way to do business is to collaborate.

They’re not shy to come talk to you at all.

MP: This was tough work. We were in the Valley for about three days and it (already felt) like we were there for two weeks. The first day, I had a meeting at 7 a.m. It was really about collaboration amongst us.

GB: At the end of each day, we all came together at the house, relayed our stories, shared all that stuff, and went through any issues that did come up. The value you got out of those meetings … it was, ‘Here’s where you need to get to, and here’s what you need to do to get there.’ That is invaluable. And we all got it.

us and literally their thought was, ‘Yes, you are billion-dollar companies.’ The question next is, ‘How do we get you there?’

OBJ: So you really had to be on the ball when you making your pitches.

MP: The good news is, even if you (were asked for) information you don’t know, people make plays for you to come back to it. George and I met one group (of investors from Santa Cruz) five times. You could see their professionalism, analyzing what we were doing. It was amazing.

GB: One of them happened to be the BitTorrent co-founder (Ashwin Navin).

That was our final meeting. They valued

OBJ: Do you think our culture can change here in Canada to become more like that?

GB: It’s up to us. We all used our network to reach out to their network in the Valley.

You don’t need Invest Ottawa, you don’t need anything else. You can put it together yourself. Think out of the box about what it’s gonna take to get you there. It’s not that complicated. There’s a bit of work involved, but just get it done.

MP: There, entrepreneurs are seen as celebrities. If you’re an entrepreneur and you’re successful, everybody talks about you. It’s very different. When we went to (the Crunchies), it was really like going to the Oscars. It was really fun to watch. You see this and say, ‘I could be one of them.’

DK: Their ideas are mindblowing.

GB: A big part of that is, there is no inkling of, ‘You can’t do that.’

OBJ: Do you think initiatives like the Innovation Centre at Bayview Yards are going to change our collective mindset and make us more willing to take risks?

MP: It’s definitely a good step, but the reality is, we’re talking about 30,000 startups vs. a few hundred. There is a massive

difference between the two cultures. That’s not going to change overnight.

GB: Culture doesn’t come from a building.

It comes from everybody in that building.

I think that’s sort of where we’re a little behind. We need to push (entrepreneurs) together. As much as you put into your startup, you have to put into each other.

They do it there.

MP: At the end of the day, we’re here to create jobs. We need to get the support to make this happen – to break barriers.

DK: (Startups in the Valley) embrace failure.

And that is a big thing. Embracing failure doesn’t mean just the founder himself.

The culture accepts failure. They don’t see failure as (something) where you are completely down. They see failure as a way for you to keep going up. But they are smart about it as well. It’s not just failing for no reason.

OBJ: Any final advice to others who are thinking of doing a similar trip?

MP: You’re going there to meet people to start with. Don’t go there thinking you’re going to get a cheque. That’s not realistic. I think all of us came back here with the idea that our product could be global. There’s nothing stopping us. It’s just pushing, hard work, leadership, the right connections. It will happen.

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m i n i m i z e y o u r TA x E s

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Collectively, Canada’s various levels of government have invested more than a billion dollars in excellent startup programs designed to help companies grow faster and hire more people. But in the absence of a co-ordinated approach, as a whole they are far less effective than they could be

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‘Startup croquet’ a hard game to win In part five of his six-part series on the local economy, Jeffrey Dale says entrepreneurs face a maze of obstacles to get the funding they need

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2015

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hen I was seeking cash to fund a startup in 1999, I mentioned to an investor that “raising money for business is hard.”

He turned to me and said, “It should be. It’s not your money – it’s mine.”

Most companies need access to money, through equity or debt transactions, to fuel their growth. All companies have risk associated with them, and investors hate risks they cannot monitor and manage. The type of financing available to companies and the cost of that money varies depending on the type of business and the company’s stage of development.

Over the past few years, I have had the pleasure of speaking with entrepreneurs from across Canada.

Some of their startups have a talented team, a great idea whose time has come and a huge global market potential for their products or services.

These companies are called “gazelles”

because they move fast and can outrun everything else. Shopify is a great local example.

But gazelles make up fewer than five per cent of all startups. The rest might have great ideas, talented employers or plenty of market potential, but they aren’t able to put all those elements together, often due to a lack of money.

Entrepreneurs ask me all the time where to find capital to fund their startups. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer.

Canada has a large number of government programs that support startups with grants and loans. There are also angel investors for early-stage companies, venture capitalists for growth-stage enterprises, private equity for massive-growth firms and, finally, banks for when your business is up and running.

Angel investors tend to have the highest risk tolerance for investing,

while banks generally have the lowest.

Anyone who has ever run or owned a business knows banks are not the first place to ask for money.

Over the past 20 years, various levels of government have studied and analyzed how they can assist startups, and Canada now has dozens of government programs aimed at supporting entrepreneurs.

These include early-stage initiatives such as the National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Program; provincial and federal agencies that support collaborative research and development such as the Ontario Centres of Excellence; programs from the Business Development Bank of Canada that provide convertible loans and financing to startups; and the federal finance department’s Canada Accelerator and Incubator Program, which has invested in commercialization centres across Canada.

Others include Industry Canada’s Futurpreneur program that offers loans and mentors for youth businesses, and Export Development Canada’s resources to help small businesses expand internationally. The Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development

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runs accelerator programs for Canadian companies in the United States and Europe, while FedDev Ontario offers financing to companies once they have been profitable for 18 to 24 months.

This is just a sample of the government programs and grants available to startups.

The problem is, none of these programs are co-ordinated together.

Instead, they are just a hodgepodge of names that most entrepreneurs have never heard of. Even if startups do happen to know about them, they often don’t know where to find them.

Every company has to search for, apply to and report on each program separately. I call this “startup croquet,” after the lawn game where players navigate a ball through a series of wickets that are not aligned. Competitors can knock the ball out of the field of play, forcing opponents to start all over again.

Startups face a similar challenge when trying to access the myriad of government-sponsored assistance initiatives. Each requires entrepreneurs to navigate a different set of obstacles to reach their goal. Being successful at one program might not mean anything when applying for the next one.

The managers of these programs all say they are very interested in working with companies. When asked if they collaborate with other initiatives to streamline the application and reporting process, they tell me it’s a good idea, but they don’t have the mandate.

Collectively, Canada’s various levels of government have invested more than a billion dollars in excellent startup programs designed to help companies grow faster and hire more people. But in the absence of a co-ordinated approach, as a whole they are far less effective than they could be.

For example, BDC Capital offers $150,000 in convertible notes to startups that graduate and qualify from a preapproved list of accelerators. This great program has funded close to 100 startups over the past few years.

Its goal is to provide early-stage funding for companies, so that within 24 months they can secure further financing from other investors.

In reality, though, most of the companies in the program are not hitting the 24-month target to land that next round of investment. The biggest reason is they have to jump through far too many hoops to progress in their

development. Let’s face it, Canadians are cautious about spending money and many of these companies have to use the $150,000 to survive rather than thrive.

The BDC offering is one example of an individual initiative that could benefit greatly from being aligned with others.

Making all such programs part of one seamless process would allow startups to focus on growth and success, not to mention making them much more interesting to potential investors.

This sounds like a nice idea, but is it possible?

INTEGRATED APPROACH TO ACCELERATING STARTUP GROWTH I believe a limited trial could tie together a target group of federal programs for technology-based startups. IRAP, the Canada Accelerator and Incubator Program, BDC’s convertible loans, EDC’s small business financing and equity services and the Foreign Affairs Department’s Canadian technology accelerators could become part of one streamlined startup acceleration process that includes introducing these startups to the venture capitalists who received funding under the $400-million federal

Venture Capital Action Plan. I believe this system would have a much greater benefit to companies and accelerate their international growth.

Startups could access the programs and services during various stages of development using a single application process and an individual measure plan. There are 15 CAIP partners across Canada, each graduating between 12 and 36 high-quality candidate companies per year. These partners could create an intake approval and monitoring system to provide validation, assessment and oversight of all programs.

This approach would not require any additional government funding. In fact, it would be more cost-effective in the long run by ensuring that taxpayers’ money helps only those companies that achieve clearly defined benchmarks for success.

Now if we could just find that one program that wants to champion something new and change the status quo!

Jeffrey Dale is the director and co-founder of the Odawa Group as well as the former president of the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation.

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A bright idea for your business from the CTC Home of the Sens taps conservation programs for lighting overhaul

how technological advancements are improving the way we do things and making our lives a little bit better.”

Where you can start What saveONenergy programs can help your business cut its energy costs, just like the CTC did?

One place to start is the Small Business Lighting Program, in which up to $1,500 worth of lighting in your small business can be upgraded, at no cost

to you.

Another is the Retrofit Program, which the CTC used. This can cover up to 50 per cent of the cost for a project that will improve the energy efficiency of your business.

To learn more about these programs, and the full range of conservation programs that may be available for your business, please visit www.hydroottawa.com/business/conservation.

09 OBJ.CA

or small, don’t have to fund this kind of retrofit entirely out of their own pockets. They can take advantage of various energy conservation programs offered by the Province of Ontario in partnership with regional utilities, such as Hydro Ottawa. These saveONenergy programs were created for the express purpose of helping businesses replace the old equipment with the new energy efficient equipment.

The CTC replaced that 344-fixture system with 144 LEDs. The new LED system offers new features and better light quality while reducing operating and maintenance costs.

The changeover has allowed the CTC to cut its power consumption by one million kilowatt-hours a year.

That’s enough electricity to power almost 140 households.

“Upgrading our lighting system is another one of our hockey club’s initiatives under our #SensVision25 plan which will take us up to 2017, our 25th season in the National Hockey League,” said Cyril Leeder, President of Senator Sports and Entertainment. “It is a remarkable example of

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2015

Those old lighting fixtures may look innocent enough, but odds are, they are burning a hole in your pocket.

Incandescent, traditional fluorescent, and larger commercial/industrialgrade lighting such as metal halide and halogen—these lighting technologies consume a lot of energy and, for some applications, provide poor performance.

But upgrading or retrofitting an existing system in your business costs money. Despite the operational cost savings that can result, the upfront expense can be a tough pill to swallow.

Lighting up the CTC The Canadian Tire Centre (CTC), home of the Ottawa Senators, was no exception.

Lighting is key to the fan experience.

The CTC relied on a bulky system of metal halide and quartz halogen fixtures, 344 in all, that could take as long as 18 minutes to reach full strength.

This system was costly and complicated to operate. The CTC management decided it was time to upgrade to LEDs, or light emitting diodes.

Businesses in Ontario, be they large

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ABOVE AND BEYOND Budding technological entrepreneurs go “above and beyond” in uOttawa Engineering entrepreneurship competition

BY STEVE FOUCHARD

S “WHAT BLOWS ME AWAY IS IMAGINATION. IT’S ALL ABOUT TALENT.THERE ARE INDIVIDUALS THAT BLOW YOU AWAY MORE THAN OPPORTUNITIES. YOU CAN TRACE THE SUCCESS OF THOSE INDIVIDUALS.” — JOE IRVINE, U OF O’S TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AND BUSINESS ENTERPRISE OFFICE

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2015

Below: Dr. Claude Laguë, P.Eng., ing., Dean of the Faculty of Engineering with the second place team eCelery, Mathieu Jobin and Cyril Moukarzel

OBJ.CA

10

tudents in the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Engineering not only receive outstanding education in engineering and computer science, but also benefit from the Faculty’s strong commitment to the entrepreneurial spirit.

The uOttawa Engineering’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Endowment Fund was launched in 2007. It is a gift that continues to afford students the opportunity to exercise their imaginations and create new products and concepts through the annual Entrepreneurship Concepts Prizes in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (EC-PEI) student competition. The Faculty is also grateful to alumnus Michel Brûlé for Above: Fitzgerald Akhibi and Adam Badner from third place team, Insomnia Skis generously sponsoring the financial awards to the winners and participants of the EC-PEI. making the engineer of tomorrow think about all the In addition to offering cash prizes to the winning ideas, market aspects so they can have a much more productive the competition puts those ideas in front of a panel of career.” expert judges.

Dr. Anis says the competition is also a perfect place for students to develop vital interpersonal skills.

She adds that professional skills, which are developed THE SO IMPORTANT PROFESSIONAL throughout the students’ time in the program, are OR “SOFT” SKILLS extremely important as they enter the world of work.

Dr. Hanan Anis, Professor with the Faculty’s School of “These kids work hard,” she adds, “and a lot of them Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, who also are going above and beyond what they need for the teaches a course on mark; the mark is long gone; it was gone in December. entrepreneurship, They are really active and some of them have truly says even those become entrepreneurs.” students who are not destined to become THE WINNERS entrepreneurs will The Faculty recently hosted its eighth competition, where benefit from the three successful teams shared $10,000 in cash prizes and experience. “All benefitted from the judges’ constructive insights. engineers make First place and a $5,000 prize went to team Enplex a product. That for their “effortless networking” concept. The group product, if it’s have developed microchip-equipped bracelets that are innovative, then we triggered by the motion of handshakes and a related have benefitted. phone app. A record of each meeting is then sent to Some people talk users’ phones via Bluetooth and stored. about making “It feels fantastic. I’m really motivated and I work really the entrepreneur hard at these kinds of things,” says team member Cedric of tomorrow. I’m Eveleigh, who added that the cash prize will go a long thinking about way in the development process.

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“We really need that to start testing our product because, unlike most people, ours involves hardware, so it’s really important for us to get that kind of funding.”

Each presentation was subject to questions and critiques from an expert panel of judges.

“It was very constructive feedback,” Eveleigh says. “We’re going to start right away talking about what they were giving us. It was very helpful.”

Taking second place, and a $3,000 prize, was team eCelery. Inspired by a friend with a gluten sensitivity looking for an online social forum for those with special dietary needs, the team is working to create a space to discuss these issues and to share and store recipes.

“It feels pretty good,” says eCelery partner Cyril Moukarzel of the recognition. “We’ve worked hard for this, definitely, so it feels good to see the reward. We’ll definitely be putting in even more hours, working even harder so this brings us even more motivation.”

“Since we’re a start-up we’re self-funded so the money itself is going to help a lot. We’re definitely excited.”

Moukarzel agreed that the judging, while tough, will help the team refine the product.

The judges awarded third place, and another $2,000, to team Insomnia Skis. It’s the vision of Adam J. Bodner, who hopes to expand his garage-based custom ski business onto the web.

Bodner started the business with a simple press he describes as “just a fire hose encased in steel.”

“I’ve been doing this since I was 14 years old,” he adds. “I’ve been selling t-shirts and stickers to friends. I have a couple of friends skiing on my skis to this day.”

Bodner was in the unenviable position of being first to present, and says the initial trepidation didn’t last.

“It made me feel I’m in the right place, still headed in the right direction. Feedback is always good. This competition helped me identify what the next steps are.”

Both Enplex and eCelery received further recognition following the EC-PEI competition. Both teams earned GREEN ratings from Lead to Win, a business development program with a mandate to aid in the establishment and growth of new businesses in the Ottawa area. A GREEN rating is the organization’s gold standard and demonstrates these teams have everything necessary for success.

IMAGINATION AND TALENT

Below: Participants, judges and organizers of the Entrepreneurship Concepts Prizes in Entrepreneurship and Innovation student competition.

is unique.

“What I look for is companies that can generate a million dollars a year within three years,” says Bailetti when asked about his expectations for the competition. “That’s kind of my mantra. These kids put everything into it.

Whether they’re successful economically or not, there’s a tremendous amount of value for the entire region.”

“What blows me away is imagination. It’s all about talent.”

Joe Irvine, with the U of O’s Technology Transfer and Business Enterprise Office, was also a judge at the event. He points out another valuable lesson the competitors can take to heart, is that they won’t always succeed the first time.

“There are individuals that blow you away more than opportunities,” he adds. “You can trace the success of those individuals.”

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2015

Judge Tony Bailetti, director of technology innovation at Carleton University, agrees that the competition is valuable whether the participants actually become entrepreneurs or not.

“The skills are very important; there are stakeholders, customers. Cash is important; you have to pay your bills. That’s transferable. Skill development is very important.”

“Ottawa has a special feel,” he adds, noting that the capital region’s post-secondary institutions operate in a highly collaborative environment that

Left: First place winners from team Enplex, Francis Lefebvre and Cedric Eveleigh

11 OBJ.CA

www.engineering.uOttawa.ca

OBITUARY

“He was not only a great entrepreneur, but he also was patient, he persevered, he was engaged and he never stopped wanting to contribute to making Canada a more entrepreneurial and innovative nation.”

— STARTUP CANADA CO-FOUNDER VICTORIA LENNOX ON ADAM CHOWANIEC’S LEGACY

Ottawa tech pioneer hailed as computer ‘legend’ Adam Chowaniec fondly remembered not just for business and technological acumen, but for selfless desire to help fellow entrepreneurs Well-respected business mentor Adam Chowaniec died in February at the age of 64. FILE PHOTO

BY DAVID SALI

david@greatriver.ca

I

n the early days of the personal computer, Adam Chowaniec made such an impact on Silicon Valley he ultimately became hailed as one of the founding fathers of the industry.

Yet for all his technological acumen, Mr. Chowaniec was equally renowned as a mentor to a whole new generation of entrepreneurs in his adopted home of Ottawa.

Tributes poured in late last month

for the tech pioneer, who died earlier in February of cancer at the age of 64.

Friends and associates say he was a man of towering intellect who was as passionate about the place in which he lived as he was about his work.

“What was very unique about Adam is how much he believed in the importance of building a sustainable tech community headquartered here in Canada and particularly Ottawa,” says Solantro Semiconductor Corp. CEO Antoine Paquin, who recruited Mr. Chowaniec to

OYP Theatre School is 25 years old!

lead the chip-making company’s board.

“It’s a very big loss for Ottawa.”

Born in England, Mr. Chowaniec studied engineering at the University of Sheffield and at Queen’s University in Kingston. Like many other titans of Ottawa’s tech community, he got his start in the industry at Bell Northern Research, the same training ground that graduated the likes of Terry Matthews and Mike Cowpland.

He then headed south to join Commodore, where he helped develop

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OYP offers a safe place for students to experiment and discover, succeed, and, more importantly- fail. Theatre study engages, empowers and helps become better humans. In theatre problems are good- they make for dynamic stories. In life how we deal with our problems helps define who we are and where we want to go; theatre study helps us deal with life’s problems.

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2015 NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN

Nominations close Tuesday, March 31, 2015.

Recipients will be announced in late April.

OYP Theatre School gives each student the opportunity to ACT on stage and discover backstage arts as well. Classes at OYP build self-esteem, promote cooperation, communication skills, problem solving and creative thinking.

These skills, taught by the best Ottawa theatre professionals, are transferable to life whether or not the student goes on to a career in theatre.

12

the Amiga computer. Introduced in 1985, the Amiga was “so far ahead of its time that almost nobody – including Commodore’s marketing department – could fully articulate what it was all about,” Byte magazine wrote years later.

In 2010, the California Computer Museum recognized Mr. Chowaniec’s achievement, naming him one of the founding fathers of the computer industry.

“He’s a legend in the computer archives of North America,” says Mr.

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Paquin. “There’s still groupies for that computer platform, so obviously he did a couple things right.”

Mr. Chowaniec soon returned to Ottawa to become president of Calmos Semiconductor, which was founded by another legend in the local tech sector, John Roberts.

“To me, they were like what I wanted to be when I grew up,” says Mr. Paquin, who first met Mr. Roberts when he was a student at Carleton University. “They’re still what I want to be when I grow up,” he adds with an affectionate chuckle.

Gifted with a razor-sharp mind, Mr. Chowaniec was an astute problem-solver who also possessed an equally impressive talent for inspiring others, associates say. He went on to play key roles at a number of prominent tech enterprises, including Tundra Semiconductor, Liquid Computing and Zarlink.

Jim Roche, who helped launch Tundra with Mr. Chowaniec in 1995, remembers his longtime friend as a “very affable fellow” with uncommon wisdom and foresight.

“I really grew up as a person working for Adam,” says Mr. Roche, who went on to found his own consulting firm, Stratford Managers. “He had an incredibly accurate intuition. He would often sit me down and say, ‘Jim, I’m concerned about this.’ He wouldn’t necessarily have any specific data to point to that led to that concern – it was an instinct that he had. After a while, I came to realize that the vast majority of times, he was bang on.”

Along the way, Mr. Chowaniec never stopped trying to build a more innovative community, working with organizations such as the former Ottawa Economic Development Corp. and Startup Canada, an Ottawa-based group dedicated to fostering a stronger culture of entrepreneurship.

“When we started Startup Canada and we were looking for our founding chairman, we did meet a lot of great Canadian leaders,” says Victoria Lennox, the organization’s co-founder and CEO.

“What set Adam apart bar none was his commitment to persevering beyond all of the frustrations of trying to create a different culture, a different mindset for innovation and entrepreneurship.”

Unlike many serial entrepreneurs who quickly get frustrated when their mentorship efforts don’t bear immediate fruit, Mr. Chowaniec was in it for the long haul, she says.

“He was not only a great entrepreneur, but he also was patient, he persevered, he was engaged and he never stopped wanting to contribute to making Canada a more entrepreneurial and innovative nation,” Ms. Lennox says.

“He was very passionate about that. I once asked him when I was just starting Startup Canada, ‘If you don’t see change, how do you know to keep going?’ His response continues to be something that I’m very passionate about: ‘You can never stop beating that drum, because change, especially social change, happens over time.’ Even when he was ill, he came across Canada with us on our national tour. He spoke at events across Canada from Vancouver to Halifax.”

Mr. Chowaniec and his wife Claudia, a well-known businesswoman and a former head of the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, raised two daughters in the capital – Alex, who is now an artist and designer in New York City, and Christina, who runs a tourism company in Vancouver.

Ms. Lennox says Startup Canada is working with the family to organize a public memorial this spring at the Canadian Museum of Nature, a place near to Mr. Chowaniec’s heart.

To ensure his legacy lives on, the organization is creating an award in his name to recognize outstanding achievement in advancing entrepreneurship and is launching a catalyst fund to invest in grassroots entrepreneurial activities across Canada that will also bear his name.

“Adam left his mark on this organization,” Ms. Lennox says. “He’ll always be the heart of it.”

Creating a y it n u m m o C g n o r St

Name:

Dr. Chantal Plant A.J. Plant

Title:

Dentist Realtor

WHAT IS BLACKBURN SHOPPES DENTAL CENTRE?

For 12 years, Dr. Chantal Plant has owned and operated Blackburn Shoppes Dental Centre, a full-service family dental office that offers cleaning, cosmetic dentistry, orthodontics, emergency services, and more. Friendly staff, including 3 hygienists and 3 dentists, are there to look after all of your dental needs. And if you have little ones, you will really appreciate the Kiddie Corner, filled with fun activities to keep them occupied.

WHAT IS AN INTERESTING FACT ABOUT BLACKBURN SHOPPES DENTAL CENTRE? Dr. Plant and her husband, realtor A.J. Plant, are both 40 under 40 recipients.

Each operates a successful business and gives back to the local community. Of note, they have participated in the Ottawa 67’s Adopt-a-School program for 10 years. Their support makes school life much richer at Ecole Sainte-Marie and Good Shepherd School in Blackburn Hamlet. They also both sit on several volunteer boards.

Dr. Plant has also participated in several Remote Area Medical Volunteer (RAMV) trips to developing countries, providing basic dental services in remote communities that normally don’t have access to medical and dental care. She has traveled to Bolivia, Kenya, and Guatemala.

HOW IS BLACKBURN SHOPPES INVOLVED WITH THE SENS?

Dr. Plant and Mr. Plant have owned a pair of Sens tickets for as long as they can remember. They enjoy a few games each year with each other and their children. Some tickets are used for Mr. Plant’s clients, and all remaining tickets are donated to various organizations for fundraising purposes. They support several local sports teams this way. They also provide tickets instead of monetary donations to organizations such as CHEO and Cystic Fibrosis Canada because they feel that they can have a bigger impact that way.

“We have always enjoyed all the seats we’ve had, but our new seats in the new Club Bell opening in Fall 2015 will take our client experience to the next level.

It’s hard to believe it, but the Sens have created something that merges both the experience of the game and an opportunity to increase our visibility with new and existing clients. Wow!” - Dr. Chantal Plant and AJ Plant

13 OBJ.CA

For more information on Club Bell, please call 613.599.0358 or email premiumsales@ottawasenators.com

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2015

Mr. Plant explained, “We could buy a lot more tickets if we chose the 300 level, but we purchase the best tickets because it’s about the experience. We want people to walk away and say that they didn’t just watch a game, they had the coolest experience ever.”

RETAIL

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“When it’s this cold, it’s tough to sell stuff, man. You can’t force somebody to buy a bike. As soon as spring hits, it’s going to be bananas in here.”

– NICK LAGASSE, ASSISTANT MANAGER AT BUSHTUKAH ON RICHMOND ROAD

from a sluggish start to 2015 once the winter starts to break and pubgoers who’ve been hibernating return to their local watering holes.

“I think that as soon as the warmer weather hits, there will be a rebound in the opposite direction,” he said, adding his lunchtime crowds were down about 40 per cent from the February average. “People have been cooped up for so long, they’ll be dying to get out.”

For outdoor apparel and equipment retailers, the winter from hell has been a bit of a mixed blessing.

Nick Lagasse, assistant manager at Nick Lagasse, assistant manager at Bushtukah in Westboro, says February’s bitter cold kept many customers away. PHOTO BY COLE BURSTON Bushtukah on Richmond Road, said his store reduced prices on winter clothing early in January to try and move inventory during the mild start to the season. When the cold suddenly arrived with a vengeance, the store scrambled to find parkas and neck warmers because big-name manufacturers such as North Face were quickly running out of stock.

“In January, we were killing it,” he said, noting that while management tracks yearover-year daily sales of every item in an effort to “predict the future,” it could never have

BY DAVID SALI But with Old Man Winter forecast to ease that have seen sales heat up during a stretch anticipated such an arctic blast when it cut david@greatriver.ca its grip on the city by the weekend, he was of record-setting low temperatures in one of prices on winter gear so early on. “It’s the trying to look on the bright side. the world’s coldest capital cities. game of retail.” hile the Rideau Canal skateway “What we do is a lot like farming,” At Gabriel Pizza, spokesperson Ray So now, even though Bushtukah has was setting new records last week explained Mr. Hooker, who also runs Skaff said delivery orders were up 18 per plenty of bicycles in preparation for the in the midst of one of the harshest outdoor stores in the ByWard Market, at cent in January and the first three weeks of spring season, customers looking for, say, winters in memory, Grant Hooker felt a Lansdowne Park and at Dow’s Lake. “It’s February. snowshoes are out of luck. Like many of his different kind of chill when he looked at his very weather-related. This year is not over “People are hesitant to go out in this cold counterparts in other sectors, Mr. Lagasse company’s balance sheet. yet for us. It’s going to be a long season.” weather,” he said. “It’s convenient as well as is banking on a sales resurgence once the The BeaverTails founder said sales at Judging by the number of Ottawa comfort food.” mercury starts to rise. all Ottawa locations in the first couple of residents booking trips to sunny southern Still, traffic at Gabriel’s restaurants in “When it’s this cold, it’s tough to sell stuff, months of 2015 were down about 50 per climes, winter has already dragged on more Ottawa has held steady during the cold man,” he said. “You can’t force somebody to cent from the year before, thanks in large than long enough. snap, he added. After hunkering down buy a bike. As soon as spring hits, it’s going to part to plunging temperatures that have Danielle Lemire, an agent at Marlin indoors much of the week, many pizza be bananas in here.” engulfed the capital since the beginning of Travel on Kent Street, said business at her lovers with cabin fever ultimately decide to Meanwhile, Mountain Equipment CoJanuary. location is up about 20 per cent over the venture out anyway, he said. op’s Westboro location nearby has shipped Ironically, the same weather that three-year average. Not surprisingly, the “While people might not necessarily be in items such as long underwear and helped the canal set a new mark for most Dominican Republic, Mexico and Cuba are doing outdoor activities, they’re still coming foot warmers from the chain’s outlets out consecutive skating days has also kept her clients’ main destinations of choice. to our restaurants,” he said. west where the weather has been milder, 14 many people from, well, actually skating on “People are just really sick of the cold,” The circumstances haven’t been as according to the store’s manager, Dave it. That’s not good news for Mr. Hooker, who Ms. Lemire said. “When it’s cold, it’s kind to other city eateries. John Couse, the Rayner. Sales in February were actually relies on skateway traffic to drive business definitely good for us.” owner of The Lieutenant’s Pump on Elgin ahead of last year’s pace, he added. at his four outlets along the canal.

Travel agents aren’t the only businesses Street, said he is hoping sales will rebound “It’s been a strong season for us,” he said.

Chilly temps a mixed blessing for businesses

Record-setting winter gets cool reception from bar owners, but a decidedly warmer welcome from travel agents

OBJ.CA

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2015

W

REAL ESTATE Work on Windmill’s ‘Zibi’ development set to begin soon

BY TOM PECHLOFF tom@obj.ca

W

indmill Development Group unveiled plans last week for the first phase of a project that will see the former Domtar lands on the Ottawa River transformed into a mixed-use community.

The development will be known as Zibi, after the Algonquin word for river. The name was submitted by Patrick Henry, the executive director of the Canadian Canoe Federation, and was one of 200 entries in a naming competition.

Windmill partner Rodney Wilts said the company has always recognized the importance of the Algonquin, French and English cultures that have a history at the site where Philemon Wright first established a sawmill in 1808.

“We wanted to find names that were respectful of the three cultures, names that

Windmill’s Zibi project will be ‘a magnificent showpiece,’ the firm says. ILLUSTRATION PROVIDED

had meaning, names that were respectful of the river,” he said.

There were no members of the Algonquin community present for the unveiling, although Windmill founding partner Jeff Westeinde said they were

invited. He said Windmill has been in discussions with the Algonquin people for the past 18 months.

“Those take time, though. We’re working hard on that,” he added.

Work on the first three buildings of

the 125,000-square-foot inaugural phase will begin in a few months, with leasing for commercial property slated to begin in the fall. Windmill plans to start selling residential property in a couple of months, with two new six-story buildings expected to be ready for occupancy by 2017.

The $1-billion project is expected to take 10-15 years to complete. The 15-hectare site will include a mix of commercial and retail properties, condos, a hotel, waterfront parks, open spaces and pedestrian and cycling paths.

“This is going to be one of the most, if not the most, sustainable community on the planet,” said Windmill founder Jonathan Westeinde. “We’ve obviously given a lot of thought to this. It is a magnificent showpiece of our combined cities.”

Windmill brought in Toronto-based Dream Unlimited as a partner in the project. Jeff Westeinde said the developer was chosen more for its expertise than its money. “To be part of a project which will see these historic falls open to the public after more than a century is a once-in-alifetime opportunity,” said Dream’s senior vice-president of urban development, Jason Lester.

— SPONSORED CONTENT —

Carleton’s Master of Accounting: An elite professional program

S

ignificant change is coming to the accounting profession in Canada and Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business is preparing to launch an accredited Master of Accounting program (MAcc) that will ensure graduates are fully prepared for success in this field.

The program is now recruiting students and classes will begin in May 2015.

“They’ve taken the best out of the three education programs and combined them so everyone will be following the same path,” he adds.

Delivered over 16 months, MAcc includes two summers of full-time study and a four-month internship. The MAcc goes beyond the requirements of CPA Canada by requiring students to engage in applied research and take all four CPA electives, thereby broadening the student’s skill set and future employment opportunities. “[Students] are going to have broader skills and better employment opportunities by having a Master’s degree in addition to the CPA designation,” Herauf says. “A Master’s degree has recognition in the workplace.

They’re following the route to get their CPA

“We tried to identify the types of courses that will broaden their skill base so we give them some electives that go beyond accounting and develop broader business skills,” he adds. “Things like change management or management consulting, for example, can be a significant asset in the workplace – particularly paired with a highly respected professional designation such as the CPA.” “We’re always trying to be ahead of the curve,” he continues. “We are not just preparing students for what’s in the workplace today but also developing skills for the future. Faculty teaching in the program have been heavily involved in professional education and also research so they will expose students to the best of those worlds as well.”

Herauf says that, while demand for the MAcc is expected to be high, plans are in

Darrell Herauf, Director, Master of Accounting

place to ensure class sizes remain relatively small so that students benefit from faceto-face interaction with their instructors and other students. Herauf and Carleton are betting that they have a winning combination.

15 OBJ.CA

Once they’ve entered the workforce, CPAs will also be subject to uniform regulatory standards. While these changes will come over a two- to three-year transition

Students graduating from the MAcc will be exempt from the CPA Canada Professional Education Program (PEP) and will proceed directly to the CPA Canada Common Final Examination (CFE), the final step in becoming a CPA.

but, at the same time, they’re going further and getting a Master’s degree that sets them apart from the competition.”

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2015

Darrell Herauf, director of the MAcc, explains that the three separate designations for accounting professionals — CA, CMA and CGA — are being merged into a single one: Chartered Professional Accountant.

period, a new, common licensing exam has been created and is in place for 2015.

Sprott’s program is designed to meet this challenge.

What do 10,000+ local business leaders like Joelle Parenteau know that you don’t?

“I read OBJ Today because it gives me a quick snapshot of everything that’s going on in the city, so I can quickly adjust my business strategy.”

- Joelle Parenteau, CEO Epic Perks

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2015

Visit objtoday.obj.ca to sign up.

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16

THE ESSENTIAL EMAIL UPDATE FOR OTTAWA BUSINESS LEADERS

TECH BRIEFS Mitel hits major milestone in fourth quarter

M

itel hit a major milestone and set new benchmarks for financial results in its fourth quarter, CEO Rich McBee said after the company released its latest earnings report last week.

The business communications company surpassed the one-million mark in installed cloud seats at 1,039,000, which represented an 83 per cent jump year-over-year.

Mitel (TSX:MNW) posted fourth-quarter revenue of $301.4 million and total 2014 revenue of $1.1 billion, with record quarterly EBITDA of $57.9 million and annual EBITDA of $166.9 million.

Fourth-quarter revenue was up 108 per cent, primarily due to the company’s acquisition of Aastra Technologies in January 2014, but pro forma fourth-quarter revenue – assuming Aastra had already been part of Mitel a year earlier – was

Mitel CEO Rich McBee. FILE PHOTO

down 5.6 percent, due mostly to currency changes.

“Our sales performance speaks to the fact that our broad portfolio of business communications solutions – premise, cloud and hybrid – is able to address the diverse and evolving needs of customers in markets around the world,” Mr. McBee said in a statement.

The company also posted record non-

GAAP earnings per share of 36 cents for the quarter and 99 cents for the year.

Mitel installed 177,000 new cloud seats in the fourth quarter, 24,000 of them recurring. On Dec. 31, 2014, it had 269,155 recurring cloud seats, up 122 per cent from the year before.

Mr. McBee said this positions the company to continue its momentum in 2015.

“Our foundation is solid, our growth initiatives are delivering, our team is running at full speed, and we are seeing the results of the full scale and power of the new Mitel,” he said.

Mitel is projecting revenue for the first quarter of 2015 of between $245 million and $265 million, which reflects continuing currency volatility. The company expects its gross margin to be between 52.5 per cent and 54 per cent, its adjusted EBITDA margin percentage to be between 11.5 per cent and 13 per cent, and its non-GAAP earnings to be between 13 and 16 cents per share.

KINAXIS REVENUES RISE IN Q4 Ottawa-based Kinaxis delivered on its goal to grow subscription revenue and EBITDA in 2014, president and CEO Doug Colbeth

said when the company released fourthquarter and year-end results last week.

The company reported total revenue of $18.8 million for the quarter and $70.1 million for the year, both up 15 per cent compared with 2013.

Subscription revenue increased to $13.9 million for the three months ending Dec. 31, 2014, an increase of 27 per cent from the same quarter a year earlier. Subscription revenue was up 28 per cent for the year at $51.1 million.

At $3.8 million, adjusted EBITDA made up 20 per cent of the supply chain management solution provider’s total revenue, down 15 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2013. For the year, however, adjusted EBITDA was up seven per cent to $16.1 million, or 23 per cent of total revenue.

Gross profit for the quarter was $13.4 million, or 71 per cent of total revenue, up 14 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2013. Year-end gross profit increased 15 per cent to $49.3 million, or 70 per cent of total revenue.

Kinaxis (TSX:KXS) recorded a $600,000 profit in the fourth quarter and a year-end loss of $200,000, or a penny per diluted share.

– OBJ staff

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THE LIST 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2015

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18 19 20

Largest private-sector employers (Ranked by number of employees)

Company/Address/ Phone/Fax/Web

No. of Ottawa employees

Industry

Key local executive(s)

Year Product/ established Company description

Bell Canada* 160 Elgin St. Ottawa, ON K2P 2C4 613-785-0770 /WND bell.ca Commissionaires Ottawa 24 Colonnade Rd. Ottawa, ON K2E 7J6 613-231-6462/613-567-1517 commissionaires-ottawa.on.ca Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd. 415 West Hunt Club Rd. Ottawa, ON K2E 1C5 613-221-2000/613-221-2001 costco.ca Alcatel-Lucent* 600 March Rd. Ottawa, ON K2K 2E6 613-591-3600/WND alcatel-lucent.com TD Bank Group* 45 O'Connor St. Ottawa, ON K1P 1A4 613-782-1201/WND td.com BlackBerry* 450 March Rd. Ottawa, ON K2K 3K2 613-599-7465/613-599-1922 blackberry.com Ciena Corp.* 3500 Carling Ave. Ottawa, ON K2H 8E9 613-670-2000/WND ciena.com Rogers Communications Inc.* 475 Richmond Rd. Ottawa, ON K2A 3Y8 888-ROGERS-1/WND rogers.com NAV Canada 77 Metcalfe St. Ottawa, ON K1P 5L6 613-563-5588/613-563-3426 navcanada.ca Scotiabank Group 119 Queen St. Ottawa, ON K1P 6L8 613-564-5194/613-564-7946 scotiabank.com Securitas Canada Ltd.* 500-1335 Carling Ave. Ottawa, ON K1Z 8N8 613-745-7554/613-745-6483 securitas.ca Ericsson Canada Inc. 349 Terry Fox Dr. Ottawa, ON K2K 2V6 WND/WND ericsson.com/ca Abbott Point of Care 185 Corkstown Rd. Ottawa, ON K2H 8V4 613-688-5949/WND abbottpointofcare.com Canadian Bank Note Co. Ltd. 145 Richmond Rd. Ottawa, ON K1Z 1A1 613-722-3421/613-722-2548 cbnco.com General Dynamics Canada* 1941 Robertson Rd. Ottawa, ON K2H 5B7 613-596-7000/613-820-5081 gdcanada.com CAE Canada - Defence & Security 1135 Innovation Dr. Ottawa, ON K2K 3G7 613-247-0342/613-271-0963 cae.com Minto Properties Inc. 200-180 Kent St. Ottawa, ON K1P 0B6 613-230-7051/613-788-2758 minto.com Mitel 350 Legget Dr. Ottawa, ON K2K 2W7 613-592-2122/613-592-4724 mitel.com Telus Communications Inc. 215 Slater St. Ottawa, ON K1P 0A6 877-310-6110/WND telus.com MD Financial Management (A CMA Company) 1870 Alta Vista Dr. Ottawa, ON K1G 6R7 613-731-4552/613-745-2644 mdm.ca

4,000

Telecommunications

WND

WND

Provides consumers and businesses with communications solutions including wireless, high-speed Internet, satellite TV, Fibe TV and home phone.

3,550

Security

Paul A. Guindon, CEO

1939

2,366

Wholesale; retail

Andrée Brien, senior vice-president and general 1991 merchandise manager Pierre Riel, Senior vice-president & General Manager, Eastern Canada

Security solutions: mobile and on-site guarding; non-core police services; digital fingerprinting; pre-employment screening; criminal background checks; threat risk assessments; workplace investigations; mobile alarm response; oaths and affidavits Membership warehouse clubs offering an assortment of nationally branded and select private-label products.

2,300

Telecommunications

James Watt, COO of IPRT group

2006

Provides fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies, applications and services.

2,280

Financial services

Jane Duchscher, senior vice-president, TD Canada Trust Debra Armstrong, senior vice-president, credit cards Chris Dyrda, senior vice-president, business banking

1855

Full range of financial products and services including Canadian personal and commercial banking, wealth and insurance, wholesale banking and MBNA, a division of The Toronto-Dominion Bank.

1,500

Telecommunications

Dan Dodge, president and CEO, QNX Software (a wholly owned subsidiary of BlackBerry)

2000

Designer, manufacturer and marketer of wireless phone and email devices for the mobile communications market.

1,500

Network specialist

James Frodsham, senior vice-president and chief strategy officer

1992

Optical networking; network automation.

1,468

Telecommunications and media

Colette Watson, vice-president, Rogers Television

WND

Wireless; data; digital cable; Internet; home phone; business solutions; media; customer care centre.

1,220

Aviation services

John W. Crichton, president and CEO

1996

Owns and operates Canada's civil air navigation system.

Provides air traffic control; flight information services; weather briefings; airport advisory services; aeronautical information; electronic aids to navigation.

1,210

Financial services

Rick Vanstone, director and group lead Luigi Bastianelli, director and market lead

1874

Retail; business; corporate; wealth; investment management

950

Security

Trevor Thompson, area vice-president

2001

WND

934

Telecommunications

Kristina Allgurén, Head of radio software and Ottawa 2009 site leader

Provides communication solutions including wireless network technology, advanced mobile Internet solutions, IP and data systems, transmission solutions and managed and consulting services.

900

Medical devices

Sean Tomalty, plant director

1988

Develops, manufactures and markets hand-held medical analysis devices and cartridges that perform common medical blood tests at patient's bedside.

854

Security printing and systems

Ronald Arends, president and CEO

1897

Provides secure documents and systems for payment, identification and lottery markets in Canada and internationally.

800

Defence

David Ibbetson, general manager

1948

C4ISR and defence electronics company.

750

Defence

Mike Greenley, vice-president and general manager

1947

C4ISR; ASW; EW; integrated information environments; training centre/system design and operation; requirements analysis, design, development; systems integration, test and evaluation; human factors engineering; in-service support; ILS

700

Real estate development and property management

Michael Waters, CEO

1955

Land and housing development; residential and commercial property management with operations also in Toronto, London, ON, Calgary and Florida.

650

Telecommunications

Steve Spooner, CFO

1972

Provider of business communications solutions and services, consisting of phone systems, mobility applications, collaboration and contact center solutions—in the cloud or on site—for more than 60 million users around the world.

650

Communications

Ted Woodhead, senior vice-president of federal government and regulatory affairs

1999

Wireless; Internet access; voice; health care; television

633

Financial services

Brian Peters, president and CEO

1969

Wealth and practice management firm owned by the Canadian Medical Association. MD helps physician clients build wealth and capitalize on opportunities that ensure they meet their personal and professional goals.

*Did not respond - 2014 data Should your company be on this list? If so, please send details to research@obj.ca. This list is current as of March 2, 2015 by Ottawa Business Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced by any method in whole or in part without written permission by Ottawa Business Journal. While every attempt is made to ensure the thoroughness and accuracy of the list, omissions and errors sometimes occur. Please send any corrections or additions by e-mail to research@obj.ca. OBJ lists are primarily compiled using information provided voluntarily by the organizations named. Some firms that may qualify for the list are not included because the company either failed to respond to requests for information by press time, because the company declined to take part in the survey or because of space constraints. Categories are drawn up in an attempt to gather information of relevance to the Ottawa market.

Research by Patti Moran. Please send questions and comments to research@obj.ca.

FOR THE RECORD People on the move Paul Thomas Jenkins has been appointed chair of the National Research Council of Canada. Mr. Jenkins is chairman of the board of OpenText Corp., an executive fellow of the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary and sits on the board of directors of both the C.D. Howe Institute and the Canadian Council of Chief Executives.

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP has announced the appointments of four associates: Sandra LeBrun in insurance and tort liability; Sara Lemieux in charities and not-forprofits, business and corporate commercial, commercial real estate, and public company mergers and acquisitions; Eden Alexander in environmental, municipal, expropriation and regulatory law; and Alexei Durgali in family law.

Sierra Systems has announced five new appointments: Lynne Martel becomes a business development manager; Mileta Vinerte joins the team as senior resource manager; Hamdy Sadek joins the firm as a business analyst and project manager; Luke Yu has been appointed senior Oracle SOA/web centre infrastructure implementation expert and a certified Java programmer; and Chantal St. Louis will specialize in the implementation of solutions based on Microsoft Dynamics CRM, SharePoint and Business Intelligence.

ProntoForms Corp. has announced additions to its executive team.

Chip Salyards joins the company as global vice-president of sales and Tim Moran takes a new role as senior vice-president of strategic alliances.

ProntoForms Corp. has been named to the 2015 TSX Venture 50. The TSX Venture 50 includes the top 10 companies listed on the TSX Venture Exchange in mining, oil and gas, technology and life sciences, diversified industries and clean technology.

Veritaaq has won Inavero’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Award for providing superior service to its clients and job seekers. The award recognizes industry leaders in service quality based on ratings by clients and consultants.

The Minto Group was honoured for energy efficiency and sustainability at the 2014 EnerQuality Awards of Excellence Gala. Minto won three awards: Energy Star for New Homes Builder of the Year, Best Green Marketing Campaign and Ontario Green Builder of the Year.

Mitel’s Timothy Gaines, senior vicepresident of channel sales for the Americas, and Sandra Hill, vicepresident of distribution and sales strategy, have been recognized by CRN magazine in its Channel Chiefs list of 2015.

The following contains information about recent contracts, standing offers and supply arrangements awarded to local firms.

Black & McDonald Ltd. 2460 Don Reid Dr. Description: Gas boilers Buyer: PWGSC $2,388,820

engineering and maintenance services (excludes requirements related to armament, R&D and R&O) Buyer: DND $890,116

Alcatel-Lucent Canada Inc. 600 March Rd. Description: Automatic data processing equipment, system configuration Buyer: DND $1,467,763

Transpolar Technology Corp.

190 O’Connor St. Description: ADP input-output and storage devices Buyer: RCMP $642,507

Ibiska Telecom Inc. 130 Albert St. Description: IT professional services Buyer: DND $1,029,475

ESRI Canada Ltd. 1600 Carling Ave. Description: ADP software Buyer: Environment Canada $562,855

Itex Inc. 555 Legget Dr. Description: ADP input-output and storage devices Buyer: DND $908,648 Valcom Consulting Group Inc. 85 Albert St. Description: Technical

Emerion 368 Dalhousie St. Description: Application/ software architect Buyer: RCMP $474,600 DEW Engineering and Development ULC 3429 Hawthorne Rd. Description: Vehicular brake,

and

steering, axle, wheel and track components Buyer: DND $462,061 Oracle Canada ULC 45 O’Connor St. Description: ADP software Buyer: Canadian Food Inspection Agency $440,160 Motorola Solutions Canada Inc. 360 Albert St. Description: Radio and television communications equipment, except airborne Buyer: RCMP $382,503

present:

Mayor’s Breakfast Series A unique opportunity to enjoy breakfast with His Worship Mayor Jim Watson and hear from business and community leaders about issues critical to Ottawa.

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Bryan Allsopp will be joining PwC Canada as a managing director, heading the firm’s corporate finance, valuations and transaction services.

Mr. Allsopp brings 15 years of experience to the position.

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MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2015

Kelly Santini LLP’s Robert Ford has been appointed to the board of international legal network USLAW Network. Mr. Ford has served as the firm’s principal contact for the network since 2012 and has played a key role in building its ability to assist clients with their cross-border and international legal needs. Mr. Ford is the first Canadian board member.

e-djuster has appointed three new senior leaders to drive the company’s enterprise business. Doug Grieve has been named vice-president of enterprise sales, Melanie Hughes has been named director of operations for North America, and Patrick Roy has been appointed as supervisor for the province of Quebec.

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