Innovation + Job News

Twenty four-year-old entrepreneur Jay Manara is the frontman for a rock group called the Broken Sons, and is a drummer on the side who has toured opening for KISS. He says that while he was a business student at Ryerson, he was inspired to start his clothing line, Rock Parlor, by his work as a musician. "I'd been slugging it out playing in a band for six years, playing shows where we  were not even earning enough to put gas in the car. So I was looking for simple ways to make an extra buck."

The way he thought of -- a line of t-shirts inspired by tattoo and rock 'n' roll culture -- was promising enough that his business plan won him $25,000 in seed money in a Ryerson competition in 2009. His marketing approach was to have the shirts sold in tattoo shops, where, as a heavily inked man himself, he had connections, and where his target customers would find them. One year later, his shirts are sold at 30 locations across the country, he's earning a living himself, and he's looking to expand.

"I'm currently in the process of hiring a bunch of sales reps to work at pretty much every single university campus across the country," he says. He envisions using a model similar to Avon or Tupperware, where part-time reps who embody the brand's attitude serve to hand-sell the product.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Jay Manara, founder, Rock Parlor

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Long before he founded the public relations firm Mackay & Co, John Mackay was a fashion journalist -- among other gigs, he was the founding editor of Toronto Life's Fashion magazine. Now, he says, "you reach a certain point in your career where you want to start giving back," and his fondness for the fashion business has suggested a way to do that.

He's running an innovative mentorship program that will help three fashion designers per year -- one at a time, for four months each -- learn how to effectively do their own marketing and public relations. "Originally we thought we could take on a young designer and do their PR for them," he says, "but then we realized that if your doing this business in Canada, you'll probably always have to do your own PR and marketing. So we want to teach them to be the best communications people they can be."

Mackay says he's looking for designers who have a line of clothing up and running -- those who have completed their first collection and are working on their second. Then he and his team will work with them to help them develop their own skills to communicate with buyers and the media.

The first mentorship in Mackay & Co's program is coming to a close, and he's currently looking for the next participant.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: John Mackay, founder, Mackay & Co.

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Mayor David Miller and TTC chair Adam Giambrone visited Toronto-based Lovat Inc. late last month to celebrate the purchase of tunnel boring equipment from the Toronto manufacturer for use in the construction of the Eglinton Light Rail Transit route.

The $53 million order for four tunnelling machines will support the 380 staff of Lovat, whose plant is located on Carlingview Drive near Pearson International Airport. According to TTC spokesperson Ryan Bissonnette, the contract was awarded in an open and transparent bidding process that did not favour the local manufacturer, who is a world leader in the design and manufacture of tunnelling equipment. However, Bissonnette says, the transit commission does see the fact that a person could actually ride the TTC to the manufacturing plant as a benefit. "We're exceedingly happy to be able to support a Toronto business -- usually we say 'Toronto area,' but in this case, Lovat is actually in the city," he says.

Construction on the 33-kilometre-long Eglinton Crosstown LRT route, part of the city of Toronto ambitious Transit City plan, is scheduled to begin next year. Bissonnette says the project is expected to create approximately 46,000 jobs.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Ryan Bissonnette, Public Affairs, Toronto Transit Commission

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Last week, Interactive Ontario announced that Jordan Mechner, creator of the Prince of Persia video game and Hollywood film franchise, will be the keynote speaker at their upcoming Interactive Exchange conference.

"We're excited because he's a super-dynamic person and a huge success in making the cross-over from video games to film -- Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is the highest grossing video-game crossover film ever," says Danielle Engels, director of communications for Interactive Ontario. She adds that his presence creates a crossover between Interactive Exchange and the Toronto International Film Festival running in Toronto at the same time, which mirrors the convergence taking place in the industry.

The Interactive Exchange (formerly called ICE) is a conference dedicated to exchanging information through panel discussions and speeches for the interactive media industry, including video games, social media and mobile technology. It is run by Interactive Ontario, an organization whose mandate, according to Engels, is to drive the innovative interactivity industry in Ontario. This year's conference takes place at the Carlu September 12-14.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Danielle Engels, Director of Communications, Interactive Ontario

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Rogers Media and Torstar Digital, the online division of the company that publishes the Toronto Star and dozens of other publications, announced a joint venture last week to commercialize the web content management system TOPS.

The system has been used for four years to run thestar.com, Toronto.com and other Torstar websites (full disclosure: as an editor at EYE WEEKLY, which publishes online using TOPS, I am a Torstar employee). Beginning last year, Rogers began using TOPS to publish some of its sites, including Citytv.com, Flare.com and 680NEWS.com. The new partnership will feature a joint board and will make an undisclosed investment in growing and commercializing the operation.

Rogers VP of Digital Media Claude Galipeau said that since beginning to use the site, editorial perfomance and search engine optimization have improved "vastly."

TOPS general manager Danny Galic described the value of the system as easy-to-use one-stop shopping for publishers.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Charan Bhattal, Senior Brand Manager, Torstar Digital

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The YWCA Toronto, long a provider of job and life skills training and assistance to women, has announced the opening of two new employment programs in Toronto that will offer "one-stop shopping" for services for the unemployed.

Eva Pakyam, manger of employment programs with the YWCA Toronto, says that a minimum of 1,400 women per year are expected to be served by the programs, which will work one-on-one with women to address their needs, from career assessment to childcare to job readiness and search skills, and will create an individualized program to "finding sustainable employment opportunities."

The programs being launched are funded through the province of Ontario's Employment Ontario initiative that will fund programs across the province.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the programs should call 416-269-0090.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Eva Pakyam, Manager, Employment Programs, YWCA

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In a surprising announcement late last week, Metrolinx, the Ontario government's regional transit authority, announced that it would build, construct and operate the planned rail link between Union Station and Pearson Airport. Previously, the project was to have been built and operated by a private group led by Montreal's SNC-Lavalin, but negotiations on the project broke down over the province's refusal to provide an operating subsidy.

According to Metrolinx spokesperson Vanessa Thomas, the link will operate as a separate entity from the agency's existing Go Transit service, an express shuttle service running every 15 minutes using small, two-car trains. The project, expected to be completed by 2015, will create 10,000 jobs, Thomas says, directly related to professions and trades involved in the design and construction of the link.

Following up by email, Thomas notes that while the majority of the hiring is expected to be done by contractors, "Metrolinx is working with various agencies, construction associations and contractors to support apprenticeship programs that will promote career opportunities for people living in the City's priority neighbourhoods."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Vanessa Thomas, Media Relations & Issues Specialist, Metrolinx-GO Transit

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Kye Husbands, co-founder and Chief Information Officer of innovative cellphone service broker mycellmyterms.com, says that the business started with the simple idea that "it was critical for Canadian customers to have a voice in an industry where they'd been passive for two decades." The mobile industry in Canada was dominated by three players, he notes, and customers here paid 50% more than those in the United States.

The idea he and his partners came up with for a service that would let customers design their own plan to be shopped among competing providers became a reality after a successful pitch on the CBC venture capital reality show The Dragon's Den. And since then, there's been nothing but growth. "We expected it would be popular, but we didn't realize how much demand there would be up front," Husbands says. "It put a lot of pressure on us early."

Since the October 2009 launch, the company has grown from four to six staff, Husbands says, and in response to market demand, launched a specific small and medium-sized business service on April 30. That business service has, according to the company's metric, "saved customers $1.9 million" as of the beginning of July.

Husbands says the target is for the business division to create $20 million in customer savings by the end of the year. Husbands says he expects to hire two additional staff in September.

Also upcoming in the fall, he says, is an affiliate program that will offer "fairly generous commissions" to registered affiliated referring customers to the site, perhaps launching by mid-September.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Kye Husbands, Chief Information Officer, mycellmyterms.com

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ArtBarrage.com co-founder Kelly McCray says that in his years working as co-director of the Edward Day Gallery, he's noticed that the purchase of art can be somewhat mystifying. "I've realized there's an intimidation factor -- you've got to walk into a gallery and perhaps you aren't sure of the language, you've got to talk to a dealer and maybe you aren't sure how to proceed." That was one of the factors he and partners RK Mann and Walter Willems hoped to address with the launch of their innovative new online contemporary art marketplace, which "soft" launched last week and will formally debut in September.

"We thought there should be a progression of the gallery-dealer model of art sales. This is a way for artists -- whether they're represented or not -- to get their work out to the worldwide marketplace, and for galleries and representatives to reach a broader audience as well."

The marquee feature of the site is the "barrage," where artists or representatives can post art for sale, initially free of charge. After the first month fees of less than $10 apply for posting, and the site takes a 17% per cent commission for work sold. Though the site is based in Toronto, the founders expect to host a global marketplace, and will conduct transactions in US dollars.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Kelly McCray, Co-director/Curator, ArtBarrage.com

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Even though the city of Toronto government has been actively pursuing its bike plan (though not actively enough, in the eyes of some), Toronto has been without a bike sharing program since the community-group-operated BikeShare folded up its operations due to a lack of funding in 2006. That situation is poised to change.

At a gala launch at the Gladstone Hotel on July 28, BIXI Toronto, operated by the Montreal-based Public Bike System Company working with the City of Toronto, launched its program to have a bike sharing program in place by next spring. In order to reach its goal of launching May 1, 2011, the program needs to sign up 1,000 members who'll pledge $95 each by November 30. Dan Egan, the city's manager of cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, says that the program attracted 125 pledges within 24 hours of the program's launch. "I'm confident we'll reach our milestones and proceed on schedule," Egan says.

Public Bike System Company already runs a similar, award-winning program in Montreal, Boston, London, Washington, Minneapolis and Melbourne. The advance membership drive is intended to ensure the programs financial viability.

Egan says that the program will create jobs in Toronto for administrators and mechanics, although "we're not at that point yet," where he can say how many jobs there will be and when hiring will take place. New hires will be working directly for the Public Bike System Company and not for the city.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Dan Egan, Manager of cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, City of Toronto

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Oshoma Momoh, a former Microsoft developer and manager who moved from Seattle to Toronto in 2005, says that he and his partner in life and business Katrin Lepik began thinking about how to bring "neighbourhood word-of-mouth" online a few years ago. "We realized there's more going on in this city, in every neighbourhood, than you could possibly track. It's the 'alone in the big city' problem ... and we were also thinking a lot about local and sustainable living, a real local lifestyle," he says over the phone.

The result of that thinking -- and over a year of design by Lepik and web development by Momoh -- is 5 Blocks Out, a new online community launched in July that allows members to share information about their neighbourhoods with their neighbours. People can sign up and share tips on places to play or eat or shop, share event notices or post "missions" that ask other members for specific information.

While the enterprise is a for-profit business ("or at least we certainly hope it will be," Momoh says), the couple have, in proud web business tradition, yet to settle on a business model. "If we can make it great for end users, then we're confident we can find some ways to make money from that without degrading the experience for users," he says. He notes that they don't want to start "yet another advertising company" but that their vision includes ways to connect small local businesses with a devoted group of people who "actually care about them."

Perhaps it's fitting that a couple who chose to relocate their established lives to Toronto should set up an ultra-local enterprise serving this "city of neighbourhoods." Momoh says that while being near Lepik's family was the driving force behind their moving decision, they also felt that "Toronto is really hitting it's stride -- we were excited that we could be part of the city as it is finding itself and gaining confidence."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Oshoma Momoh, co-founder, 5 Blocks Out

In May, Ray Newal was one of the principle authors of an OCAD-published white paper that argued that Ontario could and should be a leader in the global wireless industry, but was falling behind -- and offered recommendations for addressing the situation. However Jigsee, the Toronto-based company of which Ray Newal is co-founder and CEO, is doing its part to help secure Toronto's leadership in the global industry.

Last week MaRS, where Jigsee is based, announced that the company had secured angel funding to commercialize and deploy its proprietary mobile technology in India. That technology allows reliable delivery of video content over congested and low-bandwidth networks, as exist in developing countries. The technology would allow users on such a network to watch entire movies uninterrupted -- even if the signal comes and goes.

Jigsee already has a three-year contract with Mumbai-based Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, a toehold in a country where there are expected to be a billion mobile subscribers by 2014 and where the mobile value added services market is estimated to generate $2.7 billion this year. The company further plans to market its product in other developing nations around the world.

"One of Jigsee's competitive advantages in emerging markets is its ability to transform basic low-cost phones from simple calling gadgets into devices capable of receiving video of any length, whether it be live sporting events, educational courses or even Bollywood movies," says Newal in a statement.

The news of funding comes just a month after Jigsee was named to IDC's list of "Ten Canadian Mobile and Wireless Companies to Watch."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources:Gordon Jekubik, Jigsee; Linda Quattrin, MaRS

Four Toronto-area companies will be receiving a slice of $40 million in funding for the development of sustainable technologies, Sustainable Development Technology Canada announced earlier this month.

Among the recipients is Electrovaya, a Mississauga company that is developing batteries and battery systems for plug-in electric vehicles. Its project to develop a plug-in battery for use in hybrid vehicles, intended to be used in a test fleet of Chrysler pick-up trucks, received $5 million. In a release, Electrovaya CEO Sankar DasGupta noted that the battery is made using an innovative zero-emissions process.

Other Toronto-area companies receiving funds are: 3XR Inc, for an energy-efficient process to strip ammonia from wastewater to make fertilizer; InvoDane Engineering, for a gas pipeline inspection technology; and Lakeshore EMPC Two L.P., for an on-site treatment of brownfields contaminated by chlorinated organic solvents.

The projects were among 18 across the country to receive a total of $40 million in funding (a full list of projects is available here). The SDTC is an arms-length federal agency operating with a grant of $1.05 billion to fund innovative green technologies. In announcing the projects, SDTC Chairman Juergen Puetter noted that the companies funded "create jobs, provide Canada a technological edge and contribute to improving the quality of Canada's air, water and soil."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Patrice Breton, Director, Communications, SDTC; Electrovaya Inc.

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Distility Branding, a Toronto-based company housed in the MaRS building, announced this week that it had procured $350,000 in angel investment funding to expand its business.

In a release, Distility CEO Axle Davids said the funding "provides the capital for us to aggressively expand our sales networks and pursue businesses and marketing partners who find traditional branding too slow, complicated and expensive." Company spokesperson Andrew Stewart says that expansion will include both expanding the office and hiring.

The company has banded itself as a new type of branding company -- using a presentation called "Brand Scammed" to highlight the sometimes too-long and foggy process as it is practiced elsewhere. As Stewart says, the old "expert model" of branding was often expensive and based on a consultant bringing an outside impression, hazily conceived, to a client. Distility pitches its own "1day1brand" approach, which includes collaboration with company employees and the use of  innovative software, that it claims shortens the process  and makes it cheaper and more effective.

Founded in 2001 as aXle Branding (named after founder Axle Davids), the company evolved into Distility Branding in 2008. In 2009, they became a client of the business innovation incubator MaRS and, working with advisor Lance Laking, are pursuing expansion through their new technology-based model of innovation. Stewart says that in the past year, the company has grown from three full-time staff to four full-time and four part-time staff, and has also been contracting out some work.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Andrew F. Stewart, Public Relations and Customer Relations Manager, Distility Branding

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Toronto tech company Firan Technology Group has committed to investing $17 million in a research and development project that will create 30 new jobs over the next five years. According to a company announcement, the project will focus on expanding its production of circuit boards for aircraft -- "advanced material, buried passive, high density interconnect, high speed, high reliability and thermal management printed circuit board technologies."

The provincial government's Economic Development ministry has committed to providing up to $5.1 million in loans to the project. A government announcement notes that there is a $1.8 billion market for such circuit boards globally, and says of Firan's technology, "These new boards will provide airplanes with smaller, lighter electronics helping to enable more efficient and safer air travel, and contributing to Ontario's role as a leader in the aerospace industry."

Firan President and CEO Brad Bourne says, "FTG's focus on the aerospace market demands innovative, high technology solutions and the support of the Ontario Government will allow us to continue to invest for the benefit of our customers, our employees, our shareholders and the Ontario economy."

In addition to creating 30 new jobs, the project is expected to support the ongoing employment of 50 other, according to the provincial government.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Bradley C. Bourne, President and CEO, Firan Technology Group Corporation; Office of the Minister of Economic Development and Trade

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