Innovation + Job News

Unlike many pressing social issues that seem to require big -- and ongoing -- charity or government funding, environmental sustainability has famously appeared to be a goal that is also financially sustainable. From the province's feed-in tariff program for solar power to the construction jobs created by energy retrofits to the whole financial market that emerges wherever cap-and-trade programs are implemented, there are dollars available for businesses that focus on going green.

To encourage entrepreneurs with big ideas, the Toronto Community Foundation has raised money from donors and partnered with the city of Toronto to endow the Green Innovation Awards, which offer $50,000 in seed money to "advance the development of new and innovative solutions to address our environmental challenges."

Toronto Community Foundation President and CEO Rahul Bhardwaj says the awards emerged from the group's Vital Signs report -- and the financial commitment of TCF fundholders represents their support for entrepreneurilaism. "When you have a look at the Vital Signs report ... you see a nice trajectory over time. But it's important to not rest on our laurels -- it's time to really put our shoulder behind moving towards a greener city." Bhardwaj says it was relatively easy to get financial support from donors to build innovative projects that will be self-sustaining financially while making the city sustainable.

Anyone with an idea for a new technology, product or service to make "Toronto a greener and more livable" city and a plan to make it happen is encouraged to apply for the grant by the March 12 deadline. The panel will decide whether the prize money will go to one project or be divided between multiple projects, Bhardwaj says. Entrants will be able to present their funding request to a panel of judges. Award recipients will be announced at the Green Toronto Awards at the Green Living Show in late April.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Rahul Bhardwaj, President and CEO, Toronto Community Foundation; Live Green Toronto

Fifteen years ago, Toronto engineers Phil White and Gerard Vroomen of vroomen.white.design began designing and manufacturing racing bicycles under the brand name Cervelo. Today, still owned by White and Vroomen, North York-based Cervelo is the world's largest manufacturer of time trial and triathalon bikes, with Tour de France and Iron Man trialthalon victories and Olympic gold medals won on its bicycles.

Last week, Vroomen and White were honoured at the Canadian Innovation Awards as Canadian Manufacturer of the Year in recognition of their world-leading technology and innovative leadership.

According to the company, Cervelo was founded in a pure quest for innovations that would lead to racing excellence. "We wanted something that was unbeatable in aerodynamics yet sacrificed nothing in weight or stiffness, and unfettered by issues of marketability," reads a company history on its website. Today, with eight engineers in its employ and selling more than 10,000 units per year, the same spirit is visible in their philosophy. "We apologize in advance if our ads look like they were written by engineers," they write. "We figured you would rather read an ad designed by an engineer than ride a bike designed by the marketing department."

Currently most of Cervelo's manufacturing takes place in Asia, but recently White told the Toronto Star that they intend to begin manufacturing bikes at their North York facility within the next two years.

Four other Ontario companies were honoured at the Canadian Innovation Awards, including Scarborough Tim Hortons franchisee Megleen Inc, who won the Canadian Innovation Award for Innovator of the Year.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, Cevelo, Toronto Star

When Industry Minister Tony Clement clarified Canadian ownership rules for wireless carriers in December 2009, allowing Globalive's WIND Mobile to enter the market despite a majority owner from Egypt, the company was quick to get to market: within five days the carrier was launched in Toronto. It was the first mobile carrier to join the market alongside Telus, Bell and Rogers in more than 10 years.

WIND had laid the groundwork for its aggressive marketing campaign -- based on customer-friendly initiatives such as contract-free service, no system access fees and "all-in" packages that include voice mail and caller ID -- with a social networking initiative seeking input for potential customers. And of course, it had spent the previous year constructing a next-generation cellular network. Company CEO Ken Campbell says, "we  likely built more cell towers in Canada in a year than had ever been built before."

In that year, the company also hired 700 employees, Campbell says, about half of those in the GTA. Less than two months after its launch, WIND is growing quickly. The company announced last week that it had secured debt financing for its rapid expansion, which followed news of hiring blitzes in Edmonton and Ottawa and network improvements in and around the GTA. The company's action is good news for Toronto's battered employment market, as the company is immediately hiring for at least 45 positions in the GTA alone.

"We're building for the long-term," Campbell says, "not for a year or two years. But only eight weeks after our launch, we're please with how things are going."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Ken Campbell, CEO, WIND Mobile

Don Mills-based multinational electronics manufacturer Celestica Inc. has announced last week that it is investing in its growing healthcare division.

The announcement included information about $2.8 million in investment in one of its labs in China, and the appointment of three new key managers in the division. Nancy Duarte-Lonnroth has been appointed Director of Quality, Regulatory Affairs. Richard Rubin joins Celestica as Director of Market Development. And Michael Sobolewski becomes Director of Sales and Business Development.

In a statement, Celestica Pesident and CEO Craig Muhlhauser said the moves are part of the company's commitment to innovation. "Our approach is to collaborate with our healthcare customers to deliver new and innovative supply chain solutions designed specifically for the healthcare industry of the future."

Celestica was founded in 1994 by IBM, but was acquired two years later by Toronto billionaire Gerry Schwartz's Onex Corporation. The company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has built a manufacturing network that extends to locations in 40 countries around the world.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Celestica Inc.

It's probably a fair guess that the film industry's creative employees are among the most environmentally aware, and it's certainly true that films such as An Inconvenient Truth have been pivotal in spreading awareness of global warming. But it's also true that the film-production industry itself is a huge resource hog: shoots mobilize fleets of jets, trucks and trailers to transport crews to locations and use huge amounts of energy-intense.

A local initiative called Toronto Green Screen, led by the Planet in Focus film festival alongside a long list of industry partners, is aiming to reduce the environmental footprint of the film biz. Last week, the group launched two new resources for filmmakers: a calculator to help them see what their environmental impact will be, and a Green Toolkit to help them plan a less harmful production.

Candida Paltiel, who has led the project on behalf of Planet in Focus, says that the tolls are designed to give the local industry a competitive advantage when competing for film productions. Producers such as Gail Ann Hurd (who shot The Incredible Hulk in Toronto in 2007) have been demanding environmentally conscious initiatives.

After two years as a project funded by the Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnership Fund, Paltiel says Toronto Green Screen is in the process of becoming a self-sustaining organization.

Both new resources offered by Green Screen were created by Melissa Felder & Associates following two years of research into the industry's practices and consultations and study about possible improvements. These tools, Green Screen says, build on the earlier report Environmental Assessment of Film-Based Industries.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Candida Paltiel, Planet in Focus Film Festival, Toronto Green Screen

A new study [pdf] for the Toronto Region Research Alliance from the Munk Centre at U of T says that Golden Horseshoe manufacturers need more research and development support from academia.

While noting that Southern Ontario manufacturers often enjoy a competitive advantage globally because of infrastructure and proximity to the U.S. market, the study's consultation of 76 industry players concluded that "Similar regions in Japan and Germany were consistently mentioned as being more advanced in research ... and, if Ontario is to compete on quality, this is an area that needs to be addressed."

The study goes on to suggest that deeper contacts need to be developed between universities and manufacturers. According to Ruth Lewkowicz, a spokesperson for the Toronto Region Research Alliance, they have formed a partnership with Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters and "are now exploring how the two organizations can partner to further engage the Southern Ontario manufacturing sector to address some of the issues raised."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Ruth Lewkowicz, Director of Marketing and Communications, Toronto Region Research Alliance

The Toronto Port Authority, long portrayed as an environmental villain by Toronto island residents opposed to its operation of an airport on the Toronto waterfront, has announced an ambitious program of green improvements, part of a $16 million infrastructure spending initiative.

Headlines last week in the daily papers brought news of the TPA's plan to construct a pedestrian tunnel from the Toronto mainland to the airport -- contentious because of previous, thwarted plans to build a bridge. But buried in the news cycle was the announcement that all of the TPA's operations will be powered by renewable energy bought through a partnership with Bullfrog Power.

On the enviro front, the federal government agency responsible for Toronto's port further plans to invest $1 million in creating fish habitat, making a change to green lubricants for servicing all its machinery and vigilantly enforcing anti-idling laws. It's a small part of $16 million in capital expenditures in this year's TPA budget that includes resurfacing runways, constructing a sound barrier and upgrading equipment. The changes anticipate a growth in air traffic at the airport of over 35 per cent.

Community AIR, an activist group who have long opposed the TPA and the island airport, maintains the position that "a large, polluting airport within two kilometres of the city downtown will ruin the quality of life of all Torontonians."�

By now, any boozehound who bellies up to the bar can choose from dozens, if not hundreds, of beers brewed locally in small batches. The microbrewery trend caught on in the GTA in the 1990s and -- despite such industry innovators such as Sleeman's and Upper Canada being swallowed by big corporations -- the small-is-beautiful ethos has solidified among discerning beer drinkers.

But until now, Ontario has not had a micro-distiller making spirits in small batches. Still Waters, based in Vaughan, changed that late last year when it launched a single-malt vodka at the LCBO, the company's (and the province's) first micro-distilled product to reach the market.

According to Barry Bernstein, Still Waters' co-founder and one of its two employees, the vodka, which retails for $36.95, is selling well. Still Waters was founded in 2005 as an importer, bottler and distributor of single-malt scotches. But last year the company was reborn with the purchase of a custom-made (and beautiful) pot still from Germany.

The vodka is made by hand in small batches ("600 litres, rather than 6,000 or 20,000 litres" as big distillers do, says Bernstein), and every bottle is packed by hand by the company's creators.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Barry Bernstein, Founder, Still Waters

City Patron, a new non-profit organization in Toronto, seeks to introduce an innovative element to the work of independent activists by adding an ingredient so often lacking from their lives: money.

The prime example -- and City Patron test case -- is Dave Meslin, an activist who founded the Toronto Public Space Committee, the Toronto Cyclists Union, Dandyhorse magazine, City Idol and helped set up Spacing magazine and most recently, the Better Ballots Initiative, among other endeavors. Meslin, or "Mez," as he's known, has helped influence the city's political life for the past 10 years through his initiatives. Yet, perhaps unsurprisingly, he often has difficulty making ends meet.

City Patron argues that we need people like Meslin, and that we lack a way to fund their work. "Just as engines need spark plugs, cities need people who can turn good ideas into action.The private sector knows this. The marketplace celebrates innovators and entrepreneurs who dream up the next big idea for a product or a company. But in the civic arena, it's a different story," the org's website declares.

So City Patron is asking people to chip in. By committing to pay $20 or $30 per month (or any other voluntary amount), large groups of people will provide innovative social activists with a salary of $30,000-$40,000 per year. In exchange for their micropatronage, donors will receive monthly updates on the activist's work. As it launched earlier this month, Dave Meslin was the initial "City Builder" seeking funding, but more candidates will be announced on the site this month.

Peter MacLeod, the founder of the project (who works to "reinvent public consultation" in his day job at MASS LBP), says that in the first 10 days the project's website was live, $10,000 in donations were pledged, alongside multiple offers of partnerships from charitable organizations and hundreds of emails.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Peter MacLeod, founder, City Patron

It's a simple concept: a group of people approach a retailer and haggle for a discount in exchange for a large group of purchases. Yet when the phenomenon of "team buying" or "group buying" caught on a few years ago in mainland China, where it is called tuangou, it inspired a slew of media attention.

Of course, the power of the internet and social media such as Twitter and Facebook in particular, makes this shopping innovation easier than ever to execute, and the concept has become popular in the US through sites such as GroupBuyCenter.com and Groupon.com. And now the phenomenon has come to Toronto, launched by www.webpiggy.com, a joint venture of Agency 3 communications and District Marketing.

Retailers sign up to offer a discount (typically 40-60 per cent off regular prices) as long as a certain number of people agree to purchase. The offer goes up for a limited time on grouppiggy's website and, if the required number of people purchase, the service forwards a cheque to the offering business and coupons to those who bought. If not enough people sign on, no one is charged anything.

According to Dennis Logan, a spokesperson for www.grouppiggy.com, the new venture employs seven people and expects to grow quickly as the concept catches on in the GTA.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Dennis Logan, www.grouppiggy.com.

The annual Wintercity Festival that launched last week with a gala event at Nathan Phillips is by now familiar to most Torontonians. It offers free programming and performances and, perhaps most famously, a chance to eat relatively inexpensive prix fixe meals in some of Toronto's finest restaurants through the Winterlicious program.

But what many may not know is that, according to the City of Toronto, Wintercity is an economic boon during the yearly February business-cycle blahs. Last year, according to city PR representative Giannina Warren, the Winterlicious portion of the festival generated $12 million in direct spending at participating restaurants. And this year's festival will create 265 direct temporary jobs for performers and artists affiliated with the festival -- and on top of that there are jobs for those hired to produce the festival and stage it, she notes in an email.

"The Winterlicious stats in particular are very important -- as the festival was created as a way to boost Toronto's restaurant industry during a typically slow period of business. Many of the participating restaurants rely on the program to keep them viable throughout the winter, and it's become a staple of the City's economy," Warren says.

The festival runs through February 11 and involves the participation of 150 restaurants.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Giannina Warren, City of Toronoto

There could be no greater testament to Toronto's pride in its status as a magnet for immigration than its motto: "Diversity Our Strength." The question is, are we using that diversity to our full advantage?

In a recent essay for The Mark, former Gordon Foundation President Patrick Johnson suggested the answer is no. Noting that 46 per cent of the city's population was born abroad -- and that the diversity of countries in which those immigrants originate is world-leading -- Johnson concluded we're not capitalizing on this great source of strength. "There is scant evidence that key decision makers � whether in government, the corporate sector or NGOs � are attempting to take advantage of that advantage," he writes.

And a recent survey of the Toronto Region by the Progress Career Planning Institute seemed to underscore that conclusion, noting in particular that small businesses are less likely than large ones to recognize the value of newcomers to building a global brand. But a new initiative by the non-profit Information and Communications Technology Council, funded by the federal government, could help to close the gap between the potential and actual value of immigrants to Toronto (and of our city to them).

The Canada Readiness Tool is an online assessment for newcomers and potential newcomers that will help them learn about the culture-specific skills needed to succeed in Canada. According to the ICTC, the key is in the "three C's": Culture, Communication and Competencies.

In a press release announcing the initiative, Minister of Human Resources Diane Finley said it would "facilitate the integration of newcomers into the work force so that they can put their skills to work sooner, helping to strengthen the labour market and improve the standard of living of all Canadians. Attracting and retaining the best international talent to address existing and future labour market challenges is critical to Canada's long-term economic success."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: The Mark, Progress Career Planning Institute, Information and Communications Technology Council

Mississauga-based organic food distributor Mike & Mike's has added three staff members to manage a new product line of organic snacks launched earlier this month. The Organic Select line of nut and berry blends is now in stores across the GTA, and the company will soon launch a web home for the brand at www.organicselect.ca that it hopes will become a hub for information on healthy living and all things organic. The company says more hiring may happen with the site's launch.

The new brand is just the latest phase of rapid growth for the five-year-old company. Launched in 2005 out of a 2,500-square-foot Etobicoke warehouse with only three employees, the company today occupies 20,000 square feet (fully half of that refrigerated) in Mississauga and has a staff of 18. Their main business has been distributing organic produce, though they have branched out into dairy and bulk.

The line of 26 different snack foods represents the company's first time branding its own products. "We wanted to develop a product that was really superior quality, and certified organic," President Mike Fronte says. "When people take it home and try it, we want them to say, 'Wow! This is really good."

While bustling business in Toronto, where pretty much everything organic has become a lifestyle status marker, has led to steady growth for the company, Fronte says that he's always focused on expanding gradually, at a manageable pace. And that's his forecast for the future as the new line and website develop. "We're going to take growth slow and steady and ensure that our current customer base is served 100% -- we never want our existing customers to suffer for our growth."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Mike Fronte, President of Mike & Mike's

Ever since the 2007 publication of The 100-mile Diet by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon, locavorism has become an ever-growing trend across North America. You can't read a Queen Street West restaurant menu these days without learning which farm your cow grew up on, and you can hardly navigate a city park amid the bugaboo strollers and bulging reusable designer bags crowded around the Farmers' Markets and the plots of community gardens.

While the conscious eating trend is more than local, much of the groundwork for the city's network of conscious food infrastructure was laid with the adoption of the Toronto Food Charter (pdf) in 2001.

And now, in a part of the 905 where farming is actually still a thriving industry, sustainable eating is taking on a similar practical force: the non-profit Community Development Council of Durham has secured $35,000 in funding to turn the principles of the Durham Region Food Charter into real action. The Charter has been in development for over three years. It lays out principles for healthy eating, environmental sustainabiltiy and support for local agriculture.

The CDCD initiative, funded by Friends of the Greenbelt, will set up an action plan and working group. According to Friends, 25% of farms in Ontario's greenbelt are located in Durham region.

The charter's goals also received a boost recently with the formation of The Durham Culinary Association, a Pickering-based social networking group of chefs devoted to local eating established by chef Philippe Trepanier and teacher James Blair.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Friends of the Greenbelt, Community Development Council of Durham, newsdurhamregion.com.

Sequentia Environics can credibly claim to have been a leader internet advertising -- it launched in 2002 as a division of the communications giant Environics to focus on building online relationships between companies and their customers.

And pretty much all along, they've been growing apace with their chosen medium. In 2004, the year Facebook was founded, the company was named the 27th fastest-growing in the country by PROFIT magazine. The next year, as the term "Web 2.0" came into vogue, Sequentia has moved to 24th on the same list. The company has recorded 15 straight years of revenue growth and placed second on the Report on Business list of "Best Workplaces in Canada" for the past two years running. (And placed first on the "Best Workplaces for Women" list.)

Last week, the Fashion-District-based office of Sequentia announced further growth with the addition of three management-level staffers: minor celebrity blogger Peter Flaschner as creative director and community practice lead, former Canadian Business columnist Andrew Wahl as content development manager and former CNW group staffer Heather Morrison as client services manager.

The news comes quickly after Sequentia's parent company announced further aggressive growth in the social media marketing field, acquiring Exvisu to form Nexalogy Environics in Montreal to specialize in social media research and analysis.

In a press release announcing the new hires, Sequntia founder Jen Evans said the moves were a matter of "scaling for growth," and that she was "bullish" on the company's future. The company is also looking to hire a project and accounts manager.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Sequntia Environics