Innovation + Job News

In a recent study conducted by PhoCusWright & Experian Hitwise, FlightNetwork.com ranked second among online travel sales organizations, with 6 per cent of the market (second to expedia.ca's 18 per cent share).

For the Oakville-based FlightNetwork.com, it was a welcome confirmation of their success. According to General Manager Suri Pillai, the company was founded in 1998, but really only took off in 2006 when it settled on a business plan and set up shop online. In the four years since, Pillai says, the company has seen 200-300 per cent growth, and now boasts 145 employees in the GTA.

Pillai attributes his company's success to a number of factors, but traces many of them to a single source: "One of our key assets is our technology," he says, "we build our technology in house. We're innovating and evolving every day -- we make changes to our website every week, and that gives us a very powerful advantage."

Pillai says that he expects continued growth in the immediate future as the company begins to fully exploit the new business potential offered by social media.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Suri Pillai, General Manager, FlightNetwork.com

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Just a few weeks ago, we reported on the launch of Cavet Technologies and its new LumiSmart Intelligent Lighting Controller, and already it's seeing accolades roll in and business lining up.

At the Canadian Advanced Technological Alliance Innovation Awards on May 19, Cavet received the award for Technology Commercialization. "What this means is we're getting traction," says company co-founder and Executive VP David Berg. "It means that we've brought a product to market that's going to mean something."

Berg says that in the weeks since the LumiSmart lighting system launched, they have received expressions of interest from potential buyers in more than 20 countries. "I can't get into specific numbers right now... but we expect this is going to result in substantial orders that will result in hundreds of jobs here in Toronto." Berg says that the environmentally friendly, energy-saving technology has the advantage of saving any company that implements it money. "People fundamentally understand that saving power is something that effects your bottom line."

Berg emphasizes that the company is proud to be local. "This is Canadian technology, designed in Canada and manufactured in Canada for the rest of the world."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: David Berg, Executive vice President of Product Management and Engineering, Cavet Technologies

In 2003, City Chase founder Nick Jelinek planned a scavenger-hunt urban adventure race in Toronto. According to the organization's Lauren Habib, he wanted to do something along the lines of The Amazing Race that ordinary people could participate in, and that could explore a city through its operation.

Seven years after the first race was staged in Toronto, the organization is preparing for its 100th race -- back home here in Hogtown. The milestone race will kick off with participants rappelling down Toronto's iconic city hall, perhaps a symbol of the heights to which the company has grown since its founding.

From a one-man organization, City Chase has grown to employ six people full-time in its Mississauga head office, and it contracts others to run races in cities across the country and in more than 14 other countries around the world. The private, for-profit company has also managed to raise $300,000 in the past two years in Canada for it's charitable partner, Right To Play, and has set a goal of raising $200,000 for the charity this year.

According to Habib, the organization continues to grow -- last year it launched "Campus Chase" and it continually sets up test markets and adds new cities around the world to its roster.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Lauren Habib, City Chase

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A year ago, Franz David and Tyler Moore were both working at hip Queen West hair salon Coupe Bizarre, where they'd been for some time. Both were looking to grow as businesspeople, but Moore says that when they found a location on booming Ossington Avenue, they knew the time had come to launch their own business and Parlour Salon was born.

They opened amidst a recession many feared would be fierce and long-lasting, but Moore says he'd done research suggesting that "booze and beauty" were relatively immune to the ups and downs of the business cycle. "We were prepared for the worst, but we expected a bit better," he says.

One year later, it appears his optimism was well-founded. Parlour has quadrupled its revenue since its opening month, Moore reports, and has grown from a starting staff of five to employ 11. "No wait, we just hired someone today," he says on the phone on May 21, "we have 12 staff now."

The salon counts celebrities such as Adam Lambert and Keisha Chante as clients, but Moore says that in addition to having glamour as an attraction, value pricing (about $60 for men or women for a basic cut with washing and styling), good customer service and a commitment to their community have built their business. Moore points out that they use environmentally friendly products and refill product package, and that they are active members of the local business community.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Tyler Moore, co-founder, Parlour Salon

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Etobicoke-based Aecon Group -- the largest construction and development infrastructure company in the country -- has landed a $19 million contract to widen a section of the 407 toll highway. The nine-kilometre stretch between Highway 404 and Markham Road will see its median widened to accomodate two new lanes in each direction.

Construction is set to begin immediately and be finished in September. Aecon Senior VP Mitch Patten, could not immediately say how many workers the project is expected to employ, though the number should be substantial.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Mitch Patten, Senior Vice-President, Corporate Affairs, Aecon Group Inc.

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The new waterfront campus of George Brown College -- under construction now and expected to be finished late next year -- will be home to an innovative approach to healthcare education preparing students for the new direction of medical services  in Ontario, according to spokesperson Paul Zanettos.

Zanettos says that the facility will be educating nurses and healthcare practitioners in a way that prepares them for a future in which Family Health Teams and Nurse-Practitioner-led Clinics will be ever more common, in line with priorities announced by the provincial government. The province, as if to underline his point, is a major contributor to the construction of the project, chipping in $61.5 million towards its cost. The school itself is investing $15 million, with additional money for the $175 million project coming from private sector partners.

The project will not only prepare students for the jobs of the future, but will directly create employment too, according to Zanettos. A significant number of workers will have been employed on the construction of the project, and there will be approximately 260 staff and 3,500 students within the George Brown campus building by the time it's complete.



Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Paul Zanettos, Media Relations Consultant, George Brown College

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Therapure Biopharma Inc of Mississauga is one of the only Canadian companies to do large-scale protein purification, so their services are in high demand. That demand, according to company President and CEO Tomas Wellner, has led to a $27.9 million retrofitting and expansion of Therapure's Mississauga bio-manufacturing facility that will create 100 new jobs at the company.

"We're adding jobs that are high-value," Wellner said, noting that the company's work is subject to the "highest end of regulatory controls" and that new hires are and will be made up of the cream of the PhD crop and well-trained skilled operators.

Wellner says the expansion will take about 18 months to complete, after which production will be ramped up to serve expected global demand for the protein-based bioproducts the company manufactures. Such products are used to treat illnesses such as infectious diseases, cancer and anemia.

Part of the project will be financed through a $4.2 million grant from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation. The remaining money will be a private investment by the company's owners.

Author: Edward Keenan
Source: Thomas Wellner, President and CEO, Therapure Biopharma Inc.

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Christian Burks, Ontario Genomics Institute president and CEO, says it will be a "shot heard 'round the world": an investment by the provincial government of $86 million in genomics research projects in the GTA intended to cement the region's place as a leader in this branch of life sciences and environmental sustainability.

"When it comes to recruiting the best researchers from around the world, the knowledge bases and tools (that will result from this investment) are great attractors," Burks says.

The investment comes through the Ontario government's Global Leadership Round in Genomics & Life Sciences -- GL2 for short -- and is part of a total of $114.6 million in grants given province-wide. Funding in the GTA will support 14 high-profile projects led by the Hospital for Sick Children, Mount Sinai Hospital, the University Health Network and the University of Toronto. In all, 168 researchers will have their efforts funded by these grants.

The GTA is currently the third-largest centre for genomics research in North America, after the Bay Area and Boston, according to Burks. In announcing the funding, Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation said these grants intend to exploit that status. "Through GL2, our government is helping turn our world-class research capacity into breakthroughs that will lead to new business and jobs," he said.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Christian Burks, President and CEO, Ontario Genomics Institute; Office of John Milloy, Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation

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Two metal-coating processes commonly in use today -- applying cadmium and chrome -- produce toxic effects for workers applying them and, in the case of cadmium, for its entire lifespan. Etobicoke-based Integran Technologies is exploring nanotechnology solutions to produce alternative high-strength, high-performance metals that are non-toxic to workers and the environment to replace these products.

Late last month, the federal government announced it would fund this nanotech research at Integran with a $1.1 million repayable investment over the next two years.  "This funding will allow Integran to offer viable and environmentally sustainable alternatives to the production of metals for the aerospace industry," said federal Minister of Industry Tony Clement.

Integran was founded 10 years ago as the evolution of a former branch of Ontario Hydro. Now a privately held company, Integran has grown from five to 35 employees over the course of the past five years. Rich Emrich, VP of business development at Integran, says that while these research projects will not lead to direct hiring, the company is constantly growing its workforce, adding researchers with advanced degrees.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Rich Emrich, VP of Business Development, Integran Technologies Inc.

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Locals and politicians from in the Lakeshore community of Etobicoke came out to the official opening of Ken Cox Community Centre on May 15. The new facility, which is situated adjacent to parkland with a view of the lake, was built at 28 Colonel Samuel Smith Drive on the site of Father John Redmond Catholic Secondary School in an arrangement between the Separate School Board and the city.

According to Karen Nesbitt of the city's Parks, Forestry and Recreation department, the community centre employs two full-time staff,   coordinator and a custodian. In addition, the centre will employ 30 part-time staff administering recreation programs that include sports, fitness and dance classes.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Karen Nesbitt, Parks, Recreation and Forestry

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Hy-Drive Technologies Ltd, based in Mississauga, announced last week that it was to raise $5 million in equity through a private placement -- the news came just a month after the company was listed as the small-cap clean tech stock of the week by TMXmoney and as one of the Earth Day penny stock picks at Stockhouse.

The company is growing rapidly as it markets its proprietary innovation -- a patented hydrogen generating system that injects hydrogen gas into a regular fuel injection system that allows fuel to burn cleaner and more efficiently. The Stockhouse report explains, "The enriched air/fuel mixture burns more efficiently, extracting more clean energy from the fuel while reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Further, independent tests show that the Hy-Drive Hydrogen Generating System increases fuel economy by more than 10 per cent."

According to a company release, it has recently been engaged in a large marketing drive that it is happy with -- and has resulted in 150 expressions of interest in its product. "We are very pleased with the initial results..." said Fred Florence, Hy-Drive CFO and COO, in a release, "and we expect to add many more fleets to trial HGS and prove to themselves the savings and emission reductions that can be realized."

The company has been around in various forms since 1996, but first launched it's hydrogen generating product -- which it calls the result of "over 100 person-years of research" -- in 2004. Now headquartered in Mississauga, the company employs approximately 30 people.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Fred Florence, COO, Hy-Drive Technologies Ltd.; Stockhouse; TMXmoney

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Before it constructed a new manufacturing facility, Chief Business Officer Mark Cochran says Microbix was operating at capacity. Now that the facility is operational, the company is reporting record sales, showing a 17 per cent increase in the second quarter of this year. Cochran says the  20-year-old company has been seeing growth of about 20 per cent per year, and expects to continue that trend for the next three to four years until they reach capacity again.

Microbix is a biotechnology company headquartered in Etobicoke, Ontario, focusing on virology and biological technologies. In a news release announcing its quarterly results, the company attributed its sales growth to the new facility as well as to a newly release diagnostic product used in US hospitals and to higher royalties from the company's rabies vaccine.

Cochran says the company is growing its staff to keep up. He estimates that Microbix has hired "three or four" new employees in the past quarter, and may "add another 10 positions in the next year."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Mark Cochran, Chief Business Officer, Microbix

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A recently completed expansion at Italian Home Bakery Ltd. in Etobicoke is expected to create 45 new jobs at the company. A new test kitchen and new production and baking equipment were unveiled late last month, an expansion made possible in part by a $1.4 million contribution from the federal government.

John Rossetti, Chief Financial Officer and co-president of Italian Home Bakery cited the "enormous opportunity for growth" and said the company's new facilities would allow wider distribution. "This expansion will allow us to take a product that has only been available to the Toronto market and distribute it across Canada and the United States," he said.

It's just the latest growth phase after a decade of rapid expansion, as detailed in a recent article in Baking Management. Rosetti and his brother Dennis bought the company in the mid-1990s -- at the time it was run by the five partners who founded it in 1955, with limited distribution to grocery stores and little long-term planning. Since then the company has built an entirely new 70,000-square-foot plant and expanded widely. Its Kaiser Bun has been named "Best in the City" by Toronto Life magazine.


Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Gary Toft, Director of Communications, Office of the Honourable Gary Goodyear, FedDev Ontario; John Rossetti, Chief Financial Officer and Co-President of Italian Home Bakery; Baking Management

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Companies hoping to be among those recognized for their growth and innovation have until June 1 to get their nominations filed for the 28th Annual Ontario Business Achievement Awards -- commonly known as the OBAAs.

Scott McCammon, VP and general manager of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, which distributes the awards, says, "We're generally looking to recognize innovation and success in local companies. We're looking for those hidden stories of entrepreneurship in Ontario that we can celebrate, stories that can inspire others to similar success."

Companies can nominate themselves or be nominated by third parties -- nomination papers are here. The awards will be handed out September 20 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Scott McCammon, Vice President and General Manager, Ontario Chamber of Commerce

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According to Jobtac president and founder Satraj Bambra, the days of job hunters scrambling to find out where they put their resume are over. His startup allows people to store, organize and sort their professional files online, for access anywhere with a web connection.

Based in the financial district, the company was originally founded with a single employee in 2008 as an online job board, Bambra says. That original mandate quickly gave way to the innovative cloud-based file-storage concept, which has taken off. Bambra says the company has grown to seven employees and has seen rapid expansion with its Institution Management program, which allows universities and other large institutions to show off their talent.

Bambra elaborates that his company is guided by "Our belief and passion" for "creating a world where people don't need to waste time applying to jobs." He says Jobtac has created "a system where people can effortlessly store, bundle and share their career files (resumes, media, portfolios and references) with their education institutions, referral networks or directly with potential employers."

Bambra expects more growth in the near future, as the company is working on several new innovations and projects it expects to announce soon.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Satraj Bambra, President and founder, Jobtac

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