THUNDER BAY — The Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre has hosted a series called Meet the Funders, which showcases organizations that help businesses with funding and mentoring.
The innovation centre itself is a funder that is a non-profit organization, funded by the provincial and federal governments and is focused on helping Northwestern Ontario businesses commercialize innovation.
"That is a fancy way of saying we help businesses make money off their great ideas," said Jeff Coull, executive director of the centre. "We are headquartered in Thunder Bay with an office in Kenora and we mainly support startup and mature businesses in science, technology, manufacturing and agri-food."
But like most businesses, the centre has had to navigate through obstacles.
"Awareness is our number one challenge," Coull noted. "I say this tongue in cheek, but you would be surprised how hard it is to give money away.
"We are constantly putting efforts into making our target market aware that we exist and that we can be a partner in their growth through the funding, programs, and services we offer."
Although the centre promotes its colleagues in funding initiatives, it also provides many opportunities for businesses.
"Our Meet the Funders event every year has become incredibly popular and it allows (Northwestern Ontario) businesses the opportunity to learn about the various funding organizations and how to connect with them during a one-on-one discussion," he said.
"Many of the provincial funding agencies, that don't have resources in the region, send someone to Thunder Bay to attend our event so they can meet with business operators."
The last event featured 17 funding organizations with more than 125 in-person meetings that evening.
Coull said the innovation centre is among those represented and provides funding for businesses or connects and facilitates funding for its clients from other sources.
"The innovation centre's funding programs are focused on accessing new markets or introducing new product lines," he said.
"We also have funding specific to innovative projects in rural communities under 3,000 people.
"We also provide funding for executives-in-residence (EIR) which provides fractional (part-time) executive resources to our high-growth companies that need a chief information officer or chief financial officer or other executives, but aren't in a position to pay a full-time C-suite (executive level manager) salary."
The Innovation Centre works directly with its clients to develop a plan for accessing funding to scale their business.
"We also help them develop and refine their pitch, following up with investors as necessary," he said.
Coull says Northwestern Ontario needs to do a better job of incubating and scaling businesses. He described how the region is an economy based on natural resources, which won't change anytime soon.
"We can mitigate the boom-bust nature of natural resources, by nurturing businesses in other sectors, specifically science and tech," he said.
"Fostering science and tech businesses diversifies our economy, making it more resilient during those busy times. We make the lows a lot less low."
This year, the Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre will celebrate its 25th anniversary.
The Chronicle Journal / Local Journalism Initiative
