OEMC conference organizers retire after more than two decades
More than two decades after they launched and coordinated the Ontario East Economic Development Commission's first annual conference, Doug and Shirley Ellis are retiring.
"It's just time to step back and let somebody else try it," Doug says in a recent interview with his wife and business partner Shirley Ellis.
The pair are now in California for a well-deserved vacation, just weeks after wrapping up the 2011 Ontario East Municipal Conference.
For the Brockville couple, who run event planning company Municipal Events, setting up for their last OEMC was an emotional experience.
"It was a proud moment, having played a role in growing Ontario East, the organization, and growing the conference," says Shirley.
That pride is certainly earned.
In 1990, Doug spearheaded the creation of the Ontario East Economic Development Commission, which now co-hosts OEMC with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
In 1987, when he was CAO of Brockville, he corralled 11 other municipalities to pool their resources so they could attend an expensive trade show run by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.
The shared experience was so successful that Doug invited the region's municipalities to form an economic development alliance representing 14 municipalities under the Ontario East Economic Development Commission. More than 120 municipalities are now Ontario East members.
Doug became its first president and the organization's first annual conference took place in 1989. About 150 delegates attended. Shirley, who was the executive director of Ontario East between 1990 and 1993, began coordinating the event in 1990, the same year Doug became the conference's longtime chairman.
In 1993, Doug convinced the Ministry to join its own annual conference to Ontario East's, and the size of the conference grew to almost 400 people.
Nowadays, the conference-which is divided between conveying information on economic development and government policies and regulations-regularly draws around 700 delegates, advertisers, sponsors, and exhibitors.
Held at Kingston's Ambassador Hotel and Conference Centre, the annual conference has become so successful that a handful of exhibitors have to be turned away every year due to lack of space, and there's less than 10 percent exhibitor turnover.
While Shirley and Doug are looking forward to their much-deserved rest, they say they'll miss their role in the annual conference.
"We've made tremendous friends over the years and we'll miss the people," Shirley says.
Kingston's post-secondary institutions provide free student consulting
For many small businesses, the idea of hiring consultants to prepare for the launch a new product or service or to develop a new marketing strategy is a costly one that they couldn't even consider.
But free student initiatives at two Kingston, Ont. post-secondary institutions have put these kinds of services in reach for local organizations.
"Over 20 projects will be funded [through the Monieson Centre]," says Jeff Dixon, assistant director of the Monieson Centre at Queen's School of Business.
The centre is sponsoring consulting projects with Queen's MBA students and fourth-year Bachelor of Commerce students.
"The initiative connects the experience of QSB's Queen's School Business Consulting Group and the world-class MBA program with organizational needs," says a release from the Monieson Centre.
Potential consulting topics include strategic planning, marketing research and strategy, information technology, product development, process management, and organizational strategy. Projects will take place between January and April 2012.
Students will be choosing their projects as early as December, so organizations interested in receiving consulting services through the Queen's-run initiatives should contact the Monieson Centre (monieson@business.queensu.ca) now.
All projects are supervised by qualified faculty, and students are already professionals or almost, says Dixon. Many of the Commerce students will soon graduate and go to work at top-calibre consulting firms while MBA students were already business professionals before attending Queen's.
Within the School of Business at nearby St. Lawrence College, there are several formal and informal student initiatives that bolster regional economic development by helping local businesses and not-for-profit organizations.
"The students provide services such as market research, marketing communications strategies, business plans, training and development design, and video production," says John Conrad, associate dean of the School of Business.
Professors in the business school run some classes like consulting agencies and service real clients in the community. Other professors work with students to develop advertising and public relations campaigns or television public service announcements for local charities, for example.
There are also business programs outside the classroom that strive to help the community. One of the newer ones is SIFE SLC (Students in Free Enterprise).
"SIFE works with many community agencies and businesses to solve complex business problems using creative and innovative business practices," says Conrad.
The college also provides support to local businesses through its Centre for Corporate Learning and Performance Improvement by providing a wide range of business solutions.
Port Hope Mixed Martial Arts filmmaker expands into new digs ($50)
Port Hope's municipally-run business incubator IDEAHUB has welcomed a novel new tenant-a film company that specializes in making Mixed Martial Arts movies.
Owned Entertainment will occupy a large part of the second floor of the IDEAHUB building, raising hopes that the production studio will grow the community's profile and attract new business from the Canadian film industry.
Deputy Mayor Jeff Gilmer, Chair of the Economic Development and Tourism Committee, says the move by Owned Entertainment helps solidify Port Hope as a growing area of interest for filmmaking.
"We believe Owned Entertainment will play an instrumental role in providing new opportunities to support the growing film industry within our local and regional community," says Gilmer who is also a member of Port Hope's Business Incubator Management Advisory Committee.
Owned Entertainment president James Hergott grew up in the area and is excited about the many advantages that IDEAHUB offers for his new studio. The first film to be produced at the local studio is already in the works and agreements are in place to produce several more in the next few years.
Hergott anticipates that the studio will grow quickly, potentially occupying the entire second floor of the IDEAHUB building in the near future.
"The studio will focus primarily on Mixed Martial Arts and action movies filmed in Northumberland County and produced in-house," Hergott says. "The plan is to eventually move into other genres of film and expand our facilities so that we can open the studio to other production companies."
With a comprehensive filming policy and resources already in place, Port Hope is recognized as a prime location for filming and has hosted a number of prominent productions.
The provincial government offers substantial financial benefits for film production outside of the Greater Toronto Area, and Port Hope offers additional benefits over the big cities. These include minimal traffic, less noise, shorter distances between filming locations, and lower costs for parking and accommodations.
Port Hope's IDEAHUB opened in 2010 with money from the provincial and federal government.
Kingston's John-Paul Shearer named Economic Developer of the Year
John-Paul Shearer, director of business development at Kingston Economic Development Corporation, has won the Eastern Ontario Economic Development Commission's Economic Developer of the Year Award.
Shearer received the award Sept. 14 at the Ontario East Economic Development Commission's annual conference (OEMC), which was held in Kingston, Ont.
Nominated by KEDCO CEO Jeff Garrah and marketing and communications manager Donna Gillespie, Shearer was named to this year's award by a selection committee that looked at several factors related to his contribution to the region's economic development.
"John-Paul's leadership and strategic planning has ensured KEDCO's offering of premier support services for the local business community in Kingston, Ontario," Garrah said in the nomination.
Shearer's nomination stood out as a result of his role in developing and implementing KEDCO's corporate strategic plan and a labour market development initiative he spearheaded.
Shearer nomination also highlighted his contribution to the TDL (Tim Hortons) groundbreaking at St. Lawrence Business Park; his role as an advisor to the Queen's-Cornell Executive MBA Program; and his role with the Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Rehabilitation Therapy program.
"In his role as director of business development, John-Paul has redefined KEDCO's role in labour market development and the attraction and retention of talent in the city," Garrah said. "He has initiated collaborations with academic partners and industry leaders that are setting standards on a national and international basis."
Garrah also wrote that KEDCO's labour market development portfolio now includes a dedicated team that offers recruitment support to local businesses and supports an on-site economic development office at Queen's University that enhances positive town-grown relations. The team also works with sector-specific senior managers, such as the health care sector, to identify skill gaps and target and recruit professionals.
Ontario East would like to congratulate John-Paul Shearer and all of his Kingston Economic Development associates for their strong contribution to the economic development region of Eastern Ontario.
Peterborough celebrates its businesses with Bridges to Better Business Event
Peterborough celebrated its business successes at its annual Bridges to Better Business Event earlier this month.
Hosted by the Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Corporation, Bridges to Better Business featured a keynote speech by Tony Grady, of Grady's Feet Essentials and Grady Coaching and Marketing Services. Grady offered up his seven secrets to business success.
The speech was followed by a panel discussion by local business owners who described their successes through diversification, partnership, social media strategy, and building of customer loyalty.
The event was funded in partnership with the East Kawartha Chamber of Commerce, the Township of Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, and Canada Business Ontario.
People, planet, and processes focus of November manufacturing conference
The role of community and environment in a manufacturer's bottom line will be the focus of this year's Annual Tri-Association Conference hosted by three Eastern Ontario manufacturing organizations.
The Nov. 9 conference at the Holiday Inn in Trenton, Ont. will be entitled People, Planet and Processes-the Profitable Road Ahead.
Co-run by the Kawartha Manufacturers' Association, the Quinte Manufacturers' Association, and the Northumberland Manufacturers' Association, the conference will explore themes in human resources and training, productivity and innovation, and sustainability.
The event will feature presentations from international experts, including Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters president and CEO Jayson Myers and Kris Stevens, executive director of the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association. There will also be nine workshops on subjects such as the ergonomics of Lean, productivity assessments, and closing training gaps.
Get more details or register online at http://www.thenma.ca/events/conferences or call 905-372-2238.
Peterborough region exploring development of creating a water-sector cluster
What's in the water?
The Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Corporation and the Greater Peterborough Innovation Cluster hosted a recent forum to explore this idea-or, more to the point, the idea of creating a regional water sector cluster.
The event brought together local private businesses, the public sector and academia to facilitate the growth of a water cluster that could create jobs, and increase investment and economic activity in the Peterborough region.
"Our region is already home to a world-class water cluster," says Dan Taylor, GPIC's president and CEO.
Taylor said his organization is going to work with its partners to leverage research and development already underway in the region in hopes of increasing jobs and wealth.
"Growing the existing water cluster in our community will open up opportunities for business development and high-quality, high paying jobs," says Taylor. "We see a strong economic future for our community in this sector."
In 2010, the GPIC and the GPA EDC undertook a study that supported growth in the sector and identified 19 companies in the region that are active or interested in water research and/or technology.
