Tag Archives: industry canada

BDC Gas Tank is Filled Up!

. Best practices, Business, Canada, Canadian Politics, Creative Class, Economy, Ecosystems, Entreprenuerism, General Interest, Government, Government Policy, Innovation, Jobs, Local Start-ups, Microbusiness, OCRI, Ontario, Opportunities, Ottawa, Ottawa Start-ups, Regional Economic Development, Technology, Trends, Unemployment, Venture Capital . , , ,

Industry Canada announced on Monday that they will be providing additional funding for BDC.

The funding allocation includes $350M for BDC‘s venture capital activities that will allow it to make additional direct investments of $260 million over three years in Canadian businesses already in the BDC portfolio, as well as investments in new seed technology companies and later-stage technology companies. It will also allow BDC to commit $90 million over three years to private, independent Canadian venture capital funds.

This funding is in addition to the $75 million in venture capital funds allocated in the Government of Canada’s Budget 2008, which is being used to support the creation of a privately run venture capital fund.

This is great news!  BDC has been, and continues to be a key player in helping grow Canada’s innovation, economic growth and economic diversity.

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More Beef, Less Bun!

. Jobs, OCRI, Venture Capital, Entreprenuerism, Ottawa, Talent First Network, Regional Economic Development, Ontario, Canada, Canadian Politics, Economy, Opportunities, General Interest, Trends, Business, Information Technology, Open Source, Ecosystems, Microbusiness, Innovation Hub, Creative Class, Web 2.0, Government Policy, Unemployment, Innovation, Universities, Government, depression 2.0, Local Start-ups, Ottawa Start-ups, Technology . , , , , , , , , , , , ,

We are in the midst of the worst economic downturn Ottawa has seen, and we are watching our high tech sector melt away.

I find it very disturbing that there are few organizations – other than the Talent First Network and NRC-IRAP – that are stepping up and taking visible, urgent and concrete steps to help out our community.

Talent First Network is aggressively pushing ahead with the Lead to Win program, which has garnered strong community support.

The IRAP team have ramped up their pace, they have streamlined processes to match the urgency of the situation, they are pursuing new programs, and they are on the frontline – engaging the entrepreneurs and high tech businesses who are working to expand existing businesses or build new businesses which will revitalize our high tech sector.

The big question is – Where is the leadership from the other tax-funded organizations? The City of Ottawa, the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation and Industry Canada have spent truckloads of money on the Ontario Centres of Excellence, Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation and The Ottawa Partnership (TOP) – these organizations  should be front and center but are virtually invisible.

When it comes to getting results from our tax dollars and leadership from the organizations they fund – it’s time for “More Beef and Less Bun!“  -

In the current economic downturn,  I would rather see more of my tax dollars going to IRAP and the Talent First Network.  They have the right attitude and they are focused on helping our community.

It’s time for MORE BEEF!  LESS BUN!

Forget Monorails! The New Snake Oil for Economic Development is Green Tech and Clean Energy!

. Jobs, OCRI, Venture Capital, Entreprenuerism, Ottawa, Regional Economic Development, Ontario, Canada, Canadian Politics, Economy, Opportunities, General Interest, Trends, Business, Information Technology, Ecosystems, Government Policy, Unemployment, Innovation, Computing, Debacle, Government, depression 2.0, Local Start-ups, Ottawa Start-ups, Technology . , , , , , , , , , , ,

Green tech and clean energy is the new snake oil – and is increasingly being pushed in Ottawa and other communities as “the future of technology” and the source for attracting venture capital,  private investment and driving  massive economic growth…  However the facts paint a different picture!

Venturesource reports steady declines in Venture investment in the green tech and clean energy sectors, with $189 million of Venture Capital invested in 15 deals during the first quarter, down 59 percent from the $457 million invested in 24 such deals last year.    This is in comparison to ICT investments, which even in the worst of times are still almost 10 times greater for the same period!

Clean Energy, Green Tech – it walks, talks and looks like a Monorail -