For Immediate Release: January 22, 2008
FedNor cash promoting research
By Dave Dale
Another $500,000 has been poured into the Innovation Initiatives Ontario North operational budget to promote the growth of research and entrepreneurship in this region.
The new regional network with an office at the Commerce Court Campus of Canadore College received the FedNor funding Monday, a grant matching what the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. provided in December.
The announcement was made by Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry MP Guy Lauzon, parliamentary assistant to Minister for FedNor Tony Clement. Rob Deline, executive director of the innovation initiatives network, said the money will help establish its presence in Sudbury and Thunder Bay where opportunities may exist.
As an example, he said a future company may create a digital health card prototype to track treatment for the unique medical challenges people in this region face, with the network bringing such partners together and finding resources to get it off the ground.
Deline told reporters that Northern Ontario is more than hockey players and blueberries, and that he likes to say he's from "Amazon North" where unique commercial discoveries have yet to be discovered.
Lauzon said the network's mandate fits with the Tory government's federal goals of creating an improved environment for investment and that it should help "bring ideas to market" in the technology and knowledge-based economy.
Deline said the network will hire experts to work within the bio-medical community to link people with existing programs so commercial enterprise is given a chance to flourish.
"We will champion diversification," he said, leading companies to the resources they need to develop opportunities to increase employment ideas.
"The funding will be used to help us with other funding from other sources."
The network also plans to focus on the bio-forest and bio-energy sectors "where all the big money is going," he said, referring to the opportunities for investment capital if someone wants to explore new ideas.
