Andrew Dasys and his team at Objectivity Inc. are self-proclaimed geeks, not marketing gurus.
When Sudbury-based Objectivity needed help selling its drill hole optimization tool to mining markets outside the region, they found that help in the Northern Ontario Export Program (NOEP, previously the Mining Supply and Service Export Assistance Program).
In 2010, Dasys was the vice-president of commercialization at the Mining Innovation Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corporation (MIRARCO), and working on 3D visualization of drill holes. Motivated by a question of whether there was a way to use the visualization tool to develop drill plans, Dasys started up Objectivity as MIRARCO’s first commercial spinout and came up with DRX, short for drilling, reporting and targeting.
“DRX is an investment tool, it ties together the investment side and the geology side,” said Dasys. “We make every metre drilled count.”
They had the product, but needed to develop a market.
“We’re geeks, we’re not marketing people, and so we had started doing some outreach into Chile and outside of Ontario, and John Baird was one of the consultants that the city had in the program. He came in and did some work with us and helped us realign our marketing,” said Dasys.
Dasys completed the NOEP program in 2015, and has found success internationally since.
“In mining, your first client will be close to you, and the next one will be 5,000 miles away from you,” said Dasys.
In Objectivity’s case, the distance was more like 9,000 miles. The connections he made in the program led to an alliance with a drilling company in Australia, and he has interest from the U.S. and from Chile.
“We’re going to continue developing the Australian market and we will continue on this continent,” said Dasys.
While most NOEP participants so far have been in the mining supply and service sector, it recently expanded to include other sectors. This expansion coincides with its renewed funding for another two years. In May, the program received funding from the federal and provincial levels: $952,100 each from FedNor’s Northern Ontario Development Program and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC).
The funding will help establish a Northern Ontario presence at the Canadian Pavilion of the MINExpo International conference in Las Vegas in September.
Since 2014, the NOEP has supported 67 firms, created 137 new jobs and maintained an additional 146 jobs. The program is run by the Ontario’s North Economic Development Corporation (ONEDC), and led by Scott Rennie at the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation.
The renewal ensures another two years of training for Northern Ontario businesses interested in exporting their products, and gaining valuable marketing experience.
“One of the key things that came out of it was much better teamwork. The tech people understood what we were trying to do on the commercial side; the program helps individuals to get a much better understanding and focus on the marketing,” said Dasys.
