Companies in northeastern Ontario looking to streamline their businesses to be more productive and efficient can now sign up for assessments through the Productivity and Innovation Centre (PIC).
Based in Timmins, the centre is a collaborative effort of NEOnet, the Timmins Economic Development Corp. and other partners, and was launched last year to serve small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Hired in April as the project coordinator, Ana Blouin brings with her experience in international business development, consulting and working with companies to help them expand and grow.
“This was a perfect fit with what I’ve been doing in the past 15 years,” said Blouin, noting her past experience has been largely in the public sector. “It’s been a great experience. It’s been a great project to basically put my expertise in place and help the region push the innovation centre and help also NEOnet and the Timmins Economic Development Corporation.”
In September, the centre started accepting registrations from companies interested in having their businesses assessed for productivity and innovation. Recommendations from the assessment will be gathered into a report, and then businesses can apply for funding to make operational efficiencies in response.
“We are currently working with a dozen companies for intake, and we’re targetting 30 companies, and this year the pilot project is actually for 60 companies in the region to basically have the assessment conducted by our bank of consultants,” Blouin said. “Those 60 companies, we will continue working with them for the implementation of the recommendations that are identified in the productivity assessments.”
Companies who complete the assessment process may be eligible for up to $5,000 (80 per cent of eligible costs) in funding. Eligible expenses could include, but are not limited to, equipment modernization/upgrading, developing and implementing an ICT strategy, and training for employees and/or managers.
Before the implementation of the centre, companies looking for help in innovation and productivity were referred to the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology (NORCAT) in Sudbury, which specializes in mining technology.
Resources offered through the PIC, by contrast, are open to businesses across sectors, including agriculture, mining, forestry, IT, cleantech, and environmental. Though companies serving the retail and service sector can access assistance through the centre, they are not eligible for funding.
Since coming on board with the project last spring, Blouin has spent time hosting seminars and workshops in various communities throughout the North explaining how innovation — a buzz word that can often have abstract connotations — applies to small and medium businesses and how they can directly benefit from the centre’s services.
In June, the centre was added to the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE), allowing it to access the resources at any of the 17 innovation centres across the province. The centre has also been added to the Northern Technology Alliance, which includes Innovation Initiatives Ontario in North Bay, the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre, the Northwest Ontario Innovation Centre in Thunder Bay, and NORCAT.
Last year, the alliance collaborated on a presence at the OCE Discovery event in Toronto, where 27 Northern Ontario companies showcased their services.
Provincial and federal funding will allow the pilot project to run until 2016, at which point innovation centres across the province will have to reapply for funding renewal. NEOnet director of operations Chris McLaughlin is optimistic the centre will meet that challenge.
“One of the things that we suspect is that there would be such an uptake of the assessments that we would be able to generate a significant amount of revenue — not to make a profit, but at least to meet the expenses of the centre,” he said. “So one of the goals of the project is actually to create a level of sustainability for the centre itself.”
