Glass, cedar and stone make up the shining exterior of the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology (NORCAT)'s new Innovation and Commercialization Park, but it's Northern Ontario know-how that will soon fill its airy interior.
"It's very important that anything happening in this incubation facility is reflective of what's going on in the community," says Norm Lavallee, chief operating officer of NORCAT.
"Obviously mining is going to be a strong part of that, but we're looking to include all manner of industries that impact the North."
The 60,000-square-foot, $10.6-million building was contracted by local firm, A3 Construction.
In the coming weeks, exterior paving and curbing will replace the crushed rock currently lining the roads leading into the facility.
Stepping inside reveals a hive of activity as all manner of Sudbury sub-trades strive to wrap up the final stages of the building in anticipation for the first tenants to move in by Dec. 31, 2008.
While much of the second floor's drywall and painting has already been completed, the expansive local's main floor still requires some work.
Walking into the incubator section reveals an expansive room and stacks of ceiling tiles sitting neatly in the centre of the floor, where dividing walls will soon be built. Four companies have already agreed to become tenants in this area, including Electric Vehicle Controllers Ltd., which has done a great deal of work with NORCAT for developing its space technology.
Officials are still actively pursuing a particular high-profile anchor tenant whose identity is veiled in secrecy. Still, Lavallee insists it will be a "big-name, highly recognizable company."
Uptake in this shop space has been swift. Of the 15,000-square feet allotted, just 3,600 square feet remains unspoken for.
The warehouse-sized room is ringed with a series of overhead doors accessible from a road circling the building that could allow for a tractor-trailer if needed.
Though a handful of companies will initially occupy this space, that number will multiply greatly over time as tenants are expected to stay only as long as they are innovating. Once they've moved past that particular phase, they'll move on and other interested firms will move into their space.
That could mean a given tenant might stay anywhere from a few months to three years, Lavallee says.
As this transition occurs and successful firms make way for others, the shop floor space can be modified to suit the new companies' needs by tearing down and rebuilding drywall and replacing floor studs. This makes for a flexible environment which can accommodate a variety of equipment research.
Heavy equipment is one of the more visible symbols of economic progress, however, on the facility's second floor a great deal of space will be used for what Lavallee refers to as "soft" research.
This pursuit of creative ideas through software development, engineering and other conceptual design work will take place upstairs, in a number of cubicles. Armed with computers as well as Internet access and phone lines, these individual spaces will be available for roughly $200-per month.
This will provide tenants with the same office amenities as those taking up space on the shop floor.
Companies will also be able to establish their own server in a separate server room.,Tenants can also have access to the Optical Regional Advanced Network of Ontario (ORANO) offering high-speed bandwidth to the province's colleges and universities. Certain projects at the previous NORCAT's prior location were dependent on this kind of access, so its inclusion was a must, says Lavallee.
This support extends to other areas of the second floor, which will house offices for various services connected to research. This includes the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) and N.J. Robbins Consultants, a research tax credit specialist.
As an example of the kinds of use these "soft" research areas may see, an engineering firm looking to have a staff member develop an innovative product without fear of interruption could snap up a spot for a few months.
This communal room may seem counter-productive to often secretive research, but Lavallee insists it will emphasize a sense of community and co-operation, rather than secrecy and competition. He points to a similar set-up at the Canadian Innovation Centre in Waterloo, where tenants have seen great success in working together on common problems.
However, those insistent on privacy for a small creative team can make use of some of the larger private rooms down the hall.
Between the two types of incubation space, 40 or 50 innovators may be found under the centre's roof if it achieves peak capacity.
All in all, this represents a more viable option for small entrepreneurs who may only need a short-term research space and might not want to be locked into long-term leases, Lavallee says.
The facility represents a 20,000-square-foot jump beyond what was initially imagined.
With extra space needed for its newly-minted animation program, Cambrian College sought to make use of the area NORCAT's current facilities, rather than construct a new addition.
