Sudbury

Brian Ramakko, owner of Ramakko’s Source for Adventure, leans forward in his chair and holds his hand up with his index finger and thumb about an inch apart. “I was that close to losing it all,” he said.

A small Sudbury firm is helping mining companies peer into the future to avoid costly mistakes. Labrecque Technologies creates computer models of mine operations before they are developed in order to analyze and solve any potential problems.

Sage Executive Suites are filling a niche market in Sudbury for upscale accommodations. Noella Cliche, owner and 30-year resident of Sudbury, opened the newly renovated luxury suites in March 2008.

Having the belief in a vision and the drive to execute it has resulted in another first for hotel mogul Steve Gupta.

A Sudbury industrial supplier is developing a green touch. Fibron Inc. is now a Canadian distributor for an American-made environmentally friendly alternative to sandblasting.

Targeting a market through a visionary set of eyes put NORCAT’s eLearning department in the lead. What began as a modest health and safety program for local industry has morphed into a $1- to $1.

A $10-million investment in one of Sudbury’s major mining research nodes by Rio Tinto in December may well benefit other mining operations in Sudbury and around the North, according to project leaders. The U.K.

Sudbury’s Mining Technologies International Inc. can now test and showcase its newly designed mine equipment in its own underground environment.

The lasting legacy of the year-long strike of nearly 3,000 members of the United Steelworkers Local 6500 at Vale’s Sudbury operations will not be its economic implications, but its message about foreign acquisitions, said a local economist.

Despite the recent recession, the lending climate for small businesses in Northern Ontario has retained much of its strength and is continuing to grow stronger, according to local entrepreneurs and lenders.