Over 200 technology professionals and representatives from 16 Waterloo Region tech companies converged at the Teatro Conference & Event Centre in Milton last night. Thanks to all who attended!
Milton Tech Career Fair
Watch waterlootechjobs.com for information about upcoming career events in Markham and Mississauga this fall.
A word of caution – the original article relates the best areas for real estate investment in Canada. YMMV – your mileage may vary.
The National Post published the Real Estate Investment Network’s “Top 10″ list of the best housing bets in Canada. Waterloo Region (Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge, to be exact) came in at number 2, behind Calgary and ahead of Edmonton.
The network arrived at its list by mapping the area’s average income, population growth and job growth against the provincial average, and factoring in new amenities (in our case, a light rapid-transit system).
Does this mean that we’ll soon be looking at $90,000 for a garage?
Read the rest of the story here.
In a speech entitled “Canada’s innovation conundrum“, Conference Board of Canada President and CEO Anne Golden has praise for Waterloo Region, and concern for Canada’s future.
At the root of her concern is this nation’s productivity gap, the gulf that isolates our research and ingenuity from the jobs, wealth and centrifugal spin-off of commercial enterpise. She goes on to tackle the overt and transparent issues that contribute to Canada’s innovation surfeit, earning us the dubious honour of 14th place among 17 developed nations.
But the fact is that the so-called “technology research triangle” of Kitchener/Waterloo-Cambridge-Guelph, home of the BlackBerry inventor, Research-in-Motion, accounts for about two-thirds of Canada’s high-tech start-ups(click for source).
Golden’s speech is far too long to summarize here, nor is it the proper forum. But her three priorities are worth noting.
Priority One: Canada’s governments, working with industry, should support a small number of targeted niche areas where Canada can grow globally competitive high-tech industries.
Priority Two: Governments should invest strategically in the infrastructure of Canada’s major cities where most innovation occurs
Priority Three: We should boost business investment (incl. venture capital) in R&D and state-of-the-art equipment.
Can Canada acquire this kind of entrepreneurial spirit? An interesting question, much debated. In his study of the evolution of the Canadian character The Unfinished Canadian, Andrew Cohen (President of The Historica-Dominion Institute) argues that we are a country that likes to cut off its tall poppies, a country that resents rather than celebrates its success.
So I present two questions to you: What makes Waterloo Region thrive entrepreneurially, and what can Canada do to spur innovation?
Our venture services group works with dozens of young companies (surprisingly, not always run by young entrepreneurs) as part of Communitech’s mandate to help tech companies “Start, grow, and succeed.”
In addition to mentoring and making business *cough* funding connections, they’ve also started reaching out with news and links through their monthly newsletter.
Here’s a peek at their August offering. You can expect this to grow in richness and relevancy, if not in frequency.
Like it? Get it hand-delivered to your inbox for the low-low price of “free 99″.
The email won’t fit in this blog, so you can either click this link or the image on the right to see it.
And yes, we know that the Perspecsys interview isn’t with the CEO, it’s with the COO. We’re sorry. We goof sometimes, but we try hard.
There’s a conversation on our LinkedIn group around Angel financing in Waterloo Region (and to some extent, beyond). Since the topic is near and dear to local companies, I thought I’d invite those with expertise or experience to share what they know.
For example, Craig Haney writes:
“There are a number of angels in the K-W area that have successfully funded entrepreneurs. I have been involved with many of them through the MBET program at the University of Waterloo.”
What can you add? What’s the ecosystem like for angels and angel financing here? What are the Do’s and Don’ts? (startups, check out Dan Mathers’ interview on the subject)
Replying to the thread on LinkedIn requires both an LinkedIn account and that you join the Communitech group, so feel free to comment here if you don’t want the hassle.
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