Innovation Cluster & Trent University Celebrate New Entrepreneurship & Social Innovation Centre

The Innovation Cluster and Trent University held an Open House for the recently launched Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation Centre (ESIC), a meeting hub within Trent’s Bata Library that will foster the development of entrepreneurship culture at Trent University.

The Open House featured speakers representing those that have assisted in the development of ESIC, including John Knight, Manager, Corporate Research Partnerships at Trent University; Michael Skinner, President & CEO at Innovation Cluster; and Scott Mancini, Vice President Commercial at RBC.

Scott Mancini, Vice President Commercial, RBC, speaking at Open House (John Knight at left & Michael Skinner at right)

Through ESIC, students and aspiring entrepreneurs will be able to meet at the centre with Alexandra Kuhne (Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation Centre Coordinator at Trent University) and Braden Clark (Innovation Specialist at the Innovation Cluster) to gain business mentorship and community connections.

Michael Skinner noted at the Open House that the Innovation Cluster is happy to further support youth entrepreneurship through ESIC. Throughout 2018, the Innovation Cluster supported 46 youth (18 - 29) entrepreneurs in growing their business through mentorship, incubation space, mentorship and more.

John Knight noted the importance of having a centre where students can improve their “soft skills”—a trait that multiple studies over the past year have shown is what graduates lack most in the workforce. “Entrepreneurial skills can be implemented in any career,” says Knight.

A way to teach these skills will include training programs, which is made possible by RBC. Scott Mancini, Vice President Commercial of RBC, noted they are excited to support these programs and create meaningful opportunities for young entrepreneurs.

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Peterborough's Innovation Cluster Creates Whopping $15 Million Regional Economic Impact in 2018

The Innovation Cluster created a tremendous impact for the economy through the success of local technology startups in 2018.

Throughout the course of 2018, the Innovation Cluster generated $15,431,351.37 for the local economy, 15 times the set Provincial goal. While having supported 86 startups in total throughout the year, the Innovation Cluster in turn helped to create 171 jobs for the local economy.

Innovation Cluster is housed in VentureNorth building in downtown Peterborough

Having established over 30 innovation partnerships, the Innovation Cluster has been able to create endless opportunities and connections for startups growing in the region. Of the 86 startups that have been supported in 2018, 46 of those were youth (18 to 29).

“Having close relationships with Fleming College and Trent University has been essential to  attracting young, local innovators and keeping them in this region,” says Michael Skinner, President & CEO of the Innovation Cluster. “A lot of startup successes and community events has been made possible through these connections.”

Michael Skinner, President & CEO of the Innovation Cluster, in meeting at the Cluster

Along with Fleming and Trent, the Innovation Cluster has established partnerships that connect startups with easy access to legal advice, marketing, intellectual property, funding and more. Innovation Partners offer one-on-one mentorship as well as free workshops to the Innovation Cluster clients and the Peterborough community.

One of these Innovations Partners is RBC, which sponsors the Innovation Cluster’s Virtual and Augmented Reality Zone inside its incubator. Through this space, the Innovation Cluster has been able to assist its digital technology startups, which now comprise more than 50 percent of the clients it currently supports.

Some of the rapidly growing digital clients include video game companies Bloom Digital and Canuck Play, and mobile app developers Kavtek and Ribitt. (Ribitt recently announced it had raised $600,000 in seed financing.)

“The Cluster is very helpful because people want to know if your company belongs to an incubator or accelerator,” says Ribat Chowdhury, co-founder of Ribitt. “Your chances of succeeding is higher when you have a collaborative environment and are in a tech ecosystem—and that’s what the Innovation Cluster provides us with.”

Along with its digital clients, the reserve of clean technology clients also continues to rise. With the help of the Trent Makerspace at Trent University, clients are able to access lab space and research and development equipment.

With digital and cleantech innovations rapidly growing, in 2019 the Innovation Cluster will be looking to grow its healthcare sector to address innovations towards accessibility and aging in Peterborough.

“The startups that have stayed and grown their companies in Peterborough and the Kawarthas and sought help through the Innovation Cluster is what truly sets this area apart from any other city in Ontario,” adds Skinner.

“The impact made this year has been the greatest to date for startup growth, jobs created and the economic impact it’s resulted in. We plan to keep those numbers on the rise.”

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Enter A Team In The Carl Oake Rotary Swimathon For A Great Cause

The 33rd Annual Rotary Carl Oake Swimathon takes place Friday, February 15th and Rotary is shooting to get 40 teams in it this year and raise a total of $50,000.

The Swimathon is all about fun (and fundraising), and raises money for Rotary projects and Easter Seals.

Get a team together and sign up to swim a lap on February 15th at the YMCA of Central East Ontario in Peterborough. Visit ptborotaryswimathon.com to register your swimathon team today.

Watch the promotional video our boutique agency spinoff StudioPTBO produced below to get a feel for this fun event…

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Jacob Rodenburg From Camp Kawartha... You Rock!

Jacob Rodenburg

Each month, PTBOCanada awards someone that is making a difference locally that you nominate. This month, Jim Moloney from the Riverview Park and Zoo gave a glowing shout-out to Jacob Rodenburg, Executive Director of Camp Kawartha (Environment Centre is at 2505 Pioneer Road in Peterborough and Camp Kawartha’s main site is at 1010 Birchview Road in Douro-Dummer).

Here’s what Jim had to say about Jacob…

“Jacob is the Executive Director of Camp Kawartha and a champion of environmental stewardship in our community. In addition to his inspired leadership at Camp Kawartha, he is the visionary and driving force behind the Pathway to Stewardship & Kinship project.

This is an incredible initiative to develop a community-based strategy intended to foster environmental stewardship in our youth. The project brought together representatives from both school boards and numerous other local conservation and educational organizations to brainstorm, research, and develop a community-wide, cooperative, and coordinated program of environmental education. The project has made great progress with a fully developed educational framework having been developed, with more than 40 local classes participating in pilot sessions, and dozens of local organizations and individuals providing support for the pilot. This project is just "freeking" amazing!”

— Jim Moloney

Know of an unsung hero who is makng a difference here in Peterborough? Nominate them for a “You Rock” award and they might receive a handmade token of their awesomeness!

—post and photo by Evan Holt

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Mother Nature Forms Enchanted Forest Backyard Rink Near Buckhorn

When it comes to backyard rinks, a lot of blood, sweat, tears—and flooding—goes into building the perfect rink. Sometimes, though, Mother Nature chooses to take care of things on its own in beautiful ways.

Just ask James Brown, a father of three, as a backyard swamp near his place in Buckhorn that can be a pain in the spring transforms itself into what he calls an “enchanted forest backyard rink” in the winter for his family to enjoy.

The kids enjoying night skate in forest

“It’s so much fun skating through the trees, and my daughters (ages 8, 7 and 3) love it,” James tells PTBOCanada. “All the twists and turns has really helped develop their skating, too.”

So many places to explore

James says other than a bit of shovelling here and there, the rink is good to go courtesy of Mother Nature, as the swampy area froze nice and smooth making for great conditions.

Should the kids need a break from their magical forest rink, they can skate on another outdoor rink James made for them on nearby Little Bald Lake…

“It's a cold, long winter....may as well get outside and enjoy it,” says James. True that.

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Ontario Speed Skating Oval In Lakefield Slated To Open For Season

After flooding the rink all week during these cold conditions, Ontario Speed Skating Oval organizers in Lakefield say in a Facebook post that the ice should be ready to go for the 2019 season starting Sunday, January 13th, when it will be open from noon until 2 p.m.

Photo via Ontario speed skating oval facebook page

The process would have been much faster with some snow to deploy for a base but the volunteer ice crew have done a great job getting it ready and flooding the ice all week.

Photo via Ontario speed skating oval facebook page

Organizers say rental skates will be available, and that skaters are advised to use extra caution as there are still some thin spots.

Photo via Ontario speed skating oval facebook page

The 2019 winter schedule should be posted soon here, organizers say.

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2019 JJ Stewart Chrysler Winter Classic Takes Place February 18th At Lakefield College

The 2019 JJ Stewart Chrysler Winter Classic will take place on Monday, February 18th at Lakefield College from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. This year’s event is in support of Autism Ontario Peterborough Chapter, as well as the Tarkington and Dombroski families.

Four boys and two girls teams will be participating, and the teams include: Leon’s Peterborough, CrossFit Kawartha, Village Pet Food & Supply, Elmhirst Excavating, Birdsall Beach Resort and Rapid Lift Inc. The Hardest Working Playing Awards are sponsored by Mr Sub on Lansdowne St., and participants will be collecting pledges for the Autism Ontario Peterborough Chapter.

Players participating in 2019 JJ Stewart Chrysler Winter Classic. Front: Molly, Lili, Andrew, Liam, Carson, Sam and Logan. Back: Event Mascot Derek, Organizers Michelle, Mark, Aaron, Dani and Tom from Leon’s

A silent auction, bake sale and Chuck-A-Puck will be organized with all proceeds supporting the Tarkington and Dombroski families. Organizers are looking for silent auction donations, which can be dropped off to Aaron or Dani at Leon’s Peterborough (1731 Lansdowne Street West.).

For more info on the event, click here.

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Apsley-Based Startup MotherClock Has Launched A Free Paperless Time Tracking Service

On a mission to eliminate wasteful paper-based time tracking processes, Apsley-based MotherClock is offering free paperless time tracking services to any business in Canada.

“You simply mount a tablet to the wall, download our app, and your employees use it to sign in and out of work,” says Co-Founder Jeff Sayers. “It’s a hassle-free way to track employee work time.”

The clever service, which is already being used by early adopter businesses in Apsley, Peterborough, Toronto and Ottawa, can be used as a time clock to live-capture the time as employees start and leave work, or as a time sheet allowing employees to enter their start and end times then submit for manager approval.

“Our software automatically calculates the work hours including holidays and overtime,” adds Sayers. “It’s a real time saver and great alternative to traditional processes.”

According to MotherClock, hundreds of thousands of businesses in Canada still track employee work time using paper-based methods which generates tonnes of paper waste.

MotherClock is seeking to completely displace paper-based time tracking in Canada by the end of 2019.

“It’s an ambitious goal but we’ve modernized a severely outdated and inefficient practice and by offering the service for free I think we’ll have a lot of uptake,” says Sayers.

The MotherClock app is available for download in the Google Play Store. Learn more about it in this video below…

Paper-based time tracking is wasteful and inefficient. MotherClock is the solution for Canadian businesses wanting to abandon paper-based time tracking.

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Last Beer At The Pig’s Ear Documentary To Play Closing Night At ReFrame Film Festival

ReFrame Film Festival has announced its 2019 schedule, and the Closing Night documentary is on the Pig’s Ear and the legacy it has left in Peterborough.

Last Beer at the Pig’ s Ear is a tribute to the people, the fun and games, the music and the pickled eggs—the culture that made the “Piggy” so special for 152 years. Directed by local filmmaker Peter Blow, it screens at Showplace Performance Centre on Sunday, January 27th at 7 p.m.

Pig’s Ear was iconic watering hole on Brock Street

The ReFrame Film Festival is celebrating its 15th anniversary from January 24th to Sunday, January 27th. Youth Unstoppable, a film by former PCVS student Slater Jewell-Kemker made to amplify youth voices against climate change, headlines the festival.

Click here for the full schedule.

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